Estate planning, once an afterthought for most people, has suddenly become a matter of urgency for many South Africans. Covid is one of the reasons for this, says Stanley Broun, head of fiduciary and tax at Sanlam Private Wealth. But there are other reasons for this new-found enthusiasm for tackling a subject full of dread for many people.

The legal implications of your marital property regime will affect the treatment of assets should your marriage be dissolved through death. Before drafting your will, it is therefore important to understand how your marital property system affects your property rights and your ability to distribute your assets. Your marital status, previous marital status, and current marital property regime can have far-reaching estate administration consequences which we have unpacked below...

Local investors might think the grass is greener on the other side, due to the myriad of challenges our country faces, says Adriaan Pask, chief investment officer at PSG Wealth. In recent months, however, he said the financial services group has seen some of the country’s largest and most reputable investment managers warm up to domestic assets, often citing that poor sentiment has created an opportunity too attractive to ignore. So, how do you decide how much of your funds to invest offshore and how much to invest locally?...

We often say that we play the hand we are dealt by the market. We can control our research efforts and our decisions, but we certainly can’t control the market’s behaviour. Stock prices move for lots of reasons – some common to many companies, others much more idiosyncratic – but they all create headwinds and tailwinds for performance. John Christy, from our offshore partner Orbis, explains using...

The best way to understand the impact of adequate, or in the unfortunate event of inadequate cover, is by way of past experiences. In 2012, I was contracted by a small business, with two shareholders, (let’s call them Suzie en Mark) for a review of their risk portfolio and business agreements. The two partners had life and disability cover in place and had entered into agreements with each...