A year of Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs!
There was a memorable scene in the movie American Sniper where an extract from a book written by Lieutenant Colonel David Grossman called On Combat which was published in 2004 was quoted by the main character Chris Kyle. The extract went as follows: “If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy […]
Have you hugged your Adviser today?
Being a Certified Financial Planner/Wealth Manager at Harbour Wealth is the ‘easiest’ hardest job in the world. The easy part being that if you can build strong, solid relationships and hold up your end of the bargain in terms of meeting the expectations of your clients, you can keep them for life. Plus, you derive […]
Never invest in an Investment you can’t understand
Estimated Annual Cost Harbour Wealth clients may have already noticed a new acronym floating around the financial services space – EAC! At first glance it may look like another convoluted formula, designed to pull the wool over our eyes. It is, however, anything but that and goes a long way in helping clients, and in […]
Last Will and Testament
“Most people do not know whether their loved ones have executed a Will, where the original might be kept or who has been nominated to wind up the financial affairs of the deceased.” South African Registry of Wills and Testaments’.While it is probably not the conversation of choice over dinner, having an updated Last Will and Testament [Will] is arguably […]
Income and a “Rule of Thumb”
Back in 1782, James Gillray published a satirical cartoon “Judge Thumb”. The cartoon lambastes a certain Sir Francis Buller, an English judge, for allegedly ruling that a man may legally beat his wife, provided that he used a stick no thicker than his thumb, although there is no other written record of Buller making such a pronouncement […]
Junk Status – What does it mean?
During 2015 SA’s sovereign credit rating was downgraded to BBB-. Earlier this month we survived a new ratings period, where our rating and outlook was held constant. What does this actually mean, and how have the rating agencies decided on this rating. We have all been hearing about this over the past months, but unless […]
This Time is Different!
I recently read an article by Andrew Serwer fromFortune magazine that attempted to sum up the US market. I quote: “That was a nasty patch the market went through this fall (Oct / Nov) huh? So was it just the bull pausing to catch his breath? Or was it a full-fledged, albeit quick time, bear market? Or […]
The HOW and WHY of Offshore Investing
Whenever the Rand or our president misbehaves, we know the interest in offshore investing peaks, and understandably so. Last year the Rand depreciated by roughly 30% against developed market currencies, and on average has historically depreciated by 6% p.a. Our neighbouring country Zimbabwe has taught many of our friends and family the harsh reality about […]
MARKETS ARE UNPREDICTABLE – COSTS ARE FOREVER
Recently I was asked by a client to review a Retirement Annuity which was started in early 2013. The monthly contribution is about R6000 per month. The underlying investment is in one of the companies “house” funds so no external fund manager was chosen which saves about 1% in fees. Good news – sadly that’s […]
IT’S A ZOO OUT THERE
English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton way back in 1839 for his play Richelieu: Or the Conspiracy about Cardinal Richelieu. first penned the line “the pen is mightier than the sword” in the passage: “The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold The arch-enchanters wand! — itself is nothing! — But taking sorcery from the master-hand […]