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Robocop's got nothing on the new Receive... Polygraphs give the lie to poker-faced c... UNIT TRUSTS:Unit Trusts: Fleming Martin ... Budgeting's a bind, but it pays dividend... Making sense of the tax amnest... A will could be your shrewdest investme... Taxing times for small firms as the gove... Working from home: do pros outweigh cons... |
CASHBOXUNIT TRUSTS The unit trust industry is forging ahead: in the past quarter sales of R4,7-billion were recorded, bringing the total assets under management to R43,8-billion. Total sales for 1996 were R16,9-billion - 65% more than the previous year and three times that of three years ago. The Association of Unit Trusts says: "The performance of equity-based unit trusts (in 1996) reflected that of the relatively muted stock market, although a number of individual funds and sectors did remarkably well. The average return for the mining and resources funds was 28%, that of gold funds 29% and international funds 22%, against inflation of 9%. The general equity sector, where 60% of unitholder funds are invested, returned 10% on average."
NEW FUND Fleming Martin has launched its second unit trust, the Libra Balanced Fund. The company says: "Libra will invest in a balance of equities, bonds and cash as a norm. It will also invest in property trusts when the fund manager regards them as having superior potential. The fund intends investing 10% of its assets offshore, the maximum presently permitted by law." The fund is targeted at individuals wanting a balance between growth and income. It's also aimed at pension and provident funds as it complies with the requisite prudential guidelines. CALCULATOR Do you need to buy a car or home computer, but lack the funds because of Christmas overspending? See how much debt you can afford by using the financial calculator on the Business Times internet site on http://www.btimes.co.za. Provided by Wesbank, the calculator can help you determine an affordable loan or calculate your monthly instalments. All you need to supply is information on the tax status of the loan, your preferred financing method, the nature of the asset you want to buy, its purchase price, residual value, loan period and the size of your deposit. Our web site also has a bond repayment calculator which shows how your repayments change as interest rates fluctuate. E-mail us with your comments and specific financial queries. Our panel of experts will reply in the Rands and Sense column.
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