Services and Products

Our company’s primary focus is, independent, specialized and personal financial and investment advice on:

  Investment Portfolio planning, implementation and evaluation. 

1.  Retirement planning, implementation and evaluation

 Financial risk (Life, Disability, Accident, Trauma) planning, implementation and evaluation

 Associated estate, tax and legal aspects.  

Investment Advice Process

As independent advisors, we are in a position to provide our clients only the most competitive products and services of well recognized and accredited financial institutions and investment houses.  At Gerber & Louw, we follow specific investment principles in determining investment strategy with our clients, namely: 

 

  Evaluation of our client’s complete personal situation in terms of capital and / or income needs, to determine fund selections, terms, income selections and final structure of each portfolio.

  Strategic diversification between selected fund managers and / or investment houses, asset classes and geographical markets, to fit the risk profile of our client without unnecessary duplication and cost intensive selections.

  Exposure to only above average performing fund managers and investment houses over the short, medium and longer terms. (Up to 5 years)

 Utilizing market opportunities and conditions to implement portfolio changes, after thorough  considerations of the clients total investment strategy.

 The total disclosure of cost and fee implications of investment activities as well as applicable tax considerations.

  Continuing evaluation of portfolio performance and communication thereof to our clients.

 Implementing the placement of the selected portfolio of funds with any of the recognized Asset Managers or Linked Investment companies according the choice of the investor.

 

Above mentioned strategy has enabled us to limit risks and to achieve above average returns for our clients. Our function is primarily advisory as well as the implementation of our client’s investment decisions. Our investment advice strategy follows fundamental sound investment principles. Therefore, we do not expose our clients to the high risk and volatile environment of specific high exposure to one asset class, geographical market, share, scheme, currency or investment instrument unless our client specifically instructs us to do so on his or her behalf. 

   

Fund Selection Process

Investors have a wide choice of South African and / or off shore funds to choose from (more than 900 in SA).  In SA the funds are so-called  “Unit trusts ” and the capital value of the underlying units in a fund can go up as well as down, depending on many factors.  The funds are regulated by the Collective Investments Schemes Control Act and are approved investment instruments by the Financial Services Board (FSB).  It is this regulatory environment and control that provides protection and security to the investor in approved funds.

                                                                                                                             

This is not the case with investment structures outside the control of the FSB. Many of the SA funds are the primary investment vehicle of individual investors as well as pension funds. The funds vary in strategy from rather conservative to very aggressive, depending on the asset classes invested in. However, once a clients risk profile, investment term and needs are determined, the choice of funds are narrowed down considerably and it becomes the function of an accredited investment advisor to advise the client on the best funds available. The process of selecting suitable top performing funds that also provides a high level of stable performance for the investor, takes years of experience and a thorough knowledge of the subject. In this process, a team of Asset Manager Consultants as well as their fund managers supports our team.

 

 

Risk Profiling

This normally refers to the investor’s appetite for risk in achieving investment goals. The risk referred to is normally the level of volatility in the value of an investment over a specific term.   Risk profiles in the investment and financial advice enviroment, are normally categorized as; conservative, cautious, moderate, assertive or aggressive. The very conservative investor will not tolerate fluctuations in the value of his initial investment and will be satisfied with less competitive returns on his capital. This investor should only be exposed to fixed interest bank accounts and possibly money market funds. On the other side of the spectrum, the aggressive investor will tolerate high volatility in the value of his investment over time, in the expectation of high returns. Specialist equity (shares), local and offshore, will typically form part of such an investment. High returns on capital are normally achieved if the investor maintains this strategy over the long term (5 to 10 years and longer).

 

The Cautious Investor is typically investing for pension (saving) or income purposes. A higher stable return than bank rates or money markets is required from year to year at minimum volatility levels. Capital protection with stable growth is the primary objective. If the capital is discretionary (non pension), the investor typically has at least a 3-year investment term in mind but wants access to capital if urgently needed, without penalties, restrictions, or capital losses.

 

The Moderate Investor is normally investing for stable capital growth purposes. A higher market related return in terms of financial markets and the performance of the economy on a year to year basis is required but still with acceptable levels of volatility. This Investor has a term of 5 or more years as investment horizon and is normally prepared to wait for optimum returns before he or she capitalizes on good returns.

 

 

Cost

Financial and investment specialists are continuously making your capital work for you within a very strictly regulated financial environment. The implementation costs of a portfolio, as well as the ongoing annual cost, varies according to the investment amount, the selected administrative and investment - Asset Managers and the specific investment product (discretionary or pension). Unless the investor has specific preferences in this regard, we will seek the most competitively priced fee structure with the various financial institutions.

 

“A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government. “

Thomas Jefferson

Contracted Financial Service Providers

  AIMS (Absa)
  Fairbairn Capital
  GinsGlobal 
  Investec 
  Metropolitan
  Momentum
  Nedgroup
  Odessey
  Old Mutual
  Sanlam
  Stanlib

Contact Us

Name: JC Louw

Phone: +2728 272 9918

Email: gerberlouw@gmail.com