Latest articles on Eamonn Ryan

The bank provides vital financial backing for green initiatives

Influences that affect the retirement fund ecosystem will be in the spotlight

An ecosystem is a complex system of living organisms, their environment and all of their interrelationships in a particular unit of space

Upskilling is essential, and local industry rates IRFA's contribution highly

Influences that affect the retirement fund ecosystem will be in the spotlight

The need for better retirement outcomes is crucial to the economic growth of Africa and for society as a whole

Franklin Templeton Investments has 40 offshore collective investment schemes registered with the South African Financial Services Board. Michael King, Franklin Templeton director for Africa, says the group offers a range of investment opportunities to South African investors, available through the foreign exchange offshore allowance.

In mid-2004 Sanlam Multi-Manager International restructured its international offering to its South African clients by applying its process to its new global equity and global bond products. Previously SMMI operated on a regional basis, finding the best investment managers in each geographic area to manage its assets.

For many years we have waited for Finance Minister Trevor Manuel to announce further investment exchange control relaxation in the annual national budget, only to have our hopes dashed. Thabo Khojane, MD of Investec Asset Management in South Africa, speaks to Eamonn Ryan.

The United Kingdom commercial property sector has gone through a signi­ficant slump in the past year with capital values falling an average of 15% since June last year, reports investment broker at Broll Property Group, David Adams. This market, says Adams, provides an excellent opportunity for South Africans to use offshore allowances or asset swaps to create offshore assets with the UK property pricing.

Financial planning varies from person to person -- the individual who has more money than he or she knows what to do with clearly has a different financial planning problem from the person who's been living beyond his means for the past 12 months.

Offshore financial markets look a sorry sight at the moment with stock markets across Europe down 15% on average compared to their value eight years ago. Some properties in the US are more than 60% cheaper than a few years ago. But what this means for the investor with an appetite for risk is opportunity.

One of the major questions facing global investors is: What will happen in the US economy? According to Paul Hansen, group director for retail investing at Stanlib, the United States Federal Reserve Bank has taken aggressive corrective action that should stimulate the economy by the second half of 2008.

International assignment is booming as business globalises: not only are South African companies importing and exporting skills, but they're also transferring them between foreign countries. Multinationals have operated like this for decades, but it's a relatively new phenomenon in South Africa. The local market is rather small by international standards.

Corallie Pringle, managing director of Corporate Relocations, lists the services that clients should expect from their relocations firm. Among them is the arrival services for inbound expatriates: pre-assignment­/look-see orientations; home-finding programmes; school search and educational consultancy; settling-in services; domestic help; obtaining­ goods and services; coordinating of specialist services and, in many instances, paying the service providers on behalf of the client company; linking spouse/partner to international and local support groups.