Maya Fisher French

In the first seven months of this year Africa saw $8,2-billion of new listings, already 13% higher than last year. Moreover, Nigeria, not South Africa, was the largest recipient of inflows for new listings. Africa has seen foreign investment inflows triple in the past decade from $10-billion to $30-billion a year.

Finance is not gender neutral because women who stay at home to raise children are not valued in monetary terms and few have their own savings. Research shows that women have far less money at retirement yet, on average, outlive men by seven years, writes Maya Fisher-French.

South Africans saved R22-billion under their mattresses in the past 10 years and, combined with investments in their homes, South Africans now save R1-trillion in non-traditional savings vehicles. Non-traditional savings include investment in homes, stokvels and grey money (undeposited cash).

While everyone’s attention has been focused on the trials and tribulations of the life insurance sector, Sanlam has been quietly transforming itself into a diversified financial services company, focusing on home loans and money market accounts rather than life cover.

Younger people will face the biggest financial losses if they do not have enough insurance to replace their income should they become disabled or ill — simply because they have a longer life span during which they need to draw an income. When we are in the prime of our youth we might feel invincible, but the reality is that 20% of disability claims are a result of car accidents, which tend to affect younger people.

After comparing packages, I discovered that I could save R40 a month by porting to MTN. Although this does not sound like a lot, over a two-year contract I will save R960. As my Vodacom contract was about to end, I decided to port. I had to complete a new application form, with all the Fica requirements, which was a real hassle. At that point, I wondered whether it would not have been easier to stick with my current provider.

Porting to another network — while keeping your number — means you can shop across networks for the best deal. According to Mark Taylor, managing director at Nashua Mobile, the first step a subscriber should take when selecting a package is to look at his or her monthly call costs and budget. This information can be used to evaluate packages according to their cost and the benefits they offer.

The JSE lost 7% last week, recovered dramatically on Monday and Tuesday, only to fall out of bed again on Wednesday, bleeding 3% just in morning trade. The latest credit extension numbers were higher than expected at 24,9%, resulting in analysts’ consensus for a further rate hike this month, which was looking likely anyway as the rand collapsed from R6,80 to R7,20 to the dollar.

At a National Credit Act conference held recently, National Credit Regulator Gabriel Davel warned credit providers the regulator would undertake a survey of loans that had been rejected and compare them with the credit bureaus’ ratings scores to see if there is a racial undertone in lending ­practices. Davel says the third-biggest complaint to the regulator in the two months since the Act has been in force has been about the rejection of credit applications.

Telkom recently flew 393 clients with spouses, senior executives and management to Mauritius for a strategy session. Although Telkom did not disclose the amount spent, based on the average cost per person of a three-day corporate trip to Mauritius, including flights and activities, it would have cost in the region of R7-million.

There has been a ruckus recently because Discovery Health Medical Scheme has continued to fail to meet its 25% solvency ratio required by law. The question Discovery Health members are asking is: are their benefits safe? Can Discovery Health meet member claims?

Bankserv is a lucrative business with an annual turnover of about R200-million — which is why global electronic payments companies would love to get their hands on it. First Data’s mooted offer this week was evidence of this. Ownership of Bankserv would provide the new owner with a guaranteed income stream from about 20-billion banking transactions a year.

Virgin Money has turned one. The newborn got off to a brilliant start. But, its toddler years might prove to be a bit more challenging. So far, Virgin has signed up 180 000 card holders. This is ahead of its original business forecast of 150 000 cards in the first year.

As a result of interest rate hikes in the past year, a homeowner with a bond of R500 000 is paying an extra R1 000 a month to his or her bank. Where does that extra mortgage payment go each month? Who benefits from the billions of extra rands that are paid by homeowners? The short answer is: the savers.

With the local equity market having had a spectacular run, fund managers believe that the developed offshore markets are offering better value for South African investors. But investing offshore does not mean that you have to go through the whole hassle of getting permission from the Reserve Bank to use your R2-million foreign investment allowance.

Specialists have compiled a survey of the medical schemes they would recommend. The results: Camaf, Fedhealth, Liberty and Profmed. They judged these according to the level of interference with the doctor-patient relationship, balanced billing, efficiency with accounting and pre-authorisation, co-payments, rate fixing, reversals and formularies.

The pension fund and life industry has baulked at the government’s proposed national social security system. It says it could lose 60% of its members. The current national pensions plan proposal is for about 13% of the first R60 000 earned by workers to be invested into a national savings fund. This money would only be accessible on retirement.

A national pension system should be managed by a competitive private sector subject to ­market-friendly regulation by government, says Jose Pinera, the architect of the world-renowned Chilean pension fund system and founder and president of the International Centre for Pension Reform.