Do unit trusts invest in financial markets outside of South Africa?

Key takeaways

  • Unit trust funds can give you exposure to foreign financial markets.
  • This is important as South Africa’s economy represents less than 1% of the global economy.
  • You can invest in rands or in a foreign currency to get exposure to foreign markets. 
  • If you invest in rands:
    • Most South African funds give you up to 30% exposure to foreign markets.
    • Worldwide funds determine for you whether to focus on local or foreign markets.
    • Global funds must invest 80% of the fund outside of South Africa.
    • Regional funds must invest 80% of the fund outside of South Africa in a country or region.
    • Feeder funds invest into a single offshore fund.
  • When you invest in a foreign currency in a fund based outside of South Africa, there are  more steps but it gives you diversification away from all your assets in one country.


One of the advantages of unit trusts is that they can give you exposure to shares, bonds and other securities in financial markets other than those in South Africa.

This gives you better diversification considering that South Africa represents less than 1% of the global economy and has few or no players in certain market sectors, such as bio-technology and alternative energy.

If you use a unit trust to get access to global markets, you benefit from an experienced fund manager who can decide where in the world to invest and which assets to invest in.

There are two main ways in which you can get exposure to overseas markets. You can:

  • Invest in rands in a fund based in South Africa that buys shares, bonds and other securities from overseas markets.
  • Invest in a foreign currency (eg US dollars or pounds) in a fund based in a country other than South Africa that buys shares, bonds and other securities from overseas markets.

Investing in foreign markets in rands

Most unit trust funds have some exposure to markets in other parts of the world – funds whose mandates restrict them to investing only in South African markets must state as much on their minimum disclosure documents.

Depending on their mandate, and hence how they are classified by the Association of Savings and Investment South Africa, funds can invest offshore as follows:

  • South African funds
    Can invest up to 30% in offshore markets and a further 10% in African markets.
  • Global funds
    Must invest at least 80% of the fund in markets other than South Africa.
  • Regional funds
    Must invest at least 80% of the fund in markets other than South Africa in a single country such as China, or region such as Asia.
  • Worldwide funds
    The managers of worldwide funds have no restrictions on how much to invest locally or offshore and can tilt their allocations to one or the other, depending on which market they believe will perform better for you.

Global and regional funds are the funds you are likely to find most useful if you are specifically looking to diversify away from local investments into foreign markets.

These funds take your investment in rands and then convert into the appropriate currency to buy into foreign markets. At all times, however, you will see your investment value in rands and when you want to realise your investment, you will be paid out in rands.

South African unit trust companies offer rand-denominated global and regional funds in which:

  • South African investment professionals choose which investments to make in foreign markets;
  • The company partners with a foreign asset manager and that manager's investment professionals choose where in foreign markets to invest;
  • South African investment professionals select a range of foreign managers to manage a portion of the fund (the fund is multi-managed); 
  • The investments are made into a single offshore fund (the fund is a feeder fund); or
  • An index on a foreign market is tracked (the fund may be either an index fund or an exchange traded fund). 

Why do rand-based foreign funds sometimes close to new investments?



CURRENCY WARNING

If the rand weakens relative to other currencies over the period you are invested, your rand returns will be boosted, but if it strengthens, your returns will be negatively affected.

The South Africa Reserve Bank has exchange control regulations in place that limit how much individual and institutional investors can invest offshore. 

When you invest in a rand-denominated global or regional fund, the unit trust company must use its exchange control allowance to invest in global and regional markets.

The rules for unit trust companies limit them to investing 40% of their retail investor assets – the money they get from individual investors – in offshore markets. From time to time, some unit trust companies reach or get close to these limits. They then close their funds to new investments until the overall amount of money increases or the allocation to global and regional markets decreases and they have capacity again.

 

Investing offshore in a foreign currency

If you want to diversify away from rand-based investments and wish to have investments in a country other than South Africa, you need to ensure your money is in a fund that is based or domiciled in another country and invested in a foreign currency like the US dollar or the British pound.

Your fund is then said to be denominated in foreign currency and domiciled outside of South Africa. Funds denominated in a foreign currency and domiciled outside of South Africa are referred to as offshore funds.

Investing offshore is not difficult, but there are more things you need to know about and a few extra steps to take. You can read more here: How can I invest offshore?

 

HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT FEEDER FUNDS?

You can invest in an offshore fund in rands if the fund is offered as a feeder fund in South Africa.

Feeder funds invest in a single fund offshore. They take your rands, convert them and invest in an offshore fund. When you want to get your money out, the fund converts your investment back into rands to pay you out.