Rich South Africans are buying homes in one of the safest countries in Africa
More wealthy South Africans are buying homes in Namibia, ranked as one of the safest countries in Africa, for tax benefits and permanent residency.
This record was shattered for the first time in the second quarter of 2025, with these portfolios ending June 2025 with R1.04 trillion under management.
This is according to the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa’s (ASISA) chief of staff, Sunette Mulder.
ASISA announced on Thursday, 14 August 2025, that South Africa’s Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) industry also reached the R4 trillion milestone in the second quarter of this year.
This industry ended June 2025 with R4.16 trillion in assets under management.
Mulder said this was achieved on the back of robust growth delivered by South Africa’s equity market and healthy net inflows from investors.
In the year through June 2025, the FTSE/JSE All Share Index (ALSI) outperformed US and UK stock markets in rand terms, delivering a return of 25.2%.
This strong performance saw South African CIS management companies record total net inflows of R146.13 billion over the 12-month period.
The bulk of these inflows was contributed by existing investors who reinvested income declarations, including dividends and interest.
Mulder noted that while only R23 billion of the R146.13 billion in annual net inflows represented new money, it is noteworthy that R18 billion in new investments were received during the first half of the year.
She said South African investors had a choice of 1,899 local CIS portfolios at the end of June 2025.
Mulder noted that South African Multi Asset portfolios remained a firm investor favourite over the year and quarter ended June 2025, having attracted R77 billion of the R146.13 billion in net inflows.
In the second quarter alone, these portfolios attracted net inflows of R26 billion.
She explained that multi-asset portfolios were designed to offer investors single diversified portfolios aimed at absorbing the highs and the lows of the markets.
There are seven types of multi-asset portfolios – Flexible, High Equity, SA High Equity, Medium Equity, Low Equity, Income, and Unclassified.
The most popular of these types was South African Multi-asset Income portfolios, which attracted R37.1 billion in net inflows over the 12 months.
South African Multi-Asset High Equity portfolios came in second place, claiming R24.6 billion.
Portfolios in these two categories attracted the bulk of the R77 billion in net inflows into South Africa Multi-Asset portfolios.
Mulder explained that the split between Multi-Asset Income and Multi-Asset High Equity portfolios is interesting and a good snapshot of investor sentiment in 2025.
“A whole lot of caution, but with a healthy appetite to participate in the stock market run,” she said.
At the end of June 2025, half of the CIS industry’s assets were invested in South Africa Multi-Asset portfolios.
Going offshore
ASISA further revealed that locally registered foreign portfolios crossed the R1 trillion assets under management threshold for the first time in the second quarter of 2025, ending June 2025 with R1.04 trillion under management.
These portfolios recorded net inflows of R1.82 billion for the quarter ended June 2025 and R13.08 billion for the year. There are currently 763 foreign currency-denominated portfolios on sale in South Africa.
Foreign currency unit trust portfolios are offered by foreign unit trust companies and denominated in currencies such as the dollar, pound, euro, and yen.
These portfolios can only be actively marketed to South African investors if registered with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority.
Mulder said local investors wanting to invest in these portfolios must comply with Reserve Bank regulations and utilise their foreign capital allowance.
Aside from local and offshore funds, investors also have the option of investing in hedge funds, with the local hedge fund industry having ended the second quarter of 2025 with assets under management of R181 billion.
This represents a marginal drop of 2.3% in assets over the six months from the end of December 2024, when assets stood at R185 billion.
Mulder explained that the hedge fund industry recorded net outflows of R17 billion in the first six months of 2025, and the number of hedge funds declined to 216 at the end of June 2025.
Issued on Daily Investor by Blanke Neethling | https://dailyinvestor.com/investing/97937/south-african-investors-looking-offshore-2/
