Moving and investing smaller amounts of money offshore.

[Rabbid dawg]

Seeing how the Rand has fallen in value against the major currencies in the last year.
I was wondering it there is a simple and cheap way of moving and investing smaller amounts out of the country Like R10000 to R50000 at a time so as to protect against further devaluation.
I know there are firms that specialize in moving and investing money offshore but they also specialize in bigger amounts.
Any suggestions?

 

[phiber]

Best would be to open an international dollar, pound or euro account in your name, with a local bank (for example Standard Bank offer an account in the Isle of Man). Not sure what your other options are, but there must be options To fund the account you need to go via the standard exchange control, i.e. a bank's FX department. They will do all the necessary checks. You can transfer a total of 1 million rand a year, without having to pay tax on that money - but this 1 million allowance also includes any money spent overseas on travel etc (so make sure you check your numbers).

 

[Rabbid dawg]

Thanks @phiber. I will look into that.

 

[rpm]

Standard Bank's international share trader is an easy way to achieve this. From what I understand you can purchase shares in the US (hence US$), London (hence pounds) and Europe (hence Euro).

 

[hyperian]

Fund managers like Allan Gray and Coronation have Rand-denominated offshore funds, which would give you similar protection. The Allan Gray Global Equity Feeder fund recently closed for new investments because the fund had reached its limit, but the other international funds can still be purchased. Try Coronation or Foord.

 

[phiber]

Standard Bank's international share trader is an easy way to achieve this. From what I understand you can purchase shares in the US (hence US$), London (hence pounds) and Europe (hence Euro).

Are you talking about Webtrader?

 

[supersunbird]

Depends on if you want to invest or just have the cash offshore.

Fund managers like Allan Gray and Coronation have Rand-denominated offshore funds, which would give you similar protection. The Allan Gray Global Equity Feeder fund recently closed for new investments because the fund had reached its limit, but the other international funds can still be purchased. Try Coronation or Foord.

I think you mean Dollar denominated funds. But ones needs $15 000 equivalent of Rands or more to invest.

 

[Rabbid dawg]

AFAIK most of the guys like Allan Gray or Investec cater for people with millions. But I will have a relook into that. We might be moving overseas in a couple of years to join the rest of my family, So I'm looking for a simple way for a non millionaire to move and invest money offshore.

 

[MKFrost]

I've opened accounts with both Standard Bank and Nedbank Private Wealth in the Isle of Man. To open the accounts are quite easy and quick. With both you are able to select a certain base currency i.e. dollar, pound, euro. The minimum deposit amount for the SB account is 5,000 pounds/dollars/euro depending on the base currency you select for the account. Not sure about Nedbank.

Also remember that the transaction fees are quite high on the accounts as they are charged in the same currency so its not the ideal account should you want to use it for daily transactions on this side, depending of course on the amounts of the transactions. Also, check with both on their card offerings. You can get a Amex/Visa card with no foreign charges i.e. they do not charge you for foreign currency conversions meaning that you can use the cards locally without incurring high costs/fees.

There is also a service or account maintenance fee [with SB] which is charged should your balance fall below the 5,000 over certain periods.

Of the two I've found Nedbank's service offering to be more integrated and holistic. The fiduciary services offered by Nedbank is more integrated than that of SB and they have helped me quite a bit to streamline my trust structures. Both offer a number of investment options but again I've found Nedbank's to be more integrated into their complete offering. You can see some of Nedbank's offerings HERE.

Service from both are very good and they are quick to respond to any email queries etc.

http://www.nedbankprivatewealth.com/international/banking
http://international.standardbank.com/

 

[Freaksta]

Best would be to open an international dollar, pound or euro account in your name, with a local bank (for example Standard Bank offer an account in the Isle of Man). Not sure what your other options are, but there must be options To fund the account you need to go via the standard exchange control, i.e. a bank's FX department. They will do all the necessary checks. You can transfer a total of 1 million rand a year, without having to pay tax on that money - but this 1 million allowance also includes any money spent overseas on travel etc (so make sure you check your numbers).

Just to update on the 1 million..


R5M each calendar year using:

Foreign Investment Allowance(R4M)
Discretionary Allowance(R1M)

Terms and conditions

over 18 years of age
an active tax record with SARS
a tax clearance certificate (not required for the Discretionary Allowance)
in possession of a South African ID document
South African Reserve Bank application

 

[dunkyd]

Contact Appelby in Jersey CI.