Your Wealth Magazine

A LIBERTY PUBLICATION WINTER 2017

Whose lives did we change?

Winne 6s,

an iPho see pg2 for details

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The role of the knowledge worker in a digitised world FULLVIEW: THE PRACTICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTION MARKETS | INDUSTRY | CAREER | COMMUNITY | LIFESTYLE

Chat to us about family time.

You insure the house your family calls home.

But what about the income that pays for it?

At Liberty, we know your ability to earn an income is one of the most important things you own. It’s the one thing that pays for everything else. And while we don’t know when a disability or critical illness will unexpectedly rob you of the paycheque you’ve come to expect, we do know how to insure your income. Liberty’s Income Protection will pay you a lump sum of up to 24 times your sum assured, so you can still pay for the bond, the car, the school fees, even the Sunday lunches. The everyday things that keep your lifestyle normal.

That’s why Liberty has been trusted with more of South Africans’ new risk cover by sum assured than any other company, and has been for 12 years in a row according to Swiss Re.* Speak to a Liberty financial adviser or broker, or visit www.liberty.co.za today, to insure your income, and the lifestyle it pays for.

The Advantage of Knowing

Liberty Group Ltd is an authorised financial services provider in terms of the FAIS Act (No. 2409). Terms and conditions apply. *Swiss Re Individual Risk Market New Business Volumes Survey.

YOUR WEALTH | CONTENTS

UPFRONT 2 Editorial notes 4 Business briefs you can use

Editor-in-chief Nelly Nkosi

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Consulting Editor Sonya Naude Sub-editor Taryn Skikne Design and layout Lance Gunn

YOUR MARKET

Contributors Colin Browne, Justice Malala, Kevin Lings, Dion Chang, Shirley Scriven, Aiden Sookdin, Lisa Witepski, Brian Parsley, Richard Holmes, Wynter Murdoch, Amanda Kelly Stone, Greg Vorster, Albie Brendenhann, Ian Fairley, John Lloyd and Marilyn Adolph.

8 Political commentary 10 Economic outlook 14 Business trends

YOUR INDUSTRY 16 Claims statistics 2016 highlight the importance of life protection cover 18 Non-disclosure of information – the leading cause of non-payment of claims 19 Real life: “Liberty granted us a gift of value that went beyond money” 20 Real life: “How my financial adviser changed my life” 21 Stash – the app set to change the face of investing 22 A place called home, a place called Liberty 26 Don’t be caught with your pants down – insights into Liberty’s online Social Media University.

30 FullView for better practice management 32 Training for success 34 Retirement reform acumen 36 The complexity of a will in a modern age

Your Wealth is published by Sales Guru Publishing (Pty) Ltd Managing Director Brett Wood CEO Mark Keating Physical address First Floor, Block B Little Fourways Office Park 1 Leslie Avenue East Fourways

22 38

Postal address PO Box 785828 Sandton 2146 Tel: 011 465 2900 Disclaimer The publisher and consulting editor of this magazine give no warranties, guarantees or assurances and make no representations regarding any goods or services advertised in this edition.

Copyright SalesGuru Publishing (Pty) Ltd. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any form without prior written consent from Sales Guru Publishing (Pty) Ltd. The publishers are not responsible for any unsolicited material.

Your community 38 Reaching out to those in need

YOUR CAREER 40 Get the basics right – Brenden Botes 42 Believe in yourself – Nazeer Muhamed 44 Experience leads to success – Ron Bruce 46 Work hard and stay humble – Andre Steenkamp 48 Success through service – Nick van der Walt 50 Meet your clients’ needs – Marcelle Funchall 52 Do you have humility?

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The information contained in this publication does not constitute advice from Liberty. Any legal, technical or product information contained in this publication is subject to change. If there are any discrepancies between this document and the contractual terms or, where applicable, any fund rules, the latter will prevail. Past performance cannot be relied on as an indication of future performance. Investment performance will depend on the growth of underlying assets, which will be influenced by inflation levels in the economy and prevailing market conditions.

Any recommendations made must take into consideration your specific needs and unique circumstances. The Evolve Investment Range is underwritten by Liberty Group Limited, an authorised financial service provider 9no 24090. The GateWay Investment Plan is administered by Liberty Linked Investment Platform (Pty) Ltd, an authorised administrative financial services provider (no 44551).

YOUR LIFESTYLE 54 I nternational travel – fall in love with Amalfi!

60 Volvo’s new flagship 66 Health and wellbeing – how to boost your stamina levels 70 Tech notes 73 City entertainment round-up 78 Local travel – coast to coast 84 Win!

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UPFRONT | EDITORS’ NOTES

Your focus is your reality

T

he first half of this year has flown past and, if previous experience is anything to go by, the next half will go even faster. That leaves us with just a few short months to show our customers that we are serious about helping them to achieve financial freedom.

There is no doubt that we’re making inroads to becoming a customer-centric business – but if we are serious about being the trusted leader for insurance and investments in Africa and other chosen markets, we need to focus even harder on finding ways of improving our customers’ experiences and making it easier for them to do business with us.

To do that, as our advisers you need to be focusing your attention on the area where we add the most value:

advising customers’ needs. This in turn requires three things: a fantastic range of Liberty products, backed by the skill and knowledge to offer the right one for the right need; an emphasis on handling and resolving issues, complaints and queries fast and efficiently; and a continuous focus on ensuring that the experiences delivered always meet, or exceed, expectations.

As advisers, you have a responsibility to focus on providing the best advice for each customer; advice that will help them to achieve financial freedom.

By focusing on finding solutions, one customer at a time, we will deliver a consistent result: success!

Focusing our ideas and our passion to move our business forward – this is the power of us.

Johan Minnie

Win an iPhone 6s It’s called Your Wealth for a reason.

How can we make our magazine better? What content should we focus on? What format is most convenient for you?

Tell us on *134*268#, toll-free, and stand a chance to win an iPhone 6s smartphone – it’s sure to keep you connected.

C

an you believe we’re halfway through the year already? Time flies when you’re having fun – or, at Liberty, when you’re working.

So why do we work so hard? In this issue, two real life stories demonstrate that it’s about more than just money: when Joni Peddie lost her husband, and Lisa Ashton was diagnosed with cancer, the policies their financial advisers had arranged reduced their financial and emotional burdens in a difficult time.

Hard work and a focus on people were priorities for the Liberty staff we interviewed this month (from page 40).

Whether you’re focusing on your brokers, your clients, your colleagues or your employees, it’s all about the relationships you build – which is a good reason to check out Liberty’s new social media university (pg 26).

Liberty is reaping the benefits of teamwork right now, and don’t think that that’s escaped the notice of the higherups. Johan Minnie is proud that our culture makes working for Liberty more like belonging to a family, as you’ll see on page 22.

It’s therefore fitting that we’re offering you the chance to win an iPhone 6s – just what you need to keep in touch with all the people who depend on you. Just take the Your Wealth magazine survey by dialing *134*268#, no charge.

While you’re worrying about everyone else, however, don’t forget a bit of selfcare: our health tips on page 66 will give you more energy for longer. Goodbye coffee! And how about a holiday? Even if you don’t win our weekend in Cape Town (pg 84), there are scads of adventures available on our beautiful coasts (pg 78).

Take a break – you deserve it!

Nelly Nkosi

2 | YOUR WEALTH | WINTER 2017

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The Advantage of Knowing Liberty Group Ltd – an authorised financial services provider in terms of the FAIS Act (Licence No. 2409). Terms and conditions apply.

UPFRONT | NEWS

Business briefs News you can use. By Colin Browne

Monopoly loses another iconic symbol New versions of the perennially popular board game Monopoly will no longer feature one of the iconic playing pieces that have been a recognisable part of that game since 1935. The casualty of advancing modernity: the silver thimble.

It’s not the first to go. In 2013 the clothes iron was given the heave-ho by a focus group of players (who presumably have very wrinkled clothes) who declared it irrelevant to the 21st century. What’s left of the original pieces linking the board game to its Great Depression roots are a battleship, a book and a Scotch terrier.

The replacement for the thimble hasn’t yet been selected but it’s likely to be either a monster truck or a flip flop.

Sol Kerzner

The top 10 SA business leaders of all time Now here’s a tough list to build, and it’s bound to provoke significant debate. But New World Wealth has been extremely brave in sticking its head out and declaring that these 10 men and women are the best we’ve ever produced. And you’re going to like number two …

1. Sol Kerzner 6. Adrian Gore 2. Donald Gordon 7. Nthato Motlana 3. Richard Maponya 8. Patrice Motsepe 4. Harry Oppenheimer 9. Anton Rupert 5. Pam Golding 10. Douw Steyn

4 | YOUR WEALTH | WINTER 2017

Elon Musk

Could a South African superhero be what Australia needs?

You know how we all used to complain about Eskom’s blackouts? Well Australia has them too. And South African Elon Musk has just stepped in to offer his support, claiming he can fix that country in just 100 days. How? Well, Tesla, the company he owns, has offered to install 100 to 300 megawatt hours of batteries on the continent in that space of time, and has made a significant guarantee to back it up.

When Australian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes asked on Twitter how serious the company’s guarantee was, Musk responded confidently: “Tesla will get the system installed and working 100 days from contract signature or it is free. That serious enough for you? ” Yikes!

So, what does the rest of the world really think of us, anyway?

There’s nothing like a global survey to tell you what people whisper about you when you’re not in the room, and a recent one does precisely that. More than 21 370 people from 36 countries were surveyed to ask what they thought of 80 different countries across a range of categories. As usual we in South Africa came in for flak about inequality and crime, and justly so – those continue to be things we need to do better at. But we were given high marks for being distinctive and different as a nation and having unique and dynamic people.

Overall, we came 38th out of 80. The top five were Switzerland, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan.

UPFRONT | NEWS

Wine, surfing and jobs … it’s time to move to the Cape

Ten years on, M-Pesa has big impact on poverty

As if Capetonians don’t have enough to brag about, what with that scenery and all its goodies, they’re also getting more jobs this year. According to Manpower Group’s latest Employment Outlook Survey, we can expect jobs growth across the board in South Africa in 2017, but the spread is anything but even.

While Gauteng is expecting employment growth of around 4% according to the more than 750 employers surveyed, for the Western Cape it is 14%. KZN and the Free State are also decent options with each expecting a net employment outlook of 9%.

By the way, that good news is across all 10 industry sectors.

It’s been a decade since Vodafone and Kenya’s Safaricom launched the M-Pesa technology, and it’s having a profound impact on poverty, according to new research. Vodafone says M-Pesa was used in more than 6 billion transactions during 2016, albeit for small amounts, which is M-Pesa’s purpose.

But consulting firm Frost & Sullivan says the value of those transactions will exceed R17 billion within the next three years.

The social impact, per research firm Digital Frontiers, is a 22% drop in female-headed households living in poverty, with more than 200 000 rural women who have access to M-Pesa shifting their source of income from low-paying agricultural work to small business creation.

Over the long term, SA still the big winner Never mind the bad news, over the past 120 years, South Africa’s mineral wealth have given investors in South African equities overall the best returns in the world. This is according to new research by a global financial services firm working alongside London-based scholars, who together investigated 23 markets and more than 90% of the investment universe.

The study included other commodity rich countries such as the United States, Australia and Canada, but South Africa overall came out tops. Of course, past performance doesn’t indicate future performance, but since the world appetite for commodities is only getting stronger, perhaps a bet on South Africa in the future continues to be a smart one.

And this is where the big money gets spent Ghana is the most expensive country on the African continent.

That will come as no surprise to anyone who has spent a week there, but its status as top of the cost heap has recently been confirmed by MoveHub, an international relocation company.

The assessment included the price of groceries, transport, bills, restaurants and rent, compared with other countries. Today, those prices put a long-term stay in Accra on par with living in Rome and Tel Aviv and only slightly cheaper than Tokyo. The most expensive country in the world is Bermuda.

South African spending looking increasingly urban Statistics South Africa’s Living Conditions Survey revealed something interesting when it was released earlier this year.

Though it’s not specifically new, there is a clear trend in South African expenditure toward more urban costs of housing and transportation as the cities and urban areas continue to expand. Of the total paychecks taken home by average households across the nation, more than 32% is spent on housing and utilities and more than 16% on transport. Those numbers are looking more like London and New York.

Do South Africa’s entrepreneurs hold the key to growth?

We’re fond of saying that the entrepreneurial sector in South Africa holds the key to our future, and it’s certainly proved true in the most entrepreneurial parts of the world such as Silicon Valley. But is it actually so in South Africa? According to Seed Academy, which hosts the South African Startup Survey, there’s a mixed response. On the one hand, more than 70% of startups said funding is their number one challenge. Perhaps tied into that is the fact that there are far fewer female and black entrepreneurs than you would hope. If entrepreneurs are to build this country further, those are things that have to be addressed.

WINTER 2017 | YOUR WEALTH | 5

UPFRONT | NEWS

continent has faded away entirely. Far from it in fact: Google has taken up the flag, laying fibre optic cable in Uganda and Ghana with plans for Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. Their thinking is of course commercial, and the goal is to open new markets for their smartphones, but we don’t care. Faster internet is good and has been proven to be a critical tool for the growth of businesses in western Europe and the United States. Bring it on.

Piggy bank? Piggy Turtle.

And that’s not good Talk about an appetite for wealth. A sea turtle living in a pool in Thailand had to undergo surgery recently to remove 915 coins from her stomach that were weighing her down and limiting her ability to swim. The coins themselves are typically thrown into the pool by passersby, wishing for good luck. We can’t know whether any of them actually got their wishes, but we do know that the turtle, named Omsin, which is Thai for piggy bank, had some good luck. The surgery was the first of its kind, and she appears to be doing well.

Golden Age of Travel?

Perhaps this is it …

They call the 1950s and 1960s the Golden Age of Travel, because prior to the democratisation of air travel it really was glamorous. But if you’re given to complaining about cramped seats, lousy meals and irritating fellow passengers, give some thought to how prices have fallen over the past 40 years. It used to be that the entire plane was a lounge area with almost as many cabin attendants as passengers, but flying cost five times as much: R40 000+ to fly from New York to Paris versus R7 700 today. Also, planes crashed a lot more often and the lack of smoking regulations meant your odds of contracting a horrible disease were markedly increased. Golden Age of Travel? Perhaps we’re actually in it.

King of Pop’s house on sale again for a King’s Ransom Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch is back on the market, and if you’re keen to bid, the asking price is a mere R865 million.

That may sound like a lot, but this is a really great investment if you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind, slightly tainted, immovable asset with limited further upside. On the other hand, we’re not property experts, and we have to admit that since the asking price when it went on sale in 2015 was R1 290 million, there could still be some profits to be taken.

Now called Sycamore Ranch, this lovely property has its own fire station, railway station and track, a lagoon-style swimming pool and a 50-seat movie theatre.

And in lighter news …

Google takES on the challenge of African web access Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s satellite may have been blown to smithereens in Elon Musk’s rocket explosion last year, but that doesn’t mean the hope of faster internet access on the

6 | YOUR WEALTH | WINTER 2017

Well perhaps not so light. It seems humpback whales are starting to exhibit complex new behaviour, which has scientists baffled. These 30 000kg animals, typically the loners of the sea, have started to hang out in big groups of up to 200 around our southwest coastline. Perhaps they know something we don’t or perhaps it’s just a factor of their population growth in recent years since they became protected, but something odd is certainly going on. Called Super Groups, the phenomenon isn’t appearing anywhere else. If you have any ideas on the subject, the scientific community would love to hear from you.

YOUR MARKET | POLITICAL COMMENTARY

Walking the political tightrope Just weeks before President Jacob Zuma’s extraordinary decision to summon Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan home from London and the subsequent Cabinet reshuffle, the former Minister had presented his 2017 Budget, putting flesh to the bones of President Jacob Zuma’s “radical socio-economic transformation”. Unfortunately, as recent events testify, we must prepare for more uncertainty and turbulence as the ANC battles itself, writes political analyst Justice Malala.

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Political analyst, Justice Malala

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oing into the 2017 Budget, former Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan was pummeled with numerous brickbats. Some, including a few of his Cabinet colleagues, labeled him and National Treasury as enemies of transformation.

Just two hours before the Budget speech, the ANC Youth League in KwaZulu Natal called on President Zuma to “intervene” and sack Gordhan.

It was therefore telling that Gordhan used the word “transformation” more than 50 times in his speech. In using it again and again to underline his “inclusive growth” theme, he sought to temper the populist rhetoric around the “radical economic transformation” concept.

“Our growth challenge is intertwined with our transformation

imperative. We need to transform in order to grow, we need to grow in order to transform. Without transformation, growth will reinforce inequality; without growth, transformation will be distorted by patronage,” he said.

It was a political tightrope: Gordhan needed to bring the language used

by Zuma in the State of the Nation address into a Budget that sought to emphasise that SA can stimulate growth and bring about transformation through implementation of current programmes and not through radical new measures.

Largely, he succeeded, with a standing ovation from his ANC colleagues (about five ministers did not stand up or clap, a reflection of the divisions that continue to plague the ruling party) and the entire sitting of

YOUR MARKET | POLITICAL COMMENTARY

Parliament.

But words are not enough to paper over the cracks. Political uncertainty and noise will return with a vengeance. First, former Eskom chief executive officer Brian Molefe was sworn in as a member of parliament. This was widely tipped as a precursor to the Cabinet reshuffle.

Jitters about the team Gordhan and his trusted deputy Mcebisi Jonas built up at National Treasury will return, along with fears about whether government is committed to the fiscal consolidation that the former Minister vowed would continue.

These are issues that only Zuma can lay to rest as, constitutionally, appointment and firing of ministers is totally in his hands.

On the policy front, however, the fact that Gordhan delivered a largely “Steady, Eddy” budget means that he has managed to swat off the populist rhetoric that has engulfed some parts of the governing party. The forces within the ANC – between a faction largely built around the president and another loosely formed around Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and Gordhan – are evenly matched for now, and this means that policy will remain pretty much as it has been.

This can be seen, for example, in the Budget’s absolute silence on nuclear procurement. Those who have stridently called for nuclear build are not winning that battle, and so – at least in this Budget – that issue has been shelved. The ANC’s policy conference in June, and its national conference in December, will give better pointers.

Gordhan said that “today’s Budget message is that we are once again at a crossroads. Tough choices have to be made to achieve the development outcomes we seek.” These tough choices relate to what has to be done to boost government efficiency, attract investment and encourage growth in the short term. Given his limited political capital, Gordhan pointed to some of these: w Finalising legislation relating to mining development and land

redistribution – here he will have to face off with Mosebenzi Zwane, who has clashed with Gordhan over banking regulation and is seen as being part of those opposed to the minister. w I mplementing the transition from analogue to digital television, which will release spectrum for broadband services – an area where Communications Minister Faith Muthambi has not been decisive or communicative.

Possibly the biggest area of concern is whether departments and restive ministers will stick within their spending limits. Gordhan said: “It is only right

we will see more protests this year as a large part of the protests are not merely about fees but about wider societal issues such as transformation.

Given the fact that the ANC lost key metros in last year’s local elections, the introduction of a new top personal income tax rate of 45% for those with incomes above R1.5 million may be used as a political rallying point in the future.

However, as only just over 15 million individuals are affected by this, it may be just noise around it without real substance. On the political Left, and within the ANC, Gordhan’s failure to raise corporate income tax will be slammed.

Tough choices have to be made to achieve the development outcomes we seek. These tough choices relate to what has to be done to boost government efficiency, attract investment and encourage growth in the short term. that if households and firms face tough choices in balancing their income and expenses, the same disciplines must be applied in public expenditure.”

This is a political battle, and it is one that as the year progresses will be harder to fight. National Treasury will need all the support it can muster – particularly from the State President – to enforce and win. State-owned enterprises such as SA Airways and others have also faced governance and accountability issues which will need political clout for Gordhan to deal with.

A political hot potato has been the #FeesMustFall protests. Gordhan’s response was an additional allocation to higher education of R5 billion to the R32 billion announced previously. Campuses are already restive, and our view is that

Black economic empowerment is a key component of the government’s political narrative, and Gordhan announced public procurement reforms aimed at achieving this goal (for example, large firms awarded tenders of R30 million or more should award 30% of the contract value to blackowned enterprises). More procurement legislation is on the cards.

Gordhan’s task was politically tough. With his team, a win-win Budget was needed both economically and politically. With all the reservations one might have about woefully lacking emphasis on growth and employment, he achieved that outcome by corralling the idea of “radical transformation” into one that combines fiscal rectitude with inclusive‚ sustainable growth. w

WINTER 2017 | YOUR WEALTH | 9

YOUR MARKET | ECONOMICS

A tough and taxing year With the lack of new initiatives to meaningfully stimulate economic growth, there is a real risk that government will be forced to implement more radical tax and expenditure policy changes in the years ahead, cautions STANLIB’s chief economist Kevin Lings.

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Kevin Lings, Chief Economist at STANLIB.

10 | YOUR WEALTH | WINTER 2017

n February, just weeks before President Jacob Zuma axed him as Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan presented his second National Budget.

As usual, he tried to balance a range of competing objectives, but with an overarching focus on raising a variety of taxes and controlling government expenditure in order to contain the budget deficit to around 3% of GDP. The most significant tax changes included a jump in the top marginal tax rate from 41% to 45% for individuals earning more than R1.5 million-a-year, a sharp increase in dividend tax from 15% to 20% and a further rise in the fuel levy.

Despite the increase in taxes, he was unable to announce any large increases in key expenditure items, although there is a substantial increase in spending on tertiary education.

The international credit rating agencies are likely to welcome the intention to reduce the fiscal deficit as well as contain government debt, but they are likely to flag the disappointing growth

trajectory and the fact that tax revenue has under-performed expectations. Foreign and local investors will be somewhat disappointed with the sharp increase in the dividend tax but are unlikely to disinvest, while the business sector will find little to boost confidence and instead will worry that the increases in taxes are likely to further dampen growth expectations, thereby hindering fixed investment initiatives.

Unfortunately, the household sector, which is already under strain, will face the bulk of government’s tax changes. While it can be argued that the Minister specifically targeted wealthier individuals through a rise in the top marginal tax rate, the bulk of the additional R28 billion in tax revenue the Treasury plans on collecting will be paid by middle-income earners.

The 2016/2017 budget numbers For the 2016/17 fiscal year the Minister of Finance announced that the budget balance will have recorded a deficit of

YOUR MARKET | ECONOMICS

-3.4% of GDP. This is in line with the deficit the Minister projected in the October 2016 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). The deficit is then expected to decline to 3.1% of GDP in 2017/2018, before falling to 2.8% of GDP in 2018/19 and a mere -2.6% of GDP in 2019/20. It should be mentioned that the government’s budget deficit is expected to fall over the coming year, despite a sharp increase in the transfers to other members of the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU), to the extent of almost R16.6 billion. This will assist with regional stability.

Unfortunately, while the reduction in the budget deficit over the next three years reflects an intention to adhere to fiscal discipline, South Africa’s National Treasury has developed a reputation in recent years for not being able to achieve the intended reduction in the fiscal deficit and that each year there is some degree of fiscal slippage. It is clear that this fiscal slippage largely reflects the fact that economic growth persistently underperforms target.

The government also intends to maintain a primary budget surplus (which is the budget deficit less interest costs) of 0.4% of GDP in the current fiscal year. This would be a very welcome achievement, after recording a primary budget surplus of 0.1% of GDP in the past fiscal year, and will go a long way towards convincing the public, investors and credit rating agencies that government is serious about its intention to achieve a more disciplined financial framework.

The revenue side of the budget In 2016/2017 tax revenue massively underperformed budget by an estimated R30 billion. This is significantly worse than the R23 billion underperformance the Minister highlighted in the October 2016 Medium Term Budget. A breakdown of the revenue shortfall shows that the under-collection has been very broad-based and includes a dramatic R15.23 billion shortfall in individual tax collection, a R11.26 billion under-

The key tax changes announced included a sharp increase in the top marginal tax rate for individuals from 41% to 45%, specifically for those individuals earning more than R1.5 million. There are an estimated 103 353 taxpayers that will be impacted by this adjustment, representing a mere 1.4% of registered taxpayers. collection of VAT and a R6.5 billion lapse in the collection of customs duties. In contrast, company tax collection has been stronger than expected (with an estimated revenue over-run of R6.8 billion), helped by a relatively modest initial budget increase.

Total government revenue is budgeted to increase by 9.0% in 2017/2018. This is after revenue grew by a mere 6.2% in 2016/17, hurt by a slump in economic growth. The Minister announced tax increases of R28 billion for 2017/2018, mostly in the form of personal income tax, dividend tax and the fuel levy.

He further warned that taxes are likely to rise further in 2018/2019; possibly by a further R15 billion. The extent of the tax hikes was not a surprise since the Minister highlighted that he needed to collect an additional R28 billion in the October 2016 MTBPS. The key tax changes announced included a sharp increase in the top marginal tax rate for individuals from 41% to 45%, specifically for those individuals earning more than R1.5 million. There are an estimated 103 353 taxpayers that will be impacted by this adjustment, representing a mere 1.4% of registered taxpayers. However, these 103 353 taxpayers are projected to contribute 26.3% of total individual income tax in 2017/2018.

Further changes to personal income tax included a below-inflation adjustment to the tax brackets.

This meant that the Minister did not compensate the taxpayer with the negative effectives of inflation (technically referred to as fiscal drag).

The net result of the hike in the top marginal tax rate as well as the lack of adjustment to the tax brackets means that personal income taxes are expected to contribute additional R16.5 billion to total tax revenue.

There was also an increase in the dividend withholding tax from 15% to 20% (providing an additional R6.8 billion in tax revenue) as well as 30 cents per litre increase on the general fuel levy and a 9 cents a litre rise in the Road Accident Fund (providing an additional R3.2 billion).

Lastly the Minister announced the usual hikes in excise duties on alcohol and tobacco products, which should yield a further R1.3 billion in revenue.

Despite the relatively large array of tax changes, the composition of tax revenue is not expected to change significantly over the coming year, with the bulk of the revenue still being derived from direct taxes in the form of personal income tax (38.8% of total) and company tax (17.6% of total).

Revenue from indirect taxes, such as VAT and the fuel levy, has grown steadily over the years (despite the VAT rate remaining unchanged at 14%) and now comprise an indispensable component of tax revenue. In fact, the revenue received from VAT (25.2% of total) consistently and significantly exceeds corporate tax receipts, with 2016/2017 no exception.

Overall, it is clear that tax revenue is under pressure and that government will most likely have to raise taxes further over the coming years if economic growth and employment do not improve.

It is also clear that, for the moment,

WINTER 2017 | YOUR WEALTH | 11

YOUR MARKET | ECONOMICS

the income tax and fuel levy are being used as an alternative to increasing the VAT rate. However, this cannot be sustained indefinitely and ultimately the government will have to seriously consider raising the VAT rate. The average VAT rate in emerging markets is around 15% compared with 14% in South Africa.

The expenditure side of the budget Over the next three years the Minister projected an average expenditure growth of 7.9% a year. This is relatively moderate and only moderately above inflation, suggesting that government is focused on becoming significantly more disciplined.

This focus on fiscal discipline is reflected in the fact that the government has largely stuck to its expenditure ceiling since it was established in 2012. In particular, the government continues to build on its efforts to control its wage cost including moderating wage increases, putting a hiring freeze on non-essential workers and embarking on discussions around early retirement of public sector workers.

Key areas of growth in government spending during 2017/2018 remain education, healthcare, and welfare (social grants), including housing and community development. Gordhan specifically highlighted that the government has allocated R105.9 billion on transfers to universities, while the National Student Financial Aid Scheme will spend R54.3 billion helping students that have a household income of less than R600 000 a year. He said “All poor students who applied and qualified for National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) awards, and who have been accepted by a university or a technical and vocational education and training college, would be supported.”

The government’s healthcare budget will see a sizeable planned increase in expenditure of just over 8% per year over the next three years. Government has indicated that they are now ready to move into the next phase of National Health Insurance (NHI) and are considering the reduction of tax credits to medical schemes as a means of funding the future

12 | YOUR WEALTH | WINTER 2017

From our perspective, in order to resolve this policy dilemma the government urgently needs to focus on lifting the key domestic factors constraining economic growth. Some of these constraints might be relatively easy to resolve, others would require a large degree of policy innovation such as the extensive use of private-public partnerships. expansion of the NHI. Unfortunately, there is still not enough in the budget to directly promote job creation. South Africa’s unemployment rate remains far too high by historical and international standards, and clearly contributes much of the social tension and anguish experienced in South Africa on a daily basis.

Increasing employment in South Africa has to be the number one economic/ political/social objective.

Debt servicing costs continue to rise at a very rapid pace While South Africa’s public sector debt parameters remain fairly acceptable by world standards at around 50% of GDP, the total debt as well as the cost of servicing that debt is clearly on the rise.

For example, back in 2009, government’s gross debt totalled only 26% of GDP. It is now projected at 52.3% in 2017/2018.

If left unchecked, government debt will quickly become a major hindrance to achieving many vital policy objectives.

In addition, a key risk to South Africa’s ongoing fiscal stability is the increase in state debt cost. While the interest cost on state debt remains manageable at around 11% of total expenditure, it is now consistently the fastest growing component of government expenditure. In fact, nominal growth in interest and rent on land is expected to average well over 10% over the next three years. Under these circumstances, a significant rise in bond yields, due to further credit rating downgrades, would put South Africa’s fiscal position under increasing strain.

Already the cost of debt exceeds the total budget allocation to public order and safety and is one of the fastest rising components of state spending.

In sumary The 2017 National Budget was presented under difficult economic and political circumstances. The dramatic revenue under-collection and weak economic growth meant National Treasury had to make a hard decision. Either it had to decide to allow the budget deficit to increase fairly sharply in 2017/2018 and thereby risk an almost certain ratings downgrade, or it had to decide to do the unpopular thing and raise taxes significantly. Treasury obviously chose the tax hike options, which has allowed them to report only modest fiscal slippage, giving South Africa some chance of maintaining its investment credit rating.

However, and very importantly, the large tax hikes will hurt the already weak economic environment, potentially depressing the already subdued rate of economic expansion in key sectors of the economy.

From our perspective, in order to resolve this policy dilemma, the government urgently needs to focus on lifting the key domestic factors constraining economic growth. Some of these constraints might be relatively easy to resolve, others would require a large degree of policy innovation such as the extensive use of private-public partnerships. Clearly, however, some of the constraints would prove more difficult to resolve in the current political turmoil. w

YOUR MARKET | TRENDS

The role of a knowledge worker in a digitised world Everyone understands the rules of business have changed. We try and meet the challenges that a disruptive era brings but (ironically) we rarely question the skill set needed to adapt to that disruption.

Dion Chang delves into the world of knowledge workers.

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here’s a painful fact I often have to point out to parents, specifically the parents of Gen Z (generally your current teenage demographic): you are no longer the font of wisdom to your child – Google is. It’s an ego bruising realisation, but one that needs to sink in, to ensure that one’s parenting is brought up to speed for a digitised world.

Gen Z is the first generational group who can be truly classified as digital natives. We always assume that tech savvy millennials are digital natives, but even they have had to adapt and adopt new technologies. Think about all the social media platforms we use daily.

They were all spawned in a short period of time somewhere between 2004 and 2010: Facebook was launched in 2004, YouTube in 2005, Twitter in 2006, and Instagram in 2010. The internet was only really released to the public in 1991.

Dion Chang is the founder of Flux Trends. For more trends as business strategy visit: www.fluxtrends.com

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Millennials are more adept at technology, but they still had to adopt these new platforms. Gen Z on the other hand were born into an internetdriven world. They do not have a grasp on a world that does not run on smartphones, the internet, and their font of wisdom, Google.

As a result, their relationship to knowledge – finding and filtering it – is very different to that of their parents and most of the adult population. This in turn affects education.

The education system we all know was developed in a pre-digital era, using the principle of rote learning: having to memorise facts. Rote learning could enable you to pass exams, but not necessarily retain comprehension. It is an ineffective means of mastering any complex subject at an advanced level.

I mention this education challenge because it has wider ramifications than just how Gen Z’s should be taught. With digitisation, all the systems we have used – from education to business – for the last 50 years, are now fast becoming obsolete, or simply inappropriate. The

YOUR MARKET | TRENDS

parallels between what is needed for education, as well as for business, are becoming evident.

The fourth industrial revolution is a reality. Machines are not rising: they’ve already risen. Mechanisation, automation and robotics are already taking jobs – specifically the jobs that are rote and repetitive. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is what I call “the language of the machines”, and that language is manifesting itself in algorithms, which in turn are taking away unexpected jobs in the financial services industry in the form of robot advisers and chat bots. The role of the financial adviser is therefore being questioned. It’s time to rethink and reinvent that role.

But let’s return to education. To rethink and reinvent education, we need to interrogate what it means to be a knowledge worker.

The internet – and our reliance on it – has become a primary form of external or “transactive” memory i.e. where information is stored collectively outside the brain. This is not so different from a pre-internet era, when people relied on books and libraries for information. Today, it’s digitised and most of our collective and institutional knowledge banks live online and in data storage. It’s not only that it is easily accessible, but the volume of information at your fingertips means that filtering out the correct information has become key.

If we no longer need to memorise everything, then our education system needs to teach our children how to learn to find and filter information more efficiently. We now need to function more like librarians, rather than scientists.

But finding and filtering information is not the end goal for a knowledge worker. Knowledge workers need to be able to create new knowledge with this information.

The basic information you can access quickly is still important, but not as an end in itself. Rather, it is a resource, something to learn and

then expand upon.

If we bring this back to the world of business, you’ll find that it dovetails seamlessly. Much like our Gen Z’s need a new education system, so too do we need to learn to utilise information and knowledge differently.

Every industry is facing the same basic challenge: how to move forward with institutional memory, adapt that institutional knowledge to a new world order, as well as integrate some form of high tech implementation. This tripartite conundrum is pivotal to the financial services sector: an industry I describe as being in the “eye of the storm” of disruption.

Digitisation collapses the value chain of an industry. It takes away the roll of the middleman, and the financial services sector has many middlemen.

Not only is information now freely available online, but the same online platforms offer comparative shopping.

Add to that, Chatbots and robot advisers, as well as a new tech-savvy generation who are comfortable engaging with an algorithm, instead of a human, and you get the perfect disruptive storm. Robot advisers, in particular, have ensured that “the price of advice” has been pushed into the spotlight. Can your advice warrant the extra cost, versus relying on a fast and efficient algorithm? This is where performing like a knowledge worker kicks in.

In his article, “Piece of Mind: Is the internet Replacing Our Ability to Remember?” Larry Greenemeier maps out how knowledge workers are meant to add value to the information they find, or in the case of financial advisers, industry experience they already have.

1. Knowledge workers need to be able to locate, assess, and represent new information quickly.

Your client might be able to do this, but you should be able to find more nuanced information or be able to point out conflicting facts based on analysis.

2. They need to be able to communicate this to others,

and to be able to work productively in collaborations with others. Digitised businesses are creating new and complex problems. The most crucial skill sets now valued by all businesses are problem solving and critical thinking, and those skills thrive in a collaborative environment where different perspectives are applied to the same problem. Machines don’t have human soft skills. Yet. 3. They need to be adaptable, creative and innovative, and to be able to understand things at a ‘systems’ or ‘big picture’ level. In a digitised world, change, not stability, is a given. Silos and hierarchies (the building blocks of 20th century corporations and legacy companies) are now proving to be prohibitive for innovation, as well as detrimental to a company’s evolution. If the entire ecosystem of a company is not on the same page, then there will always be operational issues, and in this day and age, issues that could drag the entire company down.

4. Most importantly, they need to be able to think and learn for themselves, sometimes with the help of external authorities and/ or systems of rules, but, more often, without this help. The forces and undercurrents affecting business have become multidimensional and multi-faceted. It is time to continuously look outside the financial services industry to spot the winds of change. Things disrupting other industries are bound to have a ripple effect on yours. Upskilling yourself as well as broadening your interests is now crucial to survival.

To meet disruption, most companies have started to pivot their business models in order to survive.

If you are a parent, a manager or business owner the time to pivot is right now.

Just pivot with the mindset of a knowledge worker. w

WINTER 2017 | YOUR WEALTH | 15

YOUR INDUSTRY | RISK

Liberty’s Claims Stats for 2016 highlight the importance of life protection cover As the largest writer of new risk business in South Africa since 2003 and the first insurer to publish its Claim Statistics, Liberty has once again proven that it is committed to protecting its customers and their families against life’s uncertainties, despite the tough economic conditions. By Aiden Sookdin.

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n 2016, Liberty paid out R4.3 billion in valid claims, 13% more than 2015. This amounts to R17 million every working day. These statistics reveal concerning trends in health and lifestyle risks with cancer and cardiac and cardiovascular conditions being the main causes of claims.

“Many people believe that misfortunes won’t happen to them but when you consider the statistics, the importance of insurance protection against debilitating events becomes quite clear,” says Henk Meintjes, Head of Risk Product Development at Liberty.

The statistics are telling and highlight the importance of life protection insurance.

There are real people behind these numbers In 2016, Liberty developed segments to more accurately represent its customer-base. The segments include Young Achievers, Young Parents, Established Providers and Empty Nesters. “Whether they are just starting out in their careers, celebrating the birth of their first child, or planning for their retirement, it is our intention to develop

16 | YOUR WEALTH | WINTER 2017

solutions and services that allow our customers the flexibility and assurance to handle life’s challenges,” explains Henk.

Cancer was the main cause for claims for all segments other than Empty Nesters, at 15.2% of claims for Young Achievers, 24.4% for Young Parents, 26.2% for Established Providers and 23.31% for Empty Nesters. The most common type of cancer for women was breast cancer and for men, it was prostate cancer.

Liberty’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Philippa Peil, notes that “we have seen this trend ever since we started reporting on our claim statistics in 2006.

There are a number of reasons for this trend, such as lifestyle choices, diet, lack of physical activity and genetic markers. Given the increasing rate of cancer claims, it is important for men and women to take serious care of their bodies and to identify any serious illnesses as early as possible.”

Dr Peil recommends that both men and women take the time to familiarise themselves with their body. “Check your skin for new moles, lumps or whatever doesn’t feel or look right. With

medical advancements, early detection can save lives,” she says.

She adds that cancer affects people of all ages. “From age 30, females should take pap smear tests combined with an HPV test until age 65. Clinical breast exams should be done every three years, and annually after age 40.

Men and women over the age of 50 should have colonoscopies every five to 10 years, among other tests.”

As a proportion of claims submitted, retrenchment was highest amongst Young Achievers at 11.7%.

Cardiovascular related events made up the second most common cause overall of claims submitted; 9.0% (Young Achievers), 14.72% (Young Parents), 22.18% (Established Providers) and 23.67% (Empty Nesters) of paid claims respectively.

Strokes or central nervous system disorders also contributed significantly to total claims paid and were responsible for 9.31% of Young Parents’ claims paid and 9.21% of Established Providers’ claims paid. As expected for Empty Nesters, who are generally older, respiratory diseases and disorders were responsible for 7.31% of paid claims.

YOUR INDUSTRY | RISK

Most motor vehicle accident claims were from Gauteng Although Liberty’s Claim Statistics for 2016 reveal that the biggest cause for claims is health related, many claims are also as a result of accidents.

Looking at the data in more detail, motor vehicle accidents made up 10% of claims for Young Achievers. At least 12% of these were for young men and 8% for young women.

“Sadly for Young Achievers, 74% of motor vehicle accidents, which lead to long-term insurance claims at Liberty, were death claims. It’s difficult to say from the data whether motor vehicle accidents are becoming more frequent or more severe, but the fast-paced lifestyle in major cities, which can lead to higher stress levels, impacts our health and could also result in reduced focus on the roads,” Henk adds.

Cardiac and Cardiovascular claims dominate Kwa-Zulu Natal claim statistics The biggest cause for claims in Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) was related to cardiac and cardiovascular events. This is in contrast to the rest of the country where cancerrelated claims were more prevalent in the majority of provinces.

Sadly, KZN also had the highest claims for murder related deaths in 2016 and it experienced an increase in suicide related claims. The majority of suicide victims were farmers. The continuing drought may be the cause of the increase in suicide related deaths in the province.

Dr Peil says, “At every stage in your life it is important to remain active, visit your doctor regularly and keep a close eye on your health. Eat healthy foods in moderation to maintain a healthy weight, and cut down on smoking or avoid it completely. This can help you steer clear of cardiovascular problems.”

Suicide and cardiovascular claims increase in Northern Cape and Free State Liberty’s Claim Statistics for 2016 reveal surprising results from the Free State and Northern Cape provinces.

Breakdown of Segments w Young Achievers: A young Achiever’s greatest asset is their future income – protecting that income, and the ability to earn it, is of paramount importance. w Young Parents: Young Parents are more established in their careers, and despite earning a stable income, their household expenses may be increasing while having a young child. They are also responsible for the lives of others, a reality that is steadily increasing the amount of pressure they are under, and underscores the importance of having comprehensive risk cover in place. w Established Providers: Established Providers have more freedom than young parents – their priorities include taking care of their dependants while at the same time securing a comfortable retirement. Their purchase pattern suggests that they may have the required insurance in place, although their life stage signifies an increase in disposable income, and an enhanced quality of life that is worth protecting. w Empty Nesters: This segment is nearing their golden years – their dependants are generally well-established and financially more independent. They are working hard to settle outstanding debts and their focus is shifting to protecting their retirement and ensuring they have sufficient medical cover in place.

The biggest cause of claims in the Free State was cancer at 24%. An increase in musculoskeletal diseases and disorders as well as policy protection claims was also recorded.

The highest cause of claims in the Northern Cape was cardiac and cardiovascular conditions, while the most regrettable cause for claims is suicides among farmers older than 55. The continuing drought may be the cause of the increase in suicide-related deaths in the province.

Western Cape has the highest level of retrenchment claims in the country Liberty’s Claim Statistics for the Western Cape in 2016 fall in line with results from the rest of the country, with cancer dominating the claims environment at 29.43% of total claims in the period under review.

However, there was a noteworthy increase in retrenchment claims, particularly amongst women at 60%

while men were at 40%. In addition, Young Achievers also saw higher claims for retrenchments at 12.33% and motor vehicle accidents at 4.11%.

“At this stage in your life, your ability to earn an income is your biggest asset. This retrenchment statistic emphasises the importance of income protection policies. If you are retrenched you need to maintain your current lifestyle and meet your financial commitments,” explains Henk.

Keeping the promise to customers For the past 60 years, Liberty has built a legacy of changing the realities of millions of South Africans and pioneering financial freedom for them.

“Insuring against life’s uncertainties is only a part of the solution Liberty provides. However, our promise to pay all valid claims is paramount to allowing policyholders to live the life they’ve worked so hard to build,” concludes Henk. w

WINTER 2017 | YOUR WEALTH | 17

YOUR INDUSTRY | RISK

Non-disclosure of information – THE leading cause of non-payment of claims Customers should do their best to disclose as much information as possible when they apply for a policy to make certain that they will be covered. By Aiden Sookdin.

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any customers view insurers as wealthy collectors of premiums and fail to see the true victims of non-disclosure and fraud. What they don’t realise is that dishonesty and fraud result in significant costs to the industry, which will ultimately be borne by other customers through higher premiums.

This is why it is important to reduce the occurrence of non-disclosure.

“Non-disclosure occurs when the medical, financial, lifestyle or occupational questions are answered incorrectly or where important information is omitted when cover is first bought,” explains Henk Meintjes, Head of Risk Products. “This ranges from deliberate fraud to innocent omissions where certain

information is simply forgotten.”

The issue of non-disclosure is not limited to the South African insurance industry. It’s a global problem that must be addressed by educating customers. In some cases, non-disclosure is an attempt by the customer to get better terms.

Unfortunately, non-disclosure can have serious consequences on the customer, their dependants, the insurer and other policyholders, adds John Maxwell, Liberty Chief Executive: Individual Arrangements.

According to Liberty’s claim statistics for 2016, valid claims to the value of R4.3 billion were paid out by the insurer.

That’s an average of 63 claims, one every eight minutes, totalling R17 185 524 each working day.

What financial advisers should tell customers about non-disclosure 1. The most common areas of non-disclosure are related to occupation, financial standing and most frequently medical disclosure.

2. Failure to provide full medical and financial information at application may delay the underwriting processes and could lead to the cancellation of a benefit or reduced payment at claim stage.

3. Take time to think about the questions in the application form and provide all relevant information.

4. Consider tele-underwriting, which is a popular option if some of the information is sensitive. All client details are treated confidentially and stored securely with access by only a small number of authorised staff who conduct the tele interview in lieu of completing the paper application.

5. Check your policy documents once issued as these have a summary of the disclosures. Go back to your adviser or insurer if there are errors or omissions.

6. Regularly review your cover to ensure it remains in line with your needs and can be supported by financial evidence.

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“While Liberty always pays valid claims, there are some instances where nondisclosure could invalidate the policy and the claim even if the claim criteria are met,” says Henk.

“Where there was a condition or ailment which was present when the benefit was underwritten but the customer failed to inform us, we may reconstruct the policy at claim stage with that information. Assuming the information would have been relevant to the underwriting of the case at that time, the cover may be declined or offered on different terms such as medical loadings, exclusions or limits on the sum assured.”

Withholding important information is not worth it, he warns. With insurance, you’re trying to mitigate risks, but with non-disclosure, you’re adding another level of risk. It’s simply not worth trying to save a few rand by being dishonest and putting your entire policy at risk.

“The reality is that non-disclosure doesn’t just have a negative impact on the insurer, the validation of the policy may in itself be traumatic for the customer during this difficult time. It can also be disastrous for the beneficiaries who will be left to carry the very financial burden the policy was meant to insure against if the claim is invalidated. Insurers also have a duty to other policy holders to ensure their premiums are not inflated by the cost of paying for pre-existing conditions. For all these reasons, customers should do their best to disclose as much as possible at application to have certainty of cover,” says John. w

YOUR INDUSTRY | RISK

‘Liberty granted us a gift of value that went beyond money’ The pain of losing a spouse is difficult enough without having to worry about the financial implications of a death in the family. Joni Peddie, widowed wife of Gareth Peddie, Springbok canoeist, understands this pain first hand. By Aiden Sookin.

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n 2007, Joni Peddie said goodbye to her husband as he boarded a plane to represent South Africa as a Springbok rowing champion at the World Canoe Championships in Hungary. That was the last time she’d see her husband alive. Gareth suffered an aortic aneurism while watching the final event of the championship. He left behind his wife and two children.

“The death of my late husband left a massive void in my life and the lives of our children. Not only were we married, but we were also in business together. Everywhere I looked, there were massive gaps that only he was so involved in and could fill. I was distraught. I felt helpless and couldn’t work. As a result, the financial pressure started to come down on me,” says Joni.

At the time of his unexpected passing, Joni and Gareth were not only raising their two daughters but also caring for Gareth’s sister’s two additional children whose mother passed away the year before. The financial responsibilities increased tremendously and Joni wasn’t sure about the future of her young family, depending solely on her.

To reduce the burden, she had no

choice but to send her two nieces to family in Durban. This still left her concerned about caring for her two children. Her daughters had lost so much already as a result of this trauma – their father didn’t hadn’t come home after leaving for Hungary and their cousins had left to live in Durban. If Joni couldn’t sort out the family finances, she would have to uproot her daughters again by taking them out of their private schools.

Fortunately, just seven months before his death, Gareth had spoken to an independent financial planner, Craig Finch. Craig recommended that Gareth take out Liberty’s Lifestyle Protector – Educator Policy. In the event of his death, his children’s schooling and university fees would be fully paid for.

When Joni heard about the policy, she was immediately relieved.

“I was unbelievably grateful that in March, Gareth took out this policy with Liberty. It meant that I could keep my daughters in school. Liberty granted us a gift of value that went beyond money.

My daughters could maintain the quality of education that they were used to and did not have to leave their friends and teachers behind,” explains Joni.

Craig says, “The main reason I recommended this policy is that it was provided by a financial institution with a strong track record of paying claims to its beneficiaries. The biggest advantage of this policy is that Liberty pays the educational institution directly which takes the financial burden off the spouse and ensures that the children benefit directly from the policy.”

As a financial planner, Craig doesn’t always see the result of his advice come to fruition. In this case, he felt a sense of satisfaction that the policy he recommended not only reduced the financial burden on Joni’s shoulders; it also secured the future of her two girls.

Because of the honest advice of the financial adviser and the action taken by Gareth before his death, this heart-wrenching story has a happy ending. Gareth’s daughters were also the very first beneficiaries to be paid out under the Liberty’s Lifestyle Protector Educator Policy.

Today, Joni’s eldest daughter is in her second year of a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Stellenbosch while her younger daughter is completing her final school year at one of the best private schools in the country. w

WINTER 2017 | YOUR WEALTH | 19

YOUR INDUSTRY | RISK

’How my financial adviser changed my life’ Lisa Ashton’s life was turned upside down when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Fortunately, her financial adviser had ensured she’d put all the right cover in place so she didn’t have to be burdened financially. By Aiden Sookdin.

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hen Lisa Ashton was diagnosed with Stage 2 Breast Cancer, she was only 35 years old. At the time, she was raising a young family, in a new home with her husband, two children and a foster child. The emotional trauma of a cancer diagnosis in a family is distressing enough without having to deal with the financial challenges. Following her diagnosis Lisa gained a new appreciation for her financial adviser, Jaco Joubert.

Lisa and Jaco reviewed her financial situation in 2004. He advised her to increase her life cover and medical aid benefits and in March 2005, Lisa’s dread disease policy became active. The very next year in March 2006, 17 days before Lisa’s birthday, she called her financial adviser again.

Lisa says, “After my diagnosis, one of the first people I called after speaking to my family was Jaco. I wanted to know if I was covered. He informed me that not only did I have the right medical cover in place, I also had a dread disease policy with Liberty.”

According to Lisa, Jaco handled her claims with limited interaction required from her. This gave her the time to focus on fighting cancer, dealing with the treatments and looking after her family.

During this time, the doctors found

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that oestrogen was fuelling the growth of the cancer and Lisa immediately started undergoing treatment to remove all the oestrogen from her body. “Medically, it was traumatic for me,” she says. “There were the constant visits to medical doctors, the injections with thick needles and Tamoxifen, and on top of that, I became post-menopausal with hot flushes, night sweats and mood swings.

Later that year, I also had a hysterectomy and my ovaries removed.”

However, Lisa’s battle with cancer didn’t stop there. Five years later she went for a check-up only to find that the cancer had returned, this time in her rib bones. Lisa was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. “Because I had the right level of dread disease cover in place when I was first diagnosed, Liberty paid out 50% of my cover. When I was diagnosed the second time, the rest of the policy was paid out to me.”

Today, nearly 13 years after starting her battle with cancer, Lisa is cancer-free.

Even though her cancer benefits are now depleted, Lisa still has dread disease cover in place. That means that if she is diagnosed with a heart condition or any other dread disease, she will receive the necessary benefits.

Her financial adviser has also made sure that she has the right medical aid

benefits in place. In the unlikely event that the cancer does return, Lisa’s medical bills will still be covered.

“I think it is important to tell this story because many people don’t understand the valuable role a financial adviser plays. My adviser has my best interests at heart and made sure that I could deal with this dread disease and take care of my family,” says Lisa.

Lisa is not alone in her battle with cancer. According to Liberty’s Claim Statistics for 2016, cancer was the main cause for claims during the year under review. The most common type of cancer for women was breast cancer and for men it was prostate cancer.

Johan Minnie, Group Executive for Sales, Distribution & Bancassurance at Liberty says, “Behind the claim statistics, there are real people with a real need for quality financial guidance. Financial Advisers play a pivotal role in helping people manage their money, prepare for life’s challenges and most importantly, achieve their long-term financial goals.”

He says that Lisa’s story is a demonstration of how a relationship with an adviser saved the life of a young woman whose life was turned upside down by a catastrophic event.

“Ensure that you check in with your adviser as often as you can,” urges Johan. w

YOUR INDUSTRY | RISK

Innovative new app set to change the face of investing Juan Labuschagne, Head of Development at savings app Stash, explains a unique solution to the poor savings culture in South Africa. By Aiden Sookdin.

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tash is an investment app designed to break through all the complicated investment jargon, processes, tedious forms, and cashing out difficulties. It’s the perfect solution for financial advisers to encourage customers to start investing with minimal effort.

Downloading Stash is quick, convenient and simple. The average user takes just 49 seconds to set up their Stash – from start to finish. When you download Stash from your Play Store, you get R50 upfront just for signing up and to kick start your investment journey. Every time you refer a friend, you are rewarded with R10, which is added to your Stash account.

Juan Labuschagne, Head of Development at Stash says, “When it comes to investing, getting started is the hardest part. I can remember the homework I had to do to make sense

of where I was putting my money. It seemed like too much work and I kept putting it off. Investing should be as easy as tweeting – that’s the goal of Stash.”

Users decide how much they want to stash. The app rounds up the amount of every transaction. If a user decides that their Stash limit per transaction is R10 and they make a transaction for R45, this would be rounded up to R50. The R5 in change is stashed.

Juan explains, “All this spare change accumulates without interfering with your day-to-day life. Stash checks your daily bank balance and never transfers more than you can afford, so you don’t have to worry about going into overdraft. Before you know it, you’ll have a significant Stash balance. Your Stash grows as fast as South Africa’s biggest companies do because your spare change is invested in South Africa’s top 100 listed companies.”

An additional benefit of Stash is that you don’t pay any tax on the cash that is stashed. You can invest up to R33 000 a year, up to R500 000 over your lifetime, into your tax-free investment.

These limits go across ALL your tax-free savings accounts you may have. You are not taxed on the growth of your money, not

penalised when you cash out, and you can put in or withdraw money whenever you like.

Stash is currently available for Android-powered mobile phones. “In South Africa, nine out of 10 smartphones are Android devices. Our goal is to get Stash in the hands of as many people as possible, so focusing on 90% of the market was ideal,” notes Juan.

Stash is an investment first, truly created for the ordinary man in the street, taking less than a minute to set up. It is the first app in South Africa that gives novice investors access to the power of the stock market with zero fees. Investors can access their money whenever they need it. w

Stash’s interactive features Stash comes with novel interactive features to encourage users to invest.

For example, you can stash money every day that it’s sunny in your area.

Every morning, Stash checks the weather in your area. If it’s sunny, you stash money. You can choose to stash R5, R10, R20 or the maximum temperature of that day (in Rands).

Before 1pm each day, you can stop Sunny Money from getting stashed on a sunny day. You can also set a monthly limit to the amount that gets stashed.

WINTER 2017 | YOUR WEALTH | 21

YOUR INDUSTRY | Distribution SCU

A place called home – a place called Liberty Human beings thrive when they have a sense of belonging – and that’s what sets Liberty apart. Our financial advisers are all valued parts of a larger whole, writes Johan Minnie, Liberty Group Executive: Sales, Distribution and Bancassurance.

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his is our year of action! 2017 is the year we get down and dirty, drive what we know works like never before, rely on some new people to help us do things a little differently, harness our collective strengths and put them to work for us and most importantly WIN! And the key to our victory? You, our financial advisers, and the sales managers and broker consultants who support you.

At Liberty, we remain 100% committed to the value of advice and the advisers behind it, it’s the reason behind forming a distribution SCU,

We know you are important in the financial freedom equation, that investing in a network of great advisers like you will differentiate us in the market – not to mention the upside for our customers.

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relooking our adviser training and support, and the investment and focus now being channelled into projects specifically designed to enable you.

While other companies may be going out punting the value of advice, what are they actually doing? Momentum, Discovery, Sanlam and Allan Gray, are more solutions focused, as opposed to “advice” focused. Old Mutual does bring in the standard 6 steps of Financial Planning and uses that as a journey to meeting their clients’ needs, but it’s quite a functional approach not geared for the individual adviser nuances.

But when you look at it ask yourself – are they explaining why advice is important or why a great adviser is important?

We know you are important in the financial freedom equation, that investing in a network of great advisers like you will differentiate us in the market – not to mention the upside for our customers.

We know that investors who work with financial advisers have nearly three times the net worth and four times the investable assets

YOUR INDUSTRY | Distribution SCU

The March 2017 study showed just how much impact financial advisers have on their customers’ financial status.

of those who do not, across all age groups and income levels.

We also know that advised households are twice as likely to save regularly for retirement as those who don’t seek out expert advice.

This year the organisation has fundamentally shifted – our strategy is about amplifying our existing strengths and leveraging them for the good of the whole – and for the first time in a long time we have a place in the sun!

Which of our competitors is investing in their distribution capability? All of them? You may be right – but are they investing in robo-advice, one click quotes, high-advice call centres, or are they investing in the development of one of the most noble professions in the world?

This is not to say that we are not developing and investing in some of these things but our focus is completely different – our focus is on developing those things with a view to enabling the Financial Adviser, to fill in where the adviser can’t or won’t add value.

So when you see the words Distribution SCU – understand that’s what it’s all about!

It’s a gutsy move and one our competitors can’t easily replicate, because they don’t have the scale we already have to build on.

I don’t know what our next BIG thing will be (ok I have a few ideas), but I do know that we won’t achieve it unless we work together, if we don’t step up, embrace change, focus and get busy with the business of rebuilding our business.

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YOUR INDUSTRY | Distribution SCU

What is an SCU? Strategic Competency Units or SCUs house our core competencies that will create group-wide differentiation.

An SCU is an autonomous division or organisational unit, small enough to be flexible and large enough to exercise control over factors like training, legislation and resourcing which affect long-term performance.

The Distribution SCU is not just another structure change – it’s part of a considered strategy to focus and amplify what we know we do well. It opens up entirely new possibilities to win.

For a competency to be a SCU it must fulfil the following three criteria: 1. Unique 3 Something that is scarce, at least locally or in all the markets in which we compete 3 Challenges the industry status quo on executing industry functions 3 May be transformational for the industry 3 Would require investment to build 2. Leveragable 3 Can be used across the group (at least 2 CFUs) 3. Adds material value 3 Adds value to the CUSTOMER of the CFU and/or adds value to the Group’s pursuit of maximising shareholder value 3 Needs to add material value that is measurable and ‘moves the dial’ within a reasonable timeframe

Executive SUMMARY

… of advised consumers strongly agreed that working with an intermediary has given them greater confidence in terms of their finances.

6 in 10 consumers give their overall experience with intermediaries a top rating.

… are committed to achieving their financial goals as a result of their intermediary.

Consumers with an intermediary have significantly more investable assets than those without.

… of advised consumers strongly agreed their intermediary had a positive impact on the value of their investments.

Investors who work with intermediaries have a significantly higher net worth than those who do not.

In March, Liberty’s Financial Adviser Value Research showed just how much FAs offer to the company, the industry, and the customer.

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YOUR INDUSTRY | Distribution SCU

Greatness is part of our DNA. Our heritage is in product innovation. Over time we have come up with a number of unique products and services which have redefined our industry. Today the industry is more competitive, customers are more discerning and so the opportunities for innovation and differentiation are smaller and harder to achieve.

Today I need you, each of you, to consciously choose action. Because together we can win. It all starts with you. w *Source: Investment Funds Institute Canada 2015

Financial advisers are their own best advertisement: customers who use an FA are likely to return.

We all need to belong Human beings were made to connect with other humans, it is essential - not only for our ability to thrive but for our very survival.

Just think about it for a second - other mammals are born and they can crawl to the food source, crawl on their mothers’ backs or go for a swing in the jungle. But not our babies. They just lay there and cry until another human being comes to connect with them.

If no one comes they die and neuroscientists tell us - they know it.

From the second they are born our babies are ready to connect. They come with an unbeatable value proposition skin so soft that you just want to cuddle them, big eyes looking up at you. They learn to smile early and have little cooing noises that connect to our hearts.

Why? Because when our hearts are engaged we will do the incredibly challenging work of raising a child.

The way human beings, from infancy, feel safe is to belong. That need for belonging never goes away. We must belong to thrive and survive, we must be part of a human family, part of a tribe, in order to feel safe and protected.

When people don’t feel claimed, when they don’t have someone who has their back and are left to face threats on their own – scientists tell us, their brain tells them to fight for their lives! They feel like they’re on the battlefield, and their platoon has left them behind.

Now humans are a funny species. When we feel that we’re under threat our capacity to connect is compromised. If we can’t connect, we can’t belong, if we don’t belong we don’t feel safe and if we don’t feel safe we can’t perform at our best for any extended period of time. So, in essence belonging is essential to our ability to thrive, fundamental to our success.

Now you may be thinking in the back of your head, where is he going with this? It’s not relevant to me – I have 500plus connections on LinkedIn, another 600 on Facebook, I have lots of connections, I belong in all kinds of circles.

My 12-year-old daughter recently brought it home for me – we were out for breakfast and someone recognised me and came over to chat. When they had finally gone she began asking me: “Dad, how many people are there in the world?

How many have you seen, how many have you met, how many do you know, how many do you love?”

And then she said, “But you belong to me!”

What she meant by that was: you are my defender, my protector, my biggest advocate, the person who looks out for me above all others in the world. Then I really understood how critical that was to her wellbeing.

So I’ll say it to each of you: you belong at Liberty. We have your back, we believe in you and what you do and I will never stop fighting for you. Because you are Liberty – you are the bearers of the flame, the enablers of the financial freedom, the peddlers of peace of mind, and I believe that the best place for you to succeed, for you to work at your best, is right here… with us.

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YOUR INDUSTRY | SOCIAL MEDIA UNIVERSITY

Don’t get caught with your pants down!

Have you ever been having fun with a group of friends when, just for fun, one of the guys runs up and pulls down his friend’s pants? All in the name of a good laugh, right? Wrong!

O

nly a few years ago, an incident like this would have been just that: a bit of fun. But not anymore. Today we have to consider the possibility that someone else took a photo of this friend – let’s call him Joe – with his pants down, while holding a can of beer and laughing. And what if that person shared the photo on Facebook for all of their friends and acquaintances to see and share further? Still no big deal, right? Now, what if Joe is looking for a new job and has sent his CV out to several companies, hoping for an interview. One of the first things those companies will do, long before they contact Joe directly, is look him up online, using a Google search or by trawling through his social media presence. When they come across this image, it’s the first real ‘contact’ they have with Joe and, outside of his CV, it’s going to form part of the first impression he will make on them.

Warren Buffett once warned: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin

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it.” When it comes to social media, he is right on the money.

Today, everyone’s a journalist We all do it: take pictures of ourselves and friends that aren’t flattering; make comments that are inappropriate; or laugh at the person caught with their pants down when maybe we shouldn’t. But what we don’t always realise is that the moment we share those moments online, they no longer belong strictly to us and our ‘inner circle’.

The growth of social media has turned everyone into a journalist – we no longer wait for the ‘official’ news because we can usually find the instant update elsewhere online first. And while this has many fantastic benefits, it has its drawbacks too.

The upside Social media enables people to connect and share with their network instantly; it provides companies with invaluable customer insights and the opportunity to market to a far wider audience than was ever possible before; company employees become brand ambassadors and activists; and employers are able to cast a much wider net in the search for talented employees.

As employees, we all now have the ability to become vociferous brand ambassadors who defend Liberty from criticism and act as advocates for our products. However, through one small inappropriate action, we also have the potential to have a huge negative impact on our own, and Liberty’s, reputation.

YOUR INDUSTRY | SOCIAL MEDIA UNIVERSITY

The birds and the bees

Exposing yourself

Liberty understands the value of technology in our daily lives, and because of this, we believe it’s important to embrace social media as a means of sharing news and information. However, we also advocate using caution and being responsible in how we go about our social media activities. That’s why we are developing the Liberty Social Media University.

“We want people to understand both the benefits and the risks of using social media,” says Brett. “Social media has turned everyone into a personal brand, and we need to manage our own individual image and reputation just as carefully as if it was a product or corporate brand,” he adds.

Liberty is a well-established and highly respected brand, yet in today’s world, one careless remark by an employee, or a revealing video posted by a friend, can have an instant and drastic impact on our reputation. The University helps people to manage their social media presence better – providing a broad understanding of how it works, along with some simple tips (like never to Tweet when you’re angry; and always get a second opinion from someone you trust before you post something that you’re not 100 percent comfortable with).

Burying your head in the sand “We understand that our employees use social media as part of their every day lives,” says Brett Greaves, Digital Marketing Specialist at Liberty. “There are many people who don’t have accounts on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, and who believe that they don’t engage on social media.

But anyone who uses Whatsapp should consider themselves as active on social media too, because anything they share can easily be forwarded on or posted onto Facebook in an instant – potentially putting them in an awkward situation.”

The aim of the university, says Brett, is not to discourage our people from using social media, but rather to inform and empower them to use it safely and responsibly.

Open to scrutiny What’s even harder to get to grips with is that anyone else can also share and post information about you, without waiting for permission.

Understanding the link between each of us as individuals who work for Liberty, and the impact

Social media has turned everyone into a personal brand, and we need to manage our own individual image and reputation just as carefully as if it was a product or corporate brand.

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YOUR INDUSTRY | SOCIAL MEDIA UNIVERSITY

Liberty’s online Social Media University aims to familiarise everyone in the Liberty family with what social media is all about, how it fits in with our business and how it’s value can be maximised in everyday life and at work.

we can have – both positive and negative – on the Liberty brand is also critical. “Once you have a profile on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram, you are just a Google search away from anyone knowing everything about who you are”, says Brett.

“Brands exist in the minds of consumers and we have to take full responsibility for how we shape our personal brands through our online activity. People no longer wait to meet you face to face before forming an opinion of you – first they check up on you, building an impression based on what you post about yourself, your likes and dislikes, where and what you studied, your family and where you work and socialise – right down to the drinks you had with friends last weekend at the local pub.”

Letting it all hang out Unless you don’t own a smart phone and only ever use SMS or a phone call to communicate with others, the reality is that we are no longer just talking to our close friends, but to our colleagues, employers and potential employers, associates, marketers and much more. Whether we like it or not, our profiles are ‘out there’ in the public domain – and getting caught with our pants down will be a moment shared with glee by many. Whether it was shared for a bit of fun or with malicious intent doesn’t really matter – the impact is the same.

Getting the low down Liberty’s online Social Media University aims to familiarise everyone in the Liberty family with what social media is all about, how it fits in with our business and how its value can be maximised in everyday life and at work, says Brett. “The course covers the importance of social media to the Liberty brand, how social media can be used to build your own brand and some important considerations to ensure that, through your own brand, you uphold the Liberty name at all times.”

The course includes practical guidelines and a step-by-step guide on how to sign up to our social media channels, through to what ingredients make a good profile picture and writing your first post.

The four modules take you through the following: Module 1: Understanding the social media environment and context Module 2: Understanding the role of social media in personal branding Module 3: Finding your social media voice and how to use it positively

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Module 4: Why your voice matters – how to become a brand advocate for yourself and the brands you love and represent Built on our Moodle platform, the course is easy to access and use. Course material includes videos and a short assessment at the end of each module.

Friends with benefits Making friends with social media by completing the Liberty Social Media University will build your confidence, alleviate concerns about your online profile and grow your understanding of the legal consequences of your actions. In addition, says Brett, “anyone completing the first module of the course will receive a certificate that means you can be confident in saying that you work for Liberty on your social media profile, without doing any harm to our brand.”

He adds: “Some teams have made the course compulsory, and we strongly encourage everyone at Liberty to complete at least the first module.”

Planned for launch in the second quarter this year, the university aims to help all Liberty employees positively harness the influence that they can have through social media channels. Look out for banners on the Liberty intranet and BPFA coming soon. w

YOUR INDUSTRY | SOCIAL MEDIA UNIVERSITY

Cases of self-sabotage How to destroy your own brand in minutes In 2016, several high profile cases in South Africa led to people being charged with crimen injuria, fined, and leaving their jobs as a result of careless statements made in the public domain. (Crimen injuria is a crime under South African common law, defined to be the act of “unlawfully, intentionally and seriously impairing the dignity of another.”)

Penny Sparrow In early 2016, former real estate agent Penny Sparrow, described black beachgoers as “monkeys” in a Facebook post reacting to litter left behind after New Year’s celebrations. The public outrage that followed sent Sparrow into hiding.

She said that her two phones had been crippled by messages and hate mail and that she had sought the help of the police as she feared for her life.

Although she later posted a public apology and tried to clarify that the comment was a generalisation and not meant as a personal insult to anyone, she was charged with crimen injuria and fined R5 000 or 12 months in prison after pleading guilty to the charge. She was also required to pay R150 000 to the Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation for hate speech.

Velaphi Khumalo Also in January 2016, Velaphi Khumalo, an employee at the Gauteng government’s arts and culture department, wrote on Facebook that he wanted to cleanse South Africa of white people, “as Hitler did to the Jews”.

The Gauteng government condemned the post and charged him with serious misconduct. He pleaded guilty at his disciplinary hearing and committed himself to corrective measures. He was given a final written warning and his suspension was lifted.

Chris Hart In a third incident in January 2016, economist and investment strategist Chris Hart tweeted: “More than 25 years after apartheid ended, the victims are increasing along with a sense of entitlement and hatred towards minorities.” A storm erupted from unhappy followers and although an apology followed immediately, along with an explanation of the context of the Tweet, Chris was suspended by his employer, Standard Bank. Three months later he resigned from the bank.

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YOUR INDUSTRY | FULLVIEW

Use FullView for better practice management

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YOUR INDUSTRY | FULLVIEW

Drive greater professionalism in your practice with this must-have tool.

T

he advent of regulatory changes such as TCF, POPI, RDR and the changing trends in consumer behaviour, compel us to adapt and transform our sales and distribution capabilities from a heavy sales focus to advisory.

In order to make this transition, we have to become a customer-centric organisation with a strong Customer Value Proposition that enables the development of an appropriate Product and Customer Experience Roadmap.

We have been on the journey for over two years and a number of initiatives have been launched to assist the sales and distribution teams in gaining insight into relevant client data to ensure that they can easily identify opportunities to grow their practice while delivering consistently in terms of the value promised to our clients.

FullView is one of those initiatives, and you need to use regularly to take your practice to another level. Since launching in 2014, it has evolved and will continue to evolve based on industry trends and user needs. It is a must-have tool for gaining a better understanding of your business and driving greater professionalism within your practice.

What do you get from FullView? w Business insights: On FullView you get a deeper knowledge of your book. The new design dashboard gives planners a snapshot of key information about their business in a userfriendly way. The platform now offers planners comprehensive information about their risk and investment portfolios which includes: – Assets under management – Total number of clients – Total number of funds used – Top funds used – Top clients (based on value) – Number of protection policies sold – Client birthday list notification. w Client engagement and servicing: FullView provides an automated reporting distribution functionality, where as a planner, you can automate regular communication to your client about the performance of their investment. This contributes to building an open relationship of trust with your clients anchored on

transparency. w Leads generation and retention: FullView provides up-to-date information about your clients, enabling you to unearth existing opportunities within your book to grow your business. The way the data is packaged exposes gaps and opportunities (for example, risk business vs. total book). w Quotes and fund fact sheets: The quotes tab on FullView is a direct link to Blueprint quotes where Planners can do risk and investment quotes. The platform also has a Fund Fact Sheet: Liberty, which provides you with a single place to access fund fact sheets for all registered Unit Trusts. w Portfolio construction tool: This tool helps planners to analyse funds across all registered Unit Trust Asset Managers. You can compare portfolio-based asset allocation, performance and risk statistics. It also assists you to build portfolios using a combination of funds. In addition, the performance and risk statistics are updated on a daily basis, which makes the information current. w Marketing: Additional features, such as the birthday list and the gender split of the book, provide planners with an opportunity to put together campaigns relevant to their clients.

From a branding perspective, the reports from FullView position Planners as skilled professionals that have the “advantage of knowing”. w

Don’t take our word for it This is what some of the Planners that use FullView have to say about the platform: “With FullView I am able to build model portfolios to show my clients.

This helps them to make the right investment decisions. As a planner, it makes you look more competent.” – Andrew Cunningham, Envestpro “It helps with keeping in touch with clients more frequently and with proper real life updates.” – Jono Kimber, Umhlanga Agency “By using FullView together with other Liberty systems, I am able to get a deeper understanding of my book, segment my clients into groups and therefore determine the service I need to provide to each of the groups.” – Howard Mills, Cresta A Start using FullView today, visit https://secure.libertyfullview.co.za/ public/ to register.

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YOUR INDUSTRY | TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

Training for success Our business never stands still – and neither can we.

Marelyn Crestwell Adolph, Head of Learning and Knowledge Management, explains the importance of ongoing training.

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he financial services industry is constantly changing, influenced by economic and political climates and frequent regulatory adjustments.

These changes have a direct impact on our employees, requiring that we offer and encourage ongoing training to ensure they are equipped to deal with change, both now and in the future.

Creating value Ongoing skills development is necessary not only to continually build capabilities and knowledge, but also to ensure that we stay in touch with new business systems, processes and technology; to provide people with career growth opportunities and higher job satisfaction; and to ensure that we are able to deliver on all stakeholder expectations.

This means that our training initiatives must be focused on all employees as everyone has a role to play in driving our organisational value chain.

Benchmarking against international standards Benchmarking allows us to gauge the effectiveness, efficiency and outcomes of our training strategy, and to adapt our approach where necessary. If employees aren’t receiving the training they need, or if it isn’t having the right results, we need to be able to make changes that will lead to improved results.

Liberty uses various benchmarking methodologies, consisting of local learning industry communities of practice, international bodies such as the Association for Talent

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Development (ATD) and engaging regularly with thought leaders in the learning and financial services industry.

The right results Our benchmarking shows that we are ahead of our competitors, both in South Africa and internationally. I attend the international ATD conference annually and I’m very proud that when our learning solutions are presented and shared, they are rated at the top.

Staying ahead of the game Being great at what we do is fantastic but, as with any area of our business, staying at the top requires that we remain abreast of new trends and ways of thinking, and adapt our approach accordingly. Some of the current training trends include: w Flipping the classroom: This is a trend that is gaining a lot of traction. It involves a reversal of the typical lecture and homework elements of a course. Students study the course material at home, while in-class time is devoted to exercises, projects, or discussions. Flipping the classroom focuses on chunking learning into smaller, more digestible learning components; calling for knowledge transfer to take place informally, usually through self-learning; and then focusing on skill enablement in the formal learning environment. The flipping the classroom trend resonates with me as most people struggle with transitioning knowledge into skill. w Social learning: Social learning centres around people learning from other people through observation of their behaviours and attitudes.

This then serves as a guide to action.

YOUR INDUSTRY | TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

w Gamification: In the e-learning space, Gamification is trending as a strategy used to reward people for accomplishing prescribed tasks and objectives. w MOOCs: Internationally, MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are a growing trend in which online courses are open to any person with no limit to attendance or attempts.

The evolution of training The learning industry is built on a strong foundation of principles and methodologies, and over the years training has evolved through learner needs. As new generations of people enter the workforce, the approach to training adapts. Increased time pressures as well as changes in technology are driving some of the changes. These include a strong pull towards just-in-time learning, where learning is not just a formal event but can take place informally through social learning, observation, e-learning and the use of mobile devices.

I also see a strong advancement towards creating learning organisations where learning is no longer ‘owned’ by the learning department, but by every employee within the organisation.

This simply means that every employee is accountable for their own development.

Collective intelligence and capabilities are

forerunners in learning organisations and this will have a positive influence on performance.

Delivering the required results In order to ensure that we deliver the right results, Liberty is focusing its learning efforts on changing behaviours and influencing culture. We want to create a strong learning culture that will lead to us becoming a learning organisation. All of our learning solutions are designed in support of core strategic drivers and objectives to ensure alignment as we work together towards common goals and objectives.

Training at the heart of success Learning sits at the heart of an organisation, pumping lifeblood through it to create and maintain the capability of its people.

Just as a healthy heart means a stronger body, a strong learning culture results in a top performing, profitable organisation. People are a competitive weapon and the learning team influences the pace at which an organisation innovates.

Companies that understand this will differentiate themselves from their competition – and it’s plain to see that organisations with excellent training measures in place are generally more productive and therefore more profitable. w

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YOUR INDUSTRY | CORPORATE

Retirement reform acumen Find out how mooted default investment rules could impact your clients in the future. By John Taylor

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ational Treasury officials have been hard at work in the past few years working on a framework to better outcomes for members of retirement funds, largely through reducing charges and improving market conduct.

Considering that market research suggests nearly 83% of assets in retirement funds are considered to be invested in the trustee choice investment strategy1, it is important for benefit consultants to understand how default investment rules could impact clients in the future.

During July 2015, a set of draft default regulations were published for comment2. These were divided into three areas: wR ules for designing and implementing default pre-retirement investment strategies; w The requirement to design and implement a default which members can consider on exiting the fund, either through: withdrawal (so-called default preservation) or retirement (so-called default annuitisation).

The impact of creating default preservation and annuity options is less certain than default investment options. The existence of heavy tax penalties for encashment has not been a disincentive for the overwhelming majority (according to some sources, around 78%3) of exiting members from electing partial or total cash pay-outs. The draft defaults do not compel preservation – they govern what funds should offer as a default.

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The initial drafts covered much valuable ground, but some matters were fairly prescriptive in nature. There was a firm focus on banning performance fees, removing guaranteed funds, requiring an element of passive investment, and so forth. This prompted much industry feedback relating to some provisions. Many more prescriptive requirements were relaxed in the revised drafts released in December 20164.

The initial drafts and the revision contain valuable requirements, calling on funds and consultants to consider the impact of investment portfolios on the behaviours and outcomes of members. This requires clarity and consistency of communication to members, in a strong framework. These also required ongoing evaluation of the performance and appropriateness of the default investment to members.

A key change is the requirement for trustees and consultants to consider their members not just until exit. They will also need to be considered upon exit, in the form of designing, monitoring and evaluating their defaults for members on resignation or retirement. Defined contribution fund trustees, who historically have focused on active members alone, will also need to consider their prospective pensioners and ex-members.

For exiting members, a principle of “pot-followsmember” where the assets automatically follow a member from employer to employer was mooted.

YOUR INDUSTRY | CORPORATE

This would not, however, have to be a default option for preservation. This would resolve some of the problems relating to unclaimed benefits currently being experienced in the market.

Another key change is the inclusion of a benefits counsellor, who would need to be available to provide information to members on the default options available to them. It was later clarified that this is not an advice-related position. It remains unclear how this role relates to the benefit consultant or financial adviser to the fund.

The industry is providing further feedback, and National Treasury is expected to release further guidance towards the end of 2017. w

1

Vance-Hack, CLG (2012) .The appropriateness of a life-stage investment strategy as a

default option in South African retirement funds. MCom (Finance) [Unpublished]. University of Johannesburg. Retrieved from https://ujcontent.uj.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/ uj:18633 on 13 March 2017.

2

National Treasury (2015). Retirement reform: lowering charges and improving market conduct.

Retrieved from http://www.treasury.gov.za/publications/RetirementReform/ on 22 July 2015.

3

Sanlam Employee Benefits (2015). Benchmark Survey Research Insights. Retrieved from

https://www.sanlambenchmark.co.za/content/BenchmarkSurvey2015_Research%20 Summary%20Insights.pdf on 13 March 2017.

4

National Treasury (2016). Revised draft default regulations: lowering charges and improving

market conduct. Retrieved from http://www.treasury.gov.za/publications/RetirementReform/ on 09 December 2016.

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YOUR INDUSTRY | WILLS & TRUSTS

The complexity of a will in a modern age Beneficiaries need to be more aware of how an estate will be wound up, according to Standard Trust Limited.

W

hile most people understand how and why a will is needed, very few know what happens when it comes to administering and executing that will in an increasingly complex modern economy.

According to Standard Trust Limited, the wholly owned subsidiary of the Standard Bank Group Limited with over 130 years of fiduciary services, the administration of an estate is an increasingly complex matter due to the array of assets, trusts and investments that form part of a modern-day estate.

Untangling all of the threads holding an estate together and ensuring the least amount of emotional strain on beneficiaries is therefore a critical part of ensuring the testator’s wishes are met.

“The administration of an estate follows closely on what is a terribly traumatic event in the lives of all of those affected. This is why it is extremely important that the beneficiaries are aware of how the process will unfold and we at Standard Trust Limited can assist in ensuring the entire administration of the estate runs smoothly,” says Jacinta Bassuday, Legal Manager at Standard Trust Limited.

While the administration of a basic estate

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of under R250 000 would often be fast tracked to be completed within a week of letters of executorship having been lodged (which is normally within six months of the winding-up process beginning) by the Master of the High Court of the relevant metro, Jacinta says there are practical considerations that cause complications in practice with larger estates.

Divorce orders and maintenance claims in favour of an ex-spouse whom the deceased did not make provision for in his or her will, for example, is a common complication that arises.

“The problem is the executor could suddenly be faced with a massive claim that can quickly eat up the residue in an estate,” says Jacinta.

This is why testators need to ensure their wills cover these eventualities as litigation is often the only avenue left to resolve these types of disputes – but this costs money and can push out the process by many months.

“These types of cases often need to go to legal and ultimately further impact the residue of the estate,” she adds.

Another complication in modern economies relates to life policies – generally these proceeds would accrue outside of the estate unless the estate itself is a beneficiary of the policy.

YOUR INDUSTRY | WILLS & TRUSTS

“We would recommend that testators think carefully when they nominate who benefits from these policies. Pension funds have their own rules when there is a conflict and it is important to ensure this discretion does not see money going somewhere the testator may not have wished in their will,” notes Jacinta.

According to Standard Trust Limited, it is important to understand the difference between pension fund nominations and wishes in terms of a will. “Many people don’t fill in nomination forms for pension funds, or never update them, as they think they are taken care of in a will – but a pension fund will apply their own rules in terms of what is fair and equitable and that money may end up elsewhere,” Jacinta cautions.

As pension fund beneficiaries

don’t have to pay estate duty, the tax considerations of who is nominated also needs to be considered.

Standard Trust Limited says the nomination of an executor is very important, but this is often a failing of many wills and their consequent execution in practice. If adequate and skilled executors are not appointed, the Master of the High Court will make an appropriate appointment. While small estates of under R250 000 would often not require a specialist executor appointed by the Master, estates of R500 000 and more would mostly be required to appoint a specialist as an executor.

When appropriate provision has not been made in a will, family members can complete what is known as a Nomination of Executor to perform

this function. They would submit that nomination to the Master, who has the power and authority to make such appointment.

“Estates are getting more complex and it is always better if the testator, in his will, ensures that he has the right executors in place,” says Jacinta.

According to Standard Trust Limited, the entire execution process begins with a will, and so it is also very important to ensure the will can be quickly and easily retrieved so that the process can begin promptly.

“It is important to give a copy to relatives and the executor so on someone’s death it can be easily retrieved. This is the best possible start to ensuring everything else can happen within a reasonable timeframe,” Jacinta concludes. w

The administration of an estate follows closely on what is a terribly traumatic event in the lives of all of those affected. This is why it is extremely important that the beneficiaries are aware of how the process will unfold and we at Standard Trust Limited can assist in ensuring the entire administration of the estate runs smoothly.

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YOUR COMMUNITY | OUTREACH

REACHING OUT From supporting underprivileged children to spreading awareness about the importance of education, Liberty people help make a difference to those in need.

Liberty Group CSI recognises top-performing matriculants

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arlier this year, Liberty held an event in honour of top-40 matriculants who achieved exceptional results in their final matric exams. It was without a doubt an inspiring event aimed at encouraging these learners to continue exceeding their own expectations.

The top performers are part of 249 matriculants who were beneficiaries of the Group CSI sponsored Promaths programme in 2016. The programme offers tuition in maths and science to learners from previously disadvantaged communities in grade 10 – 12. The Liberty-sponsored programme

supports 920 learners from two centres; in Katlehong, East of Gauteng and Umbumbulu in KZN. Out of the 249 matriculants who wrote their final exams, the Katlehong centre achieved 51 distinctions for maths and 44 distinctions for science and the Umbumbulu centre achieved 20 distinctions for maths and 26 distinctions for science.

Group CSI team and learners were equally impressed with these results, as most of these learners live in destitute circumstances, attending schools without basic resources. These results are testament to what a person

can achieve with the right support, commitment and determination.

The top-40 learners went over and above just being excellent in maths and science. These learners received a pass aggregate of 85% and above in all their subjects. The overall top performer was Gift Bongumusa Mbata who achieved a pass aggregate of 99% and scored 97% for Maths and 100% for Science.

The top three performers from Katlehong Centre: wB afana Mbata, who scored an impressive 100% for both Maths and Science; wL esego Ramabaya achieved 100% for Maths and 97% for Science; and wG ift Bongumusa Mbata achieved 97% in Maths, and 100% in Science.

The top three performers from Umbumbulu Centre: wS isekelo Mabaso, who achieved 92% for Maths, and 96% for Science; wS anele Mdluli achieved 88% for Maths, and 98% for Science; and wK hayalethu Khanyile achieved 94% for Maths and 89% for Science.

A special award was also given to Temoso Mongwe, who sadly passed away after writing his final exams.

Temoso battled a long illness and despite being hospitalised, he was still committed to writing his final exams.

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YOUR COMMUNITY | OUTREACH

Temoso not only wrote his exams from the hospital, but also passed exceptionally well.

The awards function was attended by teachers, representatives from the Department of Education, Liberty heads of departments and the Executive for Group Enablement, Thiru Pillay.

Thiru congratulated the learners and wished them well in their future endeavours. He highlighted Liberty’s pride in being associated with a programme that has yielded such wonderful results for the learners.

“In 2016, Liberty Group CSI invested more than R8.5 million into

Liberty Challenge Golf Series, 2016

W

e are igniting our passion for making a difference by putting this year’s green fees from each of the eight Liberty Challenge Golf days towards three schools and working with the Partners for Possibility programme that Liberty has supported over the last few years.

Partners for Possibility provides a creative solution to South Africa’s education crisis by establishing partnerships between school principals of under-resourced schools and business leaders, and then helping them work together to lead change at various levels of the school system.

The Green fees contributed by players for the 2016 Liberty Challenge Golf days was donated to the following schools:

The school’s mission is “to promote a culture of learning in a conducive environment in order to assist each learner to achieve their full potential in preparation for their full participation in society”.

the Liberty Promaths programme, and we are really excited to see that through this programme more than 200 matriculants have achieved results that enable them entry to study for a Bachelor Degree of their choice at any university” says Nomaxabiso Matjila, Head of Group CSI.

full software and internet connectivity, as well as three fully operational computers that learners can use for projects.

The next project is the renovation of the school library. Your green fee contributions will be used to help with this renovation, as well as to stock the library with relevant books for learners in Grade R and Grade 1. w

Oosteind Primary School, Pretoria Oosteind Primary houses over 1 500 children of all races and nationalities from across Africa. Green fee contributions will be used to assist the school with establishing a library for their learners.

Amatikwe Primary School, KZN Through previous support of Amatikwe, Liberty has already built an IT Centre at the school. The centre is equipped with

Windermere Primary School, Cape Town The school is situated in Kensington and was founded in 1944. It is a multicultural school with learners who speak many languages and come from various ethnic backgrounds. The school currently has 812 leaners and two specific areas have been identified which require attention.

Green fee contributions will be used towards the following: w Developing a grass playing field for the children. Currently the school does not have a workable field that the children can play on. w Planting trees around the field and seating areas. w Improving the security in and around the school, including cameras with monitoring and response, during and outside of school hours.

WINTER 2017 | YOUR WEALTH | 39

YOUR CAREER | PROFILE

Photo: Ian Fairley

Get the basics right

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YOUR CAREER | PROFILE

He’s been a Springbok hockey player, a teacher and now he’s an executive broker consultant. We find out how Brenden Botes has risen to the top of his game. By Mandy Collins

B

renden Botes is no stranger to achievement – just as he rose to the top of his game as a goalkeeper for the Springbok Men’s Hockey side, he’s now an executive broker consultant in PE. But that doesn’t mean it’s all been plain sailing: “The biggest challenge for me has been how much the industry has changed in 10 years,” he says. “I’m still doing the same thing, but it’s become more involved as clients are much more educated now, and the legislation changes frequently. It’s no longer good enough to turn up with a smile – you really need to know what’s going on.”

Brenden says there’s no magic in doing as well as he has, it’s just about putting in the right amount of effort. “I read every article I can lay my hands on about our industry. I’m always reading and researching,” he says. “I’m also constantly learning from my experience – good or bad – and I take those lessons along with me from one client to the next. It’s all about putting in the effort.”

He adds that at Liberty there’s no need to bite and scratch to get a good answer when you have a query about something. “I tend to lean on the other departments,” he says.

For Brenden, success is about doing the basics correctly. “I do my best to always answer my phone, return calls and answer emails on time,” he says. “When you’re under stress that’s the kind of thing that can go out of the window, so I do try to stay on top of all of that. And when I reply to queries, I ensure my responses are of a high quality. If I’m asked a simple question, I try to give more information than has been asked for.”

His other strategy is to do everything in his power to make himself irreplaceable in his brokers’ lives. “I’m in contact with them all the time, and I try to make sure that every moment of contact is of massive value,” he says. “It’s not just about boxticking. Everyone is busy, and so when I do meet

with them, I want that meeting to be valuable.

Part of Brenden’s business ethos is good time management. “Stick to your call plan as closely as possible,” he advises. “Prioritise your work load, train advisers and assistants on how to use Liberty systems and make use of the correct channels for new business and existing business queries – this will help you to make worthwhile sales calls instead of getting stuck doing admin only, which is sometimes misunderstood for ‘not adding value to your advisers’.

“Try and start with calls first thing every day instead of heading to the office – because once you sit at your desk, the admin and other distractions start overpowering you.”

As for those still making their way up through the ranks, Brenden says it’s vital to watch and learn from more experienced broker consultants. “Talk less and ask more questions,” he says. “Also, Rome was not built in a day – your success will not be overnight. It takes a lot of continuous time and effort … don’t expect anything, rather be grateful for all the opportunities that become available to you and make sure you grab these opportunities and make them work for you. Your hard work, honesty and integrity will be noticed, just hang in there. And remember, ‘there are never any traffic jams along the extra mile’.” w

Try and start with calls first thing every day instead of heading to the office – because once you sit at your desk, the admin and other distractions start overpowering you.

ON THE FLIPSIDE w He’s married, with two sons. w In his spare time, he likes to go mountain biking and – no surprises there – play hockey. w He thinks people would be surprised to know that he quite enjoys watching romantic comedies with his wife. w One of his favourite places to go on holiday is the UK: “I think I’ve been to London more than anywhere else,” he says. “I love the structure, how everything works. I love being in that first-world environment.”

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YOUR CAREER | PROFILE

Believe in yourself, and success will follow Twenty years after joining Liberty as an assistant accountant, Nazeer Muhamed continues to embrace the challenges facing financial advisers. By Lisa Witepski

N

azeer Muhamed’s career got off to an inauspicious start when he received a R50 fine for parking in Donald Gordon’s parking space on his second day at work. Since then, however, he has established himself as one of Liberty Tied’s stellar performers, qualifying for the 100 Million Club nine times.

How does he do it? “When you think about the number of FSPs, asset managers and advisers (both independent and tied), it becomes clear that this is a very competitive industry – not to mention saturated. That’s why I have always made it my goal to provide optimum service and the best advice.”

Nazeer rigorously follows five rules which, he says, have helped him distinguish himself: “First is making the commitment to be of service, always. You have to go the extra mile, underpromise and overdeliver.

“Second, you have to be disciplined.

Most entrepreneurs are impulsive, and most passionate people live by their feelings. But those who understand the art and practise the art of discipline can channel those impulses into something of substance.”

His third business commandment?

“Be confident and invest in yourself.

When you truly believe you can create what you envision, when you’re not afraid of the obstacles, your confidence will automatically make you stand out from the rest.”

He is also a firm believer in becoming what he calls “a master collaborator”,

42 | YOUR WEALTH | WINTER 2017

helping others look and sound good. Why is this important? “When you collaborate well, people remember how you made them feel – and when the people around you feel good, you stand out.”

Finally, he says that it’s vital to take yourself seriously. “Standing out means that you have to become a master at your craft. It means being competent at the things you do, constantly honing and developing your skills in every way possible. When you take yourself seriously, others will, too. Most of all, work hard. Be passionate, be proud of what you do and always, always act with integrity.”

Driving your business forward is an ongoing task, Nazeer continues. Take your approach to referrals, for example: he describes these as “the lifeblood of my business”. That’s why he never stops investing time and energy in developing referral sources. “Taking the time to analyse my referrals helped me understand that my referrals were all generated by my existing client base,” he says. “Knowing this, my next course of action was clear: impress clients by acting with integrity and competence, and provide super service so that the referrals kept growing.”

Embracing technology was another imperative. Nazeer believes tech can be a great time saver: when you don’t have to drive 250km just to speak to a client, you can put your hours to better use and, ultimately, achieve more.

Technology can also help you add value to client interactions.

Speaking of interactions, Nazeer maintains that your focus on client relationships should never falter. Visit clients, old and new, then visit them again – and again. “Life changes at a frantic pace,” he points out, “and your clients’ needs change too. Make sure that you’re there to provide them with the right advice as their lives unfold.”

When you do stumble across a challenge, don’t give up. Nazeer believes that you already have the skills and knowledge you need to hurl yourself over any hurdle. “By far the most important skill is the ability to listen. Never miss a chance to ask questions; this will help you better understand the problem,” he advises.

From a personal perspective, Nazeer says that his financial background and experience in accounting have proved extremely useful when it comes to analysing clients’ financial health. He also makes a point of reading extensively, so that his knowledge about the economy and the industry remain relevant. Added to this is a strong administrative team on hand to back his promise of superlative service.

“Be honest and realistic in your approach to solving challenges; stay open-minded and think logically and persevere – if you don’t find solutions the first time, start over. Understand your relationship with your client and remember that each challenge is unique – no two individuals have the same needs,” he concludes. w

YOUR CAREER | PROFILE

Photo credit: Albie Brednenhann

On the flipside Favourite way to relax: Music, the beach and a good read Hobbies: Fishing, soccer, art and his Porsche Favourite food: Italian and Oriental Motto: The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot achieve.

Best quote: “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” – Charles Swindoll Mentor: My father

WINTER 2017 | YOUR WEALTH | 43

YOUR CAREER | PROFILE

Experience leads to excellence Eleven years of dealing with brokers and broker consultants – first in a consultant capacity, then as a manager – has provided Ron Bruce with the insights to set himself apart in a competitive industry. By Lisa Witepski

R

on started his career with Liberty as a broker consultant in East London back in 1985. He was transferred to Port Elizabeth and from the outset, it was clear he had a flair for the job; in 1988, he was named the Liberty Market of the Year for the Broker Division.

On the strength of his success, he was transferred to Cape Town where, as a newly appointed member of management he was instrumental in establishing Liberty’s Claremont branch. After two years he moved to the Cape

As a consultant, I was bothered when my brokers found themselves facing a dispute, where it was their word against that of the client. I wondered why they hadn’t documented their transactions so that they had a reliable record of all that had been discussed.

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City Branch as manager before being appointed to Liberty’s flagship branch in Sandton City.

In 1996 Ron decided to put all he had learnt during his years in the corporate world into practice and became a broker himself. “As a consultant, I got a feel for the challenges facing my brokers and I developed a sense of how I would handle those same situations, were I in their shoes,” he recalls.

“I probably bamboozled my first client, because I unleashed 11 years of experience, knowledge and technical insight on him. I gave him an information overload!” Ron laughs.

However, many years later, his belief in arming clients with information remains unshaken. “As a consultant, I was bothered when my brokers found themselves facing a dispute, where it was their word against that of the client. I wondered why they hadn’t documented their transactions so that they had a reliable record of all that had been discussed.” Ron’s first action, therefore, was to implement such a system in his own practice. “This was done long before the advent of FAIS and it’s proved to be a key differentiator.” Each client’s concerns and objectives are recorded, along with Ron’s

recommendations at every meeting. These minutes are typed and recorded in the client’s file and reviewed at the next meeting, which is then signed off by the client. In this way, Ron has a roadmap of his dealings with every single client, which can be referred to as often as necessary. “Yes, it’s labour intensive, but it’s a watertight system that serves us both,” he comments. “After all, this industry is built entirely on trust.”

Another characteristic setting Ron apart is his diligence in following trends affecting the financial services industry. His daily media diet includes a variety of finance-related websites, so that he’s clued up on what’s happening not just in the insurance industry, but in other areas of financial services, too. “The more up-to-date you are, the easier it is to explain to your client how changes in tax, legislation and broad economic trends affect their financial plans. One of my aims is to educate my clients so that they become empowered to make better decisions. It’s not something that happens overnight, but it’s crucial in the long term. It’s the best way to help them avoid making costly mistakes.”

And that, Ron insists, is why the insurance and investment industry is a rewarding industry to be part of. It’s about the satisfaction that comes when you have helped clients help themselves. “As a consultant, I worked with a broker in Port Elizabeth. Every time a claim was finalised and a cheque handed to him to be given to the client, he would always ask himself whether he had done enough for the client. He always felt that he done his very best, but questioned whether he could have done more. I have never forgotten his commitment to his clients, and it is something I’ve taken to heart.

The gratitude of spouses, business partners, children, and other family members is always humbling.”

Ron admits that today’s entrants to the industry face very different conditions to those that prevailed when he first embarked on his career. Legislation, for instance, has had a massive impact on the industry. That’s why he urges newcomers to the field to amass as much training and experience as possible, either by joining a large corporate offering excellent training opportunities or by seeking a mentor at an agency. “My success stems from the lessons I learnt working with brokers,” he reflects, “which is why I believe this route to be the best.” w

Photo: Ian Fairley

YOUR CAREER | PROFILE

On the flipside Family: Two daughters (27 and 24) and a son, 13 Hobbies: I enjoy painting. I started with watercolours and progressed onto oils. However, it’s been a while since I had time to paint!

Favourite book: I love reading autobiographies. Two favourites are Alex Ferguson and Rudy Giuliani.

Hobbies: I’m a member of my local Rotary Club, and live by their motto, ‘Pay it forward’. I enjoy family time, especially watching my son play sport.

Role model: My father, Desmond. He was a simple person but he believed implicitly in education. He put three children through private school. His legacy inspires me to make sure all my children are well qualified and the best in their field. I often find myself repeating the advice he gave me to clients.

I’ve also worked under many great managers at Liberty, but one who really stood out was Derek du Toit. He was my mentor when I worked at the Claremont branch and guided me through my early years in management. He was a great sounding board and always had time to give me advice, no matter how much pressure he was under himself.

Motto: The harder I work, the luckier I get.

WINTER 2017 | YOUR WEALTH | 45

YOUR CAREER | TIED PROFILE

Work hard and stay humble

On the flipside Favourite way to relax: Participating in sport Hobbies: Sport and reading Best holiday destination: Mozambique Motto: “If you think you can do it you’re right; if you think you can’t you’re still right!” – Henry Ford Role models: Richard Branson and Nelson Mandela Best advice ever given: Work hard and stay humble

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Photo credit: Albie Brednenhann

Family: Wife Connie and two daughters, Carnia and Reze

YOUR CAREER | TIED PROFILE

For Andre Steenkamp, there are no magical formulas guaranteeing success. It all comes down to two words: hard work. By Lisa Witepski

A

ndre Steenkamp was, by his own description, “no youngster” when he entered the insurance industry. At 34, he had not only already qualified as a CFP, but had amassed significant work experience – all factors which helped him obtain a promotion to management within just four years of joining Liberty as a broker consultant. He worked as a branch manager in Roodepoort before being headhunted by a competitor organisation, then returned in 2013 to set up All-Gen Evolve.

Why the change in direction? “I saw a great opportunity,” Andre explains – and, being someone who is always quick to act when he recognises a solid prospect, he hastened to take advantage. He adds that the Liberty model offers an excellent value proposition.

Andre’s track record was impressive, to say the least: during his first stint at Liberty, he had ranked among the top seven broker consultants, and had built a flourishing career based on the relationships he enjoyed with his brokers; often the result of hard work. However, he’s the first to admit that succeeding as an entrepreneur is an entirely different matter, putting many new skills to the test.

So, if maturity and insight stood him in good stead as a branch manager, what qualities have helped him distinguish All-Gen Evolve from its competitors? “My can-do attitude,” Andre replies. Add to that a healthy dose of diligence: “I’ve managed to achieve many of my goals simply by working at them.”

Because of this, Andre and his team reached heights thought of by others as “impossible”. For example, Andre appointed two sales managers just three years after All-Gen Evolve commenced operations; a move many may consider ambitious, but which Andre considered crucial if he was to attain the growth he was after.

The operation’s upward trajectory has also been aided by the establishment of a fiduciary arm, which not only creates an additional revenue stream but also ensures its ability to provide a turnkey service for customers.

Given Andre’s relentless focus, it’s not

surprising that All-Gen Evolve continues to rack up one notable achievement after another: the operation won the Liberty Challenge in their category for two consecutive years (2014 and 2015, coming second in 2016), and were category winners in the Directors’ Challenge in 2015 and 2016. Andre himself has received accolades as Entrepreneur of the Year twice.

He attributes this stellar performance to the operation’s values: care, resilience, assertiveness, balance, professionalism, and optimism. The latter, in particular, plays a significant part in ensuring team members remain positive during times of political and economic uncertainty. “There’s no denying that we face challenges. Take the introduction of RDR, for example. There are so many question marks hanging over it, including whether or not it will be implemented. We choose to ignore those question marks and carry on doing what we’re doing, working hard to help our customers wherever we can.”

This attitude has tided All-Gen Evolve over many difficult circumstances, because instead of allowing themselves to become bogged down by negativity, team members look instead to find ways to help customers overcome the situation.

Often, this translates into better business; for example, because they refuse to buy into the panic surrounding RDR, a significant portion of All-Gen Evolve’s business pertains to risk.

Going forward, Andre says that the operation is looking to build on the value it has already created. “We introduce a new slogan every year, and it serves to guide and inspire us. Last year, we took direction from the injunction to go from good to great; this year, it’s about building efficiency and effectiveness,” he states.

His ultimate business survival secret? “As an entrepreneur, you have to be resilient. Anyone thinking of going this route needs to brace themselves, because you’ll be putting in a lot of hours. You also need to have a good plan, and you have to stick with it. And, if something goes wrong, you need to remember that opportunities arise all the time. You just have to keep your eyes – and your mind – open to them.” w

As an entrepreneur, you have to be resilient.

Anyone thinking of going this route needs to brace themselves, because you’ll be putting in a lot of hours.”

WINTER 2017 | YOUR WEALTH | 47

YOUR CAREER | tied PROFILE

A proponent of servant leadership, Nick van der Walt has done all he can to ensure that the culture at his Bruma-based branch is one where diamonds can sparkle. By Lisa Witepski

F

rom the time Nick van der Walt joined Liberty in 2007, he has worked hard to make sure that all consultants under his leadership – experienced FA and ‘newbie’ alike – benefit from an environment that seeks to cultivate knowledge sharing and an interest in each other’s wellbeing. “I have managed to build a close-knit team that thrives on a sense of belonging and sharing,” Nick says with pride, adding that this culture is an asset which has been commented on several times by external observers. “My branch is virtually an extension of my family.”

His secret to creating such an inclusive culture? “I’m passionate about working with people, and I want to serve my consultants as well as their customers. I take an interest in each one of my consultants; in their personal lives, not just their production.”

That said, their production is certainly noteworthy. Nick has recruited 11 new team members over the past four years; seven of whom performed well above validation levels. One of his consultants has written EC production levels for three consecutive years and five qualified for early entrance into the agency provident fund by achieving over 10 million PCRs from 50 or more cases in a running 12-month period.

Nick himself was awarded Agency Sales Leader of the Year 2016.

These achievements are testimony to Nick’s ability to identify talent, but also his investment in nurturing it. He acknowledges that when it comes to managing people, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach, because every individual does business their own way. They also respond to different motivations and incentives.

Nick takes the time to understand these drivers, but he makes sure that consultants have an equal understanding of what is expected of them. With this in mind, he sits with each of his new team members while they do their initial planning, and even accompanies them on joint calls – in one instance, he racked up 400km of travel attending eight different calls with three consultants in one day.

This assistance isn’t just for newcomers: Nick makes himself available to anyone who feels a little shaky in terms of confidence, “whether they’re in their first year or their tenth”.

He does, however, work hard to build that confidence. His regular meetings are a great vehicle for sharing information, whether product related or pertaining to industry trends. He also springs surprise tests on his consultants; an action which has helped them realise just how important it is to brush up on product knowledge. Nick puts just as much pressure on himself to comprehend the product offering. He also works on his

I’m passionate about working with people, and I want to serve my consultants as well as their customers.

I take an interest in each one of my consultants; in their personal lives, not just their production.

48 | YOUR WEALTH | WINTER 2017

understanding of the company’s systems and processes.

This is done in the name of supporting his consultants; an aim which is equally fulfilled by his attention to forging relationships with key people at head office. “Our business is all about building sound relationships with our internal and external customers,” he points out. The benefit of fostering contacts is evident, as many a consultant will attest – particularly those who have known just who to call upon when the usual channels have proved ineffective.

Nick’s personal management style hinges on an open door policy and visibly “walking the talk”. “I see myself as a support partner in my consultants’ individual businesses, and I make a point of inviting them to use my knowledge if they need to. They know they can phone me at any time, and if I can’t take their call at that moment, I will return it as soon as I can.”

Another way Nick defines himself as a leader is by gathering the facts and merits of an issue, instead of jumping to conclusions. He’s keenly aware that at times he has to wear his “Liberty hat”, at others, his “consultant hat” is necessary. “My consultants know that I have their backs, but they also know that I’ll tell them if I don’t share their point of view.”

With an extremely fruitful 2016 well behind him, Nick is preparing for a new challenge. “My plan now is to build on the habits I adopted during my time with Liberty, and to extend my focus on growing successful new consultants in the existing branch, while also supporting current team members to the best of my ability – all the while nurturing an environment where they can achieve even greater heights.” w

Success through service On the flipside Photo credit: Albie Brednenhann

Family: Married to Caren for the past 26 years, with three children: Werner (23), Yolandi (22) and Ivanka (20).

Hobbies: Spending quality time with my family.

Favourite way to relax: Camping.

Best advice to consultants: Always stay true to what you believe in and ensure you keep your customer’s best interest at heart.

Motto: Ethics, hard work, dedication and attitude breed success.

Business icon: Richard Branson Role models: His late father and his wife, Caren

WINTER 2017 | YOUR WEALTH | 49

Photo credit: Albie Brednenhann

YOUR CAREER | TIED PROFILE

YOUR CAREER | tied PROFILE

Make sure you meet your clients’ needs In a world of sophisticated technology and growing complexity, Marcelle Funchall’s philosophy is simple: focus on relationships, work hard, and let passion fuel everything you do. By Lisa Witepski

F

rom her first days as an assistant to a financial adviser, Marcelle knew that financial services was the industry for her. “There was so much about this industry that inspired me,” she recalls, “from its fast pace to the ongoing interaction with different types of people and, of course, the fact that you are able to determine your own salary.”

She made the move from assistant to become an FA in her own right after a move from Cape Town to Pretoria, and was invited to join FNB’s team in 2011.

She’s seen the industry evolve dramatically since then. “The key change is the introduction of much stricter regulations governing commission, as well as the greater focus on continuous professional development.” Marcelle views these changes as positive, noting that they ensure advisers act in their clients’ best interests. But the industry’s challenges are not over: many businesses within the sector are grappling with the changes they need to make in order to comply with the Retail Distribution Review (RDR).

Against this backdrop, Marcelle says that it’s critical for FAs to update and develop their skills. She is following her own advice, having started studying towards her Certified Financial Planner (CFP) qualification in 2012. With just two

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more subjects to complete before she finishes her studies, Marcelle is looking forward to being able to offer her clients a more comprehensive service in terms of analysis.

Her determination to provide a consummate service is just one of several factors setting her apart in this competitive field. But, although Marcelle’s efforts have been recognised with numerous awards from Liberty, and with her inclusion in FNB’s R200 000 Production Club, she maintains that recognition (although always “nice”) isn’t what drives her.

So what does? “Finding out what clients need, and then making sure they get it,” Marcelle responds. This is something she is passionate about. “It’s vital to listen to your clients so that you really understand them,” she states. As someone who loves people, this comes naturally to her. Marcelle maintains that her success has evolved out of her innate desire to help people. “This job isn’t about money. It’s about feeling happy with what I’ve done,” she insists.

It’s also about satisfying her own burning need to perform. Hard work and diligence are part of Marcelle’s makeup; she quips that unless she has averaged a certain amount of business every month, she feels as if she’s been on holiday.

Her investment, both in terms of hours and effort, has paid dividends. Marcelle’s practice is defined by a strong accent on relationships; indeed, she says that “building trusting relationships is my priority”. It’s equally valued by her clients, if the amount of referrals and repeat business she enjoys is anything to go by. Her willingness to do a little more than clients expect has also contributed to the special nature of these bonds. Marcelle laughingly admits that she is teased by her colleagues because she “spoils” her clients, giving them a hand in banking matters; ordering their bank cards, sending their bank statements and working with their accountants. Yes, it’s intense, but it goes back to the foundation on which her business ethos is built: make sure you meet your clients’ needs.

She places just as much emphasis on her relationships with colleagues. Her sevenyear tenure at the same FNB branch has contributed to meaningful engagements with her teammates.

Her advice to newcomers to the industry? “You have to love what you do. You also need to be able to remain positive and stay focused, and the ability to work under pressure and implement self-discipline are prerequisites. It also goes without saying that you have to enjoy – and have a flair for – sales. If you don’t, this industry isn’t for you.” w

YOUR CAREER | TIED PROFILE

On the flipside Hobbies: Shopping Favourite way to relax: Travelling Best holiday destination: Dubai Favourite luxury to splurge on: Perfume Best financial advice you give clients: Just start saving, no matter how small the amount.

Motto: Always be kind to others

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YOUR CAREER | LEADERSHIP

Do you have humility?

Motivational speaker and author Brian Parsley looks at why this quality is something we should all strive to master in our daily lives.

M

Brian Parsley

a modest or low view of one’s own importance; humbleness.

ost people I meet will immediately state that humility is part of their DNA – what about you? Merriam-Webster and Oxford say that humility is a modest or low view of one’s own importance. It’s “humbleness”.

But how does this translate to personal growth advice, and what does it mean to you?

Often we use the word “humble” when speaking about those we perceive to be above our social standing. Perhaps someone famous, rich, great looking, or even smarter than we believe we are. We say things like, “She is so humble considering how rich she is.” Does it even matter?

Shouldn’t humility be practised regardless of our lot in life? Here’s the good news: humility is a trait you don’t have to be born with to master.

It’s about putting others first rather than acting ungrateful and bitter because you believe you deserve more than you have. Don’t be concerned you don’t have (fill in blank), be more concerned you have what it takes to merit what you’re seeking. Too many people are worried no one recognises them as opposed to doing that which is worthy of recognition. Remember, dreams don’t work unless you do!

To put it in simple terms, true humility is about conscious acts on a daily basis. It’s much like your reputation – something that builds over time and reflects in your service of others. Many years ago I saw a CEO of a large company help serve coffee at a function. I asked him why and his answer intrigued me. “Brian, it gives me an

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opportunity to have normal conversations with my co-workers. They see me for who I am and I can share my gratitude by serving them.” What I gained from the various lessons in that statement is that he referred to his employees as his “co-workers”. I loved this and adopted his philosophy when I left there that day. He also received fulfillment by serving them. Too many people suffer from a God complex. They have inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege and infallibility and become full of such hubris that people will eventually resent them.

On a recent 11-hour flight from South Africa to the US, I was reading The Analects of Confucius. In one chapter he said, “If a gentleman sets his heart on changing the world but is ashamed to wear poor clothes and eat poor food, he’s not worth engaging in serious discussion.” I am certainly not suggesting that you give up your possessions and become a monk, but rather advising that you approach those who may not have what you have the same way you would those above you.

Humility can also be expressed through your willingness to put positive energy out there.

I remember an Uber drive a while back, on a trip where I was feeling particularly nervous.

The driver didn’t say a word and was a bit intimidating. I smiled and said, “You really take very good care of your car. It shows.” He began to smile and shared with me how he was down on his luck and scraped together enough money to buy the car to start his empire. By the end of the ride we both were laughing and appreciating each other’s company.

You don’t have to be famous or rich to be expected to display humility. It’s something you can do every single day. When you speak to others and ask questions about them it reflects a genuine concern. That concern not only builds them up, but it builds humility in you. The world isn’t perfect.

Neither are you! But when you become more aware of how you can practise the art of humility, the world will become a better place to live. w

YOUR LIFESTYLE | INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

Fall in love with Amalfi

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

You are here

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

A hotel in Praiano on the Amalfi coast

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E

ver since its heyday in the swinging ’60s Italy’s Amalfi Coast has been synonymous with an innately Italian sense of la dolce vita. Whether it’s sipping a sparkling bellini on the terrace of a glamorous Praiano hotel, or slipping into the impossibly clear waters off Positano, the stretch of coastline running from Salerno to the tip of the Sorrentine Peninsula has long drawn celebrities and sun-seekers from across the globe.

Campania may not be one of Italy’s mostfamous regions, but mention the word Amalfi and immediately an image springs to mind: of steep slopes tumbling into sparkling Mediterranean waters, where villages cling to vertiginous hillsides. Of winding mountain passes where surly bus drivers negotiate past sunglass-clad Hollywood stars on Vespas. Of iconic villages whose names have long been burned into popular culture: Positano and Vietri sul Mare. Amalfi, Ravello, and Praiano.

The coastline here has certainly been imbued with a generous dose of celebrity glamour for more than five decades. Sophia Loren, Vidal Sassoon and Franco Zeffirelli were often spotted here in between taking the world by storm. Tom Cruise and Mick Jagger are regular visitors, as is Denzel Washington. In Positano the San Pietro hotel has long welcomed the likes of Julia Roberts and Dustin Hoffman.

For on the Amalfi Coast it’s Positano that will surely steal your heart.

“Positano bites deep,” wrote Nobel Laureate John Steinbeck, after visiting in 1953. “It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are

YOUR LIFESTYLE | INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone.”

Some argue that coach loads of day-trippers from Naples and further afield have tainted the charming coastal air of the villages, and in the height of summer you’ll certainly be battling hordes of tourists, but stay a few nights, or visit in the shoulder season, and you’ll be able to soak up the charm of the ‘jewel of the Adriatic’ without being elbowed aside by other visitors.

You could explore the charming church of Santa Maria Assunta or soak up the artworks at Franco Senesi galleria. Or, simply, look up and marvel at the houses rambling down the steep slopes in a colourful blaze of peach, pink and terracotta. Hotel terraces are draped with fragrant wisteria, while chic boutiques tempt you indoors despite the eye-watering prices.

The town has long been famous for its unique sense of coastal fashion – moda Positano – and there’s no shortage of glamorous beachwear on offer amid the narrow streets. If you’re feeling flush, seek out the iconic La Bottega di Brunella.

Handcrafted leather sandals make another charming souvenir: stop in at family-owned La Botteguccia da Giovanni for some of the best footwear in town.

You’ll want to be looking the part when you land up at Spiaggia Grande, the chic beachfront that forms the social heart of the village. While the grey sand and pebbles aren’t a patch on the sands of Cape Town’s gleaming Atlantic seaboard, the array of fashionable restaurants and bars lining the seaside adds a distinctly upmarket feel to this corner of Positano. If it all feels a little crowded, take a stroll along Via Positanesi d’America to the quiet cove of Fornillo beach. Remember though that many beaches are privately owned, so you’ll be charged for settling into that sun lounger in the shade.

Santa Maria Assunta

La Bottega di Brunella

Spiaggia Grande

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

BARE ESSENTIALS CURRENCY: Euro. ZAR14:a1. ATMs are easily available, and credit cards are widely accepted.

GETTING THERE: Although the closest international airport is in Naples, most travellers fly into Rome. From Rome, train services link the capital to Salerno and Sorrento (via Naples). In season, direct bus services run from Rome to Positano.

GETTING AROUND: A hire car allows you to travel at your own pace, and is ideal for exploring the coastline, but be warned: the roads are narrow, parking is scarce and local drivers impatient. Frequent local bus services link most major towns, and offer plenty of local colour for the cheap fare. Boat services link the key towns and villages in summer, but services may be infrequent or cancelled out of season.

PAPERWORK: South African passport-holders require a Schengen visa to visit Italy. Visit https://it-za.capago.eu for information and applications.

PLAN YOUR TRIP: Visit the Italian Tourism Board at www.italia.it.

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Another tip? Soaking up the view is at least half the joy of Positano, so opt for a hotel or villa high on the mountain slopes. Sure, at some stage you’ll have to head downhill and tackle the crowded alleyways to the pebbled beach, but you’ll be smiling in the knowledge you have a cliffside eyrie to retreat to later on. Up high, the views are uncluttered and the tourist crowds merely a faint murmur below.

While Positano is the poster child for the Amalfi coast, it’s certainly not the only show in town.

The town of Amalfi may be small, but it draws plenty of visitors thanks to its sun-splashed squares and cosy town beach. Around the corner, the village of Atrani delivers postcard-perfect alleyways and piazzas that beg to be explored.

Vietri sul Mare marks the eastern edge of the Amalfi Coast, and is the ceramics capital of Campania. Ceramics have been fired here since Roman times, but their heyday came in the 16th and 17th centuries when they were fêted by royalty.

Today, the bold local style of brushwork remains, and it’s a rare traveller that doesn’t leave with a few pieces packed carefully in the suitcase.

It was silk, not ceramics, that gave the coastal village of Praiano its wealth, however. That was in the days of the Amalfi doges [dukes], who built splendid seaside retreats here and today it remains – like Positano – a destination for its sheer coastal beauty.

Up and away from the coastline lies impossibly pretty Ravello. The likes of DH Lawrence and Virginia Woolf spent time here, admiring the town’s gardens and hilltop location. Unfortunately, you’re unlikely to have it all to yourself, as it’s blossomed into one of the region’s most popular destinations as tourists arrive to soak up the views former resident Gore Vidal once dubbed the best in the world. Although the sunset views are spectacular, Ravello makes for an easy day trip from the town of Amalfi.

Last, but certainly not least, there’s Sorrento.

Although not strictly on the Amalfi Coast – rather, it faces north across the Bay of Naples – this striking hilltop town is the gateway to this soughtafter corner of Campania and well worth exploring.

Unlike Positano or Praiano, Sorrento is a town not yet overrun by tourism, adding a more local flavour to the charming squares and restaurants that meander down towards the sea.

What to see depends on how much time you have, but don’t miss out on the gorgeous Duomo. This cathedral dates back to the 15th century and boasts striking frescoes, a three-tiered

YOUR LIFESTYLE | INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

It’s also worth timing your trip carefully. Peak summer months bring soaring temperatures and trafficsnarled roads, so avoid July and August if you can. bell tower and a remarkable majolica clock of painted pottery. The 11th-century Basilica di Sant’Antonino is another historical corner of the city worth seeking out.

The city also brims with excellent museums and galleries. Museo Bottega della Tarsia Lignea pays tribute to the region’s famous intarsio furniture; while the elegant Museo Correale has impressive collections of Neapolitan art alongside a curious collection of clocks and ceramics from across the globe.

Sorrento makes a fine escape from the crowds of Positano, but you’ll want to think carefully about getting around, as the snaking coastal road that links Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi is not for the faint-hearted. When Steinbeck visited in the ‘50s he observed it had been designed “to be a little narrower than two cars side by side”.

Fifty years on little has changed, and you’ll need nerves of steel if you choose to self-drive here.

The road is well-served by local buses, but the drivers here have made a sport out of terrifying tourists with their driving style. Best keep a bottle of the delicious local limoncello on hand to calm your nerves.

It’s also worth timing your trip carefully. Peak summer months bring soaring temperatures and traffic-snarled roads, so avoid July and August if you can. Spring sees the crowds begin to thin out, although the seawater is still gloriously warm.

You may be tempted to venture inland then too: the hills erupt in sprays of wildflowers, while mushrooms, truffles and black chestnuts make an appearance on the menus of local trattorias.

Whenever you choose, there’s never a bad time to visit the Amalfi Coast. Each season brings its own charms and secret pleasures. Positano may have captured Steinbeck’s heart, but there’s surely a corner of Campania waiting for a share of yours. w

ROMAN HOLIDAY! You can’t come to Italy without spending a little time in Rome. While this ancient city straddling the River Tiber could keep you busy for a week or more, here’s what you simply shouldn’t miss on a brief visit.

The remarkable Vatican City should be top of your list. Arrive early to grab your place in the queue for a glimpse of Michelangelo’s remarkable frescos in the Sistine Chapel. If you’re short on time you can skip through the (impressive) museums, but don’t miss out on St. Peter’s Basilica. The view from the top of the cupola is superb, and well worth climbing the 551 steps to the top. Remember that the St. Peter’s doormen are strict on dress code; smart-casual clothing (no shorts) is best.

Equally impressive is a building with fewer embellishments: the ancient Pantheon. To get there, cross the Ponte Sant’Angelo bridge and wander across the bustling Piazza Navona. Stop for a selfie at the stunning Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi before wandering on towards the 2 000-year-old Pantheon. Built by Emperor Hadrian in 120AD, it’s a marvel of Roman engineering and it remains the largest unsupported dome in the world. Even more impressive is that entrance is free.

So too the cost of a photo alongside the famous Trevi Fountain, a short walk away. Don’t be tempted by a swim, reprising your role in La Dolce Vita, or you’ll end up with a I450 fine. If you don’t mind the crowds, keep wandering at leisure to tick off the Piazza del Popolo and famed Spanish Steps. Climb to the top for great city views.

Be sure to leave enough time to get your head around the impressive Roman Forum. For centuries the heart of the capital, today its sprawl of ancient monuments and statues offer an impressive walk back in time. It’s worth signing up for a guided tour to put things in context, or downloading one of the excellent smartphone audio tours available online.

Where to next? There’s the famous Colosseum, the majestic gladiatorial arena that dates back to 80AD, as well as the leafy ruins of Palatine Hill. The Capitoline Museums are worth a look if you haven’t yet had your fill of history, else escape the crowds in the charming Borghese Gardens, a fine place for a Euro-saving picnic lunch.

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | MOTORING

Volvo’s new flagship

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | MOTORING

Marking Volvo’s return to the large executive sedan segment, the Swedish brand’s S90 blends luxury and elegance with good performance, safety and efficiency. Wynter Murdoch reports.

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | MOTORING

T

here’s a stretch of road in the Western Cape that, over the years, motoring journalists have gotten to know well. It’s the Franschhoek Pass – completed in 1825 and billed as South Africa’s first properly engineered mountain road – which is incorporated often into vehicle launch schedules by motor manufacturers.

Dramatically positioned on the side of the Middagskransberg, the pass is long and steep with a succession of tight corners –including hairpins and circular curves – interspersed with flowing sweeps and short straights. Enticing to drive but demanding, the road is quickly capable of showing up the slightest imperfections in a vehicle’s dynamic behaviour or its powertrain responses.

Since the base chosen for the launch of Volvo’s S90 is the village of Franschhoek – from which journalists can determine their own test routes – it makes sense to me to use the pass to assess the two derivatives that make up the initial range; the diesel-driven D5 and the petrol-fuelled T6, both of which feature all-wheel drivetrains.

Incidentally, the models will be joined later this year by front-wheel-drive D4 and T5 derivatives – and later still by the range-topper, the hybrid powered T8. Whether petrol, diesel or hybrid, all of the models feature engines from Volvo’s newly designed Drive-E family of powertrains, the basis of which are lightweight, four-cylinder units that displace 2.0 litres, coupled with eight-speed Geartronic automatic transmission.

In D5 form the engine is boosted by a sophisticated, twin-turbocharging system which is fed by compressed air to minimise lag. For similar reasons, the petrol-fuelled T6 counterpart is equipped with a combination of turbocharger and supercharger.

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | MOTORING

The diesel unit is reassuringly receptive to throttle inputs, producing 173kW at 4 000 revs/ min and a meaty 480Nm of torque between the 1 750 to 2 250 rpm marks. The turbo system, called PowerPulse and patented by Volvo, features two sequential Borg-Warner turbines – a highpressure, 38mm unit that feeds a low-pressure, 53mm equivalent.

With the help of a pulse of compressed air injected into the exhaust manifold, the smaller turbo spools up from 20 000 rpm – the speed at which it idles – to a fully operational 150 000 revs/min in just 0.3 seconds.

An electrically-driven compressor draws air from the air-filter housing and stores it at a pressure of 12 bar in a 2.0-litre tank, constantly replenishing itself to ensure there’s a supply on hand whenever the throttle is prodded with intent at low engine revs.

During my test runs over the Franschhoek Pass – all conducted with the car’s drive mode selector set to Dynamic to sharpen responses – the engine answers immediately to every demand made on it. Though I know the small turbo is predominant until around the 2 750 revs/min mark – which is where the large turbo, spinning at 160 000 rpm, takes over – I can’t discern when the transition occurs since there’s no step in the power delivery.

That element of seamlessness is apparent across all reaches of the rev range, the engine’s progressive smoothness reminiscent of the characteristics found in a long-stroke, six-cylinder unit – except for the exhaust note, which is a disappointing barp!

Similarly, the incorporation into the T6 derivative of a supercharger that works in unison with a turbocharger until the 3 500 revs/min mark does wonders to overcome lag. There’s no

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | MOTORING

THE PRICE TAG D5 Geartronic AWD Momentum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R777 700 D5 Geartronic AWD Inscription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R821 200 D5 Geartronic AWD R-Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R806 700 T6 Geartronic AWD Momentum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R828 400 T6 Geartronic AWD Inscription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R871 900 T6 Geartronic AWD R-Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R857 400 All models are sold with a five-year/100 000km full vehicle warranty, full maintenance plan and roadside assistance, as well as Tracker Connect as standard.

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bogging down off the line or when coming out of corners – on the contrary, the car feels muscled and eager through all stages of the test runs though, once again, to my ears the exhaust note lacks conviction.

With 235kW on tap the car accelerates quicker than the D5, completing the zero to 100km/h sprint in 5.9 seconds – about 1.1 seconds ahead of its stable mate. It’s also faster at the top end, with speed limited to 250km/h as opposed to the D5’s terminal 240km/h.

Over the pass, the T6’s pick-up pace out of corners makes it exciting to drive, its responses feeling less languid than those of the D5.

However, if it’s frugal fuel consumption you are after, opt for the diesel. Volvo quotes a combined cycle figure of 4,8 litres per 100km against the T6’s 7,2 litres per 100km, with carbon emissions pegged at 127g/km as opposed to 165g/km.

From a dynamic perspective, each of the vehicles impresses for high levels of mechanical grip. Their four-wheel drivetrains disperse up to 50% of propulsion forces equally to front or back axles depending on the amount of slip detected at either end though, when cruising on a dry road, almost all of the power goes to the front.

Through the twists and turns of the Franschhoek Pass the S90 in either guise maintains good composure, its ride stable and its steering accurate. On the downside, the chassis jars slightly when wheels encounter sharp-edged bumps, the low profile tyres on optional 21-inch rims fitted to the test cars probably responsible for the lack of compliance.

Gear shifting is quick whether going up or

YOUR LIFESTYLE | MOTORING

down the cogs, the closeness of the ratios helping to smooth out changes. Brakes are excellent, with no fade apparent during any of the test runs.

What’s equally impressive is the agility each of the cars displays.

There’s a nimbleness about both versions of the S90 that’s not usually associated with luxury sedans for, despite its sleek, coupé-like looks, the model is large, tipping the scales at about two tons.

It is longer and wider than many of its competitors, with an expansive bonnet, a boot that holds 500 litres of luggage and an exquisitely appointed cabin that comfortably accommodates five people.

Despite the low roof, the interior is light and airy, the seats wide, supportive and plush.

However, foot room for rear seat passengers is limited and manual steering-column adjustment is unusual in a segment where many competitors offer an electrically adjustable column integrated with the seat-memory system.

While the dashboard layout is minimalistic, it’s not sparse. There’s a good mix of light and dark leather, matt-finished wood trim and polished aluminum, all of which ooze quality.

Dials are digital rather than analogue, but are neatly and logically presented and easy to read.

The cabin’s centerpiece, though, is a vertically oriented LCD infotainment screen which operates much like a tablet. By swiping, pinching or tapping the screen – or dragging down menus – all of the car’s many features can be accessed.

A word of caution here: since there are many features – and many menus – it may take new owners some time to acquaint themselves with the operational system.

That said, voice control is also fitted as standard to all derivatives and is effective in managing aspects of navigation, phone, climate, media and other functions.

Which brings me to another high-tech point: allowing the S90 to drive itself. At speeds of up to 130km/h, the car can be programmed to take over driver chores simply by engaging semiautonomous mode.

I didn’t try it when negotiating the Franschhoek Pass, but I’m assured that, provided the road is well marked and that I keep at least one hand on the steering wheel, the vehicle’s new-generation Pilot Assist system – which has been available locally since last year in a sister model, the XC90 – will safely take control of steering, brakes and throttle inputs.

Designed primarily to allow drivers to relax on the daily commute – especially if stuck in a traffic jam – the system uses radar and a host of other sensors to get the car to its destination, stopping, starting and following the road without input from the driver.

While it’s the type of feature you’d expect to find in a luxury limousine, for my part I’d rather drive the S90 one more time over the Franschhoek Pass – just to see if I can better finesse some of the corners. w

Designed primarily to allow drivers to relax on the daily commute – especially if stuck in a traffic jam – the system uses radar and a host of other sensors to get the car to its destination, stopping, starting and following the road without input from the driver.

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | HEALTH

BOOST YOUR STAMINA LEVELS Imagine having the endurance capabilities of a marathon runner and the mental staying power of a chess player.

No more fatigue, overwhelming tiredness and reliance on caffeine jolts to get you through the afternoon.

Instead you breeze through the day in the knowledge that your energy levels will sustain you no matter what obstacles clutter your path.

I

mpossible, you might think? Well, many experts think otherwise. What is missing from most of our lives, they claim, and what could prove to be the biggest factor in helping us to cope with the stressful and time-crunched nature of modern existence, boils down to enhancing one critical factor: our stamina.

“Far too often these days people seek a shortterm fix to their lack of vitality and they overlook addressing the most critical factor, which is their stamina levels,” says Louise Sutton, Principle Lecturer in health and exercise science at Leeds Metropolitan University. “If you are trapped in

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a cycle of yo-yo energy levels and find yourself having to prop yourself up with instant boosters just to get through work, then you probably need to go back to basics and raise your stamina.” So where do you start? “The key thing is to ensure that your body is operating efficiently,” says Louise. “That means adopting a watered-down approach to the way elite athletes improve their stamina – through a wholesome, nutritionallybalanced diet and exercise.”

Louise says that when you exercise aerobically (by running, swimming, cycling or walking, for instance) your muscles require more oxygen

YOUR LIFESTYLE | HEALTH

than they would if you were standing still. The heart responds by pumping more blood which then carries oxygen around the body. At first this is hard work, but the better your endurance capability, the more efficient your body becomes at using the available oxygen supplies. In time the cardiovascular system also improves so that the heart can accomplish more activity in less time.

After several months, your resting heart rate (the average number of beats per minute) will drop.

This is a sign that your heart is pumping blood around the body more powerfully and efficiently than before.

In simple terms, says Louise, “the more adept your cardiovascular system gets, the better your stamina levels become”. With oxygen being pumped around the body with ease, it is not only the physical effects of increased long-term energy that quickly become apparent. “As soon as you begin improving your basic endurance levels, you will notice there is a rise in your mental endurance too,” explains Dearbhla McCullough, Sport Psychologist at Roehampton University, Surrey. “This is partly a result of more oxygen reach the brain and partly down to the fact that your energy levels are on a more even keel: you are not relying on ineffective energy boosters such as coffee and sugar to give you a shortlasting lift.”

But improved fitness is just a starting point.

From there, you must train body and mind to enhance their new-found stamina. Louise says there are simple ways to make sure your aerobic endurance levels continue to improve “such as raising the intensity and duration of your workouts”.

Meanwhile, John Ratey, a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, says brain endurance can be boosted at any age and that the key is to cross train the mind as one would the body. Just as muscles become untoned without physical activity, so the brain becomes stale if it is left unchallenged. “It is possible to enhance your internal wiring, but you need to engage in activities that are new to you,” John says. “Simply repeating the same activity will just maintain already established brain connections.”

At the Mind Gym in London, the first centre in Britain to offer aerobics for the brain, mind exercises are considered fundamental to improving mental stamina. “We take people for 90 minute sessions, the same length of time they would spend with a personal trainer, and get them to think differently about things, to alter their internal mind-map,” says Mind Gym Director, Octavius Black. “Where the brain is concerned, if something isn’t difficult, it probably isn’t doing much good. You need to be testing yourself to improve your stamina.”

John agrees, adding that, like physical exercise, mental workouts should be practised daily. “Brain neurons don’t sit around waiting for stimulation – they fire all the time,” he says. “Physical exercise and intellectual activity are the major way to boost stamina and you need to explore things your body and mind are not used to doing. Never vegetate.”

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Beyond combating tiredness, the benefits of stamina are colossal.

Research has shown it can even stem some of the effects of ageing. As we get older our physical functions tend to decline.

However, maintaining stamina may prevent or slow those adaptations.

Beyond combating tiredness, the benefits of stamina are colossal. Research has shown it can even stem some of the effects of ageing. As we get older our physical functions tend to decline.

However, maintaining stamina may prevent or slow those adaptations. A study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness last year compared 20 male runners, ages 64 to 73, who had been running for at least 40 years, with 20 sedentary men of the same age. All the men were put through various physical tests, including a maximal stepwise electrocardiogram (ECG) and a 24-hour ECG monitor. As expected, the runners’ hearts performed far better than those of the sedentary men. The runners had the stamina to stick with the stepwise test far longer, pushing a higher load before their blood pressures and heart rates got to the cut-off levels.

Elsewhere, scientists at Ohio State University recently found stamina boosts the body’s ability to heal wounds, something which normally slows down as we get older. They gave each of 28 participants a small puncture wound to the back of their upper arm. Half of the subjects had started exercising three or four times a week about a month before the wound procedure, while the rest were inactive. Results showed that the skin wounds healed, on average, 10 days faster (after 29 days) in those with high stamina and fitness which is significant, report the researchers, because the quicker a wound heals, the less chance there is that it will become infected.

All of which leads experts to pose the question: why are you waiting? “If you have allround mental and physical endurance, you are simply better equipped to cope with stress, ward off infection and illness and accomplish things you want to,” McCullough says. “As a result of this, your self-esteem will rise and your life will become more ordered and manageable. There really are no downsides to better stamina.”

DIET w Eat iron: More than one third of UK women don’t get their daily iron requirement (14.8mg) from the recommended red meat, chicken and eggs, a critical factor in determining stamina levels. Dr Jere Haas of Cornell University put 41 women aged 18-33, all of whom were mildly iron deficient, on a four-week exercise programme. Reporting in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, he found that those who were given a six-week course of iron

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supplements saw improvements of up to 200% compared to those who took a placebo. w Start the day with porridge: Tests on a wide range of different foods grouped according to their glycaemic index found porridge (made with oats and water), a low GI food, to provide the longest-lasting stamina boost when eaten prior to a workout. Reporting his findings in the British Journal of Nutrition, Professor Clyde Williams, Head of Loughborough’s School of Sport Science, said porridge-eating athletes performed better than those who took a hightech energy sports drink. w Drink flat cola: Researchers at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra have shown that sipping 1-2 cups of it can boost stamina by up to 3%. Professor Louise Burke, Head of Nutrition, showed how cyclists who sipped on flat cola before and during exercise were able to keep pedaling for longer and faster than those who took plain water. It works by stimulating the release of fats into the bloodstream. Those fats are immediately used to fuel exercise before the body reverts to its limited carbohydrate stores to keep going. w Avoid alcohol: It dehydrates virtually every part of the body, which limits endurance, and is also a neurotoxin that causes brain cells to become damaged and swell, explains Andrew McNeill, Director of the Institute for Alcohol Studies.

Cognitive stamina (including factors such as concentration, coordination and memory) are affected for some time after the acute effects of alcohol intoxication have disappeared.

EXERCISE w Add bursts of speed: Researchers at McMaster University in Ontario looked at the affects of incoporating 30-second sprints into workout and on exercise cycles. The results showed that a sprint-and-recover group increased their stamina (measured as the time they could pedal to exhaustion) by almost 100%, from 26 minutes at the beginning to 51 minutes two weeks later, while there was no change for a control group. Martin Gibala, Associate Professor of Kinesiology at McMaster, says even people who get all of their cardio exercise from walking “should try to do intervals – one minute fast, one minute easy, or 30 seconds fast, 30 seconds easy – for 20 minutes three times a week.” w Go to the gym at lunchtime: Researchers at Leeds Metropolitan University found that

YOUR LIFESTYLE | HEALTH

Researchers at Leeds Metropolitan University found that when employees exercised during their lunch hour, they were more productive and got along better with their co-workers afterwards.

MIND 1. Grow your cognitive stamina by playing games that force you to use your memory – bridge is good – or to think ahead, eg, chess.

2. Use mental downtime: The next time you meet someone who you think is boring, set yourself the task of finding something interesting about them by the end of the conversation.

3. Exercise your creative muscles: Put your feet up, gaze out of the window and let your mind drift away. Then write down everything you thought about in that time.

4. Improve your powers of concentration. One trick is to fix your eye on a point in the distance and keep your focus when you are walking down a street.

5. Meditate: It can improve brain stamina, researchers have found. An imaging study at Massachusetts General Hospital showed that particular areas of the cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the brain, were thicker in participants who were experienced practitioners of meditation. “Our results suggest that meditation can produce experience-based structural alterations in the brain,” says Dr Sara Lazar, of the hospital’s psychiatric neuro-imaging research programme. “We also found evidence that mediation may slow down the ageing-related atrophy of certain areas of the brain.” w

Text: Peta Beel, Pan Media

when employees exercised during their lunch hour, they were more productive and got along better with their co-workers afterwards. “The results were striking,” says Dr Jim McKenna of the sport science department. “We expected to hear more about the downside, such as afternoon fatigue. But out of 18 themes raised by study participants, 14 were positive, particularly their raised stamina. It was almost overwhelming.” w When less is more: Research by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has shown that, often, people who plod away for lengthy periods on exercise equipment are clocking up “dead miles.” In its guidelines, the ACSM says that 30 minutes of high-intensity exercise (that’s at 80% of your maximum aerobic capacity, a level at which you would be puffing and sweating) is as good as an hour at a workload of 60% if you want to improve your stamina. Jackie Dabinett, an Exercise Physiologist at the University of Roehampton, says: “You have two basic options if you want better endurance: to increase the duration or to raise the intensity of a workout. For anyone who doesn’t have hours to kill, a shorter, sharper session is more appealing.”

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | TECHNOLOGY

Tech notes Hot tech gadgets and other digital insights which have the geeks buzzing right now.

By Amanda Kelly Stone

THE WORLD’S THINNEST HEART-RATE TRACKER HAS ARRIVED

According to Fitbit, the Fitbit Alta HR is now the slimmest fitness tracker on the planet to feature continuous heart-rate measurement and an OLED display. This sexy device offers users the option of swappable bands (with a range of colours available) and tracks calories burned, steps, and sleep. The Alta HR also features various “smart-watch” – like functions, including notifications for incoming calls, calendar alerts, and text messages. While the device doesn’t feature a button that allows users to manually start tracking a workout, the device will automatically detect a range of popular activities like running and cycling.

Fitbit claims the Alta HR can last up to seven days off a single charge, which is an impressive two full days longer than its predecessor, the Charge 2. The sleep feature, Sleep Stages, is new to the Fitbit range, and uses the optical heart-rate sensor to estimate how much time the user spends in each sleep cycle. The data gleaned by the device is then fed to the user’s smartphone via an app, allowing users to better understand their overall health. Fitbit has indicated that the Alta HR will be available from $150 in the US, and will start rolling out to other countries this month.

CAN’T SPEAK IT? TYPE IT – WITH GOOGLE Google is raising the mobile keyboard bar by rolling out numerous new features for the Android version of its Gboard (the Google keyboard-for-mobile app). Undoubtedly, one of the most impressive features is that of Google Translate integration.

This feature serves to translate any text the user types into their preferred language in real time. This means that users are now able to translate their written text into a language of their choice instantly by simply pressing the translate icon.

For incoming texts in a foreign language, users are able to make use of the Translate box from the quick start menu, copy and paste the incoming text, and have it translated into their native language. This opens up a wide range of possibilities with regard to communication – particularly in the world of international business. If sceptics weren’t already convinced the Gboard is one of the best custom keyboards on mobile, they certainly should be now.

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | TECHNOLOGY

PET LOVERS CAN NOW CLONE THEIR CANINES Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, based in Seoul, is a world leader in the pet cloning industry. The company has operated a thriving commercial business for more than a decade, and serves dog owners who would rather not have to say goodbye to their beloved. The company has cloned about 800 dogs since 2006 at the request of owners or state agencies that have chosen to fork out the $100 000 it costs to replicate their dogs. Sooam Biotech also clones other animals, including livestock, for medical research and breed preservation.

The cloning process requires a mature cell from the dog to be harvested. The mature cell’s DNA is then transferred to a donor egg cell that has had its own genetic material removed. An electrical jolt is then used to fuse the said cell and egg – forming an embryo. This embryo is then implanted in a surrogate mother dog, which will then give birth to the clone roughly nine weeks later. One of the most well-publicised instances of cloning was of New York-based Trackr, a former police dog considered a hero after finding the last survivor of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre.

GAMERS ACROSS THE GLOBE GIVE NINTENDO TWO THUMBS UP According to Nintendo, the Nintendo Switch sold more units during its launch weekend in Europe than any other Nintendo hardware launched in Europe in the company’s history. Not only that, but the company managed to achieve these recording-breaking sales despite the fact that they experienced a few hardware issues with the console initially. It wasn’t only the Europeans who were significantly impressed, either. The Nintendo Switch also broke launch-weekend sales records in the USA. In both regions, Breath of the Wild appeared to be the most popular game of choice accompanying Nintendo Switch purchases.

The Nintendo Switch is expected to hit shelves locally toward the end of the first quarter and will retail from roughly R5 300 upward.

GARDEN MAINTENANCE CAN NOW BE OUTSOURCED TO A ROBOT NAMED KOBI What is technology for, if not to make our lives easier? The arena of chores, in particular, provides technology with the ultimate platform from which to shine. But the problem of the world’s least favourite chore, mowing the lawn, had yet to be solved – until recently. Enter, Kobi: an automated garden maintenance tool. A lawnmower (amongst other things) that doesn’t require a person to operate it, Kobi simply needs to be shown the perimeter of the property it is required to service, the positions of any immovable obstacles, and where to place any refuse. This seriously impressive gardening robot also boasts an anti-theft feature, an alarm, and will automatically disable itself if it does “grow legs”.

Unfortunately, this life-changing gadget is expected to retail for $4 000 (roughly R56 250) when it launches this year, and there is still no word on whether or not it will be available for purchase locally.

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | TECHNOLOGY

NOKIA RELAUNCHES THE ULTIMATE COMEBACK KID (BUTTONS AND ALL) Just when we thought it was safe to kiss the concept of buttons goodbye, Nokia pulled the rug out from under our feet and relaunched the classic Nokia 3310. The updated version of arguably the most popular phone in history (snake, anyone?) is lightweight, sleek, boasts a whopping 22 hours of talk time, up to a month of standby time, and a price tag of only $52 (about R700). The nifty handset features a basic operating system with texting (Android), but no QWERTY keyboard, and will be available in red, yellow, blue or grey. Whether this move is a marketing ploy, or whether Nokia is trying to fill a gap in the global market in terms of functionality and reliability, has yet to be established.

SA START-UP DELIVERS YOUR GOODS TO YOU WHILE YOU’RE ON THE MOVE If you’ve ever been annoyed at the idea of having to stay in one location all day in order to receive a delivery, you’re not alone. This frustration has been felt by many, including the team at WumDrop – a South African delivery-focused start-up. In an attempt to solve this vexing issue, WumDrop has launched a new service in partnership with The Foschini Group that has been uniquely designed to deliver customers’ online orders to them, regardless of where they are. The new service, called Deliver 2 Me, operates by delivering to customers based on the location of their phone, not to a static address as is the norm. Customers are able to indicate the hour they would like their package to be delivered, and the location they are at without actually having to provide an address. At the moment Deliver 2 Me is available exclusively through The Foschini Group’s online shopping site TFG eMall. The service will be made available for integration to other retailers through WumDrop’s application programming interface at a later stage.

ELON MUSK’S HYPERLOOP IS HAPPENING The Hyperloop, a high-speed transport system and brainchild of Elon Musk, is on its way to becoming a reality. One of the companies responsible for developing the said Hyperloop, aptly named Hyperloop One, has finally released images of a test track that will enable those involved to put the Hyperloop technology through its paces. The system operates by propelling pods, by means of magnetic forces, through a large tube. These pods are expected to travel at speeds of up to 750mph, serving to drastically shorten long distance travel times, as well as to help create more space on the roads in congested cities. The “DevLoop”, the test track created by Hyperloop One, measures 500 metres in length and is said to weigh over 1 000 tonnes. Each tube measures 3.3 metres in diameter. This test track can currently be found in the Nevada Dessert, USA, where Hyperloop One is expected to perform a public trial with the new DevLoop in the first half of this year.

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | ENTERTAINMENT

City guides JOHANNESBURG/PRETORIA CAPE TOWN DURBAN PORT ELIZABETH/EASTLONDON

Summer days may be a distant memory, the nights are long and cold, but that’s no reason to hibernate. These upcoming events promise plenty of fun for all. By Greg Vorster.

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | ENTERTAINMENT

JOHANNESBURG | PRETORIA The Mystery Of Irma Vep Main Theatre, Pieter Torien’s Montecasino Theatre 5-30 July Jonathan Roxmouth and Weslee Swain Lauder get dressed up in women’s clothing (cue Monty Python track) for a Gothic horror story spoofed to the rafters or, as the team behind it say: “Downton Abbey meets The Twilight Saga”. It’s impossible to be scared when you’re belly-laughing, but that’s a great conundrum to work through while in the theatre, watching Roxmouth and Swain Lauder’s multiple characters take on vampires, werewolves and mummies (also played by the duo) across Europe. Loud, brash and colourful – and that’s just the script – this is wonderful live entertainment.

Tickets cost between R100 and R180 from Computicket.

WODAC Pet Expo Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand 14-16 July “WODAC” sounds like some sort of software a salesman will swear you must have in order to stop all your appliances shutting down simultaneously. It actually stands for “World Of Dog And Cats”, which is much more exciting, not least because those are just two of the types of pets focused on during the exhibition, which looks at the lifestyle implications of pet ownership, pet food, gadgets, pet health and much more.

Quick: come up with a great acronym for “World Of Cats, Dogs, Snakes, Hamsters, Rats, Ostriches, Iguanas, Parrots, Siamese Fighter Fish, Tarantulas And Fruit Bats”...

Tickets cost R80 from Computicket.

Pinotage On Tap Festival Casalinga Restaurant, Muldersdrift 12 August London’s Drinks International Tourism Awards have called this travelling event – there are also versions in the Western Cape, Free State, North West and KwaZulu-Natal – “The best wine event in the world”.

No pressure then – perhaps take a print-out of that accolade with you and wave it around if you have to wait longer than 10 seconds for a refill. Enjoy the eponymous wine direct from the barrel (the original gimmick, though the festival has grown far beyond that) while indulging in a number of other artisanal treats and lifestyle offerings. And have an Uber on call for home-time, please.

Tickets cost R295 from Computicket.

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Carling Black Label Cup – Kaizer Chiefs vs Orlando Pirates FNB Stadium, Soweto, Johannesburg 29 July South Africans are forever told that “football is the national sport”, but the rows of empty seats in stadia during many of our domestic matches suggest that a lot of fans failed to receive that memo. A happy exception to the rule, however, is any match between Soweto titans Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, and particularly when, as in the Carling Black Label Cup, fans are able to be involved in the choosing of the teams to take the field.

Tickets cost between R70 and R170 from Computicket.

YOUR LIFESTYLE | ENTERTAINMENT

Van Coke Kartel – The Final Tour Atterbury Theatre 16 July A proper, old-school, sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll band, Van Coke Kartel have been quiet for a period and have now decided, in the light of the successful solo work of some of its members, to draw a line under the collective with one final tour.

Fans of the group – or Fokofpolisiekar, or Francois Van Coke, or any of the other combinations of its members – can come and sign off in Pretoria as the band celebrate a decade of work and five albums of material. Given that there’s no reason to hold back (they can’t be booked again anyway), expect a raucous farewell.

Tickets cost R150 from Computicket.

CAPE TOWN Michael Flatley`s Lord Of The Dance: Dangerous Games Grand Arena, Grand West Casino 8 August

Rocking The City Grand Arena, Grand West Casino 29 July There are so many great South African bands whose music was the soundtrack to a particular generation, and fortunately, there are a good number of platforms on which those acts can rekindle listeners’ memories as they belt out their big hits.

Rocking The City brings together MarcAlex, Essential, Dawnay, Da Ballies and The Boyz for an evening of nostalgia (for some) and old-fashioned gettin’ on down for younger fans who weren’t around when Marc and Alex were bright-eyed young men but who know a good song when they hear one.

Tickets cost between R125 and R255 from Computicket.

The only remaining trace of Michael Flatley’s monstrous ego is his name in the credits for this show (and to be fair, in his expert direction of the piece). The rest of what made the original Lord Of The Dance phenomenon so exciting and compelling – the fizzing energy, the incredible precision, the stirring music – remains. This production also has new staging, costumes, choreography and world champion acrobats, as well as Space Age technology in the form of a stage-wide flat screen and, er, dancing robots. Composer Gerard Fahy has also contributed new tunes, so there is as much for established fans to enjoy as there is for rookie audiences.

Tickets cost between R255 and R540 from Computicket.

King Kong The Fugard Theatre 25 July – 2 September It’s not the story about the giant ape that hangs off the Empire State Building – get that image out of your head. Instead, this is a revival of the iconic original South African musical that made Miriam Makeba an international star in the Fifties. It is the story of heavyweight boxer Ezekiel Dlamini of Soweto, whose nickname gives the production its title. Producer Eric Abraham was also behind recent hit stagings of West Side Story and Funny Girl (among many others), so expect superb performances and production values.

Tickets cost between R130 and R180 from Computicket.

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | ENTERTAINMENT

Dancing In The Dark Baxter Concert Hall 16 August There is often a perception that dance is a touch too abstract for the average person to appreciate at an artistic level. This UCT School of Dance production addresses that in a humorously edgy way, exploring notions of “Black Dance” in a purposefully tonguein-cheek manner, while still looking at important issues. The mixed bill includes reggae, hip hop and pantsula moves, and if you want to be properly clued up, there’s a free, preperformance talk with the directors in the theatre foyer. Learn as you watch beautiful people prove they’re more limber than you are.

Tickets cost R50 from Computicket.

DURBAN Vodacom Durban July Festival Greyville Racecourse, Durban 1 July This used to just be an annual get-together where equine enthusiasts and hapless bettors would gather around a racecourse rail and shout at some horses running past. Now it’s a fashion extravaganza (there are plenty of mad hatters) and a focal point for fans of everything from fancy food to top South African bands.

Whatever your reasons for going, the Vodacom Durban July remains an event to be seen at, so follow a photographer around until he or she agrees to take your picture for the local paper just so you’ll go away. And no comments like, “She’s a lovely filly, isn’t she?” (unless you’re talking about a horse).

Tickets cost R220 from Computicket.

Spamalot Playhouse Drama Theatre, Durban 4-9 July Monty Python’s humour remains as relevant and hilarious today as it was when they first sprung it on an unsuspecting British public in 1969. That either means they were way ahead of their time or the rest of us are a bit slow. In associated news, the legend of King Arthur is also just as gripping as it’s always been (and that since the 5th Century – take that, young Cleese!). And in yet more associated news, the stage show Spamalot combines both of these wonderful institutions – in a musical, no less.

Tickets cost between R50 and R100 from Computicket.

Vodacom Super Rugby – Cell C Sharks vs Emirates Lions Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban 15 July Always a popular game, given that it sees Gauteng’s most popular team take on the Emirates Lions (ooh!), this Super Rugby feature should be a good day out and an excuse to eat a ton of braai meat and down a dozen beers (as tradition dictates). At the time of writing, the result wouldn’t make a hell of a lot of difference to the outcome of the competition, but at least amateur experts in the crowd can look forward to picking out possible new or future Springboks, now that a refreshed national team finally seems to be a possibility.

Tickets cost between R40 and R120 from Computicket.

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | ENTERTAINMENT

Johnny Clegg – The Final Journey World Tour Durban ICC Arena 29 July It rather brings things into perspective when a perpetually popular star announces that they’re withdrawing from the spotlight, but especially when that beloved personality is forced to do so by a life-threatening illness.

Johnny Clegg is making the most of a period of remission from cancer to say farewell to his many fans from the stage, and it’s unlikely that there will be either an empty seat or a dry eye at any of the shows on this tour. If you have never been to a Johnny Clegg show, ensure you don’t miss out – he combines history and humour with a peerless catalogue of fantastic music.

Tickets cost between R275 and R975 from Computicket.

PORT ELIZABETH | EAST LONDON Jaziel Brothers The Venue, Hemingways, East London 8 July Singers, songwriters and producers the Jaziel Brothers (Luthando and Ntobeko Ngcizela) were born in the Eastern Cape before moving to glamorous Klerksdorp. They return to their roots to unveil a new look and sound, and are ensuring maximum impact by including a high-profile line-up of musical guests including iFani, Big Nuz & The Uzalo Choir and Amanda Black. Popular around the country, the Ngcizelas are an influential pair, and being present to see how they are positioning their band and brand will be interesting for anyone trying to keep a finger on the pulse of the South African music industry.

Tickets cost R150 from Computicket.

Stars Of The Russian Ballet Port Elizabeth Opera House 15-16 August

Sunday Funday Concert Savoy Theatre, Perridgevale, Port Elizabeth 9 July

If you know absolutely nothing about ballet, you’ll still probably nod in recognition when someone says the name Rudolf Nureyev. This innovative programme pays tribute to the great dancer in two acts. The first half includes a short film about Nureyev’s life as well as Wolpurgis Night a one-act ballet. Act 2, Divertissement, features a compilation of scenes from ballets in which Nureyev starred.

Tickets cost between R200 and R300 from Computicket.

Youngsters are often accused of being full of hot air, but here are a bunch of them putting that to good use: The National Youth Wind Orchestra. Conducted by Professor David Scarr, they promise a programme of “the very best music for children between the ages of three and 103”. Imagine you’re Mickey with a mop as you listen to The Sorcerer’s Apprentice or go further back – to well before Grandpa was a youth – for wonderful pieces like Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.

Tickets cost R95 from Computicket.

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | LOCAL TRAVEL

t s a o C t s a o C o t

Whether you’re planning to head to the East, South or West coastline this year, there are enticing offerings everywhere – for high adventurers, adrenaline junkies, nature-lovers and lighthouse admirers. By Keri Harvey.

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | LOCAL TRAVEL

W

ith a wraparound coastline and warm and cold oceans, South Africans are truly spoilt for choice when heading to the seaside for summer. Whatever your particular interest, there will be something along the coast to tickle your fancy.

EAST COAST Watch endangered turtles nesting The beaches of far northern KwaZulu-Natal are busy on summer nights.

Here, between October and December, endangered leatherback and loggerhead turtles lumber out of the sea to lay their eggs in the sand above the high-water mark. Of 1 000 eggs laid per female per season, only one or two turtles will make it to adulthood, and the surrounding sand temperature determines the sex of the offspring. Registered operators conduct tours to the monitored turtle sites. www.kosibay.net See humpback whales If you head out to sea off St Lucia by boat, there’s a good chance of seeing humpback whales frolicking in the deep ocean between June and November. Remember to only use a registered whale-watching operator like Advantage Tours, who also collect data for researchers on their trips to sea. www.advantagetours.co.za Game viewing in St Lucia estuary The World Heritage Site of iSimangaliso is a waterworld par excellance.

Take a boat trip to enjoy an African sunset and game-watch from the water. There’s plenty to see, and abundant hippos too. www.advantagetours.co.za

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | LOCAL TRAVEL

SOUTH COAST Marvel at massive schools of dolphins in Algoa Bay Port Elizabeth is officially the Bottlenose Dolphin Capital of the World with schools of 700 dolphins seen regularly in the bay by boat. There are also whales to be seen year round and one of the biggest penguin colonies along the coast – they are no longer abundant, but endangered. Raggy Charters is the only registered operator in PE and also conducts research on cetaceans and sea birds. Trips to Bird Island to see a vast gannet colony, penguins and the evocative red lighthouse are also possible. www.raggycharters.co.za Slackpack the Dolphin Trail in Tsitsikamma Two days, three nights, fully catered and portaged and staying in luxury accommodation, the trail is from Storms River to Sanddrift River. Just 17km of magnificent coastal scenery to enjoy. www.dolphintrail.co.za

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See or surf the world’s longest wave in Cape St Francis The cult status of Cape St Francis amongst surfers is as old as the waves – it’s been a surfing hotspot since longboard days, entrenched by the movie Endless Summer. Legend has it that Cape St Francis has the longest wave in the world and in ideal weather conditions a single wave can span the entire width of the bay. There’s also Seal Point lighthouse to visit. www.stfrancistourism.co.za

Bungy Bloukrans Between Storms River and Nature’s Valley is Bloukrans bridge which is recognised by the Guinness World Records as the highest commercially operated bridge bungy jump in the world. Veronica Dean enjoyed it so much she jumped 19 times in an hour and set a world record, Scott Huntley jumped 107 times in 24 hours, and at 96 Mohr Keet from George is thought to be the oldest bungy jumper in the world. It’s a 216m jump with a 100% safety record. www.faceadrenalin.com

YOUR LIFESTYLE | LOCAL TRAVEL

December up to 50 whales at a time can be seen lying just offshore. www.dehoopcollection.com/project/hiking-whale-trail/

See whales and seals at Plettenberg Bay From July to January, whales are in the bay and are best seen by boat. Seals, however, sun themselves on the rocky shoreline all year round. Remember to choose a registered operator if you go. www.oceansafaris.co.za Stand on the southernmost tip of Africa at Cape Agulhas This is also where the Indian and Atlantic oceans are said to actually meet, and it’s often wild and windswept here. In English, it’s the ‘Cape of Needles’ named by ancient Portuguese sailors because their compasses malfunctioned here, hence the importance of the quaint red and white lighthouse keeping watch over the coastline. www.discovercapeagulhas.co.za Walk the Whale Trail at De Hoop Fifty-five kilometres along the spectacular coastline through De Hoop Nature Reserve from Potberg to Koppie Alleen.

It’s a five-day trail and during whale season from June to

Do a sea cruise The Romonza does daily trips out into Mossel Bay, where whales and dolphins may be seen and there are always seals on Seal Island in the bay. It’s a relaxed outing and a great view of the coastline, town and Cape St Blaize lighthouse on the headland. www.romonzaboattrips.co.za Experience marine conservation at Gansbaai Go to sea with researchers aboard one of the Marine Dynamics boats and watch how they work – or just whale and dolphin, seabird and penguin watch. From June to December, Southern Right, Humpback and Bryde’s whales are in Gansbaai. www.dyer-island-cruises.co.za

Step onto Cape Point and breathe clean air It’s the Cape of Storms or the Fairest Cape depending on the weather. But Cape Point is said to have the cleanest air in the world, courtesy of an air stream from Antarctica. It’s also magnificently scenic, always refreshing and a stubby lighthouse can be seen halfway down the cliff face to the sea. www.capetown.travel

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | LOCAL TRAVEL

Search for megaladon teeth at Blouberg and Milnerton This ancient shark’s name means ‘big tooth’ and it’s no exaggeration.

Megalodon teeth can be as big as a human hand, which alludes to how big the shark was. Fossilised teeth are sometimes found at low tide around the mouth of the Milnerton lagoon and on Blouberg. Extreme patience is required and there are no guarantees. www.kimondegreef.com/feature/the-collectors

WEST COAST Kite-surf Langebaan It’s called Wind Town and attracts kite-surfers from around the world for its safe waters and onshore winds. If you don’t kite-surf but want to, there’s a school there that will teach you – Kite Lab – and you can hire the equipment needed too. www.kitelab.co.za

Visit the oldest fishing village on the West Coast It’s quaint and beautiful and remains a working fishing village and Paternoster’s white cottage houses are iconic too.

There are long beaches to walk, crayfish to eat in the summer season, gourmet restaurants for dining, kayak trips or horse riding on the beach. Or bring along your windsurfer, kite board or stand up paddle board, depending on the weather.

Just outside the village on Castle Rock is the Cape Columbine lighthouse which can be climbed during the week. The lighthouse keeper is usually in attendance and there is evocative self-catering accommodation under the light beam too. www.drikus.co.za for beach horse trails.

Go extreme birding at Velddrif A guided boat trip into the Berg River sanctuary is a relaxing way to spend an hour or two. Bird life is prolific and there are swathes of flamingos too, along with pelicans to see. Dan, who guides the boat tours departing from Bokkom Laan, is born and bred in Velddrif and extremely knowledgeable about more than the birdlife you will see.

Dan: 082 951 0447.

Fossick for Fossils at Langebaanweg Here you can visit a fossil dig and see the ancient Big Five’s stone bones, plus the fossils of a variety of marine life too. It’s hard to believe that bears and sabre-tooth tigers also lived on the West Coast five million years ago. www.fossilpark.org.za

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YOUR LIFESTYLE | LOCAL TRAVEL

Surf a left break at Elands Bay Locals say that offshore winds create perfect waves at Elands Bay. The famous left break waves here can be small and fast, making them difficult to ride. Waves are long though, and so are rides. Elands Bay is a happy place for boarders of any ilk – kiteboarders, windsurfers or stand up paddle boarders. www.capewestcoast.org

Walk a labyrinth at Strandfontein The Wandering Whale labyrinth is built high atop a seaside cliff outside Strandfontein. You have sea views all the time you are walking to the rose quartz adorned centre of the labyrinth. In season, you can whale watch at the same time – and whales are seen on the West Coast throughout the year.

Tel: 027 215 1685

Bird watch at Lamberts Bay A short walk from the harbour onto Bird Island and you’re looking at 8000 breeding pairs of blue-eyed Cape Gannets.

An excellent, elevated bird hide makes viewing easy and photography effortless. Specially erected poles, which resemble ship’s masts, have also been erected around the harbour to encourage cormorants to nest – which they do happily. www.lambertsbaytourism.info Wine taste at the edge of the Atlantic If you wine taste at Fryers Cove in Doringbaai, you simply can’t get any closer to the ocean without getting wet. The cellar is built right on the harbour, with the Atlantic licking at its edges. Some of the vines grow just 600m from the ocean edge, which gives wines a fresh, unique taste. www.fryerscove.co.za

SALATO Lighthouse Route Dine at the original beach restaurant, Muisbosskerm There may be open air beach restaurants all along the West Coast, but Muisbosskerm outside Lamberts Bay is the original – and the best by far. It gives new meaning to summer seafood meals, with a buffet of a variety of freshly fire-grilled fish and shellfish accompanied with local delicacies like farm bread and korrel konfyt. Enjoying these right on the beach, as the sun sets late on a summer night, is pure happiness. www.muisbosskerm.co.za

Of South Africa’s 45 lighthouses, a handful are open to the public during the week: Cape Columbine, Paternoster; Cape Agulhas; Green Point and Slangkop, Cape Town; Danger Point, Gansbaai; Cape St Blaize, Mossel Bay; Cape Recife, Port Elizabeth; Great Fish Point, Port Alfred; Hood Point, East London and Port Shepstone, Natal South Coast.

Self-catering accommodation at Cape Columbine, Danger Point, Cape St Blaize and Great Fish Point.

Tel 021 449 5171; email: lighthouse.tourism@transnet.net

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YOUR WEALTH | COMPETITION

A weekend FOR TWO at Colosseum Luxury Hotel

Stand a chance to win a two-night stay for two in one of Cape Town’s finest urban luxury hotels.

S

ituated just over 10 km from Cape Town’s city centre, Colosseum Luxury Hotel affords guests easy access to vibrant city life, while elegantly positioned away from the hustle and bustle. It is no surprise that the hotel was recently awarded TripAdvisor’s 2016 Certificate of Excellence.

Arrive to quaint architecture inspired by the Roman Colosseum, along with a modern chic interior design. A 3m Swarovski chandelier hangs from the ceiling, while natural light enhances the neutral shades, and bold furniture in the foyer.

Ever-enthusiastic hotel staff – from porters and waiters, to barmen and housekeepers – are ready to assist your every whim. Staff will escort you to your Executive Suite packed with luxury 4-star amenities such as a separate living area, semi self-catering kitchenette, and an open plan, free-standing bath and shower. All guest rooms have air-conditioning, LCD TVs and DVD players. You’ll also find an executive

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work desk with international plug points, an in-room telephone, and Wi-Fi connection.

Unwind with a treatment from the Chinese Massage Studio on the 4th floor of the Hotel, and tempt your taste buds to the most delectable cuisine prepared

by Chefs at CinCin Restaurant, also located at the Hotel.

Ideal for business and leisure guests, the Hotel sits within walking distance of Canal Walk Shopping Mall, where you’ll

find over 400 stores, including worldrenowned retail stores, restaurants, coffee shops, and boutiques. Other attractions include newly-built Century City Conference Centre, Intaka Island Bird Sanctuary, Ratanga Junction Theme Park, and Virgin Active Gym. For more information, visit www.colosseum.co.za, follow us on Twitter @colosseumhotel or like us on Facebook: Facebook/TheColosseumHotel)

HOW TO ENTER To stand a chance of winning this fabulous getaway, all you have to do is answer the question below and send your answer, together with your full name and contact details to: yourwealth@salesguru.co.za. Please put Your Wealth/Colosseum Hotel in the subject line. Closing date: 20 August 2017 QUESTION: W hich shopping mall is situated within walking distance of Colosseum Luxury Hotel?

TERMS AND CONDITIONS The prize includes a complimentary two-night stay in an Executive Suite for two people, including breakfast. The prize is valid for weekends only (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). Booking is subject to availability. Block out periods may apply. Use of payable facilities is to be settled directly with the hotel on departure. The prize is not transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash.

CONGRATULATIONS to Rafiq Ebrahim, winner of the weekend at Dolphin Beach Hotel in Blouberg, Cape Town, as well as a dinner for two at Blowfish Restaurant.

Chat to us about cricket lessons.

You ensure your kids’ budding talents are nurtured.

But what about the income that pays for those cricket lessons?

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It’s the one thing that pays for everything else. If an unexpected critical illness or disability prevents you from working, Liberty’s Income Protection will pay you up to 100% of your post-tax insurable monthly income.

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Speak to a Liberty financial adviser or broker, or visit www.liberty.co.za today, to insure your income, and the lifestyle it pays for.

Liberty has been trusted with more of South Africans’ new risk cover by sum assured than any other company, and have been for 12 years in a row according to Swiss Re.*

The Advantage of Knowing

Liberty Group Ltd is an authorised financial services provider in terms of the FAIS Act (No. 2409). Terms and conditions apply. *Swiss Re Individual Risk Market New Business Volumes Survey