View Nigel Benetton's profileJuly 2015
Off beat
It has been estimated that as many as one in four adults over the age of 40 will develop some form of irregular heartbeat or arrhythmia, yet many South Africans are not aware of this common condition which can cause a...
Monday, August 31, 2015 - 15:19
One stop treatment
In large part due to the adoption of unhealthy lifestyles, South Africans are increasingly falling victim to heart disease, strokes and other cardiovascular diseases, which are leading killers in this country today....
Friday, August 28, 2015 - 11:26
Gut feeling
The gut microbe Akkermansia muciniphila may hold the key to better metabolic health and healthier body fat distribution in people who are overweight or obese, reveals a small study published online in the journal Gut...
Monday, August 17, 2015 - 16:16
Keeping control
Beneficiary funds were introduced in January 2009, yet many pension fund trustees and financial advisers remain unaware or confused about their use and advantages. Fairheads Benefit Services believes that all financial advisers, especially those...
Monday, August 17, 2015 - 16:07
The poor can copy
The number of new millionaires in Africa is steadily growing, with more than 160 000 individuals holding around US$660 billion in personal wealth at the end of 2014, according to the New World Wealth Africa Wealth...
Thursday, July 30, 2015 - 02:16
Worsening risk profile
The rapid rise in lifestyle-related illnesses, resulting from higher rates of obesity in particular, indicate that an unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle are fast replacing tobacco as one of the leading causes of...
Wednesday, July 29, 2015 - 02:16
Floating an idea
Investments in tried-and-tested hard currency assets such as boats should be considered as an integral part of a well-balanced investment portfolio. These yachts are not only a low risk asset, but also a feasible...
Tuesday, July 28, 2015 - 02:16
Integrated insight
Children’s author Brandon Mull tells us, “Smart people learn from their mistakes. But the real sharp ones learn from the mistakes of others.” These are wise words indeed, says Johan Lotz, Advice Partner at The Wealth...
Monday, July 27, 2015 - 16:27
Youthful opportunity
As South Africa celebrates Youth month, it would seem that there is simply no disguising South Africa’s youth unemployment crisis and the misery that it brings for so many young people and their families. South Africa...
Monday, July 27, 2015 - 02:16
Cost wrong criteria
If innovation is the panacea for South Africa’s retirement savings woes, then a radical rethink of the umbrella fund landscape is long overdue. Far too many employers focus only on costs when choosing a retirement...
Thursday, July 23, 2015 - 02:16
Strictly not for medicinal purposes
Any health benefits from alcohol may be limited to women aged 65 and over - and even then may have been exaggerated by existing studies, suggests research published in The BMJ (British Medical Journal).
...
Wednesday, July 22, 2015 - 02:16
The magic number
We are often asked how much money a person or a couple needs to have invested in order to retire comfortably. If the answer really was some magic number, you would likely not need a financial advisor. You would simply...
Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - 02:16
Time is now
Five South African universities have been included in the Times Higher Education BRICS & Emerging Economies Rankings 2015 – a list of the top 100 universities in countries classified as emerging economies. The...
Monday, July 20, 2015 - 13:05
Million fines awaits
With fines looking set to surge for non-compliance with pensions auto-enrolment, businesses in the financial services sector must act now if they want to avoid a hit to their finances, warns Lighthouse Group, one of...
Monday, July 20, 2015 - 02:16
Neuro squabble
The widely held belief that depression is due to low levels of serotonin in the brain - and that effective treatment raises these levels - is a myth, argues a leading psychiatrist in The BMJ (British Medical Journal)...
Friday, July 17, 2015 - 02:16
Aggressive approach needed
What real growth is needed for a comfortable retirement outcome? Are retirement funds investing aggressively enough to achieve this?
“For members to secure a comfortable retirement, real returns of between 3½% and 4½% of pre-retirement...
Thursday, July 16, 2015 - 02:16
Exchange control opportunity
In Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene’s February budget speech, he announced increased scope for South Africans to invest offshore, raising the foreign exchange allowance for individuals from R4 million to R10 million per...
Wednesday, July 15, 2015 - 02:16
Poor suffering
In the next decade, the number of ultra-rich South Africans in Johannesburg and Cape Town is expected to increase by about 40%. Yet the percentage of this group that will maintain their lifestyles into retirement is...
Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 02:16
Not beyond means
Middle and upper class South Africans are earning more than enough to afford comfortable lifestyles, but they need to come to terms with the trade-offs required to ensure that their lifestyles are sustainable well...
Monday, July 13, 2015 - 02:16
Hearty mouthful
Eating up to 100g of chocolate every day is linked to lowered heart disease and stroke risk, finds research published online in the journal ‘Heart’ – and reported by Journals for BMJ.
There doesn’t seem...
Sunday, July 12, 2015 - 02:16
Internet outside the net
‘Significant digital presence’ test in South Africa may be necessary for digital giants to pay their fair share of taxes. Multinational companies that supply content via online streaming or subscription services to...
Sunday, July 12, 2015 - 02:16
Royal service
King Price is celebrating its third birthday this June. The financial services firm opened its doors to business on the 2nd of June 2012, “armed,” as it says, “with some radical notions: The first, being the only...
Friday, July 10, 2015 - 02:16
On remote control
South Africa’s playing fields are not level when it comes to local businesses competing with multinationals in the digital economy
• SA companies cannot compete on an equal footing with multinationals...
Thursday, July 9, 2015 - 02:16
The silent killer
“Many South Africans are not sufficiently aware of the danger malaria poses to their health. There are still too many unnecessary fatalities from this infection.” This is according to Dr Danise Theron of Netcare...
Wednesday, July 8, 2015 - 02:16
Password nightmare
Credit card fraud continues to increase and more than R454m was lost last year from R366m in 2013. For businesses to protect themselves, it's safer to entrust sensitive information to a reliable third party than...
Tuesday, July 7, 2015 - 02:16
Old but true…
Experts tell us we should save 15%-20% of our salaries every month. But few people manage this, and even if they do, they often spend accumulated savings when an emergency presents itself.
“Building...
Monday, July 6, 2015 - 02:16
More transparent
The Financial Services Board (FSB) released the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) with intending to protect retail financial services customers, particularly those in the lower-end of the market, by ensuring that they...
Monday, July 6, 2015 - 02:16
The RDR paradox
The FSB’s Retail Distribution Review (RDR) is intended to provide a framework for accessible, high-quality financial services advice that is free from conflicts of interest. It will have widespread implications for...
Friday, July 3, 2015 - 02:16
Big roll
BankservAfrica Economic Transaction Index (BETI) shows a depressed economy but the year-on-year number is still positive, growing by 1.6% in May. The impact of disruptive electricity supplies and slower world economic...
Thursday, July 2, 2015 - 15:00
Image issue
The Ombudsman Short-Term Insurance received a record number of complaints against short-term insurers and returned more than R116m to consumers in 2014.
Speaking at the release of the office’s 2014 annual...
Thursday, July 2, 2015 - 14:58
Coming into the fold
National Treasury declared hedge fund investments to be collective investment schemes (CISs), and would be regulated under CISCA (Collective Investment Schemes Control Act) just like any other unit trust portfolio....
