Page 48 - Profile's Unit Trusts & Collective Investments - March 2025

CHAPTER 2

Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs)
TFSAs (Tax Free Savings Accounts) were introduced by way of an amendment to the
Income Tax Act 2015, allowing up to R36 000 per annum to be invested in specially
designated accounts (up to a lifetime limit of R500 000). The annual allowance was initially
set at R30 000, but increased to R33 000 in February 2017 (for the 2018 tax year) and to R36 000
from 1 March 2020. The value of a TFSA including growth is not capped, only contributions are
regulated. TFSAs are exempt from both income tax and CGT (capital gains tax). Regulations under
the Act relating to tax free savings accounts allow them to invest in unit trusts and other collective
investments, including ETFs. The regulations, however, include some exceptions: TFSAs may not
invest in funds with performance fees and ETPs that are not registered collective investment
schemes.
The regulations have since 1 March 2018 made it possible for investors to transfer the balance on a
TFSA account from one service provider to another without negatively affecting their annual or
lifetime contribution limits.

Investment Safety
Collective investment schemes are highly regulated, and investors can be confident that, while
they are subject to investment risks, the regulations reduce the risk of fraud or embezzlement.
Unit trusts are a good example of this “investment safety.” For more than half a century, unit
trusts have provided small investors with a way to participate in the stock and bond markets. The
founding fathers of the unit trust industry were mindful of their primary obligation: the protection of
small investors. And their groundwork has paid off – there have been very few major scandals in the
unit trust industry in South Africa. This can be attributed to the legislation governing the industry.
Under the Unit Trusts Control Act, unit trusts were divided into three separate legal entities:
the fund, the trustee and the management company – a structure which proved its value in
protecting investors. The current legislation governing the collective investment schemes industry
(CISCA) builds on the foundations of the old Unit Trusts Control Act (see chapter 5).
Performance and Other Reporting
One of the reasons for the early success of unit trusts was the fact that management companies
were legally obliged to release performance statistics and details of underlying investments to the
public on a quarterly basis. There is no such requirement in the pension fund or life assurance
industries, even though some life and pension companies have voluntarily released figures over the
years. CISCA has added additional levels of disclosure in reporting.
In addition to reporting requirements under CISCA, Financial Services Board (FSB) Notice 92
of 2014 deals with advertising, marketing and information disclosure requirements for collective
investment schemes. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is currently reworking this
notice as a conduct standard under the Financial Sector Regulation Act.
Currently, the notice defines and standardises the performance statistics which must be
published by fund managers on their quarterly Minimum Disclosure Documents (MDDs).
This includes:
The fund’s investment objectives
The risk/reward profile
The fund’s benchmark
Fees and charges
The fund’s size and sector
Distributions
Fund performance
Transparency
Unit trusts have always been more “transparent” than investment vehicles like endowment policies,
and the level of disclosure required from managers increased with the promulgation of CISCA.

46 Profile’s Unit Trusts & Collective Investments — Understanding Unit Trusts