Page 29 - Profile's Unit Trusts & Collective Investments - September 2025

History of collective investment schemes Chapter 1

Dividend/Dividend Yield
The dividend is the amount paid per share to shareholders (usually every six months for
listed companies) from the company’s after-tax profits. Companies generally only pay
dividends when they are doing well. Unit trusts invested in shares derive part of their
income from dividends paid to the trust by the companies in which they are invested. They pass this on
to unitholders as part of the unit trust distribution (sometimes also referred to as a dividend, although
“distribution” is more accurate as the payment also includes some interest). Dividends were tax free
from 1990 to 2011, but in March 2012 a dividends withholding tax (DWT) at a flat rate of 15% was
introduced. The introduction of DWT coincided with the abolishment of the 10% Secondary Tax on
Companies (STC), itself a form of dividend tax, so the impact on dividend investors was less onerous
than it appeared. DWT was increased to 20% in February 2017.
The dividend yield is a percentage which indicates the dividend payout as a percentage of the share
price or unit price. It is calculated as dividends paid over the past 12 months expressed as a percentage
of the latest price. If the price rises between dividend payouts, the dividend yield falls (because the
numerator – the dividend – is fixed for some months, but the denominator – the price – is rising). Since
the introduction of DWT in 2012, the published yields for shares and unit trusts usually (but not always)
reflect gross dividend yields/distribution yields before tax.
The comparatively rapid addition of funds in the 1980s, however, paled into insignificance
compared to growth in the 1990s. By the end of 1999 there were 271 rand-denominated unit
trusts (including 11 Namibian funds). The market value of assets under management had risen
to R112.8bn.
The huge changes in the industry over time are not only reflected in the number of funds available
and the magnitude of assets under management. The range and type of funds available has also
evolved dramatically in response to changing market conditions and investor needs.
A comparison of collective investment schemes available in the 1970s and the 1990s highlights
some of the massive changes in the industry.
Of the 12 funds available up to the end of 1979, all but one were equity funds. (The exception
was the Standard Bank Extra Income Fund which, as the name suggests, focussed on income
generation rather than capital growth through equity investment.)
By contrast, the range of collective investments available in the 1990s included money market
funds, gilt funds, many specialist equity funds (which focussed on particular sectors), international
funds (which invested in offshore assets), funds of funds, and wrap funds. Not all of these fell under
the Unit Trusts Control Act. Wrap funds, for example, effectively fell under the ambit of the Stock
Exchanges Control Act.
Other forms of collective investments had appeared, such as investment trusts, which were JSE
listed companies that had similar objectives to unit trusts, but whose prices were determined by
supply and demand. Property unit trusts, also a form of collective investment, were governed by
special rules in the Unit Trusts Control Act. Like investment trusts, they were close-ended and listed
on the JSE.
The two main factors that led to this explosion of funds were increased consumer sophistication
and an inevitable product differentiation on the part of management companies.
Increased consumer sophistication led to a demand for more specialist funds. Some investors
were happy with the general equity fund, but others, while still interested in professional asset
management and the other benefits of unit trusts, wanted to choose a narrow asset allocation range
(such as technology stocks, or resources stocks, or interest-bearing securities). Management
companies responded by creating unit trusts with narrower mandates that restricted asset managers
to investing in particular types of assets.
Management companies had further incentives for product differentiation. Regardless of fund
manager skills, broad-based equity funds tended to rise and fall with the JSE Overall index (as it was

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