Page 27 - Profile's Unit Trusts & Collective Investments - March 2026

History of collective investment schemes Chapter 1

The advent of prudential funds allowed the unit
Table 1.1 trust industry to target the retirement funding market,
Total industry assets both through specific prudential funds and through
(excl offshore funds) a range of linked products which had unit trusts as
their underlying assets. Where unit trusts had been
R million Growth % seen as relatively high-risk investments which would
Dec 2025* 4 577 162 18.14% have been considered as an addition to a retirement
funding plan, prudential unit trusts opened the
Dec 2024* 3 874 405 10.70% door for unit trusts as a core component of lifetime
Dec 2023* 3 498 511 11.40% investment towards retirement. Unit trusts had
evolved to a point where they would begin competing
Dec 2022* 3 141 310 0.10% with traditional pension funds and retirement annuity
Dec 2021* 3 139 091 15.00% funds, at least at an asset management level.
Dec 2020* 2 730 460 9.90% Another new phenomenon in this area was the
launch of prudential funds aimed not at individual
Dec 2019* 2 484 228 10.80% investors, but at institutions and pension funds. The
Dec 2018* 2 241 369 -0.40% Standard Bank Managed Fund, for example, was
launched on 1 August 1996 with a minimum lump
Dec 2017* 2 250 722 12.30% sum investment of R500 000 and an initial charge
Dec 2016* 2 003 594 6.00% of only 2% (lower for larger amounts), which at the
time was very cheap. These were the precursors of
Dec 2015* 1 889 643 11.50% the many institutional unit trust funds which are now
Dec 2014* 1 694 795 13.10% available. These are marketed within the industry,
and are not available to private investors.
Dec 2013* 1 499 054 24.90%
Performance data on institutional funds is often
Dec 2012* 1 199 808 20.50% not even published in the press. Given the historical
Dec 2011* 995 687 7.40% origins of unit trusts – vehicles designed to give the
man in the street a way to invest in the share market
Dec 2010* 927 227 18.00% – the institutional unit trust, arguably the grandchild
Dec 2009 786 117 19.00% of the first prudential fund, was a significant
Dec 2008 661 201 1.00% development.
Dec 2007 653 463 20.00% The effect of globalisation
Dec 2006 546 656 32.00% Another trend which has dramatically changed
the character of the unit trust industry since
Dec 2005 415 131 36.00% the early 1990s is the increasing global awareness
Dec 2004 305 945 33.00% of investors.
Dec 2003 230 344 28.00% Until the end of the 1980s, unit trust investment
was strictly a South African affair for most investors.
Dec 2002 179 826 3.00% In Europe and America, however, a trend towards
Dec 2001 174 588 38.00% international diversification had already been
established. This was the logical extension of the well-
Dec 2000 126 907 13.00% established principle of diversification. Diversification
Dec 1999 112 780 58.00% lowers risk. Diversification across countries, as well
as asset classes further reduces risk.
Dec 1998 71 279 16.00%
Changes in foreign exchange policy around the
Dec 1997 61 652 41.00% world facilitated products which allowed Americans
Dec 1996 43 790 30.00% to invest in Europe and vice versa. Although SA
lagged behind when it came to foreign exchange
Dec 1995 33 695 28.00% control, the benefits of geographic diversification –
* Since annum 2010 ASISA figures exclude all cross- and the appeal of investing in offshore assets – soon
holdings; historical figures would have been slightly lower made an impression on local investors.
on the same basis. Due to exchange control regulations, the first
“international” funds which were established in

Profile’s Unit Trusts & Collective Investments March 2026 25