The importance of a financial adviser in your life and wealth journey.

Yvonne Velthuysen • April 3, 2025

Industry studies estimate that professional financial advice can add up to 5.1% to portfolio returns over the long term, depending on the time period and how returns are calculated. But for most investors who choose to work with an advisor, advice is not just about investments. It's also about helping you pursue your goals, grow your wealth, and take care of the people who matter most to you.

Here are 3 ways a good advisor can help make a difference in helping you reach your goals.

1. Works with you to create a personalized investment plan
When you work with an advisor, you generally receive support from a dedicated professional who can help you bring your plan to life. An advisor will ask you about your personal and financial goals, and work with you to help answer questions such as:

Are your spending and cash flow appropriate?
What does financial protection mean to you, and how important is it?
What does growth mean to you, and how important is it?
Are your investments aligned with your preferences?
How will you manage your investment portfolio?


Together, you can develop a documented investment plan that articulates your long-term goals, short-term needs, risk tolerance, and personal values. This plan can act as a guide for future decision-making, and provides the advisor with information necessary to help you devise and document an appropriate asset allocation and, if applicable, a tax-sensitive investment strategy to help you invest in the asset classes and accounts that best suit your objectives and risk tolerance.

Having a documented investment plan can be a big help in staying the course in times of uncertainty or volatility and can help an advisor provide the guidance and encouragement you may need to stay on track to avoid the sometimes costly mistakes investors can make during volatile markets.

2. Can help identify opportunities to help protect and grow your assets
An advisor who understands your long-term goals is well-positioned to help you identify strategies and techniques that can help you grow and protect your wealth.

This may include:

Retirement income planning. Preparing for your future needs is essential to ensuring you can maintain your lifestyle throughout your lifespan.
Tax-smart investments. Reducing the amount you pay in taxes can potentially help extend the life of your retirement savings and open up options for more growth.


3. Builds a relationship with you to better plan for your specific needs
By getting to know you, your family, and your feelings about investing and your future, an advisor can better plan for your specific needs and help you adjust, amend, or extend your plan to keep it relevant as your circumstances change. An advisor can also help you evolve your plan as you prioritize new goals or manage life events, and help you manage risk and consider opportunities as markets or tax laws change.

By scheduling regular check-ins, perhaps quarterly or semiannually, an advisor can help you to review whether your objectives and needs have remained the same or whether circumstances require you to update your plan.

This can also be an opportunity for the advisor to connect you to specialists with experience with estate tax planning and personal trust services, to help develop a plan designed to help you keep more of your money and may be able to help protect your legacy for generations to come.

A good advisor is a partner on your financial journey
Financial advice is more than just numbers and investments. It's a process that can help you make a plan, chart your progress, and hopefully achieve your personal and financial goals—while feeling more confident along the way.

Why wait? Connect with one of our professional advisors today.

How to invest in a volatile market

By Geo Botha • July 4, 2025
How to invest in a volatile market: 3 Principles to keep in mind ‘In the short term, markets can be very volatile depending on which news story makes headlines. However, over the longer-term investors are always rewarded for staying invested and riding out the waves.’ We know this by now, we have heard it many times before and historical data proves it. Yet it’s easier said than done. When it gets to our own money we are emotionally involved and there is a part of us that believes that this time, it might indeed be different. What if the markets never recover and I suffer permanent capital loss. And with the increase power of AI and social media, it feels like my portfolio hangs on the thread of a single Tweet. In this article Stephen Bernard, an actuarial analyst form our partner Allan Gray share his views, backed by statistics and historical evidence: Read the article here: https://www.allangray.co.za/latest-insights/markets-and-economy/how-to-invest-in-a-volatile-market/

Invest Globally, Prosper Locally: Offshore Strategies for SA Investors

By Ruvan J Grobler • July 1, 2025
In an increasingly interconnected global economy, South African investors are finding compelling reasons to look beyond local borders when building long-term wealth. Offshore investing offers access to broader, more resilient markets, particularly in developed economies with stronger currencies and more stable political environments. Given South Africa’s constrained economic growth, fiscal uncertainty, and the rand’s vulnerability as an emerging market currency, allocating a portion of your portfolio offshore can serve as both a growth engine and a hedge. Investing offshore provides exposure to world-leading companies, industries, and fund managers that are often unavailable in the local market. It allows investors to participate in innovation-led growth in sectors like technology, healthcare, and clean energy, which are typically underrepresented on the JSE. Most importantly, it supports diversification—not just across asset classes, but across geographies, currencies, and economic cycles—reducing concentration risk tied to the South African economy. Key Reasons to Invest Offshore: Diversification: Reduce reliance on South African markets and benefit from a broader global opportunity set. Currency Hedge: Protect your wealth against rand depreciation by investing in hard currencies. Global Access: Gain exposure to top-tier international asset managers and world-class investments. Growth Potential: Participate in faster-growing economies and industries driving global expansion. Important Considerations for South African Tax Residents Before investing offshore, it’s essential to evaluate how your investment aligns with your broader financial planning, particularly around access, succession, taxation, and estate planning: Flexibility: Will you have access to your funds when needed? What types of investments can you hold? Succession Planning: Can your investment be transferred to your heirs? Will Capital Gains Tax (CGT) apply? Tax Compliance: Is the structure tax-efficient, and what must be declared on your tax return? Estate Structuring: Will your investment attract foreign estate duties? Is an offshore executor required? An Efficient Offshore Solution: The Offshore Wrapper A tailored offshore wrapper can simplify many of these complexities, offering a cost-effective and administratively streamlined solution. Key benefits include: No exposure to offshore estate duties No South African executor fees on death No inheritance tax in the offshore jurisdiction Ability to nominate beneficiaries directly for smooth succession Creditor protection for assets held within the structure Consolidation of various investments (e.g., share portfolios, funds) under one structure Minimum investment from $25,000 Tax Treatment The offshore wrapper also provides significant tax efficiency: Taxes are calculated and settled annually by the platform—no action required by the investor CGT is capped at 12%, and income tax at 30% Taxes are applied to USD returns, meaning rand depreciation is not taxed Reach out to me at ruvan@bovest.co.za for more information. Ruvan J Grobler RFP™ (PGDip Financial Planning)