Author Topic: Easy Equities, any opinions?  (Read 56469 times)

gcr

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Re: Easy Equities, any opinions?
« Reply #15 on: April 16, 2015, 09:34:35 pm »
Any of the Satrix type trackers where holdings are more than 10% in a single company may not be part of the TFSA. Simon Brown gave an insightful explanation of who the whole setup will function and clarified what limitation are in place. He should have his presentation up on the JSE or his own site Just One Lap by tomorrow morning
His presentation certainly made me think differently regarding this product there are some penalties associated with the product but his presentation covers all of these penalties
Not everything that counts, can be counted, and, not everything that can be counted counts - Albert Einstein

Mr_Dividend

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Re: Easy Equities, any opinions?
« Reply #16 on: April 17, 2015, 05:01:37 pm »
Have been using Easy Equities along side my "main" account with ABSA - when they started, around 6 months or now. On the whole have been pretty pleased with them - prices are pretty much the same when I double check with the ABSA account. Not great for very small shares though - not sure what the deal is. Prices to trade are fantastic - around 1% - and that starts at R500 or so. So great for guys on a bit of a budget - plus no monthly fees.

Only had one problem - they took dividend off a REIT interest payment - and then told me I was wrong when I pointed out their error. They did though sort it out though.

Once they did not credit a payment - they sorted that out quickly though.

Might make use of the TFSA - impressed that it is all set up ready to go, give them a big thumbs up for that.

For most people it will tick all the boxes if you looking for long term, mid/normal shares and for guys on smaller budgets - you can also buy ETF's through them.

Mr_Dividend

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Re: Easy Equities, any opinions?
« Reply #17 on: April 19, 2015, 07:17:45 am »
Quote
I'm still trying to get a listing of which ETFs they offer, because if I read the rules right then the Indi shouldn't be allowed as I thoughtthere was a restriction that the fund couldn't old more than 10% in any one company, and the Indi has 17% NPN at the moment. I've asked for clarification on this so I'll update you as things move along.

Interested in the above - makes sense, but where did you find that Patrick?

They also include the New Funds eRAFI IND which has a massive 35% MTN weighting.  (also see eRAFI FINI has 25 OML) http://etfcib.absa.co.za/Fund%20Documents/eRafi%20Indi%20Datasheet%20%2031%20March%202014.pdf

It would not surprise me if easyequities has got it wrong - as mentioned above they did not seem to understand that dividend with holding tax did not apply to a REIT.

I wondering if a person want to include the SATRIX indi it might be best to balance it out with 1/2 other ETF's to balance out the NPN weighting so you could argue that overall NPN (or any other) weighting was below 10%.

And before I forget, easyequities do not seem to answer emails - at least they never answered the two I sent.

Found that ETFSA also include the satrix indi in one of their tax free portfolios - mixed with others though.

Quote
http://www.etfsa.co.za/docs/Tax_free/Tax%20Free%20Brochure_02.pdf
« Last Edit: April 19, 2015, 07:28:31 am by Mr_Dividend »

bluedroid

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Re: Easy Equities, any opinions?
« Reply #18 on: April 20, 2015, 11:39:09 pm »
Got an email today from Easy Equities. They've launched their tax free savings accounts. Looks like the best of the bunch so far. They seem to be offering a very wide range of investments, including it seems my favourite, the satrix indi. The reason I'm rating them above Satrix though is that there are NO account fees, and NO management fees (other than for the underlying etf). All you pay for is the usual and very low 0.25% brokerage commision, and the normal statutory fees.

They even have a nice little take on their site showing how much cheaper they are than the rest which I've attached here. If you're investing R250 a month they're a whopping 5% cheaper than Satrix themselves, and 1.6% cheaper than Standard banks offering. Of course if you're doing R2500 like everyone should in my view, then the difference will shrink, but remember fees compound so even a small amount is best avoided!

I'm still trying to get a listing of which ETFs they offer, because if I read the rules right then the Indi shouldn't be allowed as I thoughtthere was a restriction that the fund couldn't old more than 10% in any one company, and the Indi has 17% NPN at the moment. I've asked for clarification on this so I'll update you as things move along.

*Note I'm still not getting paid by either Satrix or Easy Equities, I just think they're the best options we have in SA at the moment!

Edit:
Here's the list they're making available to the TFSA, I'll still wait to hear on the > 10% issue. Now to decide which ETF to go for, as on one hand you want to make the most of the tax free benefit, but on the other capital growth is usually better for returns than dividends/interest. Thoughts?

Bettabeta Be Green ETF (BGREEN)
Bettabeta Equally Weighted Top 40 (BBET40)
DB X-Trackers Col in Japan ETF (DBXJP)
DB X-Trackers Col in USA EF (DBXUS)
DB X-Trackers Col in WLD ETF (DBXWD)
DB X-Trackers DJ Euro Stoxx 50 ETF (DBXEU)
Db X-Trackers FTSE 100 ETF (DBXUK)
Erafi Overall SA Index ETF (RAFISA)
Erafi SA Financial 15 Idx ETF (RAFFIN)
Erafi SA Industrial 25 Idx ETF (RAFIND)
Erafi SA Resource 20 Idx ETF (RAFRES)
Grindrod DivTrax ETF (DIVTRX)
Grindrod LowVol Trax ETF (LVLTRX)
Grindrod Property Index Tracker Closed Fund (PREFTX)
Grindrod Property Index Tracker SAPY ETF (PTXSPY)
Grindrod Property Index Tracker Top Ten ETF (PTXTEN)
Mapps Protect (MAPPSP)
Newfunds Equity Momentum ETF (NFEMOM)
Newfunds Govi ETF (NFGOVI)
Newfunds Ilbi ETF (NFILBI)
Newfunds Mapps Growth ETF (MAPPSG)
Newfunds NewSA Index ETF (NEWFSA)
Newfunds Shariah To40 ETF (NFSH40)
Newfunds Swix 40 ETF (NFSWIX)
Newfunds TRACI 3 Month ETF (NFTRCI)
RMB Mid Cap ETF (RMBMID)
RMB Top 40 ETF (RMBT40)
Satrix 40 Trust (STX40)
Satrix Div Plus Portfolio (STXDIV)
Satrix FINI Index Tracker Fund (STXFIN)
Satrix INDI Index Tracker Fund (STXIND)
Satrix Rafi 40 Total (STXRAF)
Satrix Resi Portfolio (STXRES)
Satrix Swix Top 40 ETF (STXSWX)
Stanlib SA Property ETF (STPROP)
Stanlib Swix40 ETF (STANSX)
In regards to the greater than 10% issue. I dont see it on SARS website. Where does this restriction come from?:

http://www.sars.gov.za/TaxTypes/PIT/Pages/Tax-Free-Investment-Accounts.aspx
« Last Edit: April 20, 2015, 11:57:16 pm by bluedroid »

Mr_Dividend

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Re: Easy Equities, any opinions?
« Reply #19 on: April 21, 2015, 04:12:36 pm »
Choosing my ETF's for my TFSA

Quite like the company mix/proportions on this one:

http://coreshares.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/DivTrax-Fact-Sheets-MAR-2015.pdf

to go with the SATRIX INDI half/half - or 1/3rds with SATRIX FINI as well.

Hamster

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Re: Easy Equities, any opinions?
« Reply #20 on: April 21, 2015, 06:25:12 pm »
Well I was gonna go 50/50 on STXIND and DBXWD but now I'm worried about the 10% issue. Never thought of looking at the STRIX FINI though...hmmm. Choices.

Patrick

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Re: Easy Equities, any opinions?
« Reply #21 on: April 21, 2015, 07:19:41 pm »
Easy equities called me yesterday, apparently the 10% applies to unit trusts not ETFs. I'll post more info soon.

Hamster

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Re: Easy Equities, any opinions?
« Reply #22 on: April 21, 2015, 07:27:32 pm »
Schweet. Maybe 40/40/20 in DBXWD, INDI and FINI respectively :p

bluedroid

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Re: Easy Equities, any opinions?
« Reply #23 on: April 21, 2015, 07:56:05 pm »
Easy equities called me yesterday, apparently the 10% applies to unit trusts not ETFs. I'll post more info soon.
That would make sense as the ETF tracker can't control what's in it really, it just follows the market . Unit trust can change is holdings manually.

bluedroid

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Re: Easy Equities, any opinions?
« Reply #24 on: April 22, 2015, 08:27:48 am »

Mr_Dividend

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Re: Easy Equities, any opinions?
« Reply #25 on: April 22, 2015, 08:41:46 am »
Quote
Composition of tax free investment
Requirements in respect of composition of certain tax free investments
14. (1) Where any part of the value of a tax free investment is determined
directly or indirectly with reference to any financial instrument that is a share, not
more than 10 per cent of the value of that tax free investment may be derived from
shares in any single company.
(2) Where any part of the value of a tax free investment is determined directly or
indirectly with reference to any commodity, not more than 10 per cent of the value of
that tax free investment may be derived from that commodity.
(3) Where any part of the value of a tax free investment is determined directly or
indirectly with reference to any financial instrument issued by—
(i) any public entity that is listed in Schedule 2 or 3 to the Public Finance
Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999);
(ii) a municipality as defined in section 1 of the Local Government Municipal
Finance Management Act, 2003 (Act No. 56 of 2003); or
(iii) any foreign government which has been assigned a foreign currency sovereign
rating lower than that of the Republic of South Africa,
not more than 30 per cent of the value of that tax free investment may be derived
from any one of those financial instruments.
(4) This regulation does not apply in respect of any financial instrument in
respect of a collective investment scheme.

Bolded part maybe?


Patrick

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Re: Easy Equities, any opinions?
« Reply #26 on: April 22, 2015, 09:35:54 am »
Tough one, I'll get the easy equities guy on the line again later. He did tell me that he confirmed the STXIND availability directly with Satrix, so you would imagine that Satrix has done their homework.

One other thing I see is that the document are draft regulations released for public comment.

bluedroid

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Re: Easy Equities, any opinions?
« Reply #27 on: April 22, 2015, 09:52:02 am »
Quote
Composition of tax free investment
Requirements in respect of composition of certain tax free investments
14. (1) Where any part of the value of a tax free investment is determined
directly or indirectly with reference to any financial instrument that is a share, not
more than 10 per cent of the value of that tax free investment may be derived from
shares in any single company.
(2) Where any part of the value of a tax free investment is determined directly or
indirectly with reference to any commodity, not more than 10 per cent of the value of
that tax free investment may be derived from that commodity.
(3) Where any part of the value of a tax free investment is determined directly or
indirectly with reference to any financial instrument issued by—
(i) any public entity that is listed in Schedule 2 or 3 to the Public Finance
Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999);
(ii) a municipality as defined in section 1 of the Local Government Municipal
Finance Management Act, 2003 (Act No. 56 of 2003); or
(iii) any foreign government which has been assigned a foreign currency sovereign
rating lower than that of the Republic of South Africa,
not more than 30 per cent of the value of that tax free investment may be derived
from any one of those financial instruments.
(4) This regulation does not apply in respect of any financial instrument in
respect of a collective investment scheme.

Bolded part maybe?

I saw that as well. Best let Patrick get a second opinion. It changes what i proportion in it drastically.

bluedroid

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Re: Easy Equities, any opinions?
« Reply #28 on: April 22, 2015, 10:14:18 am »
I've found a later version (Feb 2015) of the document from Treasury. Don't know if this is final.

http://www.treasury.gov.za/legislation/draft%20legislation/20150220%20Regulations%20for%2012T.pdf

Mr_Dividend

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Re: Easy Equities, any opinions?
« Reply #29 on: April 22, 2015, 10:34:01 am »
Quote
(2) Where the value of a tax free investment is determined with reference to any
index of listed shares, the value of shares issued by any company may not exceed
an amount of 120 per cent of that company’s weighting in that index, subject to a
maximum of 35 per cent of the market value of the tax free investment.

I just do not understand that at all. And English is my first language.  :(