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It’s always a pleasure to receive correspondence from BizNews community members, so please keep your emails and blogs coming. In this contribution, Joshua Wallace sings the praises of Sygnia, the financial services company that is shaking up the sector with its lower-cost unit trust offering. Its low-cost unit trust tracker funds are competing with Exchange Traded Funds that track indices, though that’s just one part of the Sygnia operation. Joshua has tried a few unit trust providers, so he knows what he’s talking about. – JC
Joshua Wallace shares some views on his investment experiences with unit trust platforms.
From Joshua Wallace*
I’ve decided to give some insights into the mind of a young – in terms of time in market – investor and share why this journey has been so enjoyable. Coming from an engineering and science background, I’ve always leaned towards the conservative and less emotional. In a recent discussion with Alec Hogg, following his dissemination of the interesting pilgrimage which is the Berkshire Hathaway AGM, I realised how much my interest in, and passion for, the world of investing and finance has grown.
I am what is often deemed an “eager beaver”, and for a person with this affliction, the world of investing, markets, trading and seminars is alive with knowledge. I have quickly found myself reading and hoarding information.
I have started exploring my field of interest, from an investment perspective. As evidence of this, I recently attended the successful first inaugural Manufacturing Indaba held in Gauteng. This event was a collage of technical, financial, social and investment information which left my technical nodes tingling. On the investing side, colours, graphs and interactive data definitely catch my attention.
I have experienced quite a few of the investing platforms available and I must admit I have been very pleased with the great amount of bells-and-whistles on the Sygnia investment platform. Furthermore, it’s interesting to see the approach that Magda Wierzycka and Sygnia have chosen by challenging the cost structure of the well-established asset managers. What they seem to rightly ask is: “who decided on the cost of investing platforms?” By throwing some stones in the bushes and seeing what emerges they are creating some excitement and upheaval, which is surely a good sign for the consumer.
This ties into the hot topic of cost and value. How long these platforms will stay relatively cheap and interactive remains to be seen. But for now it is interesting to see that there is a divide between what the young, engaged investor wants to experience versus the products currently available.
* Cape Town-based Joshua Wallace, 27, has a Master’s degree in chemical engineering. He facilitates the only industrial symbiosis programme on the African continent. It is called WISP (Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme).
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