How to access our international funds
Our rand-denominated international funds are available directly from Coronation, or as investment options on the product platforms of most of the prominent linked product companies in South Africa. Our foreign-domiciled funds can also be accessed directly, or through the offshore fund platforms offered by both domestic and foreign institutions including Alexander Forbes, Allan Gray, Capital International, Cidel, Discovery, Absa Investment Management Services, Glacier by Sanlam, Ninety One, INN8, Momentum, and Old Mutual International.
How to choose between a rand-denominated & foreign currency-denominated fund
Our rand-denominated and foreign-domiciled international funds are invested in the same assets. The suitability of fund structure is best determined by an investor’s financial and tax planning considerations. Factors such as the investor’s status (natural person or trust); family needs (e.g. children on different continents) and the purpose of their investment (e.g. whether they want to draw an income) should influence this decision. Offshore investment is still subject to exchange controls set by government and administered by the South African Reserve Bank. When investors elect to invest in our foreign-domiciled international funds, they use their individual allowance of up to R11 million a year. Investors in our rand-denominated international funds utilise Coronation’s foreign investment allowance, which is currently set at 40% (excl. Africa) of the household assets invested in our unit trust funds.
Deciding on the right currency choice
Deciding on the optimal currency allocation within a portfolio is integral to establishing the fair value of assets and optimising returns over time. Our long-term, growth-oriented foreign-domiciled funds therefore invest in a basket of currencies, despite the fact that returns are reported in US dollars. However, where funds have short-term capital preservation targets, which can only be expressed in a certain currency, the currency decision is often more appropriately made by the client. For this reason, we have introduced hedged currency classes for the Coronation Global Capital Plus Fund. This enables investors to choose the reference currency that we will use in managing the risk of short-term capital loss. (See table on page 16 for details.)