Start or transfer a tax-free investment

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If you are investing for the long term, or if you are already paying income or capital gains tax on your existing investments, you can invest in unit trusts via our tax-free investment account and benefit from tax savings on your investment return. It is also a useful product for estate-planning purposes. The maximum amount you can put into your account per tax year is currently R 36 000, with a lifetime maximum of R 500 000.

You get tax benefits
You get tax benefits

You pay no tax on the growth of your investment (interest, dividends and capital gains), benefiting you most over the long term.

Endowement
You get estate-planning benefits

Your investment can be paid to your beneficiaries immediately and there are no executor fees.

Allan Gray - Investment expertise
You benefit from our investment expertise

We will carefully manage your chosen unit trust investments following our proven investment philosophy. To build your long-term wealth with us, you can invest monthly or start with a lump sum, subject to our minimums and the prescribed maximum amounts.

Reasons a tax-free investment may not be suitable for you

  • If you are not already paying tax on your investments, or you are not investing for the long term, the tax-free investment account may not provide significant tax benefits.
  • You will pay a tax penalty of 40% of any amount you invest above the maximum of R 36 000 per tax year and R 500 000 over your lifetime. This includes any tax-free investments you may have at different companies. It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not invest more than this maximum, across all product providers.

Need to know more? See our frequently asked questions about tax-free investments

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Transfer an existing tax-free investment to us

You can transfer a tax-free investment from another financial services provider to us. If you do not have an Allan Gray Tax-Free Investment the minimum transfer amount is R36 000, or any amount above R1 000 together with an ongoing debit order of at least R1 000 per month. If you have an existing tax-free investment with us the minimum transfer amount is R1 000.

Need to know more? See our frequently asked questions about transferring tax-free investments

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Choose a unit trust that suits your needs

Your investment returns come from the unit trusts you choose. When choosing a unit trust, there is a trade-off between higher potential return on the one hand, and stability and lower risk on the other.

Current legislation limits your investment options to unit trusts that charge fixed fees, such as the Allan Gray Tax-Free Balanced Fund.

Higher risk & return
Stability & lower risk
Allan Gray Equity Fund

Potential for higher long-term return, with more significant fluctuation that could last for many years.

Allan Gray Tax-Free Balanced Fund

The version of our flagship unit trust that can be used in a tax-free investment. Provides steady long-term return with moderate fluctuation.

Allan Gray Stable Fund

Less fluctuation with above-inflation return. There may be some fluctuation within a two-year period.

Allan Gray Interest Fund

Most stability with higher return than bank deposits and traditional money market funds. Suitable for short-term needs.

The Allan Gray Equity Fund

Our equity-only unit trust for very long-term investing
Suitable for you if:
  • You want to invest in listed shares for long-term capital growth
  • You are comfortable with significant stock market movement
  • You accept the possibility of losing capital
  • You have at least five years to invest, but preferably longer
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Can you tolerate significant ups and downs?

You must be prepared to wait out years in which you may experience performance that may be significantly better, or significantly worse, than in a balanced fund. It is important that you are able to remain invested after a drop, to give your investment time to recover.  

Look at the long-term return 

Returns go up and down, but you can benefit if you have enough time to wait

If you have the time and the patience to leave your money invested despite dramatic and long-lasting ups and downs, the Equity Fund has the potential to deliver higher long-term return.

To really understand how much an investment has grown over time, it’s important to look at return after inflation.

The Allan Gray Equity Fund is not currently available for use in a tax-free investment account.

Legislation limits your investment options to unit trusts that charge fixed fees. A fixed-fee version of the Allan Gray Equity Fund is not currently available.

Allan Gray Tax-Free Balanced Fund

Our flagship long-term unit trust for tax-free investment accounts
Suitable for you if:
  • You are investing in the Allan Gray Tax-Free Investment Account
  • You are looking for steady, long-term capital growth
  • You are ideally investing for at least three years
  • You are comfortable with taking on some risk of market fluctuation and potential capital loss
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Your one-year returns may test you

Over any year you may experience good performance, or things may go the other way and your investment could lose value. It’s important to prepare yourself for the ups and downs you could experience while you are invested.

Look at the long-term return.

To give an indication of the ups and downs you may experience in a balanced unit trust, we show the average return of similar unit trusts, as the lifespan of the Tax-Free Balanced Fund is currently too short to accurately show this.

Returns go up and down, but you can benefit over the long term

Our Tax-Free Balanced Fund aims to deliver steady growth over time. You can benefit if you are able to wait out the short-term ups and downs.

To fully understand how much an investment has grown over time, it’s important to look at return after inflation.

To give an indication of the ups and downs you may experience in a balanced unit trust, we show the average return of similar unit trusts, as the lifespan of the Tax-Free Balanced Fund is currently too short to accurately show this.

The Allan Gray Stable Fund

Lower fluctuation for short- to medium-term access
Suitable for you if:
  • You are risk-averse and want to prioritise protecting your capital
  • You are ideally investing for at least two years
  • You want to achieve returns better than inflation, but are comfortable with lower potential return over time than you might earn in a unit trust that takes on more risk
  • You are comfortable with some market fluctuation within a two-year period
  • You want a unit trust that complies with legal investment limits for retirement funds.
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Benefit from less significant ups and downs than the Balanced Fund

The Stable Fund aims to protect your investment over any two years. Over a year you may still experience ups and downs, but these are likely to be less significant than what you might experience in the Balanced Fund.

Look at the long-term return. 

You must be comfortable with lower return over time

If you are investing for the long term, you must be comfortable with lower return than you might earn in a balanced fund.

To fully understand how much an investment has grown over time, it’s important to look at return after inflation.

The Allan Gray Stable Fund is not currently available for use in a tax-free investment account.

Legislation limits your investment options to unit trusts that charge fixed fees. A fixed-fee version of the Allan Gray Stable Fund is not currently available.

The Allan Gray Interest Fund

Preservation and accessibility over the short term
Suitable for you if:
  • You are risk-averse and you seek higher returns than bank deposits and traditional money market funds
  • You require monthly income distributions
  • You only want to invest for about 6 months to one year
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Other unit trust options

We also have specialist unit trusts (the Allan Gray Bond Fund, the Allan Gray Income Fund and the Allan Gray Money Market Fund), which may be more suitable for experienced investors who are comfortable building their own investment portfolio.

If you want to include diversification in your investment strategy, you may also want to invest in unit trusts from other investment managers.

All investment options

View our All investment options page for the full range of our investment products and underlying unit trusts.

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The financial services, products or investments referred to on this website are not available to persons resident in jurisdictions where their availability or distribution would contravene local laws or regulations and the information on this website is not intended for use by these persons. This website is for information only and does not in any way constitute a solicitation or offer by Allan Gray Proprietary Limited or any of its associates or subsidiaries (collectively “Allan Gray”) to buy or sell any financial instruments or to provide any investment advice or service.

By selecting one of the countries below I confirm that I have read and understood the above and that:

(a) I am not a South African citizen; or 
(b) I do not reside in the Republic of South Africa; or 
(c) I am not otherwise a person to whom the communication of the information contained in this website is prohibited by the laws of my home jurisdiction; and 
(d) I am not acting for the benefit of any such persons mentioned in (a),(b) and (c) and 
(e) I confirm that any investment with Allan Gray is based on my own initiative and not due to any offer or solicitation by Allan Gray.

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