Meeting a Sygnia fan who finds low fees don’t mean low quality – Daily Newsletter

Hi there,

I've been having fun this week sharing my Berkshire AGM adventure with Standard Bank Online Share Trading clients. Am back in Johannesburg for tonight's presentation. As it's the last of four, Standard OST's bossman Brett Duncan agreed to offer 10 (free) seats to Biznews so if you'd like to come to the presentation, please drop Jeanette a line (jeanette@biznews.com) and she'll do the necessary.

The presentation starts with some scene setting showing places Berkshire "pilgrims" visit in Omaha – chairman Warren Buffett's modest home where he's lived for decades; one of his favourite eateries, the unpretentious Gorat's Steakhouse; and the $450m a year Nebraska Furniture Mart, a gigantic super-store complex covering 77 acres. The sheer scale of NFM enables it to offer products at excellent prices – a positive cycle supporting the value-driven, cost-conscious approach to life Buffett believes in.

Buffett has long been a champion of paying close attention to costs charged for financial services. Seems it's not just Berkshire shareholders who've been paying attention. At the Cape Town presentation last night I met Josh. The young man told me he'd been drawn to Sygnia, one of our sponsors, by its message of 0.4% fee on its ETFs (half that of the next cheapest). Before investing, though, he visited the firm's offices expecting the low fees would be reflected in poor service or sub-par tech. But says he found the opposite. What a lovely endorsement for Sygnia – spontaneous ones are always the best. Talking of which, I hope you've been spreading the word about Biznews…….

Best,

Alec

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