*This content is brought to you by Brenthurst Wealth
By André Basson*
Two noticeable demographic trends developed in the past decade or so amongst higher income groups in South Africa. The first was growth in the number of people and families who left the country and relocated to countries like New Zealand, Australia, the USA and UK.
The second and bigger trend, is the number of people who migrated from the northern parts of the country to coastal areas, especially the Western Cape.
Towns like Stellenbosch, Cape Town, Paarl and Franschhoek as well as other regions along the Cape coast have experienced a significant influx of families seeking a new lifestyle.
This was a driver for the growth of wealth management companies, and many have added offices to serve the growing client base in these areas. Brenthurst Wealth is one of those that added more offices in the Western Cape to manage the higher demand. The company now operates offices in the V&A Waterfront and Claremont in Cape Town, Tyger Valley in Belville and Stellenbosch in the winelands.
In addition to the migration from Gauteng, a further migration has now picked up pace with residents of Cape Town relocating to areas out of the city. Partly because of traffic congestion and also crime but also for a ‘country’ lifestyle. Estates like Val de Vie in Paarl and Delta Crest in Stellenbosch and others have experienced this influx.
“Before the COVID-19 pandemic many people already researched relocation away from the city, but as business operations changed this year many professionals realised they can work remotely and do not have to be at an office every day. Technology like Zoom and MS Teams and others made it possible to maintain office communication without physical presence at an office,” says Ryk Neethling, head of marketing at Val de Vie.
This growth has led to the establishment of another Cape office for Brenthurst Wealth at the Polo Village office complex at the estate.
“Val de Vie is a rather unique estate and offers a great lifestyle. Residents include successful businesspeople, entrepreneurs and professionals who are interested in building global wealth. We established the latest office on the estate to serve them efficiently in the personalised style such investors prefer, without having to travel anywhere” says Magnus Heystek, co-founder, director and investment strategist of Brenthurst Wealth.
Read also:
- Roaring success in luxury property development: Val de Vie founder shares his strategy
- Capital controls, emigration, and the biggest threat to your retirement
- Mauritius ready after gap year
“There is great awareness and interest in investing offshore, where the best returns have been realised for almost a decade now. The local market has experienced very low to no growth and investors are moving investments to international market to build and protect wealth,” Heystek says.
Beyond adding more offices Brenthurst has also expanded its service offering to clients with international assets. Estate planning for offshore assets requires knowledge and experience in the legal requirements and issues like tax regimes in different territories. We have two such legal experts in-house – Malissa Anthony who serves the Western Cape Region and Rozanne Heystek-Potgieter who serves the Gauteng region. “They guide clients about offshore wills and the winding up of international estates and also the setting up of trusts via the Brenthurst office in Mauritius,” Heystek added.
- Financial Advisor André Basson, runner up in the 2020 Intellidex Relationship Manager of the Year award, has been appointed as the head of the Brenthurst Wealth Val die Vie office. Brenthurst Wealth won the Intellidex Top Boutique Wealth Manager award for the second time in 2020. [email protected].
