Allan Gray is an investment management company from South Africa. The company is headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa.

Allan Gray Limited was Founded by Allan William Buchanan Gray in 1973. The company’s name is derived from its founder, carrying his first name and surname.

Allan WB Gray is also the founder of Orbis Investment Management and Allan Gray Australia, with both companies still serving as the sister companies of Allan Gray Investment Management.

The company has offices in Namibia, Kenya, Swaziland and Nigeria. Products include retail unit trusts, retirement products and segregated institutional products.

The company has shown some impressive return on investment. Many compare the growth of the company with that of Berkshire Hathaway.

The company is now South Africa’s largest privately-held investment management firm. Competing with financial institutions such as Investec, Sanlam and the likes.

Products and Services offered by Allan Gray Pty Ltd

Unit Trust Investments

Basic investment

Basic unit trust investment is a unit trust investment option that allows you to plan your financial goals.

From saving for long-term needs to meeting your short-term objectives. These unit trusts are simple and suitable for different needs.

The minimum investment needed is R500.00 per month or alternatively you can invest a single lump sum of R20,000.00 or more.

With the R500.00 monthly instalments, you can choose to pause, change or restart anytime.

Changes to your investment are allowed with no penalties, waiting period or fees. This means you can access your investment at any given time.

For basic investment, you can choose where to pool your money. There are four plans to choose from namely: Allan Gray Equity Fund, Allan Gray Balanced Fund, Allan Gray Stable Fund and Allan Gray Money Market Fund.

Choosing to invest in one of the unit trusts will entail that you have a vivid understanding of your choice.

However, that should not be a big worry as there are advisors who will help you choose the best suitable unit trust for you.

Retirement saving

You can invest directly into one or more of Allan Gray unit trusts for retirement purposes.

Not only can you invest directly but you can invest in unit trusts via Allan Gray retirement annuity.

There are two advantages of choosing Allan Gray retirement annuity, which are: you get tax savings and also there is a measure of protection, although it comes with some restrictions.

A lump sum of R20,000.00 can get you started if you don’t want to make monthly investments.

Should you want to make monthly investments you can invest R500.00 every month, however, you can increase the monthly amount or pause investments at any time without any penalties.

Many retirement annuities have restrictions such as maturity period, with Allan Gray retirement investment you can access your funds anytime without any hassle.

They offer protection of your retirement funds from potential creditors, meaning the money will only be paid to you.

Tax-free investment

The tax-free investment gives tax savings on your return on investment. You can only invest a maximum of R36000.00 per tax year and up to R500,000.00 for a lifetime.

The interest you earn on this investment including capital gains and dividends are tax-free.

You can start with a minimum of R500.00 to enter the Allan Gray Tax-Free Balanced Fund or increase the amount without any penalties.

The amount must not be over R36,000.00 in 1 tax year. Should you exceed the amount you will be charged 40% tax penalty of any amount you invest above the maximum of R36,000.00.

You can also start with paying a single lump sum of R20,000.00 or more.

Education savings

You can save for your child’s education using unit trusts which will give you control over your investment.

It’s easy to invest, having a goal in mind and taking inflation into account. You will decide on how to invest, when to access your investment and what to do with it.

Investments start from R500.00 per month, which you can choose to increase overtime or pause or withdraw.

You can invest through a single lump sum, however, there is no specified minimum or maximum amount that you can invest.

After investing, you will see how your investment is doing with the company, giving you a secure online account to view your investment activity.

You will know where your money is invested and can withdraw it at any time you need it.

Investing Offshore

It’s not easy to invest offshore especially when you don’t have any prior experience on how to invest offshore.

Allan Gray helps individuals to invest offshore, allowing them to spread investments risk across different economies and regions.

You get access to different industries and companies that may be a substitute or that are not even available to those in South Africa.

Reasons to invest offshore differ but what Allan Gray offers for your offshore investment is that you have control over your investments.

You can choose investment options that suit your needs and they will action those for you.

Amongst other things you get consolidated reporting on all your foreign investments and get help with the administration involved in taking your money offshore.

Group Savings

Allan Gray Umbrella Retirement Fund: this fund from Allan Gray allows multiple employers to use a single structure to help their employees save for retirement.

The umbrella retirement fund helps companies secure the future of their employees after retirement.

Employees won’t be bothered to look for a retirement fund elsewhere instead a company will simply do it for them.

The fund provides the structure and tax benefits, therefore, third party beneficiaries are cut as investment returns come from the underlying investment portfolio.

Allan Gray Group Retirement Annuity: also for companies, this annuity investment enables employers to make a retirement solution available to their staff based on individual members of the Allan Gray Retirement Annuity. Funds can be accessed after retirement at the age of 55.

Allan Gray Board of Directors

Conclusion

Starting as an investment counselling company, Allan Gray Investment Management has seen tremendous growth since its genesis.

Adding institutional clients and then to becoming the largest privately-held investment management firm with over R850 billion in assets.

The company is now the epitome of well-organised investment across Africa.