Sygnia Life Berkshire Hathaway Fund

Investment objective and strategy
The Sygnia Life Berkshire Hathaway Fund is an innovative and low-cost fund that gives South Africans access to a global investment powerhouse. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is valued at over US$496 billion and is ranked as the world’s largest financial services company on the Forbes Global 2000 list.* It is headed up by two legendary executives: Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett and Vice-Chairman Charles T Munger . The fund complements Sygnia’s already extensive range of passive index-tracking unit trusts and ETFs.

With Berkshire “A” shares valued at over R4 million per share, the opportunity to invest in the company and take advantage of its high average annual growth rate was previously restricted to only a few. Through the Sygnia Life Berkshire Hathaway Fund, however, investors can access the fund from as little as R5 000 on a monthly or once off basis.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has holdings in a diverse collection of business activities, ranging from insurance (through companies like GEICO, Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group, General Re Corporation and Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group) to railways (Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC), to regulated electric and gas utilities through Berkshire Hathaway Energy. Other holdings are in service and retail; the manufacture of industrial, consumer and construction goods; finance and financial products; and the wholesale distribution of groceries and other products. The Sygnia Life Berkshire Hathaway Fund is the ideal way to access US investments with a margin of safety, providing a balance with Sygnia’s other active risk, growth-based funds (the Sygnia FAANG Plus Equity Fund and the Sygnia 4th Industrial Revolution Global Equity Fund). Individual investors gain exposure to offshore assets on an affordable basis, with the option to invest their discretionary savings into a five-year endowment, a retirement annuity or a living annuity.

*By revenue.

The Sygnia Life Berkshire Hathaway Fund is a high-risk fund that invests in “A” and “B” class Berkshire Hathaway shares. As Berkshire Hathaway invests predominantly in US companies, the fund is benchmarked against the S&P 500 Index.

Long-term investors seeking exposure to US equities with a value tilt.

Sygnia charges an annual management fee, calculated and accrued daily and payable monthly in arrears. A higher TER does not necessarily imply a poor return, nor does a low TER imply a good return. The current TER may not necessarily be an accurate indication of future TERs. TCs are a necessary cost in administering the financial product and impact financial product returns. TCs should not be considered in isolation, as returns may be impacted by many other factors over time, including market returns, the type of financial product, the investment decisions of the investment manager and the TER.

Sygnia does not provide advice and therefore does not charge advice fees. If a financial planner is appointed, initial and ongoing advice fees may be payable as agreed upon between you and your financial advisor. The payments of these fees are facilitated by the Linked Investment Service Provider (LISP) and not directly by Sygnia. A higher TER does not necessarily imply a poor return, nor does a low TER imply a good return. The current TER may not necessarily be an accurate indication of future TER’s. Transaction Costs are a necessary cost in administering the Financial Product and impacts Financial Product returns. It should not be considered in isolation as returns may be impacted by many other factors over time including market returns, the type of Financial Product, the investment decisions of the investment manager and the TER.

The Sygnia Group is a member of the Association for Savings and Investment SA. Sygnia Collective Investments RF (Pty) Ltd is a registered and approved Manager in Collective Investment Schemes in Securities. Collective investment schemes are generally medium to long-term investments. Sygnia Asset Management (Pty) Limited (FSP 873), an authorised financial services provider, is the appointed investment manager of the Fund. The portfolio may invest in other unit trust portfolios which levy their own fees, and may result in a higher fee structure and the value of investments / units / unit trusts may go down as well as up. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. Collective investments are traded at ruling prices and can engage in borrowing and scrip lending. A schedule of fees and charges and maximum commissions is available from the Manager on request. Performance is based on NAV-to-NAV calculations with income reinvestments done on the ex-div date. Performance is calculated for the portfolio and the individual investor performance may differ as a result of initial fees, actual investment date, date of reinvestment and dividend withholding tax. The Manager does not provide any guarantee either with respect to the capital or the return of a portfolio. Collective investments are calculated on a net asset value basis, which is the total market value of all assets in the portfolio including any income accruals and less any deductible expenses such as audit fees, brokerage and service fees. Forward pricing is used. All the portfolio options presented are approved collective investment schemes in terms of Collective Investment Schemes Control Act, No 45 of 2002 (“CISCA”). The fund may from time to time invest in foreign countries and therefore it may have risks regarding liquidity, the repatriation of funds, political and macroeconomic situations, foreign exchange, tax, settlement, and the availability of information. The Manager has the right to close any portfolios to new investors to manage them more efficiently in accordance with their mandates. A copy of the Minimum Disclosure Document (MDD) is available on our website: www.sygnia.co.za.