Brite Advisors, a global investment and advisory firm, has now opened offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town to fill the need for cost-effective and transparent advice and portfolio management for UK expatriates.South Africa’s comfortable climate, natural beauty and relatively weak rand have made it a popular retirement destination for UK Expats.  

Mark Donnelly, Chief Executive Officer, of Brite Advisors says it became clear that the firms in South Africa that were advising UK expats on their investments were charging a raft of fees, commissions and administrative charges for their services which were eroding their clients’ returns.“In many cases, clients do not know how much of their return they are losing to undisclosed fees until it is too late. All they see is that their investments are not keeping pace with the returns of the major stock-market indices.

“We believe it is absolutely essential to put the client’s interests first. That means listening to what the client’s goals are, keeping our costs down and being transparent about the fees that we charge,” Mark Donnelly says.

Brite, which already has a presence in Asia, Australia, the USA, the UK and the UAE, is registered with the financial services regulators in various countries, including the FCA, ASIC, SEC, SFC and SCA. It has also registered with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in South Africa.

“We are delighted to now be officially regulated and trading in South Africa” said Brite Advisors’ South Africa Managing Director Andre Vorster.

The firm’s services include advice, pension administration and asset management. The three divisions are kept separate to ensure that advisers do not influence how money is invested. Investment decisions are made solely by asset managers, who implement a neutral, optimised approach to obtaining the best returns.

Their annual fee is 1% of the value of assets which includes advisory and asset management. There is no charge for pension administration. Brite’s asset managers use index funds as the underlying investments in a portfolio and do not outsource to third parties, which helps to keep costs down.

They offer seven portfolios tailored to meet investors’ different risk profiles, from conservative to bold. The factsheets are available on their website. Clients are also able to view their portfolios at any time using Brite’s mobile app.“We all want our money to work hard for us and grow. Our approach saves you money, keeps up to speed with the market and rebalances your portfolio,” says Mark Donnelly.