Cape Times

Sygnia’s trusts to fight corruption

- Sizwe Dlamini

SYGNIA has launched two new unit classes of its money market unit trust that provide a mechanism whereby any investor or saver can contribute to change in South Africa.

The firm, which provides investment management and administra­tion services to institutio­nal and retail clients primarily in South Africa, said as a corporate citizen it was driven by its desire to fight corruption, restore faith in the government and encourage economic growth.

Sygnia chief executive Magda Wierzycka said many non-political lobbying groups, civil society organisati­ons and investigat­ive journalist­s were fighting and exposing corruption on behalf of South Africa’s 55 million people.

“Our courts, through the legal actions brought by non-partisan civil society organisati­ons, have become the last guardians of our constituti­on and democracy. They are aided by courageous and dedicated journalist­s willing to investigat­e issues and shed light on corrupt practices. But court cases and investigat­ions require support and funding.”

Their good intentions alone were not enough, however, as they required significan­t funding to investigat­e and fight these cases in court, Wierzycka said.

“We have decided to step in and help – 100 percent of the management fees associated with the new unit classes will be donated to non-political organisati­ons fighting corruption…”

These organisati­ons include the Organisati­on Undoing Tax Abuse, the Black Sash, amaBhungan­e Centre for Investigat­ive Journalism, Corruption Watch, the Helen Suzman Foundation, the Council for the Advancemen­t of the SA Constituti­on, the Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation.

The company said it fully understood that every investor wanted a say in how the management fees they paid were allocated, but for those who wished to effect positive change two new unit trust classes of the Sygnia Money Market Fund were now available – Class S1 and Class S2.

Class S1 has an annual management fee of 0.5 percent, while Class S2, has an annual management fee of 1 percent. The unit trusts will be managed on a totally non-profit basis by Sygnia.

Spare change “We intentiona­lly chose a money market unit trust as it is as close to a ‘cash’ investment as the asset management industry has to offer. If you have some spare change in a bank account or are an existing money market unit trust investor, consider putting your savings to better use,” said Wierzycka.

“You can invest as little as a once-off amount of R1 000, or a regular R500 per month. You can also withdraw your money at any stage.

According to the investment management company’s website, the investment was not limited to individual­s. “Companies, trusts and retirement funds are encouraged to invest too.”

Wierzycka said: “We believe that corruption eats away at the moral fabric of our society.

“Whether it is in the government or the private sector, the message is the same: South Africa cannot thrive while corrupt practices are an accepted way of doing business – hence our desire to support all efforts aimed at exposing and eradicatin­g corruption from our daily lives.

“We have all agreed to provide our services

every cent of your management fee will go to the organisati­ons.

“To be clear, you are not donating your own money. You are investing it and can still withdraw it at any stage.

“Sygnia is donating the fee that it would normally charge to manage your money,” Wierzycka added.

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