Welcome to Chez Market.
My name is Gaston and I will be taking your order today. Please allow me to run you through the menu highlights.
We offer the full range of asset classes and securities, which you can request in either the active or passive investment style. With more than 1500 actively managed funds, your choice is virtually unlimited, from perennial stalwarts to seasonal specials, from raging bulls to lame ducks. Of course, we also cater for all the latest investment fads. Get them while they’re hot!
Our list of managers includes all your airport and TV favourites, but also a host of one-year wonders and other obscurities. Stocks are freshly picked every morning, which does inflate cost. Prices are roughly as marked and you will find them on the menu … somewhere. There may be an extra charge for what we consider to be good service.
We also offer a full selection of tracker funds. Many of our customers have been alerted to the dangers of a high-cost diet and are now indexing. Our ever-growing number of “passive” converts call it a real “return revolution”.
Our asset class staples are equities (local and foreign), property, bonds and cash. If that’s too bland for your taste, we have more spicy alternatives, such as hedge funds, private equity, commodities and currencies. You can order each asset class separately or combine them into a multi-asset fund. Our multi-asset funds are highly popular. We carry global, regional and local varieties, available in high, medium or low risk.
We offer both strategic and tactical asset allocation, but if you feel for some market-timing, please do try our flexible funds. Our target date funds also go down well.
For those with special requirements, we do income funds and for those who can’t stomach volatility, smooth bonus portfolios. Note that you can also find balance with one of our multi-manager funds.
The speciality of the house is shares. You can blend your own portfolio or buy one off the shelf. Our cellar is fully stocked with more than 300 funds. Your choice is large, medium and small cap.
For those with a strong sector preference, our specialties are Industrials, Resources and Financials. But, of course, you can’t go wrong with a full-blooded general equity fund. We offer all the vintages: growth, growth at a reasonable price, momentum, contrarian, top-down, bottom-up, value and even deep-value (although we must caution that one needs a strong constitution to see that through).
For some diversity, we recommend a side order of property. You can have that done as commercial, residential, industrial, retail or mixed use.
For the more conservative palate, we have a large range of interest-bearing funds. Your options today: money market, short term and variable term.
If you are hungry for longer duration, our bond menu has something for everyone: government, parastatal, inflation-linked and corporate. We offer investment grade and high-yield options. Some good news here is that we have just received a fresh shipment of junk bonds from Pretoria. And if you have a taste for the exotic, how about tucking into some Dim Sum, Kimchi or Baklava bonds?
Of course, we can also satisfy all your commodity cravings: industrial and precious metals, energy, softs, agricultural and livestock. For metals, we stockpile copper, lead, zinc, tin, aluminium, nickel and cobalt. We regret to inform you we are all out of molybdenum. In the vault we have gold, silver and platinum. On the energy side, you can go with either gas or oil, crude or Brent.
Then we offer every type of hedge fund, or, as we call them, big-ego equities. You can have your pick of market-neutral, long-short, arbitrage, global macro, event driven or just your basic tactical trading fund. Choosing just one can be a bit risky, though, so we recommend the fund-of-funds platter. Prices are marked SQ. A word of caution: this is pretty rich fare. If you are going to ask, you probably can’t afford it.
Our indexing menu – if you can find it – is no less impressive. We track every benchmark conceived by our multiple index providers, across countries, regions, sectors and factors. We offer the market-cap-weighted versions as well as smart beta options. These are weighted on a capped or equal basis or, if you prefer, on yield, volatility or fundamentals. Your choice of factor bets are value, momentum and size.
You can place your order either as a unit or investment trust, or wrapped within an endowment, retirement fund or living annuity.
Finally, if you prefer any of the above in synthetic rather than organic form, might we tempt you with some of our delicious derivatives? On the trolley: futures, forwards, warrants, CFDs, options and swaps … although I must caution, it gets a bit complicated here.
Please take a minute to chew on all that and let me know if you get stuck. I am here to help and, for a smallish fee, more than happy to choose on your behalf.
Bon appetit!
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Hard to digest?
Deciding on your retirement investments does not have to be this absurd.
At 10X, we don’t abdicate our responsibility by letting you choose from a myriad of options; we offer just one portfolio. This is already fully diversified across asset classes, securities, countries and currencies, with a risk profile that adjusts automatically to your age and investment time horizon.
This means you don’t have to pay an advisor to help you find the “right fund at the right time”. Our indexing approach ensures you earn the market return at low cost, so you also avoid the risk of investing with a poorly-performing fund.
This singular approach makes 10X truly unique: We are the only provider to offer just one optimal portfolio.
Every one of our clients enjoys the same tailored investment strategy and owns the same investments. From the farm worker in Mpumalanga to the CEO of Deutsche Bank, every one of our investors has the benefit of our “best investment view”.
Isn’t that what you should expect from your investment manager?
