<!DOCTYPE html><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"><head>
<!--[if gte mso 15]>
<xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
<o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml>
<![endif]-->
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>The Navigator: Trust, but Verify: Protecting Your Assets in an Age of Impersonation</title>
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com">
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin="">
<!--[if !mso]><!--><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" id="newGoogleFontsStatic" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Lato:400,400i,700,700i,900,900i"><!--<![endif]--><style>img{-ms-interpolation-mode:bicubic;}
table, td{mso-table-lspace:0pt;mso-table-rspace:0pt;}
.mceStandardButton, .mceStandardButton td, .mceStandardButton td a{mso-hide:all!important;}
p, a, li, td, blockquote{mso-line-height-rule:exactly;}
p, a, li, td, body, table, blockquote{-ms-text-size-adjust:100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust:100%;}
.mcnPreviewText{display:none!important;}
.bodyCell{margin:0 auto;padding:0;width:100%;}
.ExternalClass, .ExternalClass p, .ExternalClass td, .ExternalClass div, .ExternalClass span, .ExternalClass font{line-height:100%;}
.ReadMsgBody, .ExternalClass{width:100%;}
a[x-apple-data-detectors]{color:inherit!important;text-decoration:none!important;font-size:inherit!important;font-family:inherit!important;font-weight:inherit!important;line-height:inherit!important;}
body{height:100%;margin:0;padding:0;width:100%;background:#ffffff;}
p{margin:0;padding:0;}
table{border-collapse:collapse;}
td, p, a{word-break:break-word;}
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6{display:block;margin:0;padding:0;}
img, a img{border:0;height:auto;outline:none;text-decoration:none;}
a[href^="tel"], a[href^="sms"]{color:inherit;cursor:default;text-decoration:none;}
.mceColumn .mceButtonLink, .mceColumn-1 .mceButtonLink, .mceColumn-2 .mceButtonLink, .mceColumn-3 .mceButtonLink, .mceColumn-4 .mceButtonLink{min-width:30px;}
div[contenteditable="true"]{outline:0;}
.mceImageBorder{display:inline-block;}
.mceImageBorder img{border:0!important;}
body, #bodyTable{background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);}
#bodyTable{background-image:url("https://mcusercontent.com/cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f/images/adad29eb-9a84-fcd0-88e9-9ea75dd94dad.jpg");background-position:center top;background-size:contain;background-repeat:repeat;}
.mceText, .mcnTextContent, .mceLabel{font-family:Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;}
.mceText, .mcnTextContent, .mceLabel{color:rgb(32, 46, 74);}
.mceText h4, .mceText p, .mceText ul, .mceText label, .mceText input{margin-bottom:0;}
.mceSpacing-24 .mceInput + .mceErrorMessage{margin-top:-12px;}
.mceInput{background-color:transparent;border:2px solid rgb(208, 208, 208);width:60%;color:rgb(77, 77, 77);display:block;}
.mceInput[type="radio"], .mceInput[type="checkbox"]{float:left;margin-right:12px;display:inline;width:auto!important;}
.mceLabel > .mceInput{margin-bottom:0;margin-top:2px;}
.mceLabel{display:block;}
.mceText p, .mcnTextContent p{color:rgb(32, 46, 74);font-family:Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;line-height:1.5;mso-line-height-alt:150%;text-align:left;letter-spacing:0;direction:ltr;margin:0;}
.mceText h4, .mcnTextContent h4{color:rgb(135, 63, 111);font-family:Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:20px;font-weight:normal;line-height:1.5;mso-line-height-alt:150%;text-align:left;letter-spacing:0;direction:ltr;}
.mceText a, .mcnTextContent a{color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;direction:ltr;}
p.mcePastedContent, h1.mcePastedContent, h2.mcePastedContent, h3.mcePastedContent, h4.mcePastedContent{text-align:left;}
.mceSection15 .mceText p, .mceSection15 .mcnTextContent p{color:rgb(43, 43, 43);}
@media only screen and (max-width: 480px) {
body, table, td, p, a, li, blockquote{-webkit-text-size-adjust:none!important;}
body{width:100%!important;min-width:100%!important;}
body.mobile-native{-webkit-user-select:none;user-select:none;transition:transform 0.2s ease-in;transform-origin:top center;}
colgroup{display:none;}
.mceLogo img, .mceImage img, .mceSocialFollowIcon img{height:auto!important;}
.mceWidthContainer{max-width:660px!important;}
.mceColumn, .mceColumn-2{display:block!important;width:100%!important;}
.mceColumn-forceSpan{display:table-cell!important;width:auto!important;}
.mceColumn-forceSpan .mceButton a{min-width:0!important;}
.mceReverseStack{display:table;width:100%;}
.mceColumn-1{display:table-footer-group;width:100%!important;}
.mceColumn-3{display:table-header-group;width:100%!important;}
.mceColumn-4{display:table-caption;width:100%!important;}
.mceKeepColumns .mceButtonLink{min-width:0;}
.mceBlockContainer, .mceSpacing-24{padding-right:16px!important;padding-left:16px!important;}
.mceBlockContainerE2E{padding-right:0;padding-left:0;}
.mceImage, .mceLogo{width:100%!important;height:auto!important;}
.mceText img{max-width:100%!important;}
.mceFooterSection .mceText, .mceFooterSection .mceText p{font-size:16px!important;line-height:140%!important;}
.mceText p{margin:0;font-size:16px!important;line-height:1.5!important;mso-line-height-alt:150%;}
.mceText h4{font-size:18px!important;line-height:1.25!important;mso-line-height-alt:125%;}
.bodyCell{padding-left:18px!important;padding-right:18px!important;}
.mceDividerContainer{width:100%!important;}
#b2{padding:12px!important;}
#b5 .mceDividerBlock{border-top-width:2px!important;}
#b5{padding:0 24px 5px!important;}
#b6 .mceTextBlockContainer{padding:5px 24px 12px!important;}
#gutterContainerId-6, #b7, #gutterContainerId-8, #gutterContainerId-17, #gutterContainerId-24{padding:0!important;}
#b7 table, #b16 table{margin-right:auto!important;float:none!important;}
#b8 .mceTextBlockContainer, #b23, #b24 .mceTextBlockContainer{padding:12px 24px!important;}
#b16{padding:12px 48px!important;}
#b17 .mceTextBlockContainer{padding:12px 16px!important;}
#b23 table{margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;float:none!important;}
}
@media only screen and (max-width: 640px) {
.mceClusterLayout td{padding:4px!important;}
}
@media screen and (max-height: 480px), (max-width: 480px) {
body{background-image:url("https://dim.mcusercontent.com/cs/cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f/images/adad29eb-9a84-fcd0-88e9-9ea75dd94dad.jpg?w=480");}
@media screen and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), (min-resolution: 192dpi) {
body{background-image:url("https://dim.mcusercontent.com/cs/cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f/images/adad29eb-9a84-fcd0-88e9-9ea75dd94dad.jpg?w=480&dpr=2");}
}
}
@media screen and (max-height: 860px), (max-width: 860px) {
body{background-image:url("https://dim.mcusercontent.com/cs/cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f/images/adad29eb-9a84-fcd0-88e9-9ea75dd94dad.jpg?w=860");}
@media screen and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), (min-resolution: 192dpi) {
body{background-image:url("https://dim.mcusercontent.com/cs/cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f/images/adad29eb-9a84-fcd0-88e9-9ea75dd94dad.jpg?w=860&dpr=2");}
}
}
@media screen and (max-height: 1200px), (max-width: 1200px) {
body{background-image:url("https://dim.mcusercontent.com/cs/cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f/images/adad29eb-9a84-fcd0-88e9-9ea75dd94dad.jpg?w=1200");}
@media screen and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), (min-resolution: 192dpi) {
body{background-image:url("https://dim.mcusercontent.com/cs/cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f/images/adad29eb-9a84-fcd0-88e9-9ea75dd94dad.jpg?w=1200&dpr=2");}
}
}
@media screen and (max-height: 1800px), (max-width: 1800px) {
body{background-image:url("https://dim.mcusercontent.com/cs/cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f/images/adad29eb-9a84-fcd0-88e9-9ea75dd94dad.jpg?w=1800");}
@media screen and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), (min-resolution: 192dpi) {
body{background-image:url("https://dim.mcusercontent.com/cs/cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f/images/adad29eb-9a84-fcd0-88e9-9ea75dd94dad.jpg?w=1800&dpr=2");}
}
}</style></head>
<body>
<!---->
<!--[if !gte mso 9]><!----><span class="mcnPreviewText" style="display:none; font-size:0px; line-height:0px; max-height:0px; max-width:0px; opacity:0; overflow:hidden; visibility:hidden; mso-hide:all;">Your investments are well protected while they remain inside a regulated investment fund...</span><!--<![endif]-->
<!---->
<div style="display: none; max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ </div><!--MCE_TRACKING_PIXEL-->
<center>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="100%" width="100%" id="bodyTable" role="presentation" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
<tbody><tr>
<td class="bodyCell" align="center" valign="top">
<table id="root" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation"><tbody data-block-id="4" class="mceWrapper"><tr><td style="background-color:transparent" valign="top" align="center" class="mceSection4"><!--[if (gte mso 9)|(IE)]><table align="center" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="660" style="width:660px;"><tr><td><![endif]--><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="max-width:660px" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:#ffffff" valign="top" class="mceWrapperInner"><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation" data-block-id="3"><tbody><tr class="mceRow"><td style="background-position:center;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:cover" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0" valign="top" class="mceColumn" id="mceColumnId--7" data-block-id="-7" colspan="12" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:transparent;border:0;border-radius:0" valign="top" id="b1"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation" data-block-id="1"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" class="mceSpacerBlock" height="20"></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td style="background-color:transparent;padding-top:12px;padding-bottom:12px;padding-right:12px;padding-left:12px;border:0;border-radius:0" valign="top" class="mceImageBlockContainer" align="full" id="b2"><div><!--[if !mso]><!--></div><table align="full" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse:separate;margin:0;vertical-align:top;max-width:100%;width:100%;height:auto" role="presentation" data-testid="image-2"><tbody><tr><td style="border:0;border-radius:0;margin:0" valign="top"><img alt="" src="https://mcusercontent.com/cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f/images/a86f839c-a053-ac69-09f0-15a92976560c.jpg" width="636" height="auto" style="display:block;max-width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:0" class="imageDropZone mceImage" data-block-id="2"></td></tr></tbody></table><div><!--<![endif]--></div><div>
<!--[if mso]>
<span class="mceImageBorder" style="border:0;border-width:2px;vertical-align:top;margin:0"><img role="presentation" class="imageDropZone mceImage" src="https://mcusercontent.com/cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f/images/a86f839c-a053-ac69-09f0-15a92976560c.jpg" alt="" width="636" height="auto" style="display:block;max-width:636px;width:636px;height:auto"/></span>
<![endif]-->
</div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><!--[if (gte mso 9)|(IE)]></td></tr></table><![endif]--></td></tr></tbody><tbody data-block-id="15" class="mceWrapper"><tr><td style="background-color:transparent" valign="top" align="center" class="mceSection15"><!--[if (gte mso 9)|(IE)]><table align="center" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="660" style="width:660px;"><tr><td><![endif]--><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="max-width:660px" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:#ffffff" valign="top" class="mceWrapperInner"><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation" data-block-id="14"><tbody><tr class="mceRow"><td style="background-position:center;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:cover" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0" valign="top" class="mceColumn" id="mceColumnId--8" data-block-id="-8" colspan="12" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:transparent;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:5px;padding-right:24px;padding-left:24px;border:0;border-radius:0" valign="top" class="mceDividerBlockContainer" id="b5"><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="background-color:transparent;width:100%" role="presentation" class="mceDividerContainer" data-block-id="5"><tbody><tr><td style="min-width:100%;border-top-width:2px;border-top-style:solid;border-top-color:#d0d0d0;line-height:0;font-size:0" valign="top" class="mceDividerBlock"> </td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-right:0;padding-left:0" valign="top" class="mceGutterContainer" id="gutterContainerId-6"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse:separate" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-right:0;padding-left:0;border:0;border-radius:0" valign="top" id="b6"><table width="100%" style="border:0;background-color:transparent;border-radius:0;border-collapse:separate"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-left:24px;padding-right:24px;padding-top:5px;padding-bottom:12px" class="mceTextBlockContainer"><div data-block-id="6" class="mceText" id="d6" style="width:100%"><p class="last-child"><span style="color:#4d4d4d;"><span style="font-size: 14px"><span style="font-family: 'Lato', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Edition 089 | </span>September 2026</span></span></p></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td style="background-color:transparent;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-right:0;padding-left:0;border:0;border-radius:0" valign="top" class="mceImageBlockContainer" align="left" id="b7"><div><!--[if !mso]><!--></div><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse:separate;margin:0;vertical-align:top;max-width:100%;width:100%;height:auto" role="presentation" data-testid="image-7"><tbody><tr><td style="border:0;border-radius:0;margin:0" valign="top"><img alt="" src="https://mcusercontent.com/cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f/images/f1bf2169-6835-8907-6eae-789e64d9cbf5.jpg" width="660" height="auto" style="display:block;max-width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:0" class="imageDropZone mceImage" data-block-id="7"></td></tr></tbody></table><div><!--<![endif]--></div><div>
<!--[if mso]>
<span class="mceImageBorder" style="border:0;border-width:2px;vertical-align:top;margin:0"><img role="presentation" class="imageDropZone mceImage" src="https://mcusercontent.com/cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f/images/f1bf2169-6835-8907-6eae-789e64d9cbf5.jpg" alt="" width="660" height="auto" style="display:block;max-width:660px;width:660px;height:auto"/></span>
<![endif]-->
</div></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-right:0;padding-left:0" valign="top" class="mceGutterContainer" id="gutterContainerId-8"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse:separate" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-right:0;padding-left:0;border:0;border-radius:0" valign="top" id="b8"><table width="100%" style="border:0;background-color:transparent;border-radius:0;border-collapse:separate"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-left:24px;padding-right:24px;padding-top:12px;padding-bottom:12px" class="mceTextBlockContainer"><div data-block-id="8" class="mceText" id="d8" style="width:100%"><h4></h4><h4>If you have read the financial press, you will have noticed that space is suddenly everywhere. The reason comes down to one number: the cost of reaching orbit has fallen by more than 95% since 2011. That collapse is why venture capitalists have poured more than $200 billion into space and defence startups since 2020, and why SpaceX's June 2026 listing on the Nasdaq became the largest IPO in history.</h4><p class="mcePastedContent"><br></p><h4><span style="color:#873f6f;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">What has changed</span></span></h4><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">In the past, protecting investments often meant guarding against familiar threats: weak passwords, suspicious emails, stolen cards or direct theft. Those risks have not gone away, but the tools available to fraudsters are now more accessible and far more convincing. The Actuarial Society of South Africa has warned that AI systems built specifically for cybercrime make it easier to produce a credible phishing email or a believable fake call. This means an apparently credible request is worth double-checking before you act on it.</span></span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">According to Interpol’s 2026 assessment of cybercrime across the continent, South Africa is one of the most heavily targeted countries in Africa, largely because it’s also one of the most digitally advanced.</span></span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Researchers have also described a distinct pattern in how elderly South Africans are approached. Criminals lean on trust, isolation and the value of a lifetime's savings, often posing as SARS, a bank or a government agency to get past normal caution. The pattern seen internationally is that losses tend to rise with age: US data shows victims over 80 lose more per incident than any other age group and are significantly more likely to be defrauded repeatedly rather than once. This article explains how regulated investments are protected by design, and what you can do personally to reduce that risk further.</span></span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">For many retirees, daily life already involves one-time PINs, app logins and verification calls from email accounts, banks, medical aids and retirement funds. It is easy to lose track of what you have approved, and for whom. That noise is exactly where a fraudulent request hides best. A familiar voice, a face on a screen or an email that looks right is a useful signal, but none of them proves on its own that a request is genuine.</span></span></p><p><br></p><h4><span style="color:#873f6f;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">That leaves three practical questions:</span></span></h4><ul><li style="color: #58595b;"><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Where is your money held once you invest?</span></span></p></li><li style="color: #58595b;"><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Who checks that those safeguards are being followed?</span></span></p></li><li style="color: #58595b;"><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">What can you do personally when an instruction looks or sounds genuine?</span></span></p></li></ul><p><br></p><h4><span style="color:#873f6f;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Where your money is held, and who keeps it secure</span></span></h4><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">In South Africa, most investor savings sit within regulated investment vehicles: for individuals, typically a unit trust fund directly; for retirement savings, typically a pension fund or retirement annuity that itself invests in underlying unit trust funds.</span></span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Each fund has a manager (e.g. Coronation, Allan Gray, Ninety-One) who decides on what to invest in, and an administrator who keeps the fund’s accounting records. Separately, an independent custodian, typically a bank or specialist custody firm (e.g. Standard Bank, RMB), physically holds the fund’s assets. And a trustee independently checks that the manager is following the rules. Regulators require your money to be kept apart from the manager’s own assets, and payments leaving the fund typically need sign-off from more than one of these parties before they are reconciled and released.</span></span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">If you invest through an investment platform (e.g. Glacier, Allan Gray, Prescient), that’s a further separate layer. The platform holds your personal account and instructions, but the underlying assets still sit with the fund’s custodian, not the platform.</span></span></p><p><br></p><h4><span style="color:#873f6f;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Who checks the checkers</span></span></h4><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">The administrator keeps its own record of what the fund owns, but that record must match the custodian's every day. If it doesn't, the mismatch shows up immediately, which is the point: neither party can misstate what is there without the other one noticing.</span></span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">On top of that daily checking, each fund's financial records must be audited by an independent firm every year and the trustee is required to report annually to the regulator on how well the manager has administered the fund, covering compliance and safekeeping. That's two separate outside reviews, on top of the day-to-day reconciliation.</span></span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Regulation is also tightening. The Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill, which is working its way through Parliament, will make it a legal requirement for client money and investments to be clearly identifiable and not commingled with the manager's own assets. Companies will need to prove this in practice.</span></span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Our view is that custody risk for a typical South African investor in a regulated fund remains low. That view would change if there were a serious systems breach at a custodian, or evidence that the new rules were not being applied consistently once in force. In the meantime, a simple check is to ask your adviser or platform who the independent custodian is, and how that separation is confirmed in practice.</span></span></p><p><br></p><p class="last-child"><em><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">How money and duties flow from you to the underlying investments, and who checks the structure independently.</span></span></em></p></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td style="background-color:transparent;padding-top:12px;padding-bottom:12px;padding-right:24px;padding-left:24px;border:0;border-radius:0" valign="top" class="mceImageBlockContainer" align="center" id="b23"><div><!--[if !mso]><!--></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse:separate;margin:0;vertical-align:top;max-width:100%;width:100%;height:auto" role="presentation" data-testid="image-23"><tbody><tr><td style="border:0;border-radius:0;margin:0" valign="top"><img alt="" src="https://mcusercontent.com/cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f/images/6b739056-8f42-6ed9-9344-83dc004a30d1.jpg" width="612" height="auto" style="display:block;max-width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:0" class="imageDropZone mceImage" data-block-id="23"></td></tr></tbody></table><div><!--<![endif]--></div><div>
<!--[if mso]>
<span class="mceImageBorder" style="border:0;border-width:2px;vertical-align:top;margin:0"><img role="presentation" class="imageDropZone mceImage" src="https://mcusercontent.com/cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f/images/6b739056-8f42-6ed9-9344-83dc004a30d1.jpg" alt="" width="612" height="auto" style="display:block;max-width:612px;width:612px;height:auto"/></span>
<![endif]-->
</div></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-right:0;padding-left:0" valign="top" class="mceGutterContainer" id="gutterContainerId-24"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse:separate" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-right:0;padding-left:0;border:0;border-radius:0" valign="top" id="b24"><table width="100%" style="border:0;background-color:transparent;border-radius:0;border-collapse:separate"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-left:24px;padding-right:24px;padding-top:12px;padding-bottom:12px" class="mceTextBlockContainer"><div data-block-id="24" class="mceText" id="d24" style="width:100%"><h4><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Moving the money</span></h4><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">The important distinction is that regulated structures are designed to protect assets while they are inside the fund. They do not remove the need for care when money is paid in, withdrawn, or redirected. That is where impersonation risk needs the most care.</span></span></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Over the past year, South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority has repeatedly warned the public that well-known, licensed asset managers are being impersonated on WhatsApp and Telegram to solicit money into schemes that those firms have nothing to do with. Several of these cases used a real firm’s genuine licence number and branding, which means a licence check alone would not have caught them. A familiar name on a message, or even a licence number that checks out, is a good sign, but it works best alongside independent verification rather than instead of it.</span></span></p><p><br></p><h4><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Good habits outplay bad actors</span></h4><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">A useful rule of thumb is to separate recognition from verification. Recognition is when something looks familiar: a logo, a name, a voice, or a convincing email address. Verification is when you confirm the instruction through a channel you chose yourself, using details you already had before the request arrived.</span></span></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">The strongest control is a consistent habit: verify independently every time money moves or when banking details change, using a number or channel you already know rather than one you have just been given. Treat urgency and secrecy as warning signs, not signs of importance, because genuine requests rarely need to happen immediately. Do not enter a password, PIN or one-time code after clicking a link in an email or SMS; go directly to the platform instead. If a call, email or message asks you to move money or change account details, put the phone down and call your adviser or bank back on a number you already have on file.</span></span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Accurate personal information can feel reassuring, but it isn’t proof of anything on its own: verify independently regardless, since fraudsters increasingly do their homework.</span></span></p><p><br></p><h4><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">What is the industry doing?</span></h4><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Since June 2025, South African financial institutions, including asset managers and administrators, have been legally required to meet minimum cybersecurity standards covering how they detect fraud, respond to incidents and verify unusual instructions before acting on them.</span></span></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Custodians and trustees are required by law to compensate you directly for any loss caused by their own carelessness or wrongdoing, which is part of why the custody structure described earlier holds up well. Banks do not have an equivalent automatic compensation requirement.</span></span></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Where you were tricked into authorising a payment yourself, rather than someone moving money without your knowledge, South African law currently provides no automatic protection, although there are live proposals to change that.</span></span></p><p><br></p><h4><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">The question that matters</span></h4><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">The finance employee in Hong Kong was not careless. He questioned the request and sought reassurance, yet he was still caught out because the fraud had been built well enough to survive exactly that kind of scrutiny. The lesson is not to trust less, but to verify differently: a habit that works no matter how convincing a request looks or sounds.</span></span></p><p><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="last-child"><span style="color:#58595b;"><span style="font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">The moment that deserves your attention is the moment money moves. Always pause and verify who is asking, not only what they are asking for, and use a channel you chose yourself before the request arrived. That is really the answer to the question of who to trust.</span></span></p></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><!--[if (gte mso 9)|(IE)]></td></tr></table><![endif]--></td></tr></tbody><tbody data-block-id="21" class="mceWrapper"><tr><td style="background-color:transparent" valign="top" align="center" class="mceSection21"><!--[if (gte mso 9)|(IE)]><table align="center" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="660" style="width:660px;"><tr><td><![endif]--><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="max-width:660px" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:#ffffff" valign="top" class="mceWrapperInner"><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation" data-block-id="20"><tbody><tr class="mceRow"><td style="background-position:center;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:cover" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0" valign="top" class="mceColumn" id="mceColumnId--10" data-block-id="-10" colspan="12" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:#f4f4f4;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:8px;padding-right:8px;padding-left:8px;border:0;border-radius:0" valign="top" id="b19"><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation" data-block-id="19" id="section_df89fb33643bdb267b2a7c4c4c6010b9" class="mceFooterSection"><tbody><tr class="mceRow"><td style="background-position:center;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:cover" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" class="mceColumn" id="mceColumnId--9" data-block-id="-9" colspan="12" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td style="border:0;border-radius:0" valign="top" align="center" id="b-6"><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation" data-block-id="-6"><tbody><tr class="mceRow"><td style="background-position:center;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:cover;padding-top:0px;padding-bottom:0px" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="24" width="100%" style="table-layout:fixed" role="presentation"><colgroup><col span="1" width="8.333333333333332%"><col span="1" width="8.333333333333332%"><col span="1" width="8.333333333333332%"><col span="1" width="8.333333333333332%"><col span="1" width="8.333333333333332%"><col span="1" width="8.333333333333332%"><col span="1" width="8.333333333333332%"><col span="1" width="8.333333333333332%"><col span="1" width="8.333333333333332%"><col span="1" width="8.333333333333332%"><col span="1" width="8.333333333333332%"><col span="1" width="8.333333333333332%"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0" valign="top" class="mceColumn" id="mceColumnId--2" data-block-id="-2" colspan="6" width="50%"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-right:0;padding-left:0" valign="top" class="mceGutterContainer" id="gutterContainerId-17"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse:separate" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-right:0;padding-left:0;border:0;border-radius:0" valign="top" id="b17"><table width="100%" style="border:0;background-color:transparent;border-radius:0;border-collapse:separate"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-left:16px;padding-right:16px;padding-top:12px;padding-bottom:12px" class="mceTextBlockContainer"><div data-block-id="17" class="mceText" id="d17" style="width:100%"><p style="text-align: left;" class="last-child"><a href="https://mailchi.mp/4c88f049f6f8/the-navigator-there-is-always-the-next-big-thing-17460441?e=[UNIQID]"><span style="font-size: 11px">View email in browser</span></a><span style="font-size: 11px"><br>Steward Capital (Pty) Ltd. · 1 Nollsworth Park, Nollsworth Crescent · La Lucia Ridge · Durban, KwaZulu-Natal 4051 · South Africa<br></span><a href="https://stewardcapital.us19.list-manage.com/profile?u=cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f&id=e7c35e7601&e=[UNIQID]&c=24029923f5"><span style="font-size: 11px">update your preferences</span></a><span style="font-size: 11px"> or </span><a href="https://stewardcapital.us19.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f&id=e7c35e7601&t=b&e=[UNIQID]&c=24029923f5"><span style="font-size: 11px">unsubscribe</span></a></p></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td style="padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0" valign="top" class="mceColumn" id="mceColumnId--3" data-block-id="-3" colspan="6" width="50%"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:transparent;padding-top:12px;padding-bottom:12px;padding-right:48px;padding-left:48px;border:0;border-radius:0" valign="top" class="mceImageBlockContainer" align="left" id="b16"><div><!--[if !mso]><!--></div><a href="https://www.stewardcapital.co.za" style="display:block" target="_blank" data-block-id="16"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse:separate;margin:0;vertical-align:top;max-width:198.9px;width:100%;height:auto" role="presentation" data-testid="image-16"><tbody><tr><td style="border:0;border-radius:0;margin:0" valign="top"><img alt="logo" src="https://mcusercontent.com/cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f/images/e5a2bac3-cf59-a62d-af80-a6bfe7c72ee6.png" width="198.9" height="auto" style="display:block;max-width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:0" class="mceLogo"></td></tr></tbody></table></a><div><!--<![endif]--></div><div>
<!--[if mso]>
<a href="https://www.stewardcapital.co.za"><span class="mceImageBorder" style="border:0;border-width:2px;vertical-align:top;margin:0"><img role="presentation" class="mceLogo" src="https://mcusercontent.com/cdd951e6a7a08b835a0f38a3f/images/e5a2bac3-cf59-a62d-af80-a6bfe7c72ee6.png" alt="logo" width="198.9" height="auto" style="display:block;max-width:198.9px;width:198.9px;height:auto"/></span></a>
<![endif]-->
</div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td valign="top" class="mceColumn" id="mceColumnId--4" data-block-id="-4" colspan="12" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" role="presentation"><tbody></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><!--[if (gte mso 9)|(IE)]></td></tr></table><![endif]--></td></tr></tbody></table>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</center>
</body></html>
