Batswana Can Buy Shares From South African Companies

Nelson Direng
Correspondent | Monday February 1, 2010 00:00

This they said  could be a quicker way of making money as investors can make more profits in a month than they would, investing passively.

Investing passively includes investing money into banks, life insurances, and retirement policies.

SMD, which grabbed  limelight last year after controversy was associated with their operations and products,   said this could prove to be  not a reliable method of investing as investors do not have control over their investments. Introducing their company to the media last Thursday in Gaborone SMD director, Tony Samuels said the primary reason people do not invest in the stock market is because of lack of knowledge.

He said that Batswana tend to  believe in long term passive schemes that in the long run, might prove to be  futile. He revealed that property is not as secure as most people think especially if it is purchased through mortgage.

'In reality the amount of mortgage used to purchase property breaks even with the amount you might sell the property for when you finish paying for the property,' he said.Samuels encouraged investors to buy their property in cash to make a profit.

SMD also said they have introduced a programme where they offer services to those interested in investing in the Johannesburg Security Exchange (JSE).

SMD offers clients an opportunity to buy shares from over 1,568 South African conglomerates such as MTN, Cashbuild and ABSA. This they call active investment whereby investors are given full control of their funds.

'SMD's function is to update its clients daily on how their shares are doing and also take them step by step through the process of notifying them when to buy and sell company shares.

Samuels said the risk factors of the programme are that it is impossible to predict the highs and lows of a company.

He acknowledged that that their programme is not 100 percent accurate but promised 89 percent accuracy. 'The market is all about timing,' he reiterated.