Members of the Columbus Retirement Fund have the following investment options to choose from:

personal choice

 

portfolios

 

Should you do not exercise an option, your savings will be placed in the Life Stage Option.
Let's take a look at each of these portfolios (for more detailed information on each portfolio, download the portfolio Fact Sheets):

 

Personal Choice Option

CRF Balanced Plus Portfolio

The CRF Balanced Portfolio invests in a mix of shares, bonds, and cash and will typically have a higher allocation to local and global shares, but a bit less than the CRF Balanced Plus Portfolio. The investment returns are likely to fluctuate more over short periods and may be negative over longer periods. This portfolio will target returns of CPI + 5% over the long term and can be expected to fall short of this target over the short to medium term (three to five years) from time to time and members should evaluate this portfolio over three to five years. This portfolio is managed by Sygnia.

Suitable for:
Members between three and five years from retirement.

OBJECTIVE
CPI + 5%

 

CRF Money Market Portfolio

The CRF Stable Portfolio invests cash. The investment returns are likely to be stable and will not be negative over periods. However, the objective is to protect capital with a guarantee of no negative returns. This portfolio will target returns of CPI over the long term and can be expected to fall short of this target over the short-term (less than a year) from time to time and members should evaluate this portfolio over one year. This portfolio is managed by Sygnia.

Suitable for:
Members close to retirement (less than a year) to protect a portion of their capital.

OBJECTIVE
CPI

 

CRF Stable Portfolio

The CRF Stable Portfolio invests in a mix of shares, bonds, and cash and will typically have a higher allocation to local and global bonds. The investment returns are likely to fluctuate less than the CRF Balanced Plus and CRF Balanced Portfolios but may be negative over periods. However, the objective is maximising long-term returns and minimising the risk of short-term capital loss. This portfolio will target returns of CPI + 2% over the long term and can be expected to fall short of this target over the short-term (one to two years) from time to time and members should evaluate this portfolio over two years. This portfolio is managed by Sygnia.

Suitable for:
Members between one to three years from retirement.

OBJECTIVE
CPI + 2%

You can switch into and out of this portfolio only on 1 January and 1 July of every year, but you have to give 5 months' notice.

 

A comparison of the portfolios on offer:

portfolios


You may switch between the options and portfolios any time. Please, however speak to your investment advisor. Three switches a year are free, the other switches are charged at R350 per switch, which is deducted off your Fund Credit at the time of making the switch.

Members can switch their retirement fund money between the different portfolios by completing an Investment Option Form.

If you do not exercise an option, your savings will be placed in the Life Stage Option.

If you do not have an investment advisor, please contact us at yourfund@columbus.co.za, and we will link you with an advisor to the fund.