Old Mutual

What separates competent financial advice from surface-level guidance comes down to asking harder questions. When someone is building retirement plans or managing investment portfolios, it matters whether your adviser knows SARS tax treatment of retirement annuities, understands the interaction between a living annuity and your tax bracket, can explain why your unit trust allocation should shift as you age, or recognises when you're being offered products that serve commission more than your interests. Experience shows up in details: knowing FSP compliance requirements, recognising gaps in your existing insurance, stress-testing retirement plans against inflation and market downturns rather than assuming steady growth. Old Mutual brings scale and product range, but competence in this space isn't about the institution—it's about whether the individual adviser asks the right questions, explains trade-offs honestly, and treats your money as though it matters.