The benefit statement is a summary document that consist of plan information of a client’s investment(s).
The benefit statement is distributed to clients annually together with tax certificates

Tax information (when applicable to a product may include):

• Contribution certificate (Clients who make regular contributions on retirement annuity plans during a financial tax year, qualifies for a contribution certificate.
• IT3(a) certificate
• IRP5 certificate - Only to the (life) annuitant of a (life) annuity plan to indicate the taxable income.
• IT3(S) Tax certificate for Tax Free Savings products.

Any reference to ‘plan’ in this statement means

• a long-term policy as described and regulated by the Long-term Insurance Act, 1998;
  or
• an investment plan that allows you to invest in a wide range of investment funds. Unlike a long-term policy, where the insurer pays tax on your behalf, all income and capital gains are taxed in your own hands. This is often beneficial to lower rate tax payers or people who do not make use of their annual interest and capital gains tax allowances.

It is the premium amount that you contribute to a plan. In the case of a long-term policy it is known as a premium.

Information is available on the Sanlam website at www.sanlam.co.za/factsheetcentre/.

In February 2022, the Minister of Finance announced in his Budget Review that the limit to investment in assets outside of South Africa has been relaxed to a general limit of 45% for retirement funds, insurance companies and other institutional investors. Previously, the offshore exposure limit for retirement funds was 30% and an additional 10% exposure limit for investments in other African assets outside of South Africa.

The strategic asset mix for your chosen investment funds was derived based on the previous 30% limit for offshore assets. A review was undertaken during 2022 to derive a more optimal strategic asset mix allowing for the new offshore exposure limit on your Sanlam investment funds. For more information on what changed, please refer to the article “Change of offshore asset exposure limits” on the Sanlam website https://www.sanlam.co.za/retirementfunds.

Payment growth is a method by which you may automatically increase your payments annually, for example by a fixed percentage (%) or a percentage (%) linked to the inflation rate. The benefit statement shows the growth dates and rate of the increases for each plan.

Yes, we calculate plan values, benefits and charges and manage a plan according to actuarial rules, as required by the Long-term Insurance Act, 1998.

The fund value gives an indication of the value of your plan. The full fund value is not necessarily available if the plan is terminated before the maturity or option date.

If your contributions are invested in a plan which is linked to the financial markets, your fund value will increase or decrease as market conditions change.

You will receive a termination value. This value may be less than the fund value, and is not guaranteed and may change over time as the fund value changes.

This is a portfolio where investment returns are smoothed by way of annual bonus declarations. Bonuses consist of a vesting part and a non-vesting part. Vested bonuses cannot be reduced or taken away. Non-vested bonuses may be reduced or taken away if financial market conditions deteriorate to the extent that the insurer deems this necessary.

If you make withdrawals before the maturity or option date, Sanlam will levy an early termination charge, and the fund value may also be adjusted to allow for the underlying market conditions and to be fair to the remaining members of the fund.

This is a fund where investment returns are smoothed by way of monthly bonus declarations. The fund value is available at maturity or the death of the insured and any bonuses added to the plan cannot be taken away, even if financial markets deteriorate. For withdrawals at any other time, the fund value is limited to the market value of the underlying assets, and may therefore be lower.

An investment guarantee on a plan guarantees a certain return on the investment. For example, it may guarantee a minimum return over a certain period or a minimum maturity amount. Where an investment guarantee was added to a plan, the terms of the investment guarantee are fully explained in the plan contract.

With this unique option the unit price is guaranteed. The fund invests fully in the underlying unit trust and for an explicit fee the guarantee is provided. The guarantee level depends on the fund risk category (cautious, moderate or moderate aggressive).

For funds in the cautious risk category, the guarantee provides that the unit price used to determine the value of the investment will, at the end of the investment period, not be less than 95% of the highest unit price reached since the start of the investor’s specific investment period.

For funds in the moderate risk category, that guarantee level will be 90% and for the moderate aggressive funds, it will be 80%. For the cautious and moderate risk categories, the guarantee will additionally ensure that the unit price used to determine the value of the investment will, at the end of the period, be at least equal to 100% of the unit price from the 3rd working day the investment guarantee option was added, regardless of the performance of the investment fund.

At the end of the guarantee term, the fund value will be determined as the number of units multiplied by the guaranteed unit price, should this be higher than the actual unit price for the fund with the guarantee.

The plan document originally provided to you has all the details about how the plan works and what benefits you are entitled to.