There will be times when the local market will do better than the US and times when the rand will strengthen against the dollar, so do not just chase last year's winner.

Question: I am concerned about the safety and security of our investments in South Africa. We do not intend to emigrate but would like to ensure that we protect our assets. What advice do you have?

Answer: South Africa is a developing country and faces many of the challenges that developing countries face. We are also in an election year, so all the country's problems will be highlighted. This can be quite scary.

There are a few things you can do to protect your investments:

Diversify

I like to reduce overall investment risk by structuring investments correctly. If one asset class is underperforming, chances are another asset class is performing very well. This can protect your investments in volatile times.

Invest offshore

In terms of its size in the world, we account for less than 1% of global GDP. This does present a concentration risk. If you were living abroad, would you invest all your assets in South Africa?

One of the tools we have when it comes to structuring investments is to have some of our assets physically located offshore. There are a number of benefits to this:

You have access to a much broader pool of companies to...