u/NxtGnrtnPymntsSftwr

Following on from the previous post on this sub, the conclusion was that wrappers are for "someone with a large portfolio and a high marginal tax rate who intends on leaving the investment to beneficiaries."

However I recently learnt that it is possible to get a "self-directed" wrapper, which apparently enables the investor to make use of a brokerage like IBKR via a custodian, within the wrapper. One provider is Old Mutual International. I'm sure there are others.

Assumptions

• An investment timeframe of 5 years or longer
• You don't only want to invest in low cost ETFs and want access to other instruments
• You are in the the maximum marginal tax bracket
• Investing at least 200,000 GBP

Benefits

• Manage own portfolio using IBKR, buy investments domiciled in the UK or USA without SITUS risk
• Tax efficiency - 12% CGT, 30% Income tax cap, all capital gains are calculated entirely in the foreign currency (protects against ZAR depreciation CGT)
• Estate Planning - Plenty of benefits - Situs tax, Executor fees, see google for this one
• Wrapper provider handles your SARS obligations (obviously not excon)

Drawbacks

• Costs - Annual fee of around 0.5%, with lower fees depending on the type and size of the underlying investments, plus the usual IBKR brokerage fees, fund fees etc
• Restrictive aspects like 5 year minimum investment period where withdrawals are legally capped, limits on contributions.

It looks like it might be a good option based on the above assumptions, purely from a tax efficiency perspective?