EasyEquities scoops top TFSA award

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By Ernest Nkomotje

EasyEquities has firmly established itself as the country’s best provider of tax-free savings accounts, being ranked the top equities TFSA provider for the fifth consecutive year in Intellidex’s Top Stockbroker survey.

The discount broker received its award at a ceremony hosted by the JSE last week, beating 14 other contenders. Avior Wealth Services’ TFSA was ranked second with Rand Swiss’ third.

Overwhelmingly positive feedback and ratings from its clients clinched the award. Clients were particularly impressed with the firm’s pricing and the ease of opening an account and gave it strong scores on overall satisfaction levels.

While EasyEquities is leading the way, most stockbrokers have committed fully to promoting equity TFSAs by keeping costs low or forgoing them altogether. Tax-free savings were introduced in 2015 by National Treasury to tackle SA’s notoriously low savings rate. Investors can save a maximum of R33,000 year with a lifetime limit of R500,000 – and no tax is charged on investment returns or brokerage. Apart from equity portfolios with stockbrokers, TFSAs can also be used for cash investments as well as unit trusts and even life insurance policies.

For cash-based TFSAs, research by www.savetaxfree.co.za (owned by Intellidex) has found that African Bank offers the highest interest rate of 8,67%. Read more about the interest rate offerings by banks here.

The Top Stockbroker awards celebrate their 10^th anniversary this year. Intellidex conducts an extensive survey each year, assessing brokers on a range of factors with the aim of improving awareness among retail investors about which stockbroking firm excels in which areas. Client views, garnered from a comprehensive online survey in which more than 7,406 participated this year, have a major influence on the results.

The overall Top Stockbroker of the Year award was won by Rand Swiss.