Nerina Visser is a powerhouse in South Africa’s investment world. As a director, ETF strategist and financial adviser at ETFSA, she’s not just an industry leader – she’s shaping the future of finance, especially with her deep expertise in exchange traded products.
Chairing the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa ETF standing committee and serving on numerous boards, Visser brings invaluable wisdom to the table. Her key message? Always invest in what you understand. It’s a golden rule from a true expert.
If money could talk, what would it say about your spending habits?
I pay myself first. In practice, this means that I spend what is left after saving (investing), not the other way around. After spending most of my life working for my money, I now give my money direction on where to go to work for me – I direct it to goal- and outcomes-based, tax-efficient investments where my money works for me.
What’s the most significant financial lesson you’ve learnt from your own investment experiences?
Don’t invest in something you don’t understand. Especially important is to understand the payoff profile, and how real-life events may influence the performance of the investment. This also means, don’t follow the crowd (or your friend, or your social media feed) – their investment goals, objectives, risk profile and time horizon most likely differ substantially from yours.
If there’s a stock you wish you had invested in earlier, what would it be and why?
I don’t invest in single stocks, only exchange traded products, and I don’t have any regrets or #fomo. To look at “missed” investment opportunities in hindsight is futile – I make investment decisions based on the information and opportunity set available to me at the time, and that excludes time travel with hindsight perspectives.
What’s the most extravagant purchase you’ve ever made, and do you still think it was worth it?
My most extravagant purchases usually relate to experiences, rather than things – that is, travel (I’ve undertaken a few pricey ones) and creative hobbies (especially if it involves yarn for crochet or knitting projects). These I would all do again in a heartbeat, and it’s always worth it.
What’s an unconventional asset class you’ve considered investing in?
I invested in a start-up business where I had a lot of confidence in the ability of the entrepreneur – he only needed funding that was not available via traditional funding channels. I managed the risk of this investment through mentoring the entrepreneur, and it has paid off in ways far beyond the financial return on the investment. The sense of accomplishment in seeing someone reach their potential, mostly because of the belief you had in them, is priceless.
What advice would you give to young professionals about building wealth and managing their finances?
KISS – Keep It Simple and Strategic. Spend less than you earn and invest the rest according to a well-defined wealth-building plan that incorporates both shorter-term goals (e.g. emergency fund, cash rather than credit spending) and longer-term goals (e.g. retirement).
Measure the success of your investment strategy not by the return on your investments, but by how well you execute your plan. (Financial) performance is a result of sticking to your plan, and whatever the market delivers.
What is your retirement plan?
Financially I have built up three separate pots of money: tax-deferred (retirement savings), tax-exempt (tax-free investments) and taxable (discretionary). Each pot has pros and cons, both in the building up and in the drawdown phase, and the flexibility of sharing the drawdown requirements between three pots over time offers the best options to me.
Beyond the money, I invest in my physical and mental health and in my relationships to allow me to enjoy retirement on my terms.
What financial trend do you think is overrated, and why?
Blindly following finfluencers who only talk about what they do (which is usually a carefully selected subset of “winners” without any context), rather than how and why they do it. This often leads to buying after the fact, based on past performance, and likely for the wrong reasons.
If you could give your younger self one piece of financial advice, what would it be – and would you listen?
As per the second question. But also understand why you invest in a specific product and manage your expectations of what you will get from it – don’t just “buy” blindly on the recommendation of someone else. But I’m not sure that I would have listened to this advice, as I only learnt to appreciate this from experience.
How can South Africa achieve widespread financial literacy and inclusion?
The basics of money management, savings and investments should ideally start at a young age – i.e. at school, long before you start earning an income. Unfortunately, many of the financial literacy initiatives offered by product providers have the goal of “selling a product” rather than increased understanding of basic principles and good behaviour.
The challenge of introducing this at school level is, who can do this? Teachers (and many parents) also don’t have the requisite financial literacy, so they aren’t able to teach it. A government-sponsored literacy programme made available via free tech-based sources and platforms can broaden the reach and impact.
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