Magnus Heystek
MD of Heystek International Investments, Personal Finance columnist and co-author of “Retirement: the amazing and scary truth”

There are as many ways to make a return on your money, as there are golf courses on which to spend it. As a financial journalist I have probably covered every one of them (investment strategies that is). If I had to invest R10 000 for a quick return (and I did not need the money to pay the school fees) I would invest it in IT stocks - yes, even after the beating they received. For a safer return I would look at unit trusts or some good blue-chip stocks.

Sue Bennett
Director of JSE-listed Tigon Limited (Best Performing Listed Company for four years running)

This doesn’t need any deep thought with the stock market in its present state of flux. The only thing I can do with my R10 000 is to invest it in something which I know about. The one thing I really know a lot about in the investment arena is my own company, Tigon. I know what the company is capable of and where it is headed. So. in my book, the choice is clear, as nothing else will give me anything approaching the same return - boringly simple I’m afraid. I believe another sure bet is that Jack Milne will outperform the average South African unit trust with his new company, PSC Guaranteed Growth. But the minimum investment there is R10 000, so I can’t hedge my bets by putting R5 000 into each company. Maybe I’ll wait until I’ve doubled my money on the Tigon investment and then put some money on Jack!

Anne Cabott-Alletzhauser
Executive Director of Asset Management, Mcubed Capital

Making your money work for you is very much a function of your timeframe and your appetite for risk. Give me one week to make money and the strategy I’d employ would be leagues apart from the strategy I’d use if you gave me 10 years. Give me a short timeframe, and I would become a risk-taker – otherwise there would be little point in the exercise. Give me 10 years, and there’s little point in taking risks - time is doing half the work for you. For short-term strategies, the best odds out there are the ones where you can play the trend game. Currency trading, for example, works best if you can catch a trend, ride in and out soon, but this is a tough game for the guy on the street to play.

These same short-term principles tend to work when you can catch market’s overreactions. There’s no better day to invest than the day after the market has been totally hammered. Now – let’s talk about sane investing. I’m a firm believer in “coffee can investing”. Give me a long-term timeframe and the only asset class I will bother with is equities. Diversify my bets? – Not if I really want to make money. But if I’m not going to diversify, then the companies I buy have to be ones I know intimately or have some connection to – particularly if they are unlisted companies, which is my personal favourite. I’ve long given up on thinking most mortals can outsmart the market, so unlisted shares - if you believe one hundred percent in the company in question - is a way to make money (at least initially while the companies remain unlisted) without being subjected to the vagaries of the market.

So where does the “coffee can” come in? If you’re going to follow this particular strategy, then you are best off burying those share certificates in a coffee can and resisting the temptation to look at them until your 10 years is up. When left to our own devices, we human beings are notoriously prone to panicking too early.

James Millar
Principal, Financial Fitness College For Gain

If knowledge is power, then knowledge plus action, is profit. Over the past twenty years, I have spent a small fortune on books, tapes, courses and professional advice. The accumulated knowledge, combined with a willingness to use it, has helped me design and spearhead the development of a multi-million rand organisation. So, seeing that I am in the business of teaching moneymaking skills, I do for myself what I teach my clients to. Therefore, I strongly recommend that you invest in educational materials that teach you how to grow your money, business, communication skills, relationships or muscles. Then, because you are going to make, and keep, a lot of money I would invest R3 000 in setting up a living trust. This will help protect your assets while they are growing and protect your family’s interests after you have gone to that big holiday home in the sky. With the balance, I would do one of the following: pay off short-term debt, pay it into your bond, invest it in your new business or buy some mid-cap growth stocks.

Colin Anthony
Editor, SA Smart Investor Magazine

I will assume this money is surplus, i.e. I do not need it for my retirement planning, and therefore I can be more aggressive with the investments. And this market is a great place for aggressive investments. First of all, I will wait for one of those days in New York when the Nasdaq or Dow gets whacked – when they lose anything greater than 150 points. The way things are going these days, I will not have to wait long for such an opportunity. The next day in SA, of course, our stocks will plunge accordingly. The trick then is to wait until the US markets open again, just before the JSE closes. If the Dow and the Nasdaq open stronger, I will bet my R10 000 that our stocks will gain strongly the following day.