# Investment account basics

## What is an Investment Account?

An Investment Account is a flexible investing tool for building wealth on your terms. Unlike tax-advantaged accounts, there are no limits on how much you can contribute or when you can withdraw.

- **Custom strategy**: Choose your own funds and set allocation percentages
- **No contribution limits**: Invest as much as you want, whenever you want
- **Multiple accounts**: Create separate accounts for different goals
- **Flexible withdrawals**: Access your money without penalties or waiting periods

Use an Investment Account when you want to invest beyond your TFSA limits, save for medium-term goals like a house deposit, or build a portfolio tailored to specific objectives.

## How an Investment Account differs from TFSA

Both accounts let you invest in the same funds with your own strategy, but they serve different purposes.

| Feature | Investment Account | Tax-Free Savings (TFSA) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Annual contribution limit** | None | R46,000 per year |
| **Lifetime contribution limit** | None | R500,000 total |
| **Tax on gains** | Capital gains tax applies | No tax on gains |
| **Tax on dividends** | Dividends tax applies | No tax on dividends |
| **Multiple accounts** | Yes, create as many as needed | One per person |

**When to use each account**:

Most users prioritise their TFSA first to maximise tax benefits, then use Investment accounts for additional investing once they've contributed the annual maximum. Investment accounts are also useful for goals you expect to reach within a few years, where the flexibility of unlimited contributions matters more than tax savings.

## Your investment strategy

Your investment strategy determines how money is allocated across funds when you transfer into your account. Instead of manually choosing funds each time, your strategy automatically splits contributions according to your chosen percentages.

1. Open your **Investment Account** from the home screen
2. View your current strategy in the **Investment strategy** card
3. Tap the **menu icon** to edit your strategy

Your strategy shows:

- The funds you've selected for investment
- The percentage allocation for each fund
- A visual progress bar showing the split

When you transfer money to your Investment Account, Fynbos automatically creates buy orders based on these percentages. A R10,000 transfer with a 60/40 strategy creates R6,000 in buy orders for the first fund and R4,000 for the second.

## Choosing your funds

Investment accounts support custom strategies with multiple funds. You can build a portfolio that matches your risk tolerance and investment goals.

1. Navigate to your **Investment Account**
2. Tap the **menu icon** in the strategy card
3. Select **Edit strategy**
4. Browse available funds using filter options:
  - **Region**: South African or Global funds
  - **Asset class**: Equity, Balanced, Money Market, and more
  - **Sharia**: Filter for Sharia-compliant options
5. Tap the checkbox next to each fund you want to include
6. Set your allocation percentages (must total 100%)
7. Tap **Confirm** to save

Your Investment Account has no restrictions on custom strategies. You can select from unit trusts and ETFs across different asset managers, regions, and asset classes.

## Adding money to your account

Transfer money from your Cash account to start investing according to your strategy.

1. Open your **Investment Account**
2. Tap **Transfer in**
3. Select **Cash** as the source account
4. Enter the amount you want to transfer
5. Review the allocation preview showing how your money will be invested
6. Tap **Confirm**

After confirmation, buy orders are created for each fund based on your strategy. Settlement typically takes 2-3 business days, after which your holdings appear in your account.

> **Note**: Fund prices change daily. The price you receive depends on when your buy order is processed, not when you initiate the transfer.

## Viewing your holdings

Your Investment Account shows your current investments and performance at a glance.

The **Current investments** section displays each holding with:

- **Fund name**: The investment you own
- **Current value**: Today's market value of your holding
- **Performance indicator**: Gain or loss amount with an up or down arrow
- **Allocation comparison**: Your current allocation versus your target strategy (e.g., "45% -> 50%")

Tap any holding to see detailed performance charts, your number of shares, purchase cost, and total gain.

## Understanding your performance

The performance card at the top of your account shows how your investments have grown over time.

**Viewing different time periods**:

Use the period selector to view performance over:

- **3M**: Last 3 months
- **6M**: Last 6 months
- **1Y**: Last year
- **Tax year**: Specific tax years (e.g., 2025 tax year)
- **ALL**: Since your first transaction

**Balance vs contribution**:

Toggle between views to understand your returns:

- **Balance**: The actual market value of your investments over time
- **Contribution**: The total amount you've invested over time

The gap between these lines represents your investment gains or losses.

## Withdrawing from your account

When you need to access your money, you sell your holdings to transfer cash back to your Cash account.

1. Open your **Investment Account**
2. Tap **Transfer out**
3. Enter the amount you want to sell from each holding
4. Review the total transfer amount
5. Tap **Review transfer**
6. Confirm the sale

After your sell orders settle (7 business days), the proceeds transfer to your Cash account. From there, you can withdraw to your linked bank account.

> **Important**: Investment Account withdrawals require selling holdings first. This is different from Emergency Savings or Savings pots, which have instant liquidity.

## Creating multiple accounts

You can create as many Investment accounts as you need to organise different investment goals. Each account has its own:

- Name and colour for easy identification
- Independent investment strategy
- Separate holdings and balance
- Individual transaction history and performance tracking

Examples of how users organise multiple accounts:

- **By goal**: House deposit, sabbatical fund, children's education
- **By strategy**: Conservative income portfolio, aggressive growth portfolio
- **By timeframe**: Short-term (2 years), medium-term (5 years), long-term (10+ years)

To create another Investment Account, tap **Add account** on your home screen and select **Investment account**.