• Professionally managed, no skill required: you don’t need to have skills an knowledge to buy and sell shares. Unit trusts are managed by professional portfolio managers on an investor’s behalf.
• Easy and affordable to access: given the large number of investors in one fund, the minimum investment per investor can be as low as R 500. Each fund will stipulate a minimum requirement.
• Diversification: unit trusts mostly invest in a broad range of assets so an investor can gain exposure to a wide range of asset types in one fund and manage down the risk of investing in one asset.
• Investment choice and investment opportunity: Investors can choose from a variety of fund types to meet their needs. Unit trusts may be designed to grow capital or return income or both.

The ownership of units means investors are able to invest in a portfolio of assets such as shares or bonds and pooled together in a fund. These assets are selected and managed by professional portfolio managers according to a defined fund objective. There are typically a large number of investors in each unit trust fund and each fund will vary significantly in size depending on the nature and attractiveness of the fund.