Best retirement annuity (RA) in South Africa?

By Lizelle Steyn

Updated 14 April 2026

Photo credit: Pavel Danilyuk

Twenty years ago, retirement annuities were mainly sold by insurers, inflexible and expensive - often with commission ("marketing fees") frontloaded so you would see very little growth in the first few years. You no longer have to settle for this when searching for the best retirement annuity (RA) in South Africa. If you’re a fan of passive investing, most new-generation RAs allow you to choose a low-cost index tracker as the underlying fund. Just keep in mind that the 'savings portion' of your RA is heavily taxed should you ever need the money before age 55. So, it's best to think of it as money you should not touch before that age, but the long wait is worth the tax benefits and the protection an RA provides against creditors.

For this ’Best RA in South Africa’ comparison, I’ve looked at the main RA providers that:

Allow you to stop-start your contributions with no penalty
Allow you to transfer your RA to another company with no penalty
Have at least one low-cost passive fund – an index tracker - to choose from their underlying fund range
Are geared towards direct investors and can service them well

These are the results.

Retirement annuity comparison for a lump sum investment

	Allan Gray	Easy Equities	AlexForbes	Sygnia	10x
Minimum amount needed	R50 000 lump sum or R2000 per month	No minimum - can invest small amounts	R30 000 lump sum or R500 per month	R20 000 lump sum or R500 per month	R5 000 lump sum or R500 per month
Platform/ admin fee (incl VAT)	0.58% p.a. for amounts up to R1m and 0.23% on the portion above R1m but less than R3m; 0.115% on the portion between R3m and R10m, and 0.086% on the portion above R10m	0.345% p.a. RA admin fee + 0.25% unit trust platform fee	OneFee from July 26: 1.5% up to R412k; thereafter fixed at R6 153 p.a. plus inflation and stays fixed until the total investment is worth more than R2.972m. Above R2.972m, you’re charged only 0.21% of the value of your investment.	If you choose a Sygnia (not external) fund the platform fee is 0.4025% for amounts up to R2m and 0.1725% on the portion between R2m and R10m, 0% on the portion above R10m	1.035% for amounts up to R1m and 0.81% on portion above R1m but less than R5m; 0.58% on portion between R5m and R10m, 0.4% on portion above R10m
Lowest cost Reg 28 high equity balanced index fund	Nedgroup Investments Core Diversified Fund	Satrix Balanced A1 Fund	CoreSolutions Moderate fund	Sygnia Skeleton Balanced 70 unit trust fund	10x Your Future Fund
Total Investment cost of above fund (incl VAT) NB: FLUCTUATES FROM QUARTER TO QUARTER	0.36% p.a.	0.60%	Sponsored by the all-in product fee above	0.51% p.a.	Trading cost of funds vary between 0.12% and 0.18% p.a.
Combined total platform + total fund fee (incl VAT) on above fund choice	0.94% p.a. for amounts up to R1m and 0.59% on the portion above R1m but less than R3m; 0.48% on portion between R3m and R10m, 0.45% on portion above R10m	Just under 1.2% p.a.	OneFee structure from July 26: 1.5% up to R412k; thereafter fixed at R6 153 p.a. plus inflation and stays fixed until the total investment is worth more than R2.972m. Above R2.972m, you’re charged only 0.21% of the value of your investment.	+/- 0.91% for amounts up to R2m and +/- 0.6% on portion between R2m and R10m, 0.51% on portion above R10m	About 1.2% for amounts up to R1m; less for larger amounts
Size of fund range	Few index (passive) funds but large active range (Allan Gray + several external fund managers)	Substantial passive and active range of balanced unit trusts and bundled ETFs	If you're on the OneFee structure, you will be risk profiled and matched with a CoreSoluions index fund managed by 10x	Substantial passive and active range (Sygnia + many external fund managers)	Own risk-profiled lifestage funds only
Service channels and quality	Latecomer to social media, but excellent service across all other channels	Query response time has improved significantly. Fun content via social media and email channels. Engaging and quality podcast series, Easy Does It, plus educational webinars	Quick responses via email channel. NB: There are different RAs offered by AlexForbes. If you are looking for the RA with the OneFee structure (previously owned by OutVest) make sure to ask for it.	Quick to respond on Twitter. Digestible market and economic social media content. Quick on the draw with their monthly market update	Excellent response time and quality of interaction. Available across traditional channels like telephone as well as digital channels.

The only reliable fees: ask for a full effective annual cost (EAC) breakdown

What struck me while gathering the fee data, is that you can’t always rely only on the fees you see quoted online. It’s vital to contact each provider and ask for a full effective annual cost (EAC) breakdown inclusive of VAT, specifically for the amount you’re investing and the underlying fund you’re selecting. The EAC will include all platform and underlying fund fees.

Here are the links to some of the fees online (but the quote you receive in your inbox is the one you should be able to rely on):

Low-cost index funds mean several RAs now charge less than 1.2% p.a.

Overall, it makes me happy to see that with the majority of the above options you won’t pay more than 1.2% in fees per year. That’s a considerable improvement compared to what was available in the industry 20 years ago, when most RA products’ EAC was closer to 3%. (This is still the ball park figure for the traditional insurance-based RAs for sale today.)

Considering Sygnia's fee increase in 2025 and AlexForbes' OneFee increase on 1 July 2026, among the companies in the above table, who will be offering the lowest fee on an RA with an index-tracking high-equity balanced fund inside from July 2026?

For investment values below +/- R650 000, the Allan Gray platform with the Nedgroup Investments Core Diversified fund and the Sygnia platform with their Skeleton Balanced 70 unit trust fund are both competitively priced with an EAC varying between 0.9% and 0.99% p.a. fluctuating along with the expenses inside the two unit trust funds. For amounts above R650 000 AlexForbes offers the most compelling fee structure.

New kids on the block

Since I started this RA comparison a few years ago, a few new investment platforms have entered the market. Two of them deserve a special mention.

Fynbos is unique in that it charges a flat monthly platform fee of R100, irrespective of how much money you have with them. This is spectacular value for investors who have already accumulated a few hundred thousand rand in their RA accounts. Fynbos has a well curated variety of underlying funds to choose from, some with a TIC as low as 0.5%. They are a strong contender to replace one of the providers in the above table during next year's review.

South Africans with a bundled FNB account can now open a retirement annuity via the FNB banking app (don't bother to ever visit the FNB website). Their platform fee for these clients is zero. Yes, O%. I opened an account via the app in a couple of minutes and chose one of their low-cost FNB core (index) funds managed by Ashburton. Also excellent value but only for bundled FNB accounts like Aspire and Premier.

The verdict: the best retirement annuity in South Africa

‘Best RA’ is about more than just the lowest fees. The fees keep on changing as the transaction and other costs on the underlying fund vary from quarter to quarter. Make sure you’re happy with the level of service and the digital slickness of your RA provider. Specifically, make sure that it will be quick and easy for you to add money to your retirement annuity in future. The ‘best’ retirement annuity in South Africa is the one you understand and relate to, the one to which you'll be contributing as much as you can, as often as you can, at a low fee, and in the underlying fund that suits your investment horizon.