Executor fees; andYour adviser is correct in saying that moving your shares into an endowment policy may trigger a capital gain event. But I do not believe that this will negate any gain in saving on executor fees. I will outline my reasoning below.
When you die, your estate gets an exemption on the first R300,000 in CGT. This amount is reached surprisingly quickly, as can be seen below: Someone with an 18% tax rate can have a gain of R555,556 and not pay CGT, while someone on a 45% tax rate would pay tax on gains above R222,222. This means that you can sell assets each year, take the capital gain and reinvest it so your starting point is higher. This will help you reduce your CGT liability when you die.If your tax rate is above 30%, make your longer-term investments through an endowment policy. The effective CGT rate here is only 12%.