There are lots of reasons why getting into the stock market is a great idea but, let's face it, taking that first step into the great unknown can be a bit intimidating. And if you don't have a financial background you might be in the dark about some of the terms being bandied about - and that certainly doesn't inspire confidence.

I took myself off to an asset manager last week to find out what's involved in opening an account and getting your money to do a bit of real work.

I chose Vestact, a small, independent asset management company which uses Barnard Jacobs Mellet as its clearing and settlement house. I went with them because a friend recommended them - and I've heard the directors, Sasha Naryshkine and Paul Theron, on the radio, and they sound like people who put their trousers on one leg at a time.

The Vestact offices are in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, an appropriately swish venue for people in their line of work. Once I find the right floor, I am met by Naryshkine, who ushers me into a glass-walled boardroom containing four William Kentridge prints and a long Gregor Jenkin table. The impression is stylish, if rather austere. And, it turns out, it's not even theirs. The Vestact office is literally one room containing a few computers and two very big television screens hung side by side and running different finance channels. The rest of the floor - and the stylish boardroom - is the domain of another company, the employees of which spend most of their time in Cape Town or out of the country. It's an arrangement that clearly suits Vestact perfectly.

Over a cup of astonishingly good coffee, Naryshkine describes what will happen if I give him all my money, which is what I've suggested. He starts by explaining that there is little point in doing this if I am not prepared to let him have it for at least five years. It's a period often described as the minimum to keep money in the markets, and it is reasonable to expect to double your money in this time. In fact, Naryshkine tells me, if I had invested, say, R500000 with them in May 2006 and not sold anything "in anger" during the 2008/9 downturn, I would still have made over R1-million by now. (He later calculates the exact figure as R1071653.05).

Obviously, things can go wrong, and during our conversation Naryshkine makes two thought-provoking remarks: First, that somewhere, somehow, the next economic crisis is being created as we speak; and, second, that no one can foresee aircraft flying into buildings. In other words, the unexpected happens, and it can shake the markets to their core.

It's a possibility, but there's no point being a spoilsport when there's money to be made.

So what happens to my cash once I've given it to him? Well, first of all he's going to take some of it. Not much, though, just a brokerage fee of 1.5% of the invested amount, which is shared with BJM. The only other fee is the asset management fee of 0.72% a year which is levied monthly.

So which companies do they buy and why? Naryshkine tells me a lot of number crunching goes on before anything is decided on, but their principle focus is on transformative industries. Paper, for example, is not something they get excited about. And they're not into gold either - it has no purpose, he tells me. You can look at it and shine it, but you can't really do anything with it. They like cellphone companies, though, and MTN is a big favourite. They're also into aspirational consumerism - otherwise known as bling. So Richemont is a company they like, as is Apple, which is both bling and transformative. They also like BHP Billiton for lots of reasons, but primarily because of its interests in oil and gas. The list goes on, and I'm duly impressed and only slightly bamboozled.

It all seems to make perfect sense. But then I'm not an asset manager, and while I know a bit about the different companies, the little bit I know is probably the dangerous bit.

A small asset management company like Vestact isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, though. The bigger companies - Investec, Coronation, Sasfin and the like - have teams of highly educated people endlessly doing research and producing thick documents to work out whether to buy BHP Billiton or Anglo American. Smaller companies obviously don't have the manpower or the time to do this. The big firms might get it right only as often as the little guys, but you need to make sure you are choosing an asset management company that suits your personality.

The idea is obviously to grow your money, and it's vital you aren't insecure about who you're giving it to.

There's a bit of bureaucracy to deal with if you decide to go ahead at this point.

You need to produce a certified copy of your identity document, some proof of residence and proof of a bank account. Then, all you've got to do is strap yourself in and enjoy the ride.