Still in the planning stages

Di Turpin – CEO of the Association of Collective Investments (ACI)announced that the collective investments industry had developed a financial sector charter initiative which consists of a voluntary product and a contractual product, which will be availab

The voluntary product is a solution for education funding, which should, according to Turpin break the chain of disempowerment.

The other product is seen as part of the Mzanzi range – which is an industry fund offering access to saving for education. They have a pipeline of close to 2 million account holders.

Distribution will be critical in getting the new offerings to the market, warns Turpin, although the product (a collective investment) is the right product for this segment of the market.

The issue is one of education and training, something that Turpin doesn’t think her industry will be able to achieve in the short term, and also given the size of the ACI membership.

Most people in this country should have a bank account first before they buy a collective investment, says Turpin.

Turpin has called on government to get involved in a grant system, matching to certain level or percentage based, a person’s contribution, to build and develop a savings culture.