Institute of Retirement Funds Africa announces the winners of the Lwela Ukwenza Kahle industry Awards

Executive Officer Wayne Hiller van Rensburg today announced the winners of the prestigious retirement sector awards programme in a celebratory online function well attended by entrants and the sector at large.

In announcing the winners Hiller van Rensburg noted “IRFA is committed to our annual awards programme, the learnings it bestows and the recognition of true excellence. This year even more so. We are proud of the fact that the programme continues to grow from strength to strength, taking into account other local and international awards programmes. We believe Lwela Ukwenza Kahle leads the pack.”

This view was strongly endorsed by IRFA Board Member and programme champion Cheryl Ward who notes that “IRFA is proud to be a catalyst in improving standards in the retirement sector through the recognition of excellence. As the winners are announced and their work considered, let it serve as inspiration to us all in the retirement funding industry to raise the bar and see what we could and should provide for members of pension funds. “

Ward continues “the entry criteria cover the six crucial sectoral performance indicators of financial management and reporting, governance, transformation, trustee development, investment practices and stakeholder engagement. Our Gold and Silver trophy winners have excelled in all of these categories and truly deserve acknowledgement as the best of the best.”

The award winners are as follows:

Gold Trophy
• Joint Gold Winner - SABC Pension Fund
• Joint Gold Winner - ISASA Pension Scheme

Silver Trophy
• Fairheads Umbrella Beneficiary Fund

Bronze Certificates (for retirement funds who fall within the excellence quadrant)
• KwaZulu-Natal Joint Municipal Pension/Provident Funds
• Consolidated Retirement Fund for Local Government
• Transport Sector Retirement Fund
• University of Cape Town Retirement Fund.

Innovation Certificates (in specific focus areas)
• Transport Sector Retirement Funds for Transformation and Stakeholder Engagement
• SABC Pension Fund for Trustee Development and Investment Practices

In congratulating the winners IRFA President Fowler noted that the revamped awards programme is totally aligned with IRFA’s “2021 and Beyond” institutional strategy and strongly supports all five of IRFA’s strategic focus areas of this strategy.

She concluded “We believe that in its over 35 years of existence, our awards programme has contributed greatly to peer group learning in the local retirement sector. By sharing strategies and intervention with the industry by entering the programme, southern African retirement funds have circulated their very best standards and practices in the public domain for the benefit of members and society as a whole. We thank all entrants for their willingness to contribute.”