Caroline Naylor-Renn, chief operating officer of STANLIB’s INN8 platform.
STANLIB’s Group Investment Platform programme, which is strengthening the organisation’s platform capabilities - including the recently launched INN8 - has beaten 16 other African countries to win the 2018 Africa PMO of the Year Award.
The awards are made to the most outstanding project management offices (PMOs). The PMO Global Alliance, which hosts the awards, encourages organisations globally to share knowledge and experience, facilitating the evolution of the PMO community. Over 64 countries competed this year.
Caroline Naylor-Renn, chief operating officer of STANLIB’s INN8 platform says “That our Group Investment Platform programme has won this award is indicative of the group’s status as a new world project management office – it talks to our forward thinking, digital approach and the fact that our PMO is aligned to our business success.”
Investment platforms offer convenient access to a wide array of underlying funds from national and international fund managers. Investors and financial advisers can select from a range of funds, switch between funds with minimal administrative hassle, monitor performance, sell funds and receive consolidated statements of all their holdings.
“Platforms have transformed the investment landscape, simplifying administration and increasing investment choice. They have evolved to play a dominant role in many markets, helping financial advisers improve efficiency and profitability. However, the complexities involved in their development make effective project management a key ingredient for project success by implementing best practice, mitigating risk and ensuring on-time delivery within budget,” said Naylor-Renn.
Charlene Strydom, head of PMO for the programme, said although the project management role varied between companies, the skills that generally make for a successful PMO team include communication to convey the status of a project to different levels of people in the business, and to manage expectations.
“Problem solving with a view to keeping the project on track are essential as are organisational skills to stay on top of the many details within tasks,” she said. “Leadership and negotiation skills are needed to build relationships with others whose priorities may be different but whose input is necessary for the successful completion of a project.
The PMO Global Awards is a non-profit initiative that strives to inspire organisations to evolve their project management offices and practices to achieve the best results. Commenting on STANLIB’s win, Americo Pinto, Chair of the PMO Global Awards 2018 says “In a tough competition with representatives from 16 African countries, your organisation was recognised for its outstanding work and performance demonstrated by your project management office.”
The 2018 PMO Global Awards regional winners are:
Africa : South Africa STANLIB
Americas : Peru BCP Banco de Credito del Peru
Asia-Pacific : Hong Kong Manulife Asia
Europe : Slovakia Tatra Banka
These four organisations are the finalists for the 2018 World PMO of the Year Award, which will be announced on 4 October in London during the Future PMO Conference.
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