Top FPSA® Candidate announced

Gerhard Lourens.

Gerhard Lourens, Senior Associate at Minde, Schapiro & Smith Inc., was recognised as the Top FPSA® Candidate at the 2016 conference of the Fiduciary Institute of Southern Africa (FISA).

The designation of Fiduciary Practitioner of SA® (FPSA®) is the new industry yardstick for those practising in fiduciary matters. In 2011, FISA introduced an annual professional examination administered by the School for Financial Planning Law (SFPL) at the University of the Free State, on behalf of FISA. FISA members who pass this examination may apply to FISA to be awarded the professional designation FPSA®. From 2016 the SFPL has also introduced a one-year, online Advanced Diploma in Estate and Trust Administration, the successful completion of which also grants FPSA® status.

Mr Lourens wrote Law and Ethics in Fiduciary Services, Deceased Estates Administration, and Wills Consultation & Drafting in 2015. The prize he received was sponsored by the SFPL and included a cash prize of R10,000 and free attendance at the FISA Conference, including travel and accommodation.

Louis van Vuren, CEO of FISA, said: “The professional exam sets a high standard and we envisage that within a few years practitioners who have not obtained the FPSA® status will be left behind. We anticipate that by 2020 the FPSA® designation will be well recognised as the highest professional standard attainable by practitioners and that this will go a long way to raising standards in the industry to the benefit and protection of the public.”

In 2017, the professional FPSA® examinations will be held in September and November in all major centres around the country, under the auspices of the SFPL. Read about the exam on FISA’s website.