Anton Gildenhuys, Sanlam; Olano Makhubela, National Treasury; Rob Southey, Alexander Forbes; Leon Campher, ASISA; Dawie de Villiers, Sanlam.
Frans Cronje CEO of the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) talks about factors holding South African economic growth back.
Paul Dunne, CEO Northam Platinum; Patrice Rassou, head of equities at Sanlam Investment Management; Jannie Durand, CEO Remgro; Stephen Koseff, CEO Investec.
The second annual i3 Summit – an investment conference hosted jointly by Sanlam Investments and Glacier by Sanlam – sought to answer the question, “are we facing a social, economic and legislative revolution?” The agenda featured acclaimed political and business leaders from South Africa and across the globe, including ex-Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and Dr Parag Khanna, leading geo-strategist and best-selling author. The event was held at the Sandton Convention Centre on 30 July and attended by 400 delegates.
Johan van der Merwe, CEO of Sanlam Investments says: “The i3 Summit is an independent platform that addresses the issues that are currently relevant to our clients, such as legislative reforms and digital disruption. It also provides us with an opportunity to share international best practice, particularly with regards to client centricity, a priority for Sanlam Investments.”
At the conference, MC Maya Fisher-French looked back over the past 18 months and recalled how much the landscape has shifted for the local financial industry. Other than Twin Peaks and the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) changing the way companies and advisers do business, retirement reform is also on its way. And as if that’s not enough to navigate, advisers also need to take into account the recent proposals by the Davis Committee and changes to the way insurance policies are sold.
Widening the lens at the summit was geo-strategic expert Dr Parag Khanna, reminding delegates that the old US-dominated world order has made place for the new geo-political marketplace from which no continent is excluded. Parag called connectivity (transport, energy, water, utilities, telecoms) the asset class of the 21st century, and showed how countries that have invested heavily in infrastructure are benefiting. Parag warned that intra-urban inequality is the threat of the future, but very few countries have strategies in place to address it.
Dr Frans Cronje, CEO of the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), looked at the most pertinent issues that are currently holding back South African economic growth, such as there now being more recipients of welfare grants than taxpayers in South Africa, rising youth unemployment, falling education levels and dwindling confidence in government.
Former Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, addressed the investment challenges SA faces and talked about the key drivers of economic opportunity. He reminded delegates of how much the African continent has going for it, possessing 60% of the world’s undeveloped arable land, 95% of its platinum and 40% of its gold reserves.
David Burns, executive director of the NMG Group in the UK, gave an update on the regulatory environment, providing a global perspective on the challenges of implementing RDR.
Leon Campher, CEO of ASISA, Olano Makhubela, chief director financial investments and savings at the National Treasury, Anton Gildenhuys, chief executive actuarial at Sanlam Personal Finance, Rob Southey, head of asset consulting at Alexander Forbes, and Dawie de Villiers, CEO of Sanlam Employee Benefits, explored the implications of the merging of the traditional worlds of institutional and retail investment. The panellists debated the opportunities presented and the impact it could have on advice.
A second panel discussion was facilitated by Patrice Rassou, head of equities at Sanlam Investment Management. Jannie Durand, CEO of Remgro, Paul Dunne, CEO at Northam Platinum, and Stephen Koseff, CEO of Investec, all at the helm of companies that have seen formidable multi-decade growth, shared tips on how to deal with change in multiple forms: rapid local and African expansion, black empowerment, volatile markets, labour unrest and the mechanisation and digitisation of services. In the end, all economic, legislative and social evolution impacts investors; those changes determine whether investors’ portfolios grow as much as they expect over the long term – or not.