FANews
FANews
RELATED CATEGORIES
Category Retirement
SUB CATEGORIES Annuties |  General |  Savings & Investments | 

Retirement industry awards points to shift in industry focus

17 June 2015 Jonathan Faurie
Jonathan Faurie, FAnews Journalist

Jonathan Faurie, FAnews Journalist

The retirement industry has been receiving a lot of press lately, largely due to the current state of the retirement industry in the country and the number of people that are able to retire comfortably in the country.

While we are aware of the press surrounding the industry, there are pockets of excellence in the industry where the news is mostly positive. Batseta, the Council of Retirement Funds of South Africa, recently held its Imbasa Yegolide Awards which celebrates companies that make a positive contribution to the retirement industry.

Awards history

Christo Snyman, Batseta Research and Marketing Manager points out that the aim of the Awards is to reward professional excellence by recognizing service providers who were considered to have given excellent service to retirement funds. More importantly, the aim of the Awards is to highlight the role of Principal Officers and Trustees of retirement funds in South Africa.

“The 2015 Imbasa Yegolide Awards was the fifth successful event of its kind in South Africa. For the first time, the winners of the previous year's event, Imbasa Yegolide 2012, were able to defend their titles.

2015 Winners

As one of the few awards in the industry that focuses purely on the retirement industry, winning an Imbasa Yegolide is an achievement. The winners of the 2015 Imbasa Yegolide awards were:

 

Category

Winner

1

Cash Manager of the Year

Momentum Asset Management

2

Global Manager of the Year

Coronation Fund Managers

3

Custodian of the Year

Standard Bank Investor Services

4

Equities Manager of the year

Coronation Fund Managers

5

Manager of Managers (Multi-manager) of the Year

Old Mutual Multi-Managers

6

Emerging Asset Manager of the Year

Prowess Investment Managers

7

Hedge Fund Provider of the Year

Old Mutual Investment Group

8

Law Firm of the Year

Jonathan Mort Inc.

9

Investment / Asset Consultant of the Year

Mentenova

10

Responsible Investment Manager of the Year

Futuregrowth Asset Management

11

Training Provider of the Year

Investment Consulting and Trustee Services

12

Overall Investment / Asset Manager of the Year

Investec Asset Management

13

Employee Benefits Consultant of the Year

Robson Savage (Pty) Ltd

14

Employee Benefits Administrator of the Year

10X Investments

15

Absolute Returns Manager of the Year

Argon Asset Management

16

Transition Manager of the Year

BNP Paribas Cadiz Securities

17

Trust & Beneficiary Administrator of the Year

Fairheads Benefit Services

18

Tracing Agent of the Year

ICTS Tracing Services

19

Actuarial Firm of the Year

Absa Consultants and Actuaries

20

Risk Benefit Underwriter of the Year

Hollard Group Risk

21

Bond Manager of the Year

Prescient Investment Management

22

Balanced Fund Manager of the Year

10X Investments

23

Responsible Investment Consultant / Service Provider of the Year

Prescient Investment Management

24

Technology Provider of the Year

10X Investments

25

Member Education Fund Challenge

 

25 a

Financial Knowledge and Understanding

Natal Joint Municipal Pension Fund

25 b

Product Choice

No award made

25 c

Financial Planning

Old Mutual Superfund

25 d

Financial Control

Natal Joint Municipal Pension Fund

 

Time for a change

Investec Asset Management won the award for Overall Investment/Asset Manager of the year. According to Khaya Gobodo, Co-Strategy Leader for Africa Public Markets at Investec Asset Management, there needs to be serious innovation in the industry.

“We all agreed that we need to transform our thinking and develop interventions to help more members achieve a comfortable retirement,” says Gobodo. In Gobodo’s view the big interventions need to be in preservation and contribution rates.

While the first is theoretically simpler to implement, the second is a far more complex problem. “Some people don’t choose to leave their jobs; they may be retrenched and it is very hard to argue that they should be prevented from accessing what is often their only source of savings for short-term survival,” he concluded.

Duty bound

Winning any award is a major achievement for a company. However, it means that the company sets a precedent that it needs to uphold; particularly when it comes to service excellence awards.

Richard Krepelka, CEO of Fairheads Benefit Services, said, “In our award submission, we strived to provide evidence of leadership and innovation. However, I feel it may have been our member centric approach that enabled us to go beyond customer expectations.”

He adds that because the company won the award, it holds itself accountable for high levels of service delivery. “The latest Imbasa Yegolide award motivates us to continue our efforts in providing a meaningful, value adding service,” says Krepelka.

Technological excellence

Technology is having a growing influence on the retirement industry, and companies who do not keep pace with these advancements will find themselves on the back foot.

Old Mutual won a number of awards on the evening and have credited the role that technology has played in receiving these awards.

Old Mutual Investment Group CEO Diane Radley says that the company is proud that it has been recognised for both investment excellence and its commitment to responsible investing.

Editor’s Thoughts:
Recognising and awarding excellence in the retirement industry is important as it will go a long way in building trust in the industry and will provide a solid foundation upon which advisers can have key discussions with their clients regarding retirement planning and saving. Please comment below, interact with us on Twitter at @fanews_online or email me your thoughts jonathan@fanews.co.za.

Comment on this post

Name*
Email Address*
Comment
Security Check *
   
Quick Polls

QUESTION

The South African authorities are hard at work to ensure the country is removed from the global Financial Action Task Force grey-list by February or June 2025. What do you think about their ongoing efforts?

ANSWER

But what about the BRICS?
Compliance burden remains, grey-list or not.
End-2025 exit is too optimistic.
Grey-list is the new normal.
Too little, too late.
fanews magazine
FAnews October 2024 Get the latest issue of FAnews

This month's headlines

The township economy: an overlooked insurance market
FSCA regulates crypto assets: a new era for investors
Building trust: one epic client experience at a time
Two-Pot System rollout underlines the value of financial advice
The future looks bright for construction
Subscribe now