Employers play a crucial role in retirement savings in South Africa. While it is not mandatory to offer a retirement savings benefit, many employers recognise the important role employer-arranged retirement investments, such as umbrella funds, can play in...
Retirement fund trustees, in discerning how best to allocate section 37C death benefits to the financial dependants of deceased retirement fund members, rightly look principally at the needs of minors. If the trustees are of the opinion that the guardian or...
This year, Alexforbes marks 90 years of service to South Africans. It's a milestone that invites reflection ‒ not just on our own journey, but on the transformation of retirement savings across the country. Over the decades, we've seen the retirement system...
As South Africa continues to grapple with economic inequality, infrastructure backlogs, and retirement insecurity, the employee benefits industry stands at a pivotal crossroads. Pension funds - custodians of long term retirement savings - have a unique...
The two-pot retirement system represents one of the biggest evolutions in the South African retirement industry landscape to date and aims to address two major challenges in retirement planning: leakage and access to emergency savings. Two seemingly...
Retirement funds provide financial security after the working years. If a retirement fund member dies, and a lump sum death benefit becomes payable, the trustees of the fund are responsible for distributing the death benefit fairly, in accordance with...
The retirement industry has been marked by innovation since its inception. But no change happens faster than the AI revolution. This transformation will lead to better member outcomes, more knowledgeable members, more knowledgeable trustees, and eventually a...
In the world of institutional investing, few topics have stirred as much curiosity and controversy as crypto assets. Once considered a niche interest, digital assets such as bitcoin and ethereum have evolved into a significant topic of discussion among...
Cybersecurity has become a critical concern for financial institutions, particularly pension funds, which manage vast amounts of sensitive personal and financial data. Recognising the growing risks, South Africa's Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA)...
In the first part of this article around annuitisation (“Let's talk about annuitisation – Part I” featured in Pensions World Q4 2024), we discussed the need for trustees to review the annuity strategies and products available to members in light of the...
