For many South Africans, a pension fund is understood in simple terms: contributions are paid, assets are invested, and one day those savings or promises provide an income in retirement. At one level, that remains true. But beneath that familiar picture, the...
Nokwazi Dube works as an accountant in small-town KZN. Her round-trip commute to work takes around two hours a day. However, if the bridge connecting two key roads on her route was repaired, the daily journey would be just 40 minutes. Nokwazi, as a trustee...
As we all know, the primary purpose of a retirement fund is to provide retirement benefits to its members and death benefits to their dependents. It is for this very reason that retirement benefits are strictly protected. However, Section 37D(1)(b) of the...
Traditionally, the role of retirement fund advisers was mainly technical, with a focus on understanding fund rules, assisting with compliance and providing input on investment mandates and administrator selection. However, in today’s shifting landscape,...
South Africa’s retirement industry is undergoing a period of accelerated structural change. Consolidation among funds and administrators, far‑reaching governance reform, and the introduction of the two‑pot system are reshaping how retirement savings are...
South Africa’s two-pot retirement system is starting to show that limited short-term access to savings need not undermine long-term retirement security. For retirement fund trustees, this is an important early signal that better system design can support...
South Africa has an uncomfortable habit of having the same argument over and over again. We worry about imports. We talk about protecting local industry. We debate tariffs, incentives, and unintended consequences. And then, quietly, we carry on buying,...
Private markets have become an increasingly important component of institutional portfolios, not only for diversification and return potential, but for their role in supporting long‑term economic development. In Africa, the relevance of private markets...
There is a well-worn phrase in investment circles: illiquidity premium. We use it often, sometimes loosely, as though it were simply the reward for tolerating a locked up position. But I have come to think of it differently. The real premium is not just...
The latest Just Energy Transition Implementation Plan (JET-IP) report by the Presidency makes encouraging reading. It reflects both hard work by the JET Project Management Unit and enormous goodwill from the foreign community, excluding the US, towards...