BusinessLive reports that the new CEO of Alexander Forbes, SA’s biggest pension funds administrator, says the industry can do more to lower fees and improve the lives of many struggling South Africans.
Dawie de Villiers, who was appointed in November, said there were many things the industry needed to “get right” to provide security to more people. “I’m not saying ‘fees must fall’ is the only thing. If you look at the type of solutions we can do on holistic institutional basis for individuals, it will mean low fees, it will mean more value for money and more benefits for members,” he stated. De Villiers, who spent 25 years at Sanlam and headed the insurer’s employee benefits unit for five years, said the industry has not been transparent in the past and, if it could improve that, it would become easier for more people to save and keep their retirement savings invested. The latest retirement savings surveys show that less than 10% of people who were members of retirement funds in SA were able to retire comfortably. The national treasury has introduced a number of retirement reforms to reduce costs and improve fee disclosure, among other things.
- Read Londiwe Buthelezi’s full report on this story at BusinessLive
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