This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
BL Premium reports that the ANC plans to introduce legislation to compel pension fund managers to invest in government stock as part of its plans to grow the economy and put greater investment into infrastructure development.
That would require an amendment of regulation 28 of the Pension Funds Act, which sets the maximum level that pension funds and life insurers can hold in the various asset classes, such as property, government bonds and listed shares, but does not prescribe minimum investments in asset classes. In its election manifesto, released on Saturday, the ANC said it would “engage and direct financial institutions to invest a portion of their funds in industrialisation, infrastructure development and the economy through prescribed assets”. However, the asset management industry will likely strongly oppose asset prescription. Makwe Masilela of Makwe Fund Managers said on Sunday that prescribed assets should be used only in such a way that they gave good – or at least decent – investment returns, or else pension funds would struggle to meet their liabilities. Aeon Investment Management’s Asief Mohamed commented: “The proposed introduction of tougher prescribed assets is a red herring. Retirement savings are workers’ deferred wages. Again, the workers’ deferred wages are being used to prop up the deficiencies of government leadership.” Alexforbes CEO Dawie de Villiers previously indicated: “Prescription should not happen and we are dead against it.”
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thando Maeko at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page