| Week |
Topic |
Week 44
10 - 14 Dec |
Activities in the pension fund arena, and what is expected in 2008.
Guest: Greg Morris, the President of the Institute of Retirement Funds (IRF)
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 43
3 - 7 Dec |
Important questions you should be asking your trustees.
Guest: Trevor Glassock from Vic Glassock & Associates
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 42
26 - 30 Nov |
Just how effective are we when it comes to choosing our investment structures for our retirement investments?
Guest: Rowan Burger, Head of Consulting Strategy at Alexander Forbes Consultants and Actuaries
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 41
19 - 23 Nov |
What role do equities play in a retirement portfolio?
Guest: Patrice Rassou, Senior Portfolio Manager at Sanlam Investment Management
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 40
12 - 16 Nov |
This week on the show Giulietta Talevi talks to Rajeev Keso, legal executive of Lekana Employee Benefit Solutions, on the practicalities of the abolition of the tax on retirement funds.
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 39
5 - 9 Nov |
At a recent presentation that was held regarding Pension fund trustees and what they really care about a conclusion was made that it is not asset managers that are failing in their jobs, it is just that very few members do anything after they have made their first investment decision.
Guest: Anne Cabot-Alletzhauser, Advantage Asset Manager's Chief Investment Officer
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 38
29 Oct - 2 Nov |
Spouses and family are affected by the death of a member of the retirement fund. How does the last will and testament, as a legal document, affect the payout by the retirement fund?
Guest: Leon Mostert, Executive Director for Absa Consultants & Actuaries
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 37
22 - 26 Oct |
The final date for surplus submission for all funds was December 2006 but the surplus issue continues to bug us. One of the issues is the amount that was due to be paid out which is now a little bit less than the original 80 billion rand.
Guest: Lee-Ann van Wyk, Head of Legal Services at Alexander Forbes
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 36
15 - 19 October |
A ruling was recently made by the pension fund adjudicator regarding the pension fund interest distribution in a divorce case.
Guest: Gary Meyer, Legal Manager, Mine Employees Pension Fund
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 35
8 - 12 October |
Socially responsible investing gained a fair amount of publicity a couple of years ago, but the news flow on this front has been rather quiet until now. A survey has just been released which sheds some fascinating insight on what is happening to responsible investing in the South African investment community.
Guest: Dr Neil Eccles (Programme Manager: Noah Financial Innovation Chair in Responsible Investments at the UNISA Centre for Corporate Citizenship)
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 34
1 - 5 October |
There comes a time when retirees take the decision to move into a secure retirement village. In some cases, there are limited amenities as well as financial implications affecting investments.
Guest: Brian Azizollahoff, CEO of Redefine
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 33
24 - 28 Sep
|
Making use of umbrella funds is a convenient way for small companies to draw employees into the retirement savings net. With sustained growth in the SMME sector, this form of retirement savings will become more important.
Guest: Seelan Gobalsamy, General Manager at Old Mutual Corporate
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 32
17 - 21 Sep |
A few weeks ago we spoke to Greg Morris, President of the Institute of Retirement Funds (IRF) about what was to be expected at the their annual conference held in Cape Town last week.
Guest: Greg Morris, IRF
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 31
10 - 14 Sep |
A few weeks ago we looked at the Chilean inspired approach to retirement savings, this week we re-visit the topic, however it is not the only approach to the matter of bringing everybody into the savings net. This week at the Institute of Retirement Funds' Annual Conference there is a presentation on the approach India is taking. So, is the Chilean approach all that it is made out to be or are there alternatives?
Guest: Elias Masilela from Sanlam Employee Benefits
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 30
3 - 7 Sep |
A few weeks ago we looked at the Chilean inspired approach to retirement savings, this week we re-visit the topic, however it is not the only approach to the matter of bringing everybody into the savings net.
This week at the Institute of Retirement Funds' Annual Conference there is a presentation on the approach India is taking. So, is the Chilean approach all that it is made out to be or are there alternatives?
Guest: Greg Morris, the President of the IRF
Transcript(DOC) |
Week 29
27 - 31 Aug |
Over the past few weeks the equity market has been volatile and there are many questions about retirement investments that need to be answered.
Guest: Bernard Fick, Head of Asset Consultants at Alexander Forbes
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 28
20 - 24 Aug |
This week we looked at transparency in the industry. Colin Smit' company has developed The Electronic Trustee, software that can be used to measure fund management performance, in particular the costs that are incurred by fund managers.
Guest: Colin Smit, director of Specialised Portfolio Services
Transcript(DOC) |
Week 27
13 - 17 Aug |
Three years ago there was a flurry in the industry as a report drawn up by Rob Rusconi hit the headlines. It looked at costs within the industry; in particular the hidden costs that pension fund members are paying, and showed how exorbitant they were.
Guest: Rob Rusconi
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 26
6 - 10 Aug |
What proportion of your retirement fund contribution actually goes towards your retirement savings and do you have any control over the risk contribution?
Guest: Alan Robertson of Discovery Group
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 25
30 July - 3 Aug |
Giulietta Talevi talks to Jan Mahlangu, co-ordinator of Cosatu's retirement fund, about the savings climate in South Africa.
Guest: Jan Mahlangu
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 24
23 - 27 July |
Giulietta Talevi talks about what to look out for when it comes to buying annuities.
Guest: Stuart Wenman, Head of Technical Sales at Liberty
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 23
16 - 20 July |
The Annual Sanlam Employee Benefits Symposium raised many questions. One of these questions was do people really have enough to retire on?
Guest: Anet Ahern, CEO Sanlam Multi-Manager
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 22
9 - 13 July |
Join Giulietta Talevi as she chats to Deon Booysen, Executive Head of Client Solutions at Sanlam Employee Benefits, about what the research in the 2007 Sanlam Survey on Employee Benefits reveals.
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 21
2 - 6 July |
Dr José Piñera was Chile's Minister of Labour and Social Security from 1978 to 1980. He was responsible for the establishment of the Social Security Act of 1980 which created a fully funded pension system based on personal retirement accounts.
Guest: Dr Piñera
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 20
25 - 29 June |
The annual Sanlam Symposium on Employee Benefits is on this week in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. Giulietta Talevi talks to Elias Masilela about the Symposium and the issues that it will address this year.
Guest: Elias Masilela (Chief Strategist Financial Sector Developments at Sanlam Employee Benefits)
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 19
18-22 June |
Very often during divorce proceedings, the last thing on ones mind are the retirement policies and annuities that might also form part of a settlement.
Guest: Fiona Renton of Alexander Forbes
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 18
11 - 15 June |
Some time ago we spoke about umbrella funds and whether or not this is the way to go for smaller companies. Are there other ways of providing retirement plans for the employees of smaller companies?
Guest: Trevor Glassock of Vic Glassock
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 17
4 - 8 June |
We look at something rather different this week in the retirement arena - "employment with the multi nationals". Multi national groups require individuals to be highly mobile - to what extent does retirement planning fit in with this demand?
Guest: Billy Joubert, a partner at Deloitte
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 16
28 May - 1 June |
The biggest news for pension funds this year was the announcement from National Treasury of the plans to establish a National Savings Fund by 2010. That was at the beginning of the year - since the initial fanfare, news on this matter has been quiet. Giulietta Talevi looked at what this will mean for the six million existing members of various funds.
Guest: Rowan Burger (Head of Consulting Strategy at Alexander Forbes)
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 15
21 - 25 May |
We pick up on the theme of training within the industry. Giulietta Talevi talked to ICTS who trains people within the industry for the roles of trustees, as well as fund managers.
Guest: David Weil, MD of ICTS
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 14
14 - 18 May |
PricewaterhouseCoopers recently released a survey that looks at how funds are being managed. We discussed the findings and what the major areas of concern are.
Guest: Gert Kapp of PricewaterhouseCoopers |
|
Week 13
7 - 11 May |
Group Risk Insurance and the interconnection with your pension fund is a complicated relationship.
Guest: Paul Myeza, MD of Sanlam Group Risk
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 12
30 April - 4 May |
Pension Fund Leakage is the topic this week. Join Giulietta as she talks about some of the reasons for loss of money within ones pension fund, and how this can be prevented.
Guest: Jarred Glansbeek, CEO of Riscura
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 11
23 - 26 April |
This week on New Retirement Thinking the programme looks at the latest Member Watch Survey from Alexander Forbes.
Guest: Rowan Burger, Alexander Forbes
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 10
16 – 20 April |
Systems administration is often a crucially overlooked function by members belonging to a pension fund. After all, you don't query banks on how they put your statements together, so why would you want to know how your pension fund is managed?
Guest: Angus Moir, Agatha Design
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 9
10 – 13 April |
One of the problems the National Treasury has with the current state of the retirement industry is that there are just too many funds in the country: over 13 500 funds at last count.
Fewer, larger funds would be more cost effective and efficient, but are there still advantages for smaller retirement funds?
Guest: Andrew Canter, Futuregrowth Asset Management
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 8
2 – 5 April |
With the country agog over the unravelling disaster that is Fidentia, pension fund members may be feeling unsurprisingly concerned about their investments. Should we be worried about the ethics within the retirement fund industry?
Guest: Andrew Canter, Futuregrowth Asset Management
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 7
26 – 30 March |
We re-visits the Defined Benefits and Defined Contribution arenas.
Guest: Paul Robson, Robson Savage Fund Administrators.
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 6
19 – 23 March
|
Are Retirement Fund costs set in stone, or may trustees bargain for better rates?
Guest: Howard Buck, Fifth Quadrant
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 5
12 - 16 March
|
The questions around the recently released second draft paper on Pension Fund reform.
Guest: Elias Masilela, Sanlam Employee Benefits
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 4
5 - 9 March
|
We discuss an issue often misunderstood by the person preparing for retirement - costs and fees.
Guest: Howard Buck, Fifth Quadrant
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 3
26 Feb - 2 March |
Sweeping changes in the Retirement Fund arena in this year's budget bringing relief to SA pensioners!
Guest: Anton Swanepoel, Sanlam
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 2
19 - 23 Feb |
What can be expected in this year's budget?
Guest: Wayne van Rensburg, Glenrand MIB Benefit Services
Transcript (DOC) |
Week 1
12 - 16 Feb |
What issues have been addressed that have a bearing on your retirement?
Guest: Elias Masilela, Executive Head, Stakeholder Strategy at Sanlam Employee Benefits.
Transcript (DOC) |
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Retirement Fund Focus: Previous weeks 2006
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Retirement Fund Focus: Previous weeks 2005
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