IN THIS ISSUE

Dear stakeholder

Welcome to the first mobile-friendly edition of Dispatches.

We ended the month of May with a strong focus on ensuring a successful ASISA Assembly 2016.

Judging from the positive feedback received from delegates, speakers and panelists, we believe that this was achieved. The one-day assembly took place in Johannesburg on Thursday, 2 June, under the banner “Now or Never – There is no next time”.

Departing from tradition, this year’s assembly was open only to employees of ASISA member companies. The aim was to brief ASISA members on progress made by the CEO Group working with Government on bringing about sustainable change in our economy as well as various ASISA initiatives. We were encouraged by the open and honest sharing of information by speakers invited to provide feedback on the four national work streams as well as the frank discussions that followed.

The CEO sponsors, or designation representatives, of the four national work streams provided feedback and also took part in the panel discussions. The CEOs of ASISA member companies involved in the work streams also participated.

Jabulane Mabuza, in his capacity as co-ordinator of the CEO Group, provided some big picture insights, together with Lungisa Fuzile, Director-General at the National Treasury, representing Governments as a partner in these work streams.

In summary, it was obvious that the collaborative efforts by Government and the private sector are being viewed as positive by our members.

A heartfelt thank you goes to all speakers and panelists who made themselves available, as well as our members who supported the ASISA Assembly 2016.

Deputy CEO, Peter Dempsey, represented ASISA at Insurance Europe’s 8th International Insurance Conference. Some 600 policymakers, regulators and insurers from around the world gathered in Dublin on 25 May 2016 for this conference.

The theme of the conference was "Serving our customer in tomorrow’s world" and topics of discussion included:

• The regulatory impact on customers
• Global & European stability
• The global economic shift & growth markets
•  Technological advances

While in Dublin, Peter also represented ASISA at the Global Federation of Insurance Associations General Assembly.

Chief Operating Officer, Eugene Jooste, meanwhile attended the International Investment Funds Association (IIFA) International Regulatory Affairs Working Committee meeting in Washington. Members were required to provide feedback from their jurisdictions on the following:

• Products and innovation
• Distribution issues
• Capital markets
• Financial stability

The collective investment schemes (CIS) industry statistics for the quarter and year ending March 2016 were released in May.

The statistics show that the industry attracted healthy net inflows of R26 billion in the first quarter of this year. This brings to R111 billion the total net inflows recorded for the 12 month period to the end of March 2016 - the third highest in five years.

SA Multi Asset portfolios received net inflows of R72 billion in the 12 months to 31 March 2016, with SA Interest Bearing Money Market portfolios attracting R35 billion of mainly institutional and corporate money, and SA Equity portfolios R3 billion. SA Interest Bearing portfolios, however, continued to suffer net outflows – in the 12 months ended March 2016 these amounted to R20 billion.

The statistics as well as the media release can be found on www.asisa.org.za.

The Bill was passed by Parliament and sent to the President for approval. Key aspects raised by ASISA on the Bill were substantially accepted and are reflected in the amendments to the Bill.  Consultation with National Treasury and the Financial Intelligence Centre will take place on the issue of different effective dates for different provisions and on changes to the regulations and guidance notes.

The Act was published in the Government Gazette on 20 May 2016 and is effective from that date.

The Act has delayed the following retirement reform tax harmonisation proposals until 1 March 2018:

• Subjecting provident fund members to the same annuitisation requirements at retirement as pension and RA fund members;
• the tax free concession for pension to provident fund transfers.

The Act has not delayed the originally proposed “T Day” increase in the annuitisation de minimis amount. The annuitisation de minimis amount for members retiring from pension, pension preservation and RA funds has been raised from R75 000 to R247 500 with effect from 1 March 2016.
 
The Act has also not amended any of the other “T Day” reforms. Thus, the fringe benefit taxation of employer contributions and the new “27.5% of the greater of a member’s taxable income or remuneration subject to a maximum of R350 000 per annum” member contribution deduction regime remain in place with effect from 1 March 2016.

ASISA submitted comments on amendments to FAIS requirements for compliance officers on May 13.

May 2016 was an exciting month for the ASISA Foundation. We witnessed the culmination of Project Saver Waya Waya for TVET College students, which took the form of a showcase of theatre pieces designed by student participants of the programme. Designed to empower and help students make the right financial choices when they enter the world of work, the six-week programme was delivered by the ASISA Foundation at colleges in Hammanskraal, Brits, Mankwe and Rustenburg.

The programme directly benefited more than 500 students via interactive interventions using repeat face-to-face workshops, Facebook and WhatsApp. The Awards event was hosted at each campus to showcase the theatre pieces, which incorporated key financial literacy messages. These reached a further 1 200 audience members. It was extremely rewarding to observe the authentic manner in which the students embraced the learning outcomes and the persuasive manner in which they shared it with their college peers both on stage and via their Facebook group.

We hugely appreciate the support provided by ASISA members both financially through their contributions to the Foundation as well as their supply of gifts awarded as prizes to the winners.

The Foundation continued its implementation of Project Qaphela, (the financial literacy programme for workers) in partnership with Sanlam and the National Union of Mineworkers.  Between January and May 2016, we reached nearly 500 mineworkers within the Gauteng and North West provinces, bringing the total number of programme beneficiaries since the inception of the project in 2015 to date to 1 303. 

The Academy delivered the UCT CIS Short Course to a group of 13 candidates as well as a Retirement Fund Trustee Education Workshop for Batseta members in Johannesburg. 

In addition, the Academy also delivered the Financial Services Overview Blitzcamp and the Investment Management Blitzcamp as bespoke in-house courses for the Maitland Group in Cape Town.

Sponsors began interviewing and selecting candidates for the next IMACS@TSiBA programme, which will commence in July.  The current group is writing their final exams in June.

Monitoring and evaluation of the IFA Internship Programme that started in February this year is taking place with visits to the practices as well as mentoring sessions with the interns. Preparations have also been made for the roll out of a second phase of the IFA Internship Programme.  Additional IFA practices have come on board and have interviewed and selected suitable candidates in both Cape Town and Johannesburg.   The second phase will commence on 20 June. 

The Academy has developed an internet-based portal to assist graduates in finding employment.  There are a large number of unselected applicants who either remain unemployed or take up employment outside of their field of study.  The Academy’s Jobs Connections Portal will host the profiles of candidates who are eligible for employment in the financial services industry.  Companies who are searching for suitable graduates can view these profiles and then approach the Academy for the full CV of the candidate/s they would like to interview.

Members and stakeholders that attended the ASISA Assembly last week agreed that as a country we have reached our now or never moment. It was also clear that all stakeholders understand that meaningful change can only be achieved in partnership.

Encouraged by a reprieve from three ratings agencies, we look forward to working with our members and stakeholders on moving our economy and our country closer towards achieving the goals of the National Development Plan (NDP).