Dear Stakeholder

On July 18 this year, it wasn’t so much the enormous upwelling of generosity in commemoration of our beloved Nelson Mandela’s birthday that struck me, but the wider context of giving without expecting anything in return that has always surrounded me, from my childhood. The annual tidal wave of kindness shown by South Africans volunteering 67 minutes or more of their time in the service of the less fortunate, is truly inspiring and gets me recalling many memories of compassionate care for those in need.

The spirit of volunteerism was birthed in me as a child. I observed my parents and community demonstrate in practical ways what, I guess, was the spirit of Ubuntu – helping those in need without expecting anything in return, for the sake of building a better society. 

It is in this context that I truly appreciate all the hours and energy invested in the ASISA Academy by the many experts in the financial services industry, our member companies in particular, who give so freely of their time to support our work, especially in developing young people. They pay it forward by co-creating and presenting courses and mentoring graduates on some of our programmes. 

These industry professionals are investing in future leaders of the financial services industry. The students sing their praises and tell us how it has enriched their experience to have experts bring the course material to life. Having their input means it is not just textbook material they are learning, but the real application of the concepts they are studying.

As for the experts, who do it all pro bono, the sentiments expressed by Belinda Thorpe, Head of Claims at RGA, encapsulates what we hear from them all:

“I’m happy and available to continue assisting as we grow the future generation.”

We are all so grateful to you. Nelson Mandela would be proud… and not just on his birthday.

I would also like to extend a big thank you to all the companies who have sponsored the ASISA Academy programmes. You have helped us to change the lives of hundreds of young South Africans. One such bright young star, Cliff Mathikhi, pictured above, explicitly credits the ASISA Academy Independent Financial (IFA) Advisor Internship with guiding him on to the right path. Mathikhi had seemed destined for a life working exclusively with numbers before he was introduced to the IFA Internship. Now a paraplanner at Wealth Associates in Bloemfontein, he plays an important and varied role seeing clients, heading up the paraplanning department and training interns (as well as dealing with numbers). 

Read his story here: An internship that changed everything

In addition to operating as a fully-fledged business school for fee-paying delegates, the Academy has numerous partnerships. It is through these partnerships with ASISA member companies, the ASISA Foundation, and the ASISA Enterprise and Development initiative that the Academy has been able to offer free workshops to thousands of retirement fund trustees, as well as free internships to hundreds of Black South African graduates seeking to enter the financial services industry. From time to time, the Academy, a non-profit company, is in a position to “plough back” by equipping university students, particularly those studying in the field of commerce, with knowledge and skills that help to prepare them for the world of work.

During the months of June and July, we ran 11 Work Readiness online Sprints with students affiliated to the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals (ABSIP) as well as two Sprints with students from the University of the Free State. The 2-hour Sprints were run by Programme Champion Grant Cloete, who is very accomplished in both financial services and in preparing students for work in the industry.

INTRODUCING THE ASISA ACADEMY ALUMNI COMMITTEE

I am delighted – particularly in the month that we commemorate Madiba, the most unselfish of leaders – to introduce the inaugural ASISA Academy Alumni Committee. These 10 alumni, based in Johannesburg and Cape Town, have been very busy clarifying their mission statement and outlining their values.

Alumni of the ASISA Academy’s various graduate programmes already play a key role in motivating those who are following in their footsteps, for example by presenting at introductory sessions for new students. This committee will help to formalise that input as these alumni take their place as the next generation of financial services professionals paying it forward by mentoring the next.

Also, I expect them to be a huge help to me in terms of keeping track of other alumni and running events that will help to keep these stars in our orbit. For more information or to get involved please email alumni@asisaacademy.org.za 

The ASISA Academy alumni committee, top row from left: Nosiphiwo Mzolisa, Regomoditswe Moremedi, Nokwanda Msimang, Lebogang Tefu, Emmanuel Muhumuza, (bottom row from left) Nkululeko Mvoti, Maseqobela Nkosi, Lydia Nuvunga, Lukholo Kula, and Kirsten Ferguson.

GRADUATE PROGRAMMES

IMACS@TSiBA

The 2024/2025 IMACS@TSiBA Internship commenced classes on 26 July 2024 with a large group of students who are in the second year of their Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Finance degrees at TSiBA Business School. The internship, run in partnership with the Cape Town-based not-for-profit higher education institution, grew from just 11 students in 2011 to 45 last year. As our new intake has just begun, we expect student numbers to settle in the coming weeks and we will then report final numbers to the sponsors.

TSiBA second year Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) students who are currently participating in the Investment Management Administration & Client Servicing (IMACS@TSiBA) Internship.

Considering this significant growth, I am pleased to let you know that we have managed to secure 27 internships for students from our 2023/2024 cohort (compared to 10-12 per year since inception) and 100% sponsorship support for the 2024/2025 cohort. A big thank you to everyone who made it possible. Please contact us should you wish to host any of these students next year for their four-month internship from 1 August to 30 November 2025. This is a significant talent pool from which we encourage you to draw.

Financial Markets Practitioner (FMP) Learnership

The application window for the 2025 Financial Markets Practitioner (FMP) Learnership opens on Thursday, 1 August 2024, and closes on Friday, 13 December 2024. Employers in the investment management industry interested in enrolling employees or unemployed graduates in our fourth FMP Learnership are requested to submit their Employer Enrolment Forms.

The FMP qualification complies with the Financial Sector Code (FSC) criteria set out in categories B and D on the Learning Programme Matrix for scoring skills development points. Therefore, companies are also encouraged to reserve spaces for new graduates who are currently unemployed. The ASISA Academy maintains a database of unemployed eligible graduates for companies willing to partner with us in creating career pathways for these graduates. Interested employers can email us for more information.

Lerato Nonyane, pictured above, is a great example of someone who was already employed, but an ideal FMP candidate nonetheless. She had built a career in accounting when she was “bitten by the investing bug”. She was making her way very well in the investment world, except for the fact that she worried about not having a qualification in the field. Then she joined the Financial Markets Practitioner Learnership, thanks to being nominated by her then-employer Momentum Metropolitan, and “that feeling of being intimidated just faded”.

Read Lerato's story:  Smashing that Imposter Syndrome

Independent Financial Advisor Internship

The application window for IFA practices for the 2025 IFA Internship, which helps Black South African graduates with no prior full-time work experience to bridge the gap between university and the workplace, opens on Thursday, 1 August 2024, and closes on Monday, 2 September 2024. More info here

COURSES PRESENTED IN JULY

Work Readiness Sessions

A total of 74 delegates took part in two 2-hour Work Readiness sessions that had been tailor-made by the ASISA Academy for the University of the Free State’s Diamond League. Including topics such as Communication, Leadership, and Financial Literacy, the workshops were requested by the Diamond League, which serves both current students and UFS alumni.

ABSIP students attended 11 Work Readiness sessions with us. We wish all the students well as they enter their final semester before leaping into the world of work in 2025.

Delegates who attended the first week of the UCT Life Insurance Claims Assessors Short Course in Johannesburg, a 20-day course that runs from July until October. Click here for more information on this course, an officially endorsed UCT Short Course, which was developed to assist in professionalising the role of life insurance claims assessors.

Retirement Fund Trustee Education

Twenty delegates are attending the ASISA Academy's online Foundations for Retirement Trustees course, which started on Wednesday, 24 July 2024, and runs over six consecutive weeks. Designed to equip Trustees with the knowledge and skills necessary to fulfil their fiduciary and governance duties optimally, it also helps to take any pain out of completing the FSCA Trustee Toolkit, as Trustees are legally required to do. The first four of the six three-hour workshops cover phase 1 of the Trustee Toolkit (Modules 1-11), and the final two workshops cover phase 2 of the Trustee Toolkit (Modules 12-22).

Download the brochure.

BESPOKE COURSES

Delegates who attended the Momentum Investment Sprints in July.

Momentum Investment Sprints

Twelve Momentum employees took part in a series of in-house Investment Sprints presented online and face-to-face. The sprints covered: Introduction to the SA Savings and Investment Sector, Investment Management Business Overview, Fundamentals of Retirement Funds and Life Insurance, Fundamentals of Equities Portfolio Management, Investment Products and Structures, Fundamentals of Equity Operations.

Delegates who attended the Sanlam Investment Induction sessions.

Sanlam Investment Induction

Employees from various departments within Sanlam Investments attended the fourth of six investment induction courses in July. Presented online and in-person from February to October this year, the course covers: the savings and investment environment, investment governance, investment products, running an investment business, the major asset classes, pricing, and performance.

For a complete overview of learning opportunities, please visit the 2024 ASISA Academy Learning Calendar.

LEARN WITH US

The ASISA Academy is recognised as a Level 1 B-BBEE Qualifying Small Enterprise, with more than 75% of the Academy’s beneficiaries being Black South Africans. This means employers can claim 135% of their skills development spend with the ASISA Academy. Please get in touch with us to discuss how we can support your skills development requirements.

For a complete overview of learning opportunities, please visit the ASISA Academy Learning Calendar.

Please visit our website for more information on our many learning opportunities. We also invite you to interact with us on LinkedIn.

Best wishes

Alicia Davids
ASISA Academy CEO

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