Dear Stakeholder

There has been so much change in the world of work in the past few decades, especially since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The flexibility of remote working, improvements in connectivity and the expansion of online options have allowed so many more people to easily take part in our many programmes and courses, which seek to make provision as far as possible for those who learn better in a physical classroom and those who thrive in a remote learning environment.

Having trained thousands of employees and graduates working in the financial services industry since 2008, the ASISA Academy also prides itself on flexibility in the delivery of in-house courses. Various companies in our industry continue to work with us to deliver courses, either off-the-shelf or custom-made, to their staff. These cover everything from introducing new staff to the industry to helping experts keep their technical knowledge and skills up to date in a changing world.

We offer flexibility in terms of topics, time frames and formats of the training delivery. Companies may want more generic material delivered to a large, diverse group, or technical training of specific teams such as their IT, administrative or call centre staff. Sessions can be run in-person or online over a couple of days, or broken down into shorter sessions over several mornings.

In-house courses

Sanlam Investments and Ninety One have already taken advantage of our offering of in-house courses, as they do every year.

In February, new staff members in various departments at Sanlam Investments attended an investment induction course. Presented online and in-person, the sessions covered the savings and investment environment, investment governance, investment products, running an investment business, the major asset classes, and pricing and performance.

Delegates who attended the Sanlam Investment Induction course in February 2025.

A series of Investment Sprints was also delivered to employees at Ninety One. Topics included an introduction to the SA savings and investment sector; an overview of the investment management business; and the fundamentals of retirement funds, life insurance, portfolio management and interest-bearing assets. These interactive workshops were hosted face-to-face and attended by various Ninety One employees from different teams, including people working in investment analysis, operations management and software development. 

Ninety One delegates who attended the Investment Sprints in February 2025.

Please email us at Learn@asisaacademy.org.za to schedule a discussion about in-house training.

SHORT COURSES

On the topic of the benefits of flexibility, the UCT Life Insurance Claims Assessors Short Course is an excellent case in point. The latest edition, an online offering, got underway this month with 15 delegates from various life insurance companies across South Africa attending online classes one day per week. The next edition of the course will be delivered face-to-face from July to October in Johannesburg. Please enrol here.

Since 2021, we have delivered this course online in the first half of the year, while continuing to deliver the course face-to-face in the second half, as we had been doing since 2013. Both versions have been very well supported by the life insurance industry and, to date, a total of 206 delegates have completed the course.   

GRADUATE PROGRAMMES

IMACS@TSIBA

Our class of 2024/2025 Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA) Finance degree students from TSIBA who enrolled in July last year progressed to their 3^rd and final year of study.

These students, who started classes in February, will require an internship placement from August to November. Already, the following companies have committed to hosting a total of 14 students: Intembeko, Prescient, M&G Investments, JTC Fund Solutions, Taquanta Asset Managers and Allan Gray. We appeal to ASISA members who have not yet committed to joining us in nurturing young talent to consider getting onboard. 

Hosting a student involves reviewing CVs and interviewing and selecting a student who is a good fit for your business during March/April. You would then provide the student with a fixed-term employment contract for 16 weeks, pay them a subsistence allowance of R4,500 to R9,500 per month, provide them with meaningful work, including a specific administrative project, and appoint a manager to supervise them. The student’s responsibility involves completing a project report and presenting this verbally to a panel of assessors at TSIBA after completing the internship. This is the final part of their degree.

While there is no obligation to employ the student beyond the internship, the host employer may make an offer of temporary or permanent employment as they seek to grow the talent within their company. 

We invite companies who wish to host students or sponsor a student to complete this form.

Independent Financial Advisor Internship

The 27 new IFA interns who took part in the work readiness course in January completed their first month of work at 21 host practices.

Our 2024 IFA Internship came to a close in February, with 23 interns being retained by their host employers, and a further four taking up other employment opportunities. While a few have opted to return to full-time post-graduate studies, a handful are currently in the market. Companies who are looking for graduates with a year’s experience in a financial advisory support role can contact Zubeida Ebrahim (zebrahim@asisaacademy.org.za ) for their CVs.

Financial Markets Practitioner (FMP) Learnership

Of the 18 delegates who completed the 2023 FMP Learnership, 17 wrote and passed the External Integrated Summative Assessment (EISA) and graduated in January. These 17 delegates are now eligible to apply to the South African Institute of Stockbrokers for the designation: Financial Markets Practitioner.

The online orientation for the fourth iteration of the FMP Learnership took place in February. The first session of the programme kicks off at the beginning of March.

RETIREMENT FUND TRUSTEE EDUCATION

The Academy had a bumper month of RFTE workshops, training a total of 414 delegates of whom 397 were trustees. We would like to invite trustees who have not yet completed the FSCA Trustee Toolkit to enrol for our online Foundations for Retirement Fund Trustees Course. 

The ASISA Academy, in partnership with the ASISA Foundation, delivers a range of online, CPD points-bearing workshops on a fully-funded basis to South African Trustees and Principal Officers. The workshops cover a wide range of topics, from Trustee Governance and Ethics to Exchange-Traded Funds, Infrastructure Investing and Death Benefits. Click here for more information.

For a complete overview of learning opportunities, please visit the 2025 ASISA Academy Learning Calendar.

LEARN WITH US

The ASISA Academy is recognised as a Level 1 B-BBEE Qualifying Small Enterprise, with more than 83% 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.

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