April 2026

Dear Colleagues

April has been a month of milestones – from training retirement fund trustees across the country to welcoming graduates into our industry, and celebrating graduate alumni who are now building real careers in the industry.

Underlying all of it is a single conviction: that rigorous, accessible education is the most reliable route to a stronger, more representative financial services sector.

This month we also note the approval of the Conduct of Financial Institutions (CoFI) Bill by Cabinet. If the bill is passed, it would mark a significant shift in how financial institutions will be regulated. We are already planning workshops to help trustees and practitioners get to grips with what it means in practice – watch this space!

Warm regards,

Alicia Davids
CEO, ASISA Academy

April was a particularly active month for our Retirement Fund Trustee Education Programme. We delivered seven workshops to the boards of the six funds listed below who made direct requests for the delivery of specific workshops.:

• Construction Industry Retirement Benefit Fund
• Security Employees National Provident Fund
• ISCOR Employees Umbrella Provident Fund
• Mineworkers Provident Fund
• Private Security Sector Provident Fund
• Municipal Employees Union Retirement Fund

In addition to single fund workshops, we also hosted a variety of public workshops this month, with delegates attending from across the industry. These workshops offer trustees CPD-bearing training on a fully funded basis. Non-trustees are welcome to attend at a fee of R2,125 (excl. VAT).

If you would like to be kept updated on upcoming workshops, click here to be added to our database.

Trustees from the Municipal Employees Union Retirement Fund who attended the Investment Policy Statement Analysis workshop. Presented by ASISA Academy RFTE presenter, Jolly Mokorosi, seated extreme left.

CoFI Bill: preparing for regulatory change

The tabling of the Conduct of Financial Institutions (CoFI) Bill in the National Assembly on 17 April brings us one step closer to its implementation. The ASISA Academy is in the process of developing a CoFI workshop for retirement fund trustees to help them better understand this significant regulatory shift and the implications it may have for their fiduciary responsibilities.

We will share more details as soon as the dates are confirmed.

Where community commitment meets investment excellence

How a boutique Cape Town asset manager is developing the next generation of investment professionals – one intern at a time.

When Simone Blanckenberg, Chief Operating Officer at Granate Asset Management, reflects on what drives the firm’s partnership with the ASISA Academy, she verbalises a simple truth: mentorship changes lives.

“Many of us have been in this industry for a long time, and we know how powerful mentorship was to us and how powerful opportunities early on in our careers were in shaping us,” she says. “One of the company’s values is community, and part of this is how we give back to our community. This is a very important part of what we do.”

Granate is a boutique asset manager based in Newlands, Cape Town, managing R29 billion in assets across fixed income and multi-asset strategies for both institutional and retail clients. Despite its relatively compact team of 22 people, the firm has grown significantly over the past five years – and its community commitment has grown with it.

At the heart of that commitment, for the past seven-years Granate has hosted TSIBA interns for 16-week placements, giving students hands-on exposure to asset management. The results speak for themselves: in two cases, interns have gone on to join Granate’s operations team permanently.

Granate has also been involved with the Fezeka Graduate Programme since its inception – hosting participants for rotations, providing mentorship and offering interview readiness training. Blanckenberg and a colleague serve as personal mentors to several Fezeka participants.

“We are relentlessly committed to protecting and growing our clients’ savings,” Blanckenberg explains, “and we really want to be able to help all South Africans – not just the most wealthy 1% – to retire more comfortably. That goal shapes everything, including how we work with the ASISA Academy.”

It’s a philosophy that runs through the entire firm. And for the young people who come through Granate’s doors, whether for 16 weeks or longer, it translates into something tangible: real exposure to real work, alongside people who are genuinely invested in their growth.

If your company would like to host a graduate or sponsor a student through one of our graduate programmes, please fill out the expression of interest form below.

IMACS@TSIBA graduation highlights

On 31 March, we attended the TSIBA graduation ceremony – and it was a proud moment. A number of our IMACS@TSIBA students passed their degree with cum laude and received special awards, including Dean’s Merit List Awards and the ex-chairman of the board award, a reflection of the dedication and academic excellence these young people bring to their studies.

From top left clockwise: Trish Ganda - Cum Laude, Yusrah Majiet - Cum Laude, Rorisang Modise - Cum Laude & Graham Lash Book Prize winner, Saskia Mc Helm - Cum Laude & Professor Fatima Abraham's Award winner, and Shumirai Nyakunda - Cum Laude.

The IMACS@TSIBA Internship provides Bachelor of Business Administration: Finance students seeking to start their careers in investment management administration with both academic grounding and practical experience in the industry. Seeing them recognised for excellence at graduation is a reminder of what is possible when opportunity meets effort.

If your company would still like to host a grad or sponsor a student for the upcoming intake, please click on the button below to let us know you’re interested.

Alumnus Spotlight: Brian Mgwili

From odd jobs to operations analyst: Brian Mgwili’s journey into asset management

How the IMACS@TSIBA programme opened the door to a career Brian never imagined.

Brian Mgwili didn’t take the conventional route into asset management. After finishing school in Ennerdale, south of Johannesburg, he didn’t have the funds to go straight to tertiary education. He worked odd jobs, ran a small events company, and bided his time – until a friend told him about TSIBA. A friend initially told me about TSIBA. While completing his degree, he learned about the IMACS programme, which he took as an elective.

“I’ve always been interested in business, not specifically investments,” Brian recalls. “But when I learned about the IMACS programme, I was very interested in joining.”

Brian Mgwili, Operations Analyst at Granate Asset Management.

Fezeka Graduate Programme

We are proud to share the following milestones from the Fezeka Graduate Programme:​​​​​​​

The current cohort has been progressing well and will be available for interviews by asset managers from 20 May. Contact Zubeida Ebrahim if you would like to receive copies of their CVs.

We are currently in the early stages of planning the 2027/2028 programme and invite interested asset management companies to register their interest in hosting a graduate for a rotation, and/or sponsoring the programme.

IFA Internship: Preparing for 2027

Now in its 11th year, the IFA Internship has an exceptional track record:

We are now beginning preparation for the 2027 intake and are reaching out to universities to invite eligible students to apply. IFA practices that would like to express an interest in hosting an intern are encouraged to do so now – the formal application window will open in due course. Industry members who wish to become programme sponsors may contact me directly.

ABSIP UWC Industry Readiness Workshop

This month, we visited the University of the Western Cape to engage with final-year BCom students through the ABSIP student chapter. Our From learning to industry: a financial services career journey session was designed to bridge the gap between academic study and the realities of working in financial services.

Presented by our Programme Champion, Grant Cloete, the session focused on practical financial life skills, including the importance of saving and investing, managing money responsibly, and building strong professional networks within the financial services industry. The discussion was engaging and interactive, with students showing great interest in taking charge of their financial futures and preparing for industry participation.

ABSIP‑UWC final‑year BCom students who attended a session led by Programme Champion Grant Cloete.

ASISA Academy Alumni Committee Nominations – 2026

We are pleased to announce to our community of alumni who have participated in the IMACS@TSIBA, IFA, Investment Management Work-Ready Internships, and Fezeka Graduate Programme that nominations are now open for the election of a new Alumni Committee for 2026/2027.

The Alumni Committee plays a vital role in strengthening alumni engagement, supporting Academy initiatives, and ensuring that the collective voice of our alumni community is represented. We invite graduate alumni to take part in shaping the future of our alumni network by submitting a nomination. 

Key dates

• Nominations close: 8 May 2026
• Announcement of the new committee: 29 May 2026

We encourage all eligible alumni to get involved and contribute to the continued growth and success of the ASISA Academy alumni community.

How to nominate

To submit a nomination, please complete the online form at the link below:

UCT Life Insurance Claims Assessors Short Course

Our current online UCT Life Insurance Claims Assessors Short Course has been drawing strong engagement, with delegates responding particularly well to the balance between theory and hands-on application. Here are some testimonials from delegates:

• “The presenters demonstrated strong subject knowledge and communicated their content clearly. The sessions flowed smoothly, and there was a good balance between theory and practical examples.”
• “Brilliant and insightful content, especially on breast cancer as the no. 1 on the dread disease list and prostate cancer with its grey area criteria.”
• “Very interactive – really enjoyed how it challenged my perceptions and general understanding of pain.”

The next iteration of this course runs in Johannesburg from 20 July to 9 October 2026, with one week of classes per month over four months, followed by an online proctored exam.

The Academy is also scheduled to deliver the following three-hour online Life Insurance Sprints in the coming months:

• Introduction to Underwriting – 12 May (9h00 - 12h00)
• Life Insurance Fraud – 2 June  (9h00 - 12h00)
• AI in Life Insurance – 7 July  (9h00 - 12h00)

More information about the Life Insurance Sprints can be found here and employees who would like to enrol can do so here or via the enrolment link on the web page.

Life Offices are urged to engage directly with Alicia Davids with regards to their skills development needs.

Digiata Industry Overview Blitzcamp

We presented our Industry Overview Blitzcamp to the team at Digiata (a fintech software company that provides financial institutions with end‑to‑end digital solutions) on MS Teams over three consecutive mornings. The sessions offered a broad but accessible introduction to the South African financial services landscape.

Members of the Digiata team who attended the Industry Overview Blitzcamps as part of their professional development journey.

If your company would benefit from a tailored in-house programme, or if there are specific topics you would like the ASISA Academy to address, we would love to hear from you.

For a complete overview of learning opportunities, please visit the 2026 ASISA Academy Learning Calendar.

Contact us:

• General enquiries: learn@asisaacademy.org.za
• CEO: adavids@asisaacademy.org.za

ASISA Academy – Building the talent pipeline for South Africa’s savings and investment industry