Dear Stakeholder

We are ending the year with the great news that the Fezeka Graduate Programme, which the ASISA Academy runs in association with Joint Prosperity, has been named winner of the Most Promising Women-Led Initiatives category at the EBNet 2025 Evolutionary Awards. 

From top to bottom: Fezeka Graduate Programme cohorts for 2023, 2024, and 2025.

EBNet (the Employee Benefits Network) is a respected industry player that provides news, information and resources for the financial services industry. The EBNet Evolutionary Awards are designed to celebrate innovation in South Africa’s retirement and financial services industry. The Most Promising Women-Led Initiatives category “honours women-led efforts in advice, investments, benefits, or technology, addressing historical under-representation to promote gender equity”.  

Regular readers of this newsletter will know how proud we are of the women who complete this challenging programme for high potential, black South African female graduates who want to build a career in investment management. I would like to acknowledge all role players, including the interview panel, steering committee, sponsors, host employers, line managers and mentors who have contributed to the programme’s success. 

In a statement announcing the prize, EBNet said that the Fezeka Graduate Programme had been selected for its work “tackling the gender gap in investment management through targeted development programmes”. This resonates perfectly with the intention of the programme that was set up in 2023 with the support of more than 20 asset managers. 

Fezeka provides a powerful combination of theoretical knowledge, professional development and practical work experience within established investment management businesses. Participants complete the NQF7 Financial Markets Practitioner (FMP) Learnership, which is based on an occupational qualification that enables successful candidates to attain the Certified Financial Markets Professional designation with the South African Institute of Stockbrokers. The programme also includes the registration fees and exam preparation for the CFA Level 1 exams.  

The ASISA Academy was recently noted as the only accredited learning provider of the FMP qualification to obtain a 100% pass rate in the May 2025 exams. Fezeka graduates, in particular, stood out with average scores above 80% for the external exams. 

To date, three cohorts have embarked on the Fezeka journey. All 20 graduates from the first two cohorts have secured employment in the industry. The current cohort has eight graduates who are progressing well in their second work rotation. Their final rotation runs from February to August 2026. Asset managers who are interested in offering employment are welcome to view their CVs and to schedule interviews via our Programme Manager, Ronel Ward, for the month of June 2026. The next programme will run from 2027-2028.

IMACS@TSIBA

The 37 students of the IMACS@TSIBA 2024-2025 cohort who passed all their third-year courses in June this year completed their final presentations recently at TSIBA as their four-month internships draw to a close. This important piece of work, the Individual Practical Journey (IPJ), is effectively the culmination of their four-month internship that comes in the final stretch of their degree.

While many of these graduates have secured employment already, some are still in the market for positions next year, particularly, but not exclusively, in the investment management administration space. Anyone who is interested in interviewing these talented young graduates should reach out to Zubeida Ebrahim.

IMACS@TSIBA students delivering their Individual Practical Journey (IPJ) presentations.

Thank you to those companies who have already committed to sponsoring the 2026/2027 programme, which commences in July 2026. Others who are still considering making a commitment to sponsor the IMACS@TSIBA class of 2026, please click on the link below and complete the commitment form.

I would like to extend a big heartfelt thank you to all the companies who have participated in this year's graduate programmes. We appreciate every one of you for what you do to support and assist so many bright young people. It really is life-changing work! 

Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) Internship

On Friday November 21, the ASISA Academy IFA Alumni Committee hosted an online webinar for current interns as well as IFA alumni from previous years. The theme of the event was The Road to CFP (Certified Financial Planner). Alumnus, Nkululeko Radebe, Paraplanner at Independent Wealth Managers, interviewed three IFA alumni who had all achieved their CFP, namely Shanell Domike, Paraplanner at Veritas Wealth; Nokwanda Msimang, Support Financial Planner at Foundation Family Wealth; and Emmanuel Muhumuza, Supervised Representative at Omega Capital. The purpose of the event was to share with current interns and alumni what their respective journeys had entailed, what the challenges had been and how they had overcome them, as well as to inspire them to take on the challenge. 

IFA Alumni who participated in the IFA Alumni Event (from left): Shanell Domike, Emmanuel Muhumuza, Nokwanda Msimang, and host Nkululeko Radebe.

We are immensely proud of our IFA alumni and grateful to both the sponsors of this programme as well as the host IFA practices who have nurtured their talent over the years. We see the beginnings of a transformed independent financial advisory space and look forward to seeing some of these alumni starting up their own financial planning enterprises in the coming years. 

Trustees from the Communications Workers Union (CWU) attended a Cybersecurity workshop facilitated by David Morris.

November saw more Retirement Fund Trustee Education workshops on cybersecurity, many of them for organised labour run in association with Atleha-Edu, a non-profit company that provides accessible, high-quality consumer financial education, particularly focused on retirement fund trustees, management committee members and fund members. One of these sessions was delivered to the Communications Workers Union (CWU), initiated by Atleha-Edu, focusing on building awareness and resilience against cyber threats. 

Pictured above are new staff members from various departments at Sanlam Investments who attended an in-person investment induction course in Cape Town. The sessions covered the savings and investment environment, investment governance, investment products, running an investment business, the major asset classes, and pricing and performance. 

While this is our last Newsflash for 2025, we will still be available to engage with you around your training plans for next year until our doors close on 19 December. For a complete overview of learning opportunities, please visit the 2026 ASISA Academy Learning Calendar. We look forward to a buzzing first quarter of 2026 and cannot wait to share our next Newsflash with you.

The ASISA Academy is recognised as a Level 1 B-BBEE Qualifying Small Enterprise, with more than 88% 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