Retirement fund industry crucial for SA’s growth: Mashatile

Deputy President Paul Mashatile believes the retirement fund business is important to South Africa’s growth and development. He was speaking on the first day of the Batseta Winter Conference. Batseta represents the retirement fund business.

The major issues they’re looking at include investing in an uncertain world and how to invest in the context of a need to mitigate climate change.

Mashatile says the government alone cannot spearhead the need to grow and develop the country and, says the retirement fund industry plays a critical role.

“Chairperson we accepted the invitation to come and engage you because in our understanding the government alone will not resolve the challenges of our economy. We have also joined you because we must continue to engage on the transformation agenda as well as ensuring the continued use of pension funds to invest in the growth and development of our economy.”

The Presidential Climate Commission was also in attendance, saying that the retirement fund industry is in a position to play a strategic role to enable the country’s just energy transition.

The Head of Climate Finance and innovation at the Presidential Climate Commission, Dipak Patel says, “I have tried very hard to persuade trustees as well as asset managers that it makes financial, economic and more importantly inter-generational sustainability sense to be ensuring that some portions of investments go not only into renewable energy projects, not only the grid as infrastructure but also those very difficult to fund social objectives and just transitions projects.”

Other issues around the wellness of employees were discussed.

The CEO of Kula Partners Wellness Risk Management, Mbuyi Kahla-Ntshangase’s company works directly with firms’ human resources departments to ensure preparedness by employees who are about to retire, from a psychological and financial point of view.

She says, “The most important thing when it comes to retirement preparation is to have both to have, to prepare people through the psychology of retirement programme and also financial wellness, so these need to be interlinked whereas you do these programmes you actually talk to the psycho-social and also the financial wellness part, how to invest your money, sort out the debt that you have and, while doing that putting something away to sustain you for the rest of your life.”

Pension fund industry players will continue with their deliberations tomorrow where the focus will be on technology and innovation.