Displaying items by tag: pension funds
15th Pensions Africa Summit 2020 | 14-16 October 2020 | Hilton | Mauritius |
15th Pensions Africa Summit 2020 | 14-16 October | Hilton Mauritius|
OVERVIEW
We live in disruptive times, as the old world order is breaking down to make way for the new. Changing times need new solutions – how are the world’s most sophisticated adapting? The signifi cance of pension funds during these times cannot be underestimated. Emerging fundamental shifts in this industry indicate that pension funds across the African continent need to build the capacity to lead, rather than follow, investment activity to establish demands on governments and markets.
Our Summit this year will look at how Africa’s asset owners are planning to run their investment strategies in a changing global economic environment.
We will provide a platform for in-depth discussion of challenges and opportunities that investors face today and should anticipate going forward.
The agenda will also take into account a variety of considerations such as: ESG; the future of work, technology and the associated opportunities and challenges. This will include both public and private markets, consideration of the latest trends and the
performance potential of strategies as well as practical issues such as risk management, reporting, implementation, governance and other local investor requirements.
To sponsor or request brochure email stevem@pensions-africa.com or call +2711019 2200 +27828349490
Investment Loss Recovery: An Opportunity for South African Funds”
Investment Loss Recovery: An Opportunity for South African Funds”
Photo Caption: Bruce Leppla (Right), Partner at U.S. based law firm, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein and Kim Robinson (Left), Consultant for Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein and CEO of Renaissance Strategic Solutions.
When corporate fraud or misconduct is discovered and made public, often the price of the relevant stock or bond drops significantly. Then, investors lose value in their portfolios. Under these facts, it makes sense that pension funds and investors should have the opportunity to recover their losses.
Although investment loss recovery is well established in the U.S. and Europe, strangely, it is virtually unknown in South Africa. Given the exposure that South African pension funds have to the global investment markets, this is worrying. Non-U.S. investors in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and throughout Europe routinely sue in American courts to recover losses due to fraud. South Africans are “leaving money on the table ” – when they don’t have to. In this regard, Steinhoff is illuminating. It was a wake-up call. The case demonstrates the need for an investment loss recovery strategy.
Pensions Africa spoke to Bruce Leppla, Partner at U.S. based law firm, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein and Kim Robinson, Consultant for Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein and CEO of Renaissance Strategic Solutions in Johannesburg about investment loss recovery and how it can benefit South African and other investors in Africa with exposure to the U.S. investment markets.
PA: This is still a bit abstract. Can you make this concept a bit more clear?
KR: Sure. Let me give you an example. You are a trustee or principal officer or member of a fund. You wake up to news that the stock price of Kraft Heinz has fallen dramatically. The stock price has dropped because it has been made public that management at Kraft Heinz allegedly misled investors about its business prospects. You know that your fund portfolio includes Kraft Heinz. Or your asset manager informs you that your fund portfolio includes Kraft Heinz. With the stock price drop, your fund has lost significant value. Now what do you do? This is where investment loss recovery comes in.
PA: Investment loss recovery appears to be a very topical item in an investment world that, on a daily basis, continues to generate daily headlines of fraud, poor financial reporting, and the manipulation of stock and bond prices. What is investment loss recovery?
BL: Investment loss recovery is the legal process for funds to “get back the money” that they have lost when a corporate engages in alleged fraud, like Steinhoff or Boeing or Kraft Heinz. The legal process is either a lawsuit or a negotiated settlement. The lawsuit may be an independent action or a class action. Lieff Cabraser helps funds through this process on a no up-front cost basis.
PA: Why is investment loss recovery important for South African pension funds?
KR: It is important for pension funds because it is a way to address the harm, the loss of value that innocent investors have experienced through no fault of their own. What do you say as a trustee to a member when they ask “have you tried to get back my money?” When an investment loss has occurred it is an unfortunate situation. But it is not the fault of the fund, the asset manager or the investment company. Once there is a loss, the question is “how do we proceed?” If there’s fraud, as a fiduciary, it’s the right thing to try and get back the money.
PA: What’s the benefit to the fund?
BL: Recovery can increase the net asset value of fund. Recovery also shows investors that funds are fulfilling their fiduciary duty. More broadly, the process can increase corporate accountability and enhance the integrity of the marketplace for investors.
PA: You both have mentioned fraud. What do you mean? When should funds be suspicious?
BL: Fraud generally takes two forms. Either a corporate knowingly misrepresents facts about, for example, its performance, prospects, or financial condition. This is an affirmative misrepresentation. Or the corporate knowingly fails to disclose information. This is fraud by omission. In doing either of these things, the company’s managers are breaching their fiduciary duties to their shareholders. It is impossible to invest without being touched by fraud. Cases come up by virtue of the existence of a portfolio. So trustees should always be suspicious.
PA: If fraud is inherent in the markets, how can funds protect themselves?
KR: Through investment portfolio monitoring, which is a confidential data review of your transactions. Monitoring is critical. It enables us to tell our clients in advance the level of their loss. If there is action to be taken, we are in a position to take action. We routinely provide investment portfolio monitoring and case evaluation services at no charge to many of the largest funds in the U.S.
PA: How does portfolio monitoring work?
KR: There are two scenarios. Under the first, the fund knows that is holds “Kraft Heinz” or “Steinhoff” in its portfolio. The fund provides Lieff Cabraser with transaction data with respect to these investments and we measure the amount of loss. Under the second, the fund has an agreement with us. Under the agreement, we monitor the fund’s portfolio and report to the fund when there is a drop in value due to alleged fraud.
The second scenario is like when your bank calls you because there is suspicious activity on your credit card. You may not be pleased about the reason for the call but still, you’re thankful that you got that call. If you’re using your own card, you feel good knowing your bank is watching. If you’re NOT using your card, you want the wrongful spending to stop to limit the damage. Investment portfolio monitoring works something like this.
PA: If a trustee or asset manager or investment consultant reads in the news that the value of a stock has decreased dramatically due to some alleged wrongdoing, what should they do?
BL: Find out if that stock is included in your portfolio. They could ask the asset manager or investment consultant. If the stock is in the portfolio, you can begin a conversation with Lieff Cabraser. The consultation will cover: is there a loss? Is the loss significant? Should we attempt to recover? Will recovery have a significant impact on the net asset value of the fund? Do we have a strong legal case? Can the defendant pay? We will only pursue litigation or settlement when there is a high likelihood of success.
PA: What’s the process to make the decision on the way forward?
KR: Arrangements are made to send Lieff Cabraser transaction data regarding the relevant stock or bond. Based on the data we provide the fund with a legal and financial case evaluation and options (class action, settlement, independent action). The fund chooses an option and we pursue the option chosen by the fund. Lieff Cabraser advances all costs to final resolution -- lawsuit or negotiation.
PA: You’re saying that the fund does not have to incur any up-front costs to pursue a lawsuit or settlement or to have its portfolio monitored. How is this possible?
BL: We work on a full contingency basis. We get paid only after we recover for the fund. Since we have the same interest in the case that the fund does we choose our cases carefully. And we’ve been very successful. We have recovered $118 bn for clients in several practice areas. In the investment fraud space, we have recovered $2 bn for our clients. Our clients include BlackRock, Charles Schwab, Franklin Templeton, New York City Pension Funds, Regents of the University of California, and several union funds. As a result of this success, we can afford to advance all the costs of litigation.
PA: And what does the law firm earn in these matters?
BL: When we recover, we are paid costs and an agreed upon percentage as a fee. Perhaps 8-17% of the recovery in a class action and 15-25% of the recovery in an independent action.
PA: Many of our readers are trustees. What is their duty regarding investment loss recovery?
KR: Trustees are fiduciaries required to act in good faith and in the interest of members. They’re not required to know everything. But, the duty of care requires trustees to ask questions. Arguably, it’s not responsible to do nothing. It is responsible to ask: should we try to recover our loss when we can do so with no up-front costs? What does a trustee say to members when they ask: “why haven’t you tried to get my money back?”
PA: What results have non-US funds had when they have pursued investment recovery in U.S. courts?
BL: Funds from outside the U.S. routinely file cases to recover in U.S. courts. This is well established law. For example, in the Nortel Networks case, the lead plaintiff was based in Canada. The settlement was for $2.2 billion. In the Delphi Corporation case, two European funds were lead plaintiffs. The settlement was for $284 million. The opportunity is wide open for South African funds and other African funds with U.S. investments to do the same.
PA: Under what conditions would you advise a Fund to consider instituting litigation?
KR: When there is a strong legal case against the defendant, a high probability of success, and a solvent defendant who can pay damages.
PA: If a fund wants to pursue a case, how much time is involved?
BL: Our approach is to take as little of management’s time as possible. It usually takes 2-5 years to resolve a case. The management time is intermittent over those 5 years, but can be estimated at less than two weeks.
PA: Any final thoughts?
BL: When there is a loss, it is critical that the fund is engaged. Not taking action is a decision, but it’s a decision that should be made actively, after due consideration, rather than by an absence of attention. Fund managers are fiduciaries. As a fiduciary, it’s difficult to justify not even making an inquiry about seeking recovery.
Kim Robinson, Consultant, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, is a Harvard educated attorney, Fulbright Scholar, commercial mediator accredited in South Africa and the United Kingdom, Certified Ethics Officer with the Ethics Institute of South Africa. She is also CEO of Renaissance Strategic Solutions, www.renaissance-ss.com, a Johannesburg based consulting firm.
While an Associate at Morgan Lewis (then McCutchen Doyle), she second chaired and successfully represented the plaintiff in The Utility Consumers’ Action Network v. Pacific Bell where the court awarded $24 million in damages.
Ms. Robinson's experience in South Africa dates from 1991 when she was a Human Rights Intern at the law firm of Smith, Tabata, Inc
Bruce Leppla, Partner, Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, represents some of the largest investment companies and retirement funds in the U.S. in investment loss recovery cases. He was part of the litigation team that successfully represented BlackRock in the recent case against Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Leppla was CEO and President of Redwood Bank, has been awarded 11 U.S. patents, and is a California licensed investment advisor. He is based in San Francisco.
Batseta and Africa investor (Ai) facilitate African Sovereign Wealth and Pension Fund Infrastructure Co-Investment partnerships
Africa investor (Ai) and BATSETA (South Africa’s Council of Retirement Funds), today announced its exclusive, invitation-only Ai CEO African Sovereign Wealth and Pension Fund Leaders’ Summit and Infrastructure Investment Awards, successfully concluded and hosted a series of dialogues that deepened African institutional investors’ commitment to co-investment partnerships, to address Africa’s $150bn per annum infrastructure deficit, at the One and Only Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa.
The Ai African Sovereign Wealth and Pension Fund Leaders’ Summit, held in association with Batseta, was opened by Hubert Danso, CEO and Chairman of Africa investor (Ai) and the Honorable Danny Faure, President of the Republic of Seychelles.
The Summit theme of “Asset Recycling, Re-Financing & Co-Investing”, built on last year’s key recommendation, which called for greater leadership from African and international asset owners to share their knowledge and expertise with public and private sector colleagues, to support African governments implement the African Unions’ 5% Agenda Initiative, which is an African institutional investor led, COMPACT, with African Heads of State, to create a more conducive environment to increase African institutional asset allocation to infrastructure, from approximately 1%-2% today of assets under management (AUM), to 5% of AUM, over the next 5 years (dubbed the 5% Agenda).
Hubert Danso, Ai CEO and Chairman and Anne-Marie D’Alton, CEO, Batseta, with the Honorable Danny Faure, President of Seychelles and his delegation.
The Ai Summit featured 30 authorative institutional investment leaders and infrastructure investor speakers, a Presidential keynote address, from the Honourable Danny Faure, President of the Republic of the Seychelles. A Keynote Working Lunch Dialogue on Investing in the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) from Ambassador, Yonov Fred Agah, Deputy Director-General, World Trade Organization and hosted Africa investor’s prestigious annual infrastructure investment awards.
In his opening remarks, Hubert Danso, CEO and Chairman of Africa investor (Ai) and Chair, CFA New York Asset Owners’ Advisory Council, stated, “We are naturally pleased to co-host this Summit with BATSETA, the continent’s leading Pension and Retirement Funds Council, whose members, represent over 70% of the pension and retirement funds assets on the entire continent, with a dedicated 5% Allocation for the rest of Africa.
Summit partners include: CFA New York Asset Owners Advisory Council, World Pensions Council, Trade & Development Bank, Africa50, PRI, SAVCA, EAVCA, GLIO, Pensions Africa, PAL Pensions.
Anne-Marie D’Alton, CEO Batseta, commenting on the partnership mentioned: We were delighted to continue our long standing partnership with Africa investor (Ai), as Ai represents a unique and action oriented platform, that accelerates African infrastructure co-investment partnerships, which is the critical missing link for South African pension and retirement funds looking to increase their allocations to the rest of Africa, especially into the infrastructure sector(s).
The Summit also hosted the prestigious annual Ai Infrastructure Investment Awards ceremony. The Ai Infrastructure Investment Awards are a unique platform for infrastructure investors, financiers, operators and governments, in Africa’s fast-growing infrastructure sector to gauge and compare their performance, achievements and investment success stories.
The prestigious, highly sought-after Ai Infrastructure Investment Awards formally recognize achievements across the main infrastructure sectors in Africa. The Awards reward the institutions and personalities driving transactions and improving the continent’s infrastructure investment climate.
The Special Africa investor (Ai) Presidential Investment Leadership of the Year Award, was presented President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.
This Ai Award, recognized President Kagame’s, vision and transformative leadership at the African Union and his relentless drive to bring the African Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), to this Operational Phase. It also takes account of his domestic successes attracting investment to Rwanda, and his leadership and advocacy on technology and innovation for development, which is transforming the continent’s competitiveness, as a global investment destination.
The Special Ai Presidential Award, was conceived and designed to recognize outstanding political leadership that is positively impacting African private sector development and improving the continent’s attractiveness as an investment destination.
The 2019 Ai Infrastructure Investment Award Winners Were:
CATEGORY 1 – Ai Advisor of the Year
– Standard Bank
CATEGORY 2 – Ai Bank Arranger of the Year
– Afrexim Bank
CATEGORY 3 – Ai Social Infrastructure Deal of the Year
– Nedbank
CATEGORY 4 – Ai ICT/Telecoms Deal of the Year
– MTN Nigeria
CATEGORY 5 – Ai Transport Deal of the Year
– African Development Bank (ADB)
CATEGORY 6 – Ai Power Deal of the Year
– Nachtigal Hydroelectric plant, EDF
CATEGORY 7 – Ai Infrastructure Fund of the Year
– Actis
CATEGORY 8 – Ai African Project Development Financier of the Year
– Africa50
CATEGORY 9 – Ai Pension Fund Infrastructure Investment Initiative of the Year
– Kenya Pension Fund Investment Consortium
CATEGORY 10 – Ai Sovereign Wealth Fund Infrastructure Investment Initiative of the Year
– Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority
CATEGORY 11 – African Developer of the Year
– Themis Energy
CATEGORY 12 – Ai Regional Infrastructure Investment Initiative of the Year
– Trade Development Bank – TDB
CATEGORY 13 – Ai Presidential Investment Leadership of the Year Award
– President Paul Kagame, Rwanda
Awards data partners included DEALOGIC & ACURIS.
The challenge faced by the Pension fund industry
The increasing challenge facing the pension fund industry is the hunt for yield for its pensioners amid an environment of low interest rates. This is interestingly a similar challenge faced by asset managers who are continuously asked to deliver higher than expected returns while limiting the downside risk of the portfolios they manage.
At AXYS Investment Partners, we encourage having portfolios which contain alternative products as an asset class. We believe pension funds facing these challenges may not achieve their required return targets by keeping a traditional mix of Fixed Income and Equities.
Krishen Patten (left): CFA, FRM, Chief Risk Officer and Kugan Parapen (right), Chief Economist – AXYS Investment Partners
Given the long-term horizon generally available to pension funds, they should seek to enhance returns by adding illiquid and private investments to their portfolios while obviously maintaining an adequate level of diversification.
Additionally, African pension funds should tap into their own markets within Africa. African markets are becoming more sophisticated but international asset managers are taking time to look at the available opportunities. We believe that with proper due diligence there are excellent opportunities available to pension funds to achieve the required risk-adjusted returns.
Corporate issuances in Africa also offer good investment opportunities. Although a corporate issue cannot have a higher rating than its own country of domicile, it is sometimes the case that these companies have a pan-African or even global presence, making them diversified and less risky than may be portrayed by their investment rating. These are investment opportunities that should not be ignored in the hunt for yield.
"Given the long-term horizon generally available to pension funds, they
should seek to enhance returns by adding illiquid and private investments
to their portfolios while obviously maintaining an adequate level of diversification.
AXYS Investment Partners provides such advice to our institutional clients. We offer portfolio management services and have a team of professionals with a diversified and international experience in these fields. We collaborate with top-tier international global financial institutions and we have built a close relationship with markets leaders in their respective fields.
This blend of expertise enables us to provide our client base with innovative products in an open architectural structure. We have developed significant savoir-faire in alternative investments, targeting unsophisticated markets.
Through a methodical and focused approach, we deliver independent, tailor-made and innovative financial solutions that make a difference in shaping our clients’ portfolios and achieving their long-term investment goals.
There are a number of challenges facing the pension fund industry. AXYS Investment Partners strongly believes that investment opportunities in Africa could hold the key to enhancing the risk-adjusted returns required by the industry.
Kugan Parapen: Chief Economist – AXYS Investment Partners.Kugan holds a BSc (Hons.) in Economics from the University of Warwick in the UK and has completed his CFA Level III examinations. Kugan started his career in 2008 as a European interest rate derivatives trader at GHF Futures Ltd, an international proprietary trading company. He moved to MCB Capital Markets in 2011 and managed the CIS Bond and Currency Fund. He joined AXYS Investment Partners in 2014 as a Fund Manager focused on Fixed Income. Kugan is a member of the Investment Committee and Risk Management Committee.
Krishen Patten: CFA, FRM, Chief Risk Officer – AXYS Investment Partners.Krishen holds a First Class Honours degree in Actuarial Science from the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE). He started his career in the Market Risk Management & Analysis division at Goldman Sachs in London in 2006 where he risk managed multiple asset classes for trading desks before being promoted to Executive Director/VP. He then joined LCH.Clearnet, a leading European clearing house, as a Fixed Income Risk Manager in London in 2012. He subsequently relocated to Abu Dhabi (UAE) in 2013 to work as a Senior Risk Specialist for the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, a multi-billion dollar sovereign wealth fund of the Government of Abu Dhabi. He joined AXYS Investment Partners in 2016. He is a member of both the Investment Committee and Risk Management Committee.
AXYS Investment Partners Ltd is licensed by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius to act as an Investment Advisor (unrestricted), CIS Manager and Distributor of Financial Products.
Government must look at using pension funds to generate growth: Ramaphosa
August 23 2019
South Africa should investigate using worker pensions to fund finance development and infrastructure projects, president Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday.
Speaking in a parliamentary Q&A session on Thursday (22 August) Ramaphosa said that the proposal had the backing of the Congress of South Trade Unions(Cosatu), Reuters reported.
“We need to discuss this matter (prescribed assets) and we need to discuss it with a view to actually saying what is it we can do to utilise the various resources in our country to generate growth in a purposeful manner,” Ramaphosa said.
“We are facing a situation where our developmental needs are enormous, and in a number of other places pension funding is utilised for developmental purposes, for infrastructure and quite often those pension funds make good returns out of infrastructure developments.”
In an interview with the Sunday Times earlier this week, a top ANC official said the party is looking at the possibility of using private and public pension funds to rescue the country’s struggling state-owned enterprises.
Enoch Godongwana, head of the party’s economic transformation subcommittee, said that the asset management industry currently has R6 trillion under management which should be borrowed by government.
Godongwana said using this approach to gather funds is better than going the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout.
“Why would you go to the IMF and the World Bank and go and raise money when we have sufficient savings in the economy which you can borrow, probably far cheaper, and probably with little exchange rate risk?”
Godongwana added that while the ANC is also currently investigating the use of prescribed assets, this is separate from raising money through pension funds.
“Borrowing from domestic markets is not prescribed assets, that is a separate investigation,” he said.
In its election manifesto published in January 2019, the ANC announced that it planned to investigate the introduction of prescribed assets on financial institutions’ funds to ‘unlock resources for investments in social and economic development’.
Source: Business tech. Read original article
Impact investing: How Centum Capital has used responsible investing to generate sustainable business models
Interview with Fred Murimi, Managing Partner- Centum Capital Partners Ltd
1. Please provide a brief overview of Centum Capital Partners and how you could partner with pension funds
Centum Capital Partners, a private equity fund manager, has been operating as a division Centum group, the largest investment firm in East Africa-cross listed on Kenya and Uganda stock exchanges.
Centum Capital Partners has since been spun out of Centum Group and given the mandate to continue to manage Centum group’s private equity assets that now sit under its Fund I. The investment team is made up of 15 talented individuals who have made and managed investments in over 16 companies achieving 7 exits and a portfolio gross dollar IRR of 26% as at 2018 for a period of 10 years.
I see great opportunity for African pension funds to participate in private equity as a way to diversify their returns. As CCAP raises its Fund II, we anticipate pension funds are to be among investors in the Fund. This is in line with increased interest by African pension funds to participate in private equity.
Fred Murimi, Managing Partner- Centum Capital Partners Ltd
2. What has been your experience with SDGs as Centum Capital?
We have made investments that have direct impact on SDGs over the years. For instance, our investment in geothermal energy addresses the need to progressively adopt clean energy as part of climate action. We have also made investments in the education sector with the aim of availing quality education to the society. Furthermore, our investments in agriculture and financial services have focused on poverty reduction through our out-grower schemes and financing programs respectively.
Indirectly, we ensure our investee companies offer decent working conditions for their employees and encourage them to give 0.5% of their profits after tax towards CSR activities.
Our team recently participated in an SDG competition-organized by Beyond Profit- emerging second best in terms of our awareness and adoption of Environmental Social and governance pillars.
3. In your experience, is responsible investing a lag on company profitability?
Our view has been that responsible investing boosts profitability of our portfolio companies, reduces the cost of capital and helps in conservation of value by limiting exposure to litigation and negative publicity.
Take an example of Sidian bank, one of our portfolio assets, where we managed to provide financing solutions to drivers through partnership with Uber. The result was boosted job creation on one end, favorable lending conditions on another and bank profitability.
Another good example would be our Almasi Bottlers’ which runs a women empowerment campaign that helps women set up distributorships by educating women, providing access to finance and helping set up a business. The impact has been significant to creating jobs while growing revenue for the bottler and women involved.
Our bottling subsidiaries have also been on the fore-front of recycling PET bottles leading in setting up a PET recycling association that will eventually see all PET bottles released to the market recycled.
These are but a few examples and I must say it has been inspiring to see how impact investing touches so many lives in Kenya, from that of a kiosk owner to that of the investor.
4. In your Fund II, how will you integrate responsible investing in your investment processes?
Just as we continue to grow our investment acumen as a team, we plan to grow impact investing even further within our Fund II using the same 3 ESG pillars we have perfected over the years.
In Fund II our approach towards ESG is holistic. We conduct an ESG screen at the deal screening stage to identify ESG opportunities and risks. We then factor in the opportunities into our value creation program and actively monitor the risks throughout the investment cycle so as to conserve value for our investors. We have implemented a toolkit that measures and tracks several ESG principles within each asset in our portfolio.
"Just as we continue to grow our investment acumen as a team, we plan to grow impact investing even further within our Fund II using the same 3 ESG pillars we have perfected over the years.
In Fund II our approach towards ESG is holistic. We conduct an ESG screen at the deal screening stage to identify ESG opportunities and risks.
We then factor in the opportunities into our value creation program and actively monitor the risks throughout the investment cycle so as to conserve value for our investors.
We have implemented a toolkit that measures and tracks several ESG principles within each asset in our portfolio.
It may be worth noting that one of our core criteria in making an investment in a company is the demonstration of stable management with strong governance structures. In the past we have reaped great dividends from such companies.
Our focus for Fund II with regards to impact investing will continue on a trajectory of marrying social and environmental welfare programs towards increasing overall profitability for both the society and our investee companies.
Fred Murimi: Has served as Corporate affairs Director and Centum’s company secretary from 2013 and has been the Managing Director, Centum Capital since August 2015
He is a board director of Nairobi Bottlers, Isuzu East Africa, Nas Servair and Longhorn Publishers
Fred has 14 years of experience in investment management, corporate finance and transaction advisory: he was the Senior Compliance Officer at the Capital Market Authority, Corporate Financial Analyst at Dyer and Blair and Vice President, Head of Legal and Compliance at Renaissance Capital
He is a Tutu African Leadership Fellow, a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Public Secretary and an Advocate of the High Court in Kenya.
Pension Funds to meet in Livingstone Zambia for the 14th Annual PensionsAfrica Summit
Pension Funds to meet in Livingstone Zambia for the 14th Annual PensionsAfrica Summit
Pension funds from across Southern, Central and East African regions will meet at the Zambian tourist destination town of Livingstone for The 14th Annual Pensions Africa Summit which will be hosted at the Avani Victoria Falls Resort-Livingstone, Zambia on the 25, 26 and 27 of June 2019 . The summit brings together key stakeholders in the pensions and retirement industry, trustees, principal officers, financial services providers and regulators from the Southern, Central and East African regions to discuss latest developments in the pensions industry in the region.
The organisors of the event, AMC International has for the last decade kept a diligent finger on the pulse of Africa’s Pension funds industry, ensuring that trustees are constantly informed of transpiring developments and future trends across the Pension fund management and investment spectra. We have developed crucial networks with funds across the continent and with some of the leading minds and thought leaders in the industry and we are yet again excited to bring together all the major role players in the Pension Space for yet another 3-Days of fresh, relevant and though provoking presentations, informative discussions, fruitful networking, solution oriented content and educational workshops at the 14th Annual Pensions Africa Summit 2019 to be hosted at the Avani Victoria Falls Resort, Livingstone, Zambia on the 25, 26 and 27 of June 2019.
Some of the 2019 Strategic insights will among others include the following:
Once size doesn’t always fit all - Adjusting Africa’s Pension Funds’ Risk Management Framework for Contextualised Future Applicability
- Tracing the rate of reform across the continent – country focused case studies
- Innovation and Strategic Planning to Meet Members’ Needs
- Alternative Investing in Africa – Investing in Alternative asset classes for diversification and higher returns
- Beyond ticking boxes – Corporate Governance for Pension funds
- Fund Management and Crypto Currency
- Managing the inevitable interaction between man and machine in Fund administration – A focus on the increasing role of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning
- Special Opportunities Focus: Leveraging African Pension Funds for Financing Infrastructure Development
- Policy Development Review – Kenya’s Post-Retirement Medical Fund
- Addressing the impact of Improved Health-care and extended life expectancy on Current savings
- In with the new - Rules of effective communication strategies for Pension fund boards
- Focus – Shifting the landscape to accommodate micro-pensions in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Round Table – Making Private Equity Work
- Fire-side Discussion on Impact Investing- Can Pension Funds lead the way in sustainable Investing
Stakeholders in the pensions industry have been invited to take advantage of some the opportunities at the event and which include-Speaking, Delegate participation, Sponsorship as well as to join Panel session or participate through moderating some of the discussions.Additional opportunities include event branding, marketing and hospitality sponsorship. As an incentive, firms have been offered bulk registration deals including one free delegate for every three delegates booked.
To attend or registration forms kindly contact Steve on stevem@amc-intsa.com or call 011 019 2200
Nigeria’s pension fund assets hit N8.5tr
