Based on Business Maverick calculations, the Eskom Pension and Provident Fund is more expensive than the average for each category of costs compared to the rest of the private pension fund industry, hands down. And we’ve crunched the numbers to prove it. The Eskom Pension and Provident Fund (EPPF) wants the public and its members to believe the fund’s financial position and operational cost structure is just hunky-dory. In reality, it is not. Their investment fees, when compared to the rest...

SA retirement funds are consolidating rapidly with umbrella funds growing strongly at the expense of standalone retirement funds. Whether it is a good or a bad thing depends on who you ask, but if the question is whether one is cheaper or more efficient than the other, the answer is even less forthcoming. For many years The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has actively strived to reduce the number of private standalone retirement funds. The motivation basically comes down to the cost...

The Eskom Pension and Provident Fund has 2,376 so-called ‘deferred members’, people who retired before big changes were made to SA’s pension fund environment. But the fund’s rules prohibit former Eskom employees from moving their savings elsewhere. When Allan Bruce (not his real name), resigned on 18 January 1999 after working at Eskom for 12.5 years, he was given limited choice both in terms of the law and of the fund’s own rules on what he was allowed to do with his pension fund benefits...

Many listed companies are preparing for their annual general meetings, as December year-end issuers must hold their meetings before July. Despite personal preferences for face-to-face encounters, the Covid-19 pandemic has the potential to forever change the way business is done between providers and the people they serve. It remains business as usual for money managers and business brokers on the five listed securities exchanges in South Africa as electronic trading activity remains unphased...

The latest RisCura-SAVCA SA private equity report is out and it shows that private equity once again outperformed listed equity over the short term. Spokespersons from both organisations believe the trend will continue in the near future as listed markets across the globe are battered by the impact of Covid-19. During a period of immense financial uncertainty and low economic growth, the latest RisCura-SAVCA South African Private Equity Performance Report might provide some comfort to...