WINDHOEK – Professor Joseph Diescho, Executive Director of the Namibia Institute of Public Administration and Management (NIPAM), warned that 91 percent of Namibians believe that their children will look after them when they are old.
Cultural realities aside, he said, there is a need to ensure that all Namibians are properly educated and enabled to manage their own finances, and equipped to engage properly with the many products and services available on the market. It was generally agreed that that is an urgent priority if the future of the Namibian child is to be secured.
Citing the Old Mutual Namibia Savings and Investment Monitor, Diescho encouraged those who participated in the investment symposium to be mindful of the needs of the market in which they operate, and the diversity of needs in terms of financial literacy, financial planning and secure retirement imperatives. The Old Mutual Corporate Investment Symposium for corporates and employers took place last week Thursday in the capital. The topics covered during the event included retirement solutions for employees, group assurance, and performance-based returns on pension fund investments. Also, the event showcased presenters Mike Schüssler, Fred van der Vyver, and Professor Diescho, with Hilda Basson-Namundjebo playing the role of moderator. Schüssler has been an economist for more than two decades and holds a Master’s degree in economics from the University of Johannesburg. He is also a successful entrepreneur and shared some very insightful economic predictions with the audience, including useful comparisons between South Africa and Namibia, clearly evidencing the greater growth potential of Namibia for 2014, albeit off a lower Gross Domestic Product (GDP) base.
Van der Vyver presented an in-depth analysis on pre-retirement guaranteed investment portfolios. He was appointed as head of Old Mutual’s range of guaranteed investment portfolios in South Africa in March 2012 and is the product owner of Old Mutual’s range of smooth bonus portfolios. Moreover, he is also responsible for the on-going management of these products with a total value of assets under management of approximately N$80 billion. Van der Vyver obtained a BComm (Honours) degree in Actuarial Science in 2005. He subsequently qualified as an actuary and is a fellow of the Actuarial Society of South Africa (FASSA). Fred outlined the importance and relative returns of retirement planning in the context of Pension Funds offerings available in the market.
Both experts urged the over 100 participants among them trustees and principal officers of various Namibian pension funds, to actively interrogate the value and benefits of the funds in which they decide to invest their members’ money year on year, within an up-to-date assessment of the macro-environment risk profile.
By Staff Reporter