After a long delay, the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) has finally unveiled Boitumelo Molefe as its substantive Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The fund last week announced that Molefe ticked all the boxes and beat her competitors to snatch the BPOPF top job, taking over from Lesedi Moakofi, who has been holding the fort in an acting capacity.
Molefe joins BPOPF from Bokamoso Private Hospital, where she was employed as Chief Finance Officer (CFO). She is also a former Managing Director of Debswana Pension Fund. She reported for duty on 1st July 2015. She joins a high flying BPOPF that recently announced that its asset base reached a record P 50.9 billion in March 2015, a phenomenal growth from the P1.9 billion that it boasted of on its inception in 2001.
The phenomenal growth in BPOPF’s asset base has been accredited to the Fund’s sound investment strategy that is also well balanced to address the diverse investment objectives of all members. The revised investment strategy will amongst others focus on developing new investment streams, diversifying and adding more products such as inflation linked bonds and international property. BPOPF has also been focusing local opportunities with specific allocation to Botswana alternatives, primarily on private equity, infrastructure and strategic investments.
“The investment strategy is revised every three years to keep abreast of new market developments and global trends. This ensures that members of the Fund are continually in a position to take advantage of new opportunities as they arise in the markets in order to maximize returns,” said BPOPF.
In her new role as CEO, Molefe is expected to play a pivotal role in ensuring that BPOPF’s value continues to rise. Reporting to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Molefe will also be tasked with the responsibility of steering the operations, finances and performance management of the Fund, ensuring that goals and objectives are achieved and enabling the Board of Trustees to fulfil their governance function. As BPOPF CEO, Molefe will be at the helm of the largest pension fund in the country, with more than 150 000 members.