The country’s multibillion Pula pension fund, Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) has confirmed partnering with a foreign company on a new joint venture as outsourced fund administrator.
BPOPF recently took a decision of a joint venture where it holds 51 percent share and the other party 49 percent stake, and the new administrator is expected to introduce a robust fund administration system which, following data migration and stabilisation, will lead to improved service delivery.
In an interview with Sunday Standard, BPOPF Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Moemedi Malinda this week confirmed that the entire outsourced fund administrator will be responsible for maintaining the membership records of the fund, collecting contributions on behalf of the fund, paying benefits and remitting any excess moneys to the investment managers when appropriate.
Malinda further stated that the decision was informed by a change in the Retirement Funds Act of 2014, adding that the Act now mandates the BPOPF to have pension fund administration conducted by independent licensed entities in order to be in compliant.
“The Fund did a search on potential administrators locally and regionally who had the capacity, experience and technical expertise to administer a fund our size. The top ones were then invited to submit proposals and the appointment followed the Fund’s procurement process,” said Malinda.
He stated that the new administrator will introduce a robust fund administration system which, following data migration and stabilization, will lead to improved service delivery. He added that this time around the Fund is an investor in the administration company through Lecha, adding that this means that there will be a shared strong commitment to provide value to BPOPF members.
“The project is on the final stage and is due for completion in December 2020,” he said.
BPOPF) has a slight growth in the Fund’s Assets under management of 1 percent in the asset base from P 66.52 billion to P 67.17 billion. Recently the Fund’s board of trustees declared a 4 percent final rate for the Pre-retirement switch portfolio and the pre-retirement switch portfolio is for members nearing retirement.
Meanwhile, the COVID 19 pandemic has not only threatened the performance of their investments, and that the restrictions in place have somewhat impacted on the operations of the Fund. BPOPF announced that being a global investor and a social security service provide this risk escalated to being their top strategic risk.
The fund also believes to have ensured that its strategies are sufficiently agile to contend with any eventualities and that the Fund remains a going concern for many years to come.
