The Institute of Retirement Funds (IRF) is going ahead with a restructuring that will see retirement fund service providers and trustees establishing separate bodies.
The move follows concern from government, the regulator and many member trustees that the service provider members of the IRF, particularly the life assurance companies, dominate the body. Government says it wants to be able to consult fund trustees without their opinion being dominated by service providers.
The institute's members mandated the body to make the change to better serve the needs of retirement fund members, trustees and service providers at the IRF annual conference which was held in Cape Town earlier this week.
After a special general meeting of the IRF in July this year as well as a ballot, 58 percent of members voted in favour of restructuring the IRF.
Greg Morris, the president of the IRF, says the the restructure proposals will see the creation of two separate bodies, probably before the end of the year. The two proposed bodies are:
- A trustee-only body that will focus on issues pertinent to retirement fund trustees which will continue to be known as the IRF; and
- A body to allow for the service providers to the retirement industry.
Morris says the two bodies will have a mechanism to ensure regular interaction and advancement of issues of common interest but they will also be able to act unilaterally when consensus cannot be reached.
He says both National Treasury and the Financial Services Board have been involved in this process.