Unsustainable Growth a major concern
The latest GrayIssue from Allan Gray contains some sobering thoughts on a ticking time bomb that the government appears to be ignoring in their quest to stay in power. For some time we […]
Industry News
Income – consider the risk/return trade-off
Investors looking for income should consider the risk/return trade-off. All investments aim to generate a return, but there is a corresponding level of risk that impacts the return. Many investors rely on being […]
FSB Directive on Outsourcing of Business
The purpose of this directive is to “…direct long-term and short-term insurers (‘insurers’) to comply with the requirements set out in this Directive when outsourcing an aspect of their long-term and short-term insurance […]
Submission of Compliance Reports
FSB FAIS Circular 5: Submission of Compliance Reports and Financial Statements This document contains important information about compulsory returns every FSP should take notice of. The non-submission of financial statements and compliance reports […]
Avoid Unrealistic Client Expectations
It may be small consolation for local advisors, but a recent survey in Australia found that nine out of eleven risk profiling tools were found to be inadequate in terms of their regulator’s […]
The new medical scheme fees tax credit
PwC South Africa publishes a monthly journal providing informed commentary on current developments in the tax arena, both locally and internationally. The April edition contains an informative article on the new treatment of […]
The real effect of Dividend Withholding Tax
The 30 April 2012 edition of GrayIssue, published by Allan Gray, removes a lot of the myths and hysteria surrounding the tax changes on dividends. The new Dividend Withholding Tax (DWT) replaced Secondary […]
REs: A waste of time, or empowerment tool?
Shortly after the Investment Indicators went out on Monday, I received calls from two readers about different matters. During our conversations, both echoed the same sentiments: Preparing for these exams did not add […]
Future Income Loss to FSB
We received a fair amount of all kinds of calculations, based on the FSB statistics. One that differed from the rest considered the financial impact on the FSB’s income, should the pass rate […]
Transgressions Never Retire
A retired financial advisor received quite a shock when he was ordered to refund a client to the tune of R460 000, as well as interest at 15.5% dating back from 2005. We […]
The FAIS Ombud and Jaws
The worldwide outcry when a surfer in Australia or South Africa is attacked by a shark, never ceases to amaze and amuse me – the outcry, please note, not the attack. Whether this […]
How many actuaries a product doth make?
Last week, Gareth Stokes of FAnews ran an interesting article on product development. The article, entitled Distribution* is make or break for life insurers, addressed the issue of product development. A few quotes […]
As-And-When Commission as the cure for miss-selling
The FSB invited input from 5 representative bodies on a proposed discussion document on “intermediary services and related remuneration.” In today’s article, we focus on one aspect: the considerations concerning risk business, including […]
What should the priority be: the sickness, or the symptom?
The Financial Services Board is currently looking at the second level of priorities in terms of the provision of financial advice and intermediary services to consumers of financial products. It called for “…contributions […]
Exams around the corner
Compliance report workshop for category I FSPs without a compliance officer. Compliance Reports for these FSPs cover the period 1 January 2011 until 31 December 2011 and need to be submitted ELECTRONICALLY to […]
