FSB Levies for 2012/2013
The FSB announced the levies payable for 2012/2013 in Board Notice 101 of 2012 last week. My colleague, Paull Lawrence, updated his levy calculator with the latest data. This can be used to […]
Industry News
FSB and Ombud levies announced
The proposed increase in levies is between 8% and 10%. The announcement from the FSB, prior to it being gazetted, also contains guidelines for those who intend leaving the industry. My colleague, Paull […]
Credits and Competence
RE Credits Over the last two weeks we received a number of enquiries from readers regarding the regulatory exams and credits. How many credits do I need to to qualify to write the […]
Protecting clients against themselves
This past weekend’s Personal Finance saw a lot of cover given to the dilemma of retirees outliving their retirement savings, particularly those making use of living annuities. Old Mutual launched a new Retirement […]
Compliance Report 2012: Shark scare for Sole Prop
A Moonstone Protector client received a notification from the FSB regarding the submission of his annual compliance report. The following sentence concerned him, and he contacted us: “In terms of the provisions of […]
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 […]
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 […]
