Funeral insurance Bill moves to Parliament, but questions persist
The proposed reforms could require significant operational changes for insurers, but industry experts believe they address only part of the problem.
Risk Profiling and Asset Allocation
The Botha Determination by the FAIS Ombud certainly touched on a sensitive area, never covered before in the same detail as in this case. The Ombud found that the clients suffered loss as […]
Comparing Apples with Peaches
The Retail Distribution Review is the fourth in a series of documents which aim to address unsatisfactory outcomes for contractual savers. The December 2004 National Treasury Discussion Paper on Retirement Fund Reform appeared shortly […]
Local and international condemnation as Nigeria postpones elections
Nigeria’s election dates have been postponed by six weeks. The presidential and Federal National Assembly elections, which had been scheduled for Saturday, February 14, will now take place on March 28, and the […]
Ombud View on Risk Analysis and Asset allocation
The latest FAIS Ombud determination should be regarded as compulsory reading for intermediaries in the investment business. The investments occurred around the time of the world economy meltdown. The determination discusses the needs […]
Advice Practices in Demand in Australia
We regularly receive enquiries from readers who are considering selling their practices. One of the big problems is establishing a fair value. This is normally determined by the turnover of the business, and […]
Cutting Edge Regulatory Workshops
Cutting Edge Regulatory Workshops Anton Swanepoel’s popular, informative and practical Regulatory Workshops will be run again in March this year. There will be two presentations – one focussing on short-term intermediaries, and one […]
Policy Replacement Proposals under RDR
The discussion document provides for measures to curb miss-selling and unfair outcomes for clients when existing policies are replaced by new ones. This applies to both long- and short-term business. Provision for this […]
Super 15 2015 kicks off
The final episode of the Super 15 saga kicks off on Friday when the Crusaders host the Rebels in Christchurch. Last year was a fiasco when coaches overplayed key players like the Beast, […]
Three-in-One Role of Ombuds
Take 1 I recently received an e-mail from a client regarding a complaint laid against him with the Short-term Ombud. Fortunately, due to me ticking all the boxes, crossing all the T’s and […]
Changes to FinaMetrica Pricing
FinaMetrica decided to standardise the single-user annual fee for all new and existing FinaMetrica subscribers in South Africa from R3500 to R3850 with effect from 1 March 2015. The South African subscription price is well […]
Integrating the Various Ombud Schemes
On 23 January, our article: Improving Internal Complaint Mechanisms discussed the proposed measures, contained under the draft Market Conduct Framework, to align your internal complaints management framework with the TCF outcomes. The same […]
No postponement for Nigerian elections
Nigeria’s Council of State said on Thursday, February 5 that it is satisfied with preparations for the country’s presidential election on February 14, and the poll will not be postponed. The Council, a […]
They still live among us
We would all like to believe that, since the introduction of the FAIS Act in 2004, things have changed for the better, and that clients are less exposed to advice which has only […]
F & I Training
We receive regular enquiries about people wanting to qualify to become “Finance and Insurance” (F & I) consultants in the motor industry. In order to become an F & I, one needs the […]
Customer Sophistication Challenges
Under the heading, “Risks to fair customer outcomes”, the RDR white paper discusses the problems resulting from the varying levels of customer sophistication. The inherent asymmetry of information and bargaining power between ordinary […]



