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For 22 years, we traded under the name Retirement Fund Solutions (better known as RFS), but we were obligated to change our name, and the new name RFS Fund Administrators was approved earlier this year. We celebrated the slight change to our name?and logo with our clients and stakeholders on 29 September 2022.
Businesses that succeed are those that adapt to live through time and change. RFS is such a business. Since the formation of RFS, the retirement funds industry has been characterised by many changes.
RFS unveils change of company name and logo
?For 22 years, we traded under the name Retirement Fund Solutions (better known as RFS), but we were obligated to change our name, and the new name RFS Fund Administrators was approved earlier this year. We celebrated the slight change to our name?and logo with our clients and stakeholders on 29 September 2022.
Businesses that succeed are those that adapt to live through time and change. RFS is such a business. Since the formation of RFS, the retirement funds industry has been characterised by many changes.
- RFS established the Benchmark Retirement Fund in January 2000.
- NAMFISA as pension funds’ regulator was established out of a directorate in the Ministry of Finance during RFS’s time.
- Since RFS's formation, three of the major insurance companies in Namibia gave up the administration of stand-alone pension funds.
- The GIPF, as we know it today, was established after RFS formation.
- There have been some new entrants into the market, consolidations, takeovers, and mergers during the life of RFS.
- Pension fund structures have undergone substantial changes over the past 23 years:
- Since RFS was established, we saw the increasing demand for member-choice investment portfolios by pension funds, which substantially increased the complexity of pension fund administration.
- The increased regulatory reporting, requirements, and oversight over the past ten years have been unprecedented.
- More recently, the move to umbrella fund arrangements, to mention some
You may now ask, what recipe helped RFS to be the change-defying Namibian success story it has been to date? The answer to that lies in our clearly articulated business philosophy and values:
- We strive to be?autonomous?- We have put local needs first. We are not oblivious to the benefits a large international associate can bring, but we have chosen to be an owner-managed business.
- Integrity?– We do business and deal with our clients honestly and transparently. Our time-tracking system maintains the principle of “treating customers fairly” by avoiding cross-subsidisation amongst clients.
- We work for the?stability?of our company and?build long-term relationships?with stakeholders. Our core management team has been intact since the company's formation, with only one resignation.
- Empowerment?of our staff has been the cornerstone of our staff retention. This year we attained a 95% BBEE rating from NPPC.
- We prefer?long-term growth?over short-term profits.
- We?focus on what we do best?– i.e., pension fund administration and management.
?3. Our recipe to success – being GREAT!?
- Governance –?We currently employ six chartered accountants, the best-suited qualification for retirement fund management.
- Rigid quality standards?– Clients who prefer to run their funds' affairs with little regard to their own rules and the pension fund laws may sometimes find our strict compliance focus frustrating – in the best interests of trustees and fund members.?
- Excellence?of our staff is derived from our ownership notion.?
- Added value?is applying senior management’s skills to every client, small or large.?
- Track record–?I am happy to note that RFS has not lost a client to date due to poor service provision. I pause to point out that RFS has greatly benefited from Namibian business solidarity.???
Thank you to all our valued clients; you have helped us cement our place as the No 1 address in employee benefits administration.
