Meeting members’ great expectations
The NJMPF was the best performing municipal pension fund over seven years according to Mosaic Investment Consultants
The Natal Joint Municipal Pension/KwaZulu-Natal Joint Municipal Provident Funds (NJMPF) is a top achiever in both the South African retirement sector and the international arena, having accumulated a total of 33 awards both locally and globally in recent years, which reflects the fund’s focus on achieving more than its responsibilities and meeting the expectations of members.
“The awards instil confidence among NJMPF members,” says Sam Camilleri, chief executive and principal officer at the NJMPF.
“However, although the awards signify superior performance, the NJMPF has always maintained that true recognition rests in improving the lives of members and pensioners.
“At the NJMPF we believe that being a champion is based on seeing the bigger picture. It’s not about winning and losing; it’s about embracing the value of economic growth, transformation and improving the retirement outcomes for members, pensioners and stakeholders through everyday hard work and thriving on a challenge.
“This requires setting a standard of excellence in all manner of retirement funding principles and practices relating to governance, investments, education and communications, finances, administration, information technology and social responsibility, including trustee development,” explains Camilleri.
He says the manner in which the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations depicts resilience, tenacity, commitment, a positive attitude, motivation and taking responsibility to overcome adversities could be seen as being symbolic for the South African retirement funding environment.
“The economic conditions locally continue to be sluggish, making it increasingly difficult for individuals to save and retain enough capital for retirement. The performance of the local stock market in the past few years has been poor in some sectors.
“The South African economy is faced with the challenges of a technical recession, a high rate of unemploy“Historically ment at over 27%, low investor and business confidence, and poor household savings rates.
“The latest mid-year population estimates produced by Statistics South Africa show that South Africa’s popupreservation, lation is estimated at 56.5-million people. The estimates indicate that the proportion of elderly (60 years and older) in South Africa is growing, reaching 8.1% in 2017.
“According to the estimates, there are 4.6-million people in South Africa over the age of 60. The problem of ageing is significant because it means households have to save more, as people are living longer.”
However, Camilleri says despite the fundamental economic problems, the NJMPF is weathering the storms well, ensuring its members’ expectations, values and aspirations are achieved.
“The NJMPF has achieved excellent investment performance over the years, enabling it to improve benefits and provide good returns to its members. Its Provident Fund is ranked third out of 17 companies over 10 years in the Alexander Forbes Global Best Investment View, and has dramatically outperformed its five-year benchmark of CPI plus 5%.
“Mosaic Investment Consultants conducted an independent study, which indicated that the NJMPF was the best performing fund over seven years compared to other municipal pension funds in South Africa.
“The auditor general for South Africa has given the NJMPF a clean audit report for over a decade, confirming the NJMPF’s compliance governance practices.
“The fund since 2010 has achieved an overall score of AAA based on the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa’s independent assessment criteria, which is the highest score achievable.
“The fund’s efforts, via its interactive webpage (www.njmpf.co.za), mobile application, and financial-highlights booklet, among others, provides education and communication to encourage financial literacy and information sharing around investments and the world of money.
“A recent NJMPF drive linking with the regulator (National Credit Regulator) to educate and inform stakeholders and communities about debt management and the need to save has also shown positive results,” says Camilleri.
He reports that in recent years, the NJMPF has been able to sustain sound investment returns, with NJMPF pensioners being awarded increases that significantly improve their standard of living. If the market performs well, NJMPF pensioners also receive ad-hoc bonuses or one-off special increases, the most recent being a special increase of 8.33% which was paid from January 2016. Since July 2015, pensioners of the NJMPF have received monthly increases totalling 25.92%.