Getting to grips with Namibia's Regulation 28

The much anticipated revisions to Regulation 28 have brought to the fore what Trustees and retirement funds should do in order to ensure that future statistical data regarding the size of the retirement fund market, market value of asset classes, geographical split of the assets and claims history is accurately recorded, in order to assist the regulator in formulating policies that address voluntary savings and governance of retirement funds effectively.

Key changes to Regulation 28

The new changes include a compliance requirement for:

• Unlisted investments in Namibia – this should comprise a minimum of 1.75% of the market value of the fund’s investments.
• Investments in the shares of companies incorporated outside of Namibia (dual listed).
• Equity investments of 75% of the total value of the fund.
• Quarterly reporting in a format required by the regulator.

Top challenges for Trustees

In addressing compliance and applying solutions around changes to Regulation 28, Trustees need to:

• Assess and identify any variance between the current level of compliance by the fund and its members, and that required by Regulation 28.
• Develop a plan that maps out the route to becoming compliant.
• Apply for exemptions, if and where necessary.
• Establish appropriate systems that will monitor compliance on an on-going basis.

Applying RisCura’s Regulation 28 Compliance Report

Using a unique combination of specialisation, industry relationships and proprietary technology, our retirement fund clients can benefit from class-leading solutions to the challenges of Regulation 28, combining:

• All the necessary relationships with asset managers (providing us with data feeds), facilitating rapid assessment of compliance levels, as well as the on-going compliance monitoring and quarterly reporting obligations of retirement funds.
• A proprietary analysis and reporting system that is flexible, robust and proven. This enables us to gather data directly from asset managers and market data providers and deliver efficient, timely and cost-effective reporting to Trustees.

The result is an easy-to-follow report that highlights all possible compliance issues, and identifies where and how corrective actions should be taken.

RisCura’s 5-step Regulation 28 compliance process

1. All client fund holdings and cash flows are obtained from asset managers.
2. Where applicable, we acquire details of member ownership of each asset manager portfolio from the fund’s unitisation service provider.
3. Compliance checks are run at fund level and, where applicable, member-choice level.
4. Trustees receive our compliance reports on total fund level and, where applicable, on member choice level.
5. We facilitate submission of all relevant reports to NAMFISA.

Regulation 28 Made Easy

To learn more about how we can assist your fund in meeting its Regulation 28 compliance and reporting requirements, please contact Loth Angula at +264 61 410 351 or langula@na.riscura.com.