{"id":1212,"date":"2017-03-28T12:31:24","date_gmt":"2017-03-28T10:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.namfisa.com.na\/educates\/?p=1212"},"modified":"2025-07-18T10:53:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T08:53:10","slug":"roles-and-responsibilities-of-members-of-pension-funds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.namfisa.com.na\/educates\/roles-and-responsibilities-of-members-of-pension-funds\/","title":{"rendered":"Roles and Responsibilities of Members of Pension Funds"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Understanding the Roles of Pension Fund Officials<\/h3><\/span><\/div>
Members of Pension Funds need to understand the\nduties of Pension Fund officials and how their\nwork impacts them. An understanding of the\nresponsibilities of different Fund Officers will allow members\nto know what to expect from these officials and allow them to\nexercise their rights as Pension Fund members.\nThe Pension Funds Act of 1956 the law that regulates pension\nfunds, defines an officer of the fund as any person appointed\nto manage the affairs of the Fund. These will include Principal\nOfficers (PO\u2019s), Trustees, agents such as benefit administrators,\ninvestment managers, consultants and actuaries. Auditors do\nnot qualify as officers of the Fund as they provide an independent\nopinion on the Fund.<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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<\/h3><\/div>
Note: Auditors are not considered officials of the fund. Their role is to give an independent opinion on the fund\u2019s financials.<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Trustees: The Decision-Makers<\/h5><\/span><\/div>
Trustees are ultimately responsible for the management of the fund. Their main goal is to protect members\u2019 contributions and ensure proper governance.\n

\nIn terms of the Corporate Governance Code of Namibia\n(\u201cNamCode\u201d), the management of a pension fund rests with\nthe Trustees. Trustees are the final decision makers in a pension\nfund. Because Trustees of a fund may not have the time, skills\nand knowledge to do all the work needed, they sometimes hire\nexternal service providers to do work on their behalf. The\nresponsibility to ensure that such work is performed, however\nremains with the Trustees. How one can become a Trustee of a\nfund should be specified in the rules of the fund.\nThe Board of Trustees should have a document that sets out\nthe responsibilities of the trustees, known as the Trustees Code\nof Conduct.\nIt is important to remember that the most important objective\nof Trustees is to protect the members\u2019 pension contributions.\nTherefore, Trustees are expected to guide the operations of the\nfund through policy documents.\nThese policy documents can include the policy on\nresponsibilities of trustees, a policy to handle conflict of interest,\na policy on how money should be invested, a policy on how the\nfund must communicate with its members, a policy to handle\ncomplaints by the members and a policy to deal with risks facing\nthe fund.\nThe Board of Trustees can create committees to carry out\nspecific work of the fund. The committees would generally\ninclude the audit committee, the death benefits committee, and\nthe investment committee.\n

\nKey Responsibilities summarized:<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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  • <\/span>Develop and implement policy documents (e.g., investment, communication, conflict of interest, complaints handling).<\/li>
  • <\/span>Oversee the fund\u2019s operations, even if work is delegated to external service providers.<\/li>
  • <\/span>Establish sub-committees (e.g., audit, investment, death benefits).<\/li>
  • <\/span>Ensure compliance with the Pension Funds Act.<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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    Statutory reporting<\/h5><\/div>
    The Trustees should ensure that the fund complies with the\nPension Funds Act and the rules of the fund. The Pension Funds\nAct requires that the Trustees should see to it that the fund\nproduces audited financial statements every year and submits\nthis to NAMFISA at least 6 months after its year-end.\nTrustees are also required to ensure that actuarial valuation\nreports are prepared at least once in every 3 years and have this\nsubmitted to NAMFISA at least 12 months after the year-end.<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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    • <\/span>Annual Audited Financial Statements submitted to NAMFISA within 6 months of year-end. <\/li>
    • <\/span>Actuarial Valuation Reports at least once every 3 years (submitted within 12 months).<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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      Risk management<\/h5><\/span><\/div>
      Trustees must also manage the risks facing the fund. Risk\nmanagement, is one of the most important responsibilities of\ntrustees. Trustees manage risks by finding out all the dangers\nthat could happen to the fund and the effect of it happening.\nThey then put in place measures to try and avoid the danger or\nto reduce the effect.<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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      Roles and responsibilities of Board Meetings<\/h5><\/span><\/div>
      The Board of Trustees should have as many meetings as\npossible to discuss issues of the fund. The NamCode advises\nthat Trustees should meet at least four times per year. Trustees\nshould keep a record of all meetings in minutes.<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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      Fiduciary duty<\/h5><\/span><\/div>
      Trustees must by law act in the best interest of the fund. It\ndoes not matter whether a Trustee is elected by the members or\nby the employer, the interest of the fund comes above the group\nthat elected or appointed the trustee.\nTrustees should be professional and act with care, skills and\nhonesty. The Board of Trustees take decisions as a group on\nbehalf of the fund, but Trustees can be held responsible for\nwrong doing individually.<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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      • <\/span>Trustees must act in the best interest of the fund, regardless of whether elected by members or appointed by employers.<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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        Principal Officer (PO): The CEO of the Fund<\/h3><\/span><\/div>
        \nPrincipal Officer and Key Role Players in Pension Fund Governance<\/strong>

        \n\nEvery fund should have a Principal Officer.<\/strong> The Principal Officer\u2019s role is the same as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) position of any company.

        \n\nThe Principal Officer is responsible<\/strong> for the day-to-day running and administration of the fund. The Principal Officer should also coordinate and manage relationships between the fund and everybody who deals with that fund.

        \n\nThis includes the members, the company employing the members (also known as the participating employer or sponsor), the regulator (NAMFISA), and the service providers such as the benefit administrator, the asset managers, the funds\u2019 consultants, as well as the Auditors and Actuaries.

        \n\nThe Principle Officer is the spokesperson<\/strong> of the fund and any communication from NAMFISA is made through the Principal Officer.

        \n\nService providers<\/strong>
        \nPension funds are complicated to manage and the Board of Trustees has the final responsibility for the management of the fund.

        \n\nSince Trustees may not have the technical skills and time to do all the activities and services required to effectively manage a pension fund, Trustees may outsource some or all of their tasks to different service providers.

        \n\nThe Trustees must make sure that all work that is supposed to be done by outside companies is done.

        \n\nBenefit Administration services<\/strong>
        \nBenefit administrators are companies that do processing and administration work on behalf of the pension funds. The work of benefit administrators includes, among others:

        \n\nAdvise on, developing or changing Fund rules;
        \n\nPreparing of documents regarding requirements of the law;
        \n\nMaintaining member and pensioner registers;
        \n\nReceiving Contributions and making benefit payments;
        \n\nReporting back to the trustees;
        \n\nMaintaining accounting records;
        \n\nLiaising with the auditors and actuaries.

        \n\nAsset managers<\/strong>
        \nThe main objective of the pension fund is to grow investments within the limits of the investment mandates (the agreement between the fund and the individual asset managers).

        \n\nTrustees are not always able to manage the money in the pension fund. Therefore, the task of investing the member\u2019s contributions is given to companies that invest on behalf of the fund.

        \n\nThe Trustees give asset managers instructions in an investment policy that defines how the fund\u2019s assets should be invested.

        \n\nThe investment policy should include:<\/strong>
        \n\nThe overall performance objectives for the pension fund;
        \n\nRoles and responsibilities of the parties involved;
        \n\nThe types of assets the fund must invest in;
        \n\nHow performance will be measured.

        \n\nThe investment mandate<\/strong>
        \nThe investment mandate is the document that manages the relationship and specific duties of the investment manager appointed by the Trustees.

        \n\nIn simple words, the investment mandate is a set of instructions on how the investor wants its funds invested.

        \n\nThe investment mandate should include:<\/strong>
        \n\nHow and when the investment manager will report back to the fund;
        \n\nAssets in which the fund\u2019s money is invested;
        \n\nCountries where the money is invested, in line with laws like Regulation 28 in Namibia;
        \n\nThe fund\u2019s performance benchmark (the minimum expected investment performance returns).

        \n\nFund Consultants<\/strong>
        \nThe fund may use consultants for advice on benefits and investments. Fund consultants normally recommend a number of options to the Trustees, but the final decision remains with the Trustees.

        \n\nBenefit consultants<\/strong> advise and support regarding the types of benefits the Fund can offer members.

        \n\nInvestment consultants<\/strong> advise and support regarding how the Fund\u2019s assets can be invested.

        \n\nReference:<\/strong>
        Judy Gilmour. (8\/11\/2015). What it takes to be a principal officer of a pension fund. http:\/\/www.moneyweb.co.za\/news\/industry\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-principal-officer-of-a-pensionfund\/

        \nRole of Trustee in Pension Fund. (9\/11\/2012). http:\/\/www.expertsmind.com\/questions\/optimal-portfolioselection-30111346.aspx

        \n\nNamibia Stock Exchange. (2014). The NamCode. Institute of Directors Southern Africa. pp. 24\u201335.\n\n\n\n\n Officer is responsible for the day-to-day administration and acts as the fund\u2019s main representative.\n

        \n<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Understanding the Roles of Pension Fund Officials Members of Pension Funds need to understand the duties of Pension Fund officials and how their work impacts them. An understanding of the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[426],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pension-funds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namfisa.com.na\/educates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namfisa.com.na\/educates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namfisa.com.na\/educates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namfisa.com.na\/educates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namfisa.com.na\/educates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1212"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.namfisa.com.na\/educates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35627,"href":"https:\/\/www.namfisa.com.na\/educates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1212\/revisions\/35627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namfisa.com.na\/educates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namfisa.com.na\/educates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namfisa.com.na\/educates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}