Practical Governance: Retirement Funds aims to provide trustees of pension and retirement funds with a solid understanding of the business of retirement funds.

When faced with thick law books and files of practice notes, many trustees are uncertain where to start in tackling the daunting task that lies ahead of them. This guide offers an easy-to-understand approach that breaks issues down in bite-sized chunks.

The book includes recent changes to the Pension Funds Act, the requirements of the Financial Services Laws General Amendment Act 45 of 2013 and relevant recommendations of the King Code.  

Practical Governance: Retirement Funds will benefit both new trustees and more experienced persons. Once familiar with issues as explained in this book, a trustee will be better equipped to discharge his or her responsibilities.

• Glossary and definitions
• Accounts
• Actuary
• Administrator
• Amalgamations and transfers
• Annuities
• Approved versus unapproved benefits
• Audit – independent external
• Bargaining Council funds
• Beneficiary nomination form
• Beneficiary funds/trusts
• Benefit statement
• Board of trustees
• Board minutes and resolutions
• Chairman
• Certificate of existence
• Code of Conduct
• Combined funds
• Committees
• Commutation
• Complaints procedure
• Corporate governance
• Custodian
• Deferred pensioner
• Defined benefit fund (DB)
• Defined contribution Fund (DC)
• Dependants
• Disability insurance
• Disclosure and transparency
• Early retirement
• Evidence of health
• Expression of wish
• Financial planners and consultants
• Financial Services Board (FSB)
• Free cover limit
• Fund interest declaration
• Fund rules
• Fund objectives
• Funds not in sound financial position
• Group life assurance
• Housing loans
• Insured personal risks
• Investing in participating employers’ equity
• Investments
• Late retirement
• Liability of trustees
• Lump sum allocations to dependants
• Lump sums on withdrawal
• Member enquiry – do I have enough?
• Non contributory fund
• Normal retirement date (NRD)
• Participating employer
• Pensionable salary
• Pension funds
• Pension Funds Adjudicator
• Policies and procedures
• Preservation funds
• Principal officer
• Promotion of access to information
• Provident funds
• Registered office
• Risk management
• Service level agreements
• Spouses and orphans pension
• Spouses cover
• Stakeholders
• Surpluses
• Tax payable on withdrawal of funds
• Trustees
• Umbrella funds
• Unitised portfolio
• Untraceable ex-members
• Valuator
• Vesting
• Voluntary contributions
• Whistleblowing

• Pension and provident fund trustees
• Principal officers and administrators
• Pension fund lawyers