Verso Financial Services (Pty) Ltd, who specialise in the provision of pension and retirement fund administration, administer funds with assets exceeding R16.5 billion and a membership base in excess of 65 000 individuals.

“We are delighted to acquire JMFA and will seek to enhance our fund administration service offering to our clients even further by utilising the synergies that exist” said Edward Thomson, Managing Director of Verso Financial Services (Pty) Ltd.

“The newly acquired Verso owned JMFA Company will remain a preferred service provider to JMCA and our clients and it is furthermore expected that Verso will take over the administration of our own staff retirement fund.  We are confident that this acquisition will be in the best interests of all parties concerned” said Nico Smit, Actuary and Chief Executive Officer of Jacques Malan Consultants and Actuaries (JMCA).

JMCA is a company of consultants and actuaries, established to provide consulting solutions within the retirement, insurance and healthcare industries. The Group focuses on the provision of financial and human resources assistance to employers, retirement funds and financial service providers. The firm was established in July 1995 and consults to clients representing a wide spectrum of businesses, with total assets in excess of R500 billion. It currently employs 100 members of staff across offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Windhoek.  In the international arena, the Group maintains strategic relations with both Mercer (www.mercer.com) and Buck Consultants (www.buckconsultants.com), a Xerox company.

The Verso Group of companies is an independent established financial services provider in South Africa that specialise in providing asset management, retirement fund administration, employee benefit consulting, professional advice and planning to all financial, investment and medical aid professionals. Verso’s client base comprises of both small and multi-national companies, leading South African local authority retirements funds, umbrella funds, private retirement funds and individuals.

Verso’s ongoing support helps NOAH maintain its 13 homes, two assisted living homes, seven health monitoring and education centres, two community centres, five social clubs and a geriatric clinic. We are proud to be associated with this NGO that creates a lasting, positive change in people’s lives.

The thank you letter we received from NOAH this month really made our day.

We are pleased to announce that, with effect from September 2011, our retirement fund members can now register online for SMS and Web Access at the login page VFS Member Login.

Should a member not have access to the internet, the member is requested to contact his/her Employer or Human Resources department.

Please do not hesitate to email us on info@verso.co.za, should you experience any problems with this functionality.

The office was opened to provide our existing Gauteng based clients and business partners with a pension fund administration front office and an Employee Benefit Consulting division, as well as actively sourcing new clients.

Mr Johan van Wyk, a senior consultant and manager with many years of experience in the pension fund industry will be joining our team. We are happy to welcome him on board!

Government believes that the introduction of a statutory pension scheme would result in the consolidation of private funds and thereby reducing the high cost of pension provision.  According to statistics quoted South Africa has a very high number of active pension funds — some 7000, 80% of which have fewer than 80 members — which according to their information makes the cost of providing pensions in South Africa among the highest in the world.

The long-awaited national savings scheme would require everyone except the very low-paid to contribute to the national scheme and thereby trying to ensure everyone will receive at least a minimum monthly pension as well as death and disability benefits.

Extensive consultations with business, labour and civil society would take place on the proposals once they had been approved by the Cabinet.

Comment:
The introduction of the national savings scheme has long been under discussion and a proposal has now been finalised for submission to Cabinet.  It seems that government is eager for this matter to be finalised and implemented as soon as possible.  More information will become available once the matter has been submitted to Cabinet.