Despite numerous new pieces of legislation to enhanced consumer protection, the need for consumer awareness and diligence is now greater than ever, says Financial Services Board (FSB) chairperson Gill Marcus.
In her chairperson’s review in the latest FSB annual report, Marcus, who is also deputy governor of the South African Reserve Bank, adds that the poor performance of equity markets has rapidly diminished investment returns, which is threatening the capital of insurers and retirement funds alike.
“Due to the popularity of investment-linked policies and conversions to defined contribution schemes, individual savers have also been hard hit.
“This potential social problem is worsened by a chronically low savings pool, making it more difficult for investment managers to weather stormy market conditions and restrict losses from occasional corporate scandals,” Marcus states.
Regarding corporate governance, Marcus says South African corporates largely still lack the ability to incentivise management to act appropriately in the long-term interest of the firm and its shareholders.
“This is exacerbated by SA’s low level of shareholder activism. To mitigate the prevalence of short-termism, consideration should be given to designing incentive structures so as to only reward managers over longer performance periods of, say, an average of five years.
“There needs to be greater active board participation, the devotion of quality time to corporate affairs and an emphasis on substance over form in board meetings. There is consensus among supervisors that improved market discipline and transparency are necessary to ensure stability in the world financial markets and reduce systemic risks.”
Focusing on the pension industry, Marcus says the Second King Report on corporate governance has relevant recommendations about the role that trustees of retirement funds can play in the investments of their funds.
“Once this concept becomes generally entrenched, it could have a major effect on the performance of retirement fund portfolios in South Africa,” she says.
“Trustees,” she adds, “should set benchmark standards of good governance expected of the companies in which their funds invest. Such standards would include corporate discipline, transparency, independence, accountability, responsibility, fairness and social responsibility.” – I-Net Bridge