Governance

The Sanlam Umbrella Fund is managed by a Board of six Trustees, three of whom are appointed by Sanlam and three of whom are elected by the member representatives from a panel of suitably qualified industry professionals - all independent of Sanlam.
 
A professional Principal Officer supported by a Fund Secretariat manages the day-to-day operations of the Fund’s governance and ensures compliance with all regulatory requirements.

The appointed administrator of the Fund is Sanlam Employee Benefits. The Fund is administered on the leading-edge Coris Capital administration platform. The administrator maintains the records of each member including individual account values, and processes and settles all exit benefits payable to members.

The Trustees have delegated certain duties to sub-committees each comprising the relevant specialist skills. In doing so, the Trustees remain responsible for the entire operations of the Fund, and the sub-committees report to the Trustees via the Principal Officer and Fund Secretariat. The appointed sub-committees are as follows:

• An Administration Sub-committee,

• An Audit & Risks Sub-committee,

• A Communication Sub-committee,

• A Complaints Sub-committee,

• A Death Benefits Allocation Sub-committee,

• An Insured Benefits Management Sub-committee,

• An Investments Sub-committee.

Joint Forums

All participating employers must establish a Joint Forum comprising employer and member representatives for each Sub-fund. Member representatives from every Joint Forum are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting where they will be given opportunity to elect the independent Trustees of the Sanlam Umbrella Fund.

Joint Forums are designed to facilitate the process of consultation and decision making between the participating employer and its employees in respect of their group retirement benefits within the spirit of the Labour Relations Act. The Joint Forum is convened and chaired by the Contracted Benefit Consultant, who guides the Forum to ensure the fund’s benefit structure remains relevant.

The Joint Forum is not responsible for the operation and management (fund governance) of the Sanlam Umbrella Fund. This remains the duty of the Board of Trustees.

The Trustees recommend that every Sub-fund should hold an initial Joint Forum meeting within 4 months of the establishment of the Sub-fund to review the installation process and the associated communication to members, and should thereafter meet at least once every year. In the case of smaller Sub-funds, the Trustees accept that it might be appropriate and cost effective for the Joint Forum to meet on a biennial basis.

The employer has the right to consider, approve or disapprove any decision made by the Joint Forum that might have an effect on the company’s finances or its labour relations.

The employer remains the contracting party in its communication with the Fund and other relevant service providers to the Fund.

Equal member representation on the Board of Trustees

All member representatives are invited to an Annual General Meeting. At this meeting they can meet the Trustees face to face and question them on their report. In addition members are entitled to elect member representative Trustees from a list of industry specialists that are independent of the sponsor. These member appointed independent Trustees have the knowledge, training and independence to protect members against any possible conflict of interest.

A panel of independent candidates is short-listed by the Principal Officer taking into account qualifications, knowledge, and experience, and with the proviso that candidates must be entirely independent of Sanlam and not associated with a competitor umbrella fund product offering. The written CVs of all candidates are distributed to every Joint Forum along with a ballot paper, and the member-elected representatives at each Joint Forum (maximum two per participating employer) can vote for their preferred candidates either directly by a secret ballot at the Sanlam Umbrella Fund’s AGM, or alternatively by postal vote. The member-elected Trustees are then elected based on number of valid votes received by the election closing date following a counting of votes by the Fund Secretariat.