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Charting a Course for South Africa’s Financial Intermediaries

ARTICLE BY

  • Ronald King
  • President
  • FIA

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As he begins his two-year term, the FIA’s new president looks to the future of the industry and encourages an attitude of optimism.

The financial services sector, and intermediaries in particular, face unprecedented change. Emerging technologies are revolutionising the way we interact with clients and product suppliers, while we are grappling with an ever-growing regulatory and compliance workload. It is against this backdrop that I step into my two-year term as President of the FIA.

The FIA will play three critical roles in helping our members navigate these turbulent times. First, we will listen carefully to what our broad member base needs to remain sustainable in the evolving financial services landscape. Second, we will remain as representative as possible of the multidisciplinary intermediary space, working tirelessly to expand our membership. And third, we will move from being spectators to active participants in shaping South Africa’s future, for the benefit of all stakeholders.

COFI Bill

The FIA has a strong track record of representing intermediary interests whenever there are changes in the regulatory framework. I expect that the pending implementation of the Conduct of Financial Institutions (COFI) Bill will keep the FIA’s executive committees fully engaged over the next two years. The Bill is currently with the Minister, before moving to Cabinet and, ultimately, Parliament.

In the months remaining until the COFI Bill’s enactment, the FIA will devote our efforts to ironing out any remaining issues and ensuring that our members understand their roles and responsibilities under the new regulation. This is cross-sectoral regulation that affects the conduct of all financial institutions, including intermediaries – and our members will need to revisit every aspect of their businesses to ensure compliance.

Employment Equity Act

Recent amendments to the Employment Equity (EE) Act are highly relevant for our members too. This legislation introduces challenges to many intermediary practices, and the FIA will need to prioritise our response in line with our resources. At this early stage, the best approach is to monitor the legislative landscape and focus our efforts where they matter most. Several associations are already testing this law in the courts, as they are with the National Health Insurance Act.

While not our primary concern, the FIA must acknowledge the macroeconomic constraints that all our members face. As intermediaries, our focus should be on factors within our control. Educating our clients and the wider public on the benefits of insurance and investing, and promoting financial inclusion at every opportunity, will yield far better outcomes than lamenting the state of economic growth.

I have been involved in FIA structures for well over a decade, and for good reason. Intermediaries are custodians of the treating customers fairly principles that underpin our financial sector regulations. Our efforts ensure that financial products and services reach far and wide, and that businesses and households achieve the best possible financial outcomes.

The voice of the intermediary

Artificial intelligence (AI) and the digitalisation of financial services will be top of mind in the coming years. The FIA welcomes the pro-customer outcomes of innovation and tech adoption, but does not believe that large language models such as ChatGPT or Copilot will replace human advice. As intermediaries, our successes hinge on guiding clients through emotions and financial behaviours – client relationships and trust remain areas where intermediaries hold the advantage.

Another focus during my term will be addressing perceptions about the association’s reach. The FIA supports members who advise in healthcare, employee benefits, financial planning, insurance (life and non-life) and investments – and we must do more to make this clear to all stakeholders, especially product suppliers. On the plus side, I can report that both our members and regulators trust the FIA to engage effectively across these intermediary disciplines.

To live up to our tagline as “the voice of the intermediary” I will dedicate my two-year term as FIA President to truly listening to members. My early engagements will be shaped by your answers to three questions:

1) What are the three key things that the FIA should achieve in the next two years?
2) What do you personally hope to achieve within the FIA?
3) How can the FIA assist you in achieving those outcomes?

I intend my term to be about communication and transparency, and I invite all members to reach out to me with their responses to these questions. My pledge is to do everything possible to help deliver on your needs.

I begin this two-year term with some personal trepidation. Everyone has been congratulating me on my election and calling it well deserved, but such praise carries with it the expectation of making a real difference to the association and its members. I embrace that expectation as both an honour and a responsibility, and I commit myself fully to serving you, the FIA’s intermediary members.

To close, a reflection on our humanity. Our greatest strength is our ability to adapt to change, but our success depends on approaching change with an opportunity mindset. Together, the FIA and its members must seize the opportunities presented by our evolving regulatory landscape and advancing technology to excel in the years ahead.

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