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Thoughts from our CEO

ARTICLE BY

  • Lizelle van der Merwe
  • CEO
  • FIA

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Thoughts from our CEO

Embrace the challenge. The FIA has your back.

We recently uncovered FIA meeting minutes dating back to 1968. That’s nearly six decades of intermediaries coming together, advocating for their profession, and fighting for the sustainability of financial advice and support services in South Africa.

Over the years, the country has changed dramatically. Legislation has changed. Technology has evolved beyond what we ever imagined would be achieved in our lifetime. Through it all, the FIA has stood as the unwavering voice of financial intermediaries in South Africa.

Today, that voice is more critical than ever. The FIA represents 1 500+ FSPs and 12 500 representatives serving millions of South African families and businesses across insurance, financial planning, investments, healthcare, and employee benefits.

In it together

More than simply a trade association, the FIA is a professional community united by client-first principles and a true passion for this subsector. It is governed by volunteers – practising intermediaries who live the realities of running advisory businesses daily and understand the challenges intermediaries face. These include:

Multiple concurrent reforms: Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill (CoFI), Employment Equity requirements, data protection laws, OMNI-Risk Return requirements and more.

Administrative overload: Each framework introduces new operational burdens, and their interaction creates exponential complexity.

Implementation pressure: Timelines that don’t allow businesses to absorb changes without service disruption.

In the midst of all of this, financial sustainability is increasingly difficult. Intermediaries must contend with:

  • Rising FSCA levies
  • Escalating professional indemnity insurance costs
  • Technology investment requirements to remain competitive
  • Operational costs increasing faster than revenue growth

Then there’s the matter of digital transformation. With clients expecting modern, efficient service delivery, members feel pressure to evolve or risk obsolescence. Yet, with many advisory businesses lacking the capital or expertise to adopt technology confidently, many fear being replaced by AI rather than augmented by it. Meanwhile, those who are in a position to embrace the technology experience uncertainty about which tools deliver genuine value and which are merely trendy distractions.

Committed to supporting our members

Under the visionary leadership of our Board, the FIA is charting a course that puts member needs at the centre of everything we do. The association’s strategic clarity and forwardthinking approach will guide us as we navigate the opportunities and challenges ahead, ensuring the FIA remains not just relevant, but essential to your success.

That means:

More strategic advocacy: We’re intensifying our engagement with the FSCA, National Treasury, and policymakers. Every submission, every meeting, every conversation will be laser-focussed on outcomes that make your work more sustainable and your businesses more viable.

Celebrating our wins together: When we achieve regulatory relief, when policy shifts in our favour, when we secure industry victories, these are your wins. We’ll celebrate them, share them, and build momentum from them.

Showcasing our roots: Throughout 2026, we’ll be honouring the members and volunteers who built this association. Their vision created the platform we stand on today.

Listening and responding: Your challenges are our priority, your feedback shapes our strategy, and your success defines our purpose.

A time to thrive

I have absolute conviction that intermediaries will not only survive; they will thrive in 2026 and beyond. And no, this isn’t blind optimism. This is certainty built on evidence, on your proven resilience, and on the FIA’s unwavering commitment to fight for their future.

Intermediaries will thrive because, at a time when complex misinformation is rife and clients are searching for advocates, not algorithms, the need for this profession has never been greater. In addition, intermediaries are adaptable, which makes the profession resilient. The broker model isn’t under threat – it’s under transformation. And transformation is where opportunity lives.

Finally, intermediaries will thrive because the FIA has your back – like it always has.

Reading those minutes from 1968 reminded us of something profound: that the FIA exists because people cared. They cared about this sub-sector, they cared about their profession, and they cared about their clients. They cared about building something bigger than themselves. That legacy now rests with all of us, and we don’t take it lightly.

For nearly six decades, we’ve been the voice for intermediaries. Their shield when regulation threatened viability. Their compass when complexity overwhelmed. Their defender when the profession needed champions. We’re not slowing down. We’re accelerating.

This is a profession in transformation – and the FIA will be with members every single step: Fighting for intermediaries. Supporting intermediaries. Ensuring their voice is heard at the highest levels of government and industry. Because we believe this with absolute conviction: When intermediaries thrive, South Africa’s financial resilience thrives. And we will not rest until that reality is secured.

Kind regards,
Lizelle van der Merwe, CEO

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