P O Box 80349 • Windhoek • Namibia
Tel. no. +26461 231590 • Fax.no. +26461 231598
E-mail Retirement Fund Solutions
 
 

Rock solid fund administration that lets you sleep in peace!

 
 
Registration No. 99/349

Directors:
TH Friedrich, (Managing), B Compt (Hons), C.A. (S.A. / Nam), CFP
MS Gustafsson (Swedish)
C Drayer, HCiL (IISA)
MN Fabianus, Nat Dip (Commerce)
Non-Executive
Director:

HH Müseler, , B Compt (Hons), MBA, C.A.
(S.A. / Nam)

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Find out more about planning for your personal retirement in a series of articles written by Retirement Fund Solutions MD, Tilman Friedrich.

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Key individuals

Together our team boasts some 200 years’ experience in our field of business and we look forward to servicing our clients well into the current millennium.

Director

Charlotte Drayer, to our knowledge, is currently the only person in Namibia holding the Higher Certificate in Retirement Fund Administration, conferred by the Insurance Institute of Southern Africa. She is another well-known person in our industry and may justifiably be said to have pioneered pension fund administration in Namibia. Her previous employer has often complemented her as the most experienced and competent fund administrator in Namibia. Her experience in the insurance industry stretches back to 1985 and to 1987 in the pensions industry more specifically. She joined UPA in 1988 as administration manager and was later appointed to the board of UPA. She was instrumental in setting up the Enongo Dependants Trust for UPA and for establishing systems and procedures for other specialised products of UPA. E-mail Charlotte Drayer

Director

Marthinuz Fabianus joined our team ‘fresh from school’ in 1994. He holds the Certificate Of Proficiency in Employee Benefits conferred by the Insurance Institute of South Africa, the National Diploma (Commerce) from Polytechnic of Namibia and a Diploma in Marketing Management from Cyprus Institute of Marketing Management. On the basis of his people management skills, Marthinuz was promoted to Administration Manager and was subsequently also appointed a director of the company. He has 12 years experience in the pensions field, having worked his way right up from the bottom to fund administration and technical consulting. He is probably one of very few Oshivambo speaking persons who has acquired the skill of communicating the sophisticated concepts of retirement funding in his mother tongue. Marthinuz also served as president of the revived Retirement Funds Institute of Namibia between 2005 and 2006. E-mail Marthinuz Fabianus

Director

Tilman Friedrich is a qualified chartered accountant and one of a few, if not the only, Namibian Certified Financial Planner™, in the pensions field. He served his articles with Deloitte & Touche in Windhoek and qualified as chartered accountant in 1980. He was awarded the G H R Edmunds price in recognition of his study achievements while studying part time through UNISA. He was audit manager at the time of leaving Deloittes to join what is now known as National Housing Enterprise (NHE) in 1982. At NHE he was instrumental in establishing the operational framework for this newly founded housing para-statal where he was eventually promoted to assistant general manager responsible for administration, finance, loans and personnel functions. He left NHE at the end of 1990 to join UPA, initially as financial manager but soon to be promoted to general manager and to the board. He was instrumental in establishing the NamFlex funds and accounting practices for defined contribution funds in Namibia. Tilman is co-founder, shareholder and managing director of our company. E-mail Tilman Friedrich

Director

Mark Gustafsson has been in the employee benefits field since 1987 and is known as highly competent and dedicated consultant. After serving for two years in the employee benefits legal services department of SA insurer Southern Life in Cape Town, he joined UPA in 1989 as consultant. He was later promoted to client manager responsible for a portfolio of more than 10 private funds, for the healthcare- legal- and communication unit and for the NamFlex Funds (comprising the first Namibian privately administered Retirement Annuity Fund, Preservation Fund and the umbrella Pension Fund with in excess of 55 Participating Employers). He also served as Principal Officer of the NamFlex Funds and as alternate director of UPA. Mark is co-founder, shareholder and director of our company. E-mail Mark Gustafsson

Director

Harald Müseler recently retired as Partner in the Assurance Division of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). He practiced as an accountant and auditor from 1985 to 30 June 2006. He was involved in providing audit, accounting and business advisory services to clients ranging from middle market entities to large corporations in Namibia, including subsidiaries of South African and other international and SEC related clients. He was also responsible for risk management and independence of the Namibian practice of PwC. He is a past member of the Namibian firm’s Executive and representative on the firm’s Southern African Governing Board, and past Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the firm’s retirement fund. E-mail E-mail Harald Müseler

The team

Hannes van Tonder joined our team in April 2004 to head up and build our Benchmark Retirement Fund and to take charge of special projects, systems and procedures on the basis of his background. Hannes is well known and respected in the retirement funds industry, having had his first exposure to this specialized field as a member of our team in 1997. Hannes holds a B. Com. Degree from Unam and a B. Com. (Hons.) degree from Unisa. Closer to home, he holds the Intermediate Certificate in Business Studies (retirement fund management) conferred by the Insurance Institute of South Africa and has 7 years appropriate work experience. He will be responsible primarily to build our Benchmark product and to strengthen our systems, procedures and internal controls. E-mail Hannes van Tonder

Joan Böck, another ‘old face’ from the ‘UPA days’ joined us in the middle of February 2002, having spent the past three year in senior capacity in the Namflex department at Alexander Forbes, after joining its predecessor, UPA in 1993 in the fund administration department. Joan holds the Certificate of Proficiency of the Insurance Institute of South Africa and applies all her skills, knowledge and dedication to client servicing and fund administration of a portfolio of demanding clients. E-mail Joan Böck

Santhea Brand (nee Grobler) joined us in the middle of February 2008. Some may remember Santhea from the days she worked at Old Mutual Employee Benefits (1997 - 2003) where she finally held the position of Senior Portfolio Administrator. At Old Mutual she completed no less than 12 in-house courses and 6 Damelin courses. She left Old Mutual in February 2003 to join Paramount Health Care (Nammed). She moved to Walvis Bay at the end of 2003 only to return to Windhoek soon afterwards, where she took up various part-time appointments with Wanderers, Namibia Dairies and the US Embassy, while focusing on her musical career. Client service is one of her strong points and she will be afforded this opportunity as a member of our Benchmark administration team and as our administrator responsible for our insured fund clients. E-mail Santhea Brand

Agnes Brockerhoff joined the team on 1 July 2008 from Windhoek Vocational Training Centre. She started her career as bookkeeper with Rehoboth Investment and Development Corporation in 1992. She was employed with them for almost 10 years before she moved to Windhoek and joined Grand Namibia as a senior bookkeeper. Before she joined Windhoek Vocational Training Centre in May 1998 she was employed by Welwitschia Insurance Brokers for a period of 18 Months. She brings with her many years of relevant accounting experience which was obtained through her 16 year of employment in an accounting environment as well as many short courses attended by her. E-mail Agnes Brockerhoff

Bianca Busch joined us in June 2007 from Allan Gray, where she was responsible for portfolio administration, trading in fixed interest instruments and client servicing. Prior to her foray into asset management, Bianca worked for UPA as fund administrator and bookkeeper for a period of 3 years. Bianca holds a Certificate of Proficiency in fund administration and certificates in various other related short courses. She has made out the pensions industry as her field of interest and applies all her expertise and dedication to serving members of the Benchmark Retirement Fund and Benchmark brokers. E-mail Bianca Busch

Lilia Cabatana rejoined our team at the beginning of September 2005 having been in our employ for a short while before. Lilia started her career with auditors KPMG in 1995 in the bookkeeping department. She then moved into auditing where she completed her articles and gathered 6 years’ experience, amongst other audits, also in pension fund audits. She is about to complete her B Compt degree through UNISA and still intends to obtain the Chartered Accountant qualification. In her position as Manager: Fund Accounting and Systems, she is responsible for fund accounting, compliance and corporate governance enforcement within the company. E-mail Lilia Cabatana

Petrus Coetzee joined us in May 2007. Before his appointment by the company he held the position of administration supervisor in the Namflex department at Alexander Forbes. He holds a Certificate of Proficiency in fund administration and various certificates in other related short courses. Petrus is responsible for a portfolio of Benchmark schemes and is earmarked to take over full responsibility for this fund in time to come. He believes that working for a truly Namibian company offers a more conducive environment for serving our Namibian clients to their expectation and total satisfaction. E-mail Petrus Coetzee

Wilhelmien Ellis made career change from education to the pensions industry in 1991 when she joined UPA. She holds the Certificate Of Proficiency and the Intermediate Certificate in Business Studies (retirement fund management) conferred by the Insurance Institute of South Africa. Her focus is on client service and fund administration. She joined our team in February 2001. E-mail Wilhelmien Ellis

Ina Jooné, also a former colleague, joined us in February 2007. Starting off in banking and general administration, Ina eventually made out the pensions industry as her career. Her new career commenced at UPA in 1996 where she learned the ropes of fund administration. She now calls on 11 years experience in private fund administration where she was responsible for some of the largest private funds in Namibia at her previous employer. Ina has a passion to serve and we believe that our team offers her the ideal environment to realize this passion. E-mail Ina Jooné

Ujama Karamatha joined the team on 1 May 2008 as receptionist. Ujama started her career as a waiter in the hotel industry, but was soon transferred to the front-office as receptionist. After 2 years she took up an administrative position at ITD where she was responsible for the day to day running of the office. After ITD closed the office in 2006 she started on a contract basis as a receptionist with De Beers Marine Namibia.

Anita Keibib joined us on 1 April 2008 from Alexander Forbes. Anita joined Alexander Forbes in 2001 and held the position of fund accountant, being responsible for a portfolio of 15 funds. Prior to joining Alexander Forbes she worked for Namibia Red Cross, von Lieres Entreprises and Telecom Namibia and Nampost and can look back on 22 years experience in accounting and administration. In the course of her working life she has completed numerous short courses in computer literacy, bookkeeping and supervising. Anita will strengthen the capacity of our fund accounting team. E-mail Anita Keibeb

Stefanus Morris joins us in on 1 April 2008. Some may remember Stefanus from the days he worked at Sanlam Employee Benefits (1993 - 2001) where he finally held the position of Senior Fund Administrator. Since leaving Sanlam, excepting a one year stint in Cape Town, Stefanus was employed as Assistant Personnel Officer in the Ministry of Regional, Local Government and Housing. At Sanlam he was responsible for the administration of a portfolio of some of its largest funds and was awarded the title of Best Team Leader in 2001 and awarded for outstanding administrative achievement in 1995. He completed various in-house courses, external courses and workshops, one of which took him to Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts in 1998. Client service is one of his passions and he will be afforded this opportunity as a member of our Benchmark administration team. E-mail Stefanus Morris

Esmé Mouton joined us from Corporate Guarantee, where she was employed as policy administrator at the beginning of October 2005. Prior to that, Esmé was employed in various capacities in the employee benefits arena at Channel Life and Sanlam Namibia, starting June 1998. She is responsible for a portfolio of insured funds and Benchmark clients. E-mail Esmé Mouton

Victoria Nashongwa
joined us at the beginning of 2002 after a brief spell at the City of Windhoek. She has previously been in the employ of Alexander Forbes and its predecessor UPA since March 1997, and can call on considerable, relevant experience. She is currently studying commerce at the Polytechnic of Namibia and hopes to complete her diploma soon. Her focus is on client service and fund administration. With her bookkeeping background she will also be involved in this function. E-mail Victoria Nashongwa

Annemarie Nel, yet another ‘old hand’ since 1997, realized that she actually missed her former colleagues a lot until she joined us on 1 August 2006 from Nedbank Namibia where she served as financial analyst. Before that she was responsible for the accounting function of a portfolio of pension fund clients. Clearly her passion in life is figures and so she will once again be responsible for the accounting function of a portfolio of pension fund clients and related client servicing and interaction. Annemarie holds two diplomas in accounting and bookkeeping and closer to home, holding the Certificate of Proficiency (Retirement Funds 1) and the Intermediate Certificate (Retirement Funds 2), she is well qualified and experienced to provide her clients with exceptional service. E-mail Annemarie Strydom

Zaskia Ochs completed a BCOMT degree through UNISA after she had obtained a Diploma in Cost and Management Accounting at the Polytechnic of Namibia. She started her career as an internal auditor at Swabou in 1999. After 4 years in the banking industry she joined BDO Spencer Steward as an Audit Clerk/ Senior. The family moved to the coast in 2006 and she took up a position as Financial Manager with the Corvima Fishing Company. With the birth of her baby last year she resigned from full-time employment to have more family time available. She join RFS on 1 October 2008 after the family decided that Windhoek is actually the place where they would like to stay. E-mail Zaskia Ochs

Aliza Prinsloo joined us on 1 June 2008. Aliza had her first exposure to the industry directly after she matriculated in 1994. She started her career as fund administrator on the GIPF with Sanlam. She also obtained experience on some other funds that were administered by Sanlam. After the privatisation of the GIPF she moved to the banking industry for 2 years where she was employed by Bank Windhoek. The family moved to Lusaka, Zambia in 2002 and stayed there for almost 4 years. After their return to Namibia she was employed by Indigo Consulting (Pty) Ltd and by Light House Financial Services. E-mail Aliza Prinsloo

Rauha Shivute, once again an ‘old’ colleague, rejoined our team on 1 July 2002. Rauha obtained a B.A. (Business Administration) from Thiel College in the US. She had her first exposure to the pensions industry when she joined UPA in 1996 in the position of bookkeeper and brings along 10 years relevant experience. She recently obtained the Certificate of Proficiency in Insurance (retirement fund management) and is currently busy with her Intermediate Certificate, and a Certificate in Financial Management through UNISA. Rauha’s goal is to give all our clients total peace of mind that their financial records are under professional care. E-mail Rauha Shivute

Sharika Skoppelitus also started her career at UPA in 1996, ‘fresh’ from university and joined us in March 2007. Sharika holds a B Econ degree from Unam. She has acquired considerable experience in retirement fund management, starting off in fund administration from where she moved into consulting, serving a number of prominent funds as client liaison and consultant. She fulfills a similar role in her new position as client manager and her resolve is to ascertain that our clients enjoy a seamless and flawless fund management service for ‘rock solid fund administration that lets the trustees sleep in peace’. E-mail Sharika Skoppelitus

Salome Sloa rejoined the team on 1 October 2008. She joined the company for the first time on 1 May 2004 as a fund administrator. She left the company on 31 October 2005 to continue her career at Standard Bank Namibia. She gained valuable banking experience at Standard Bank, but after 3 years decided in the banking environment she realized that she preferred the pension fund industry above the banking industry. She rejoined as a fund administrator. E-mail Salome Sloa

Elbie Taljaard joined UPA on 1 May 1992 where she was initially involved on the fund bookkeeping side but later transferred to fund administration. She has been involved in this field of business ever since then and joined our company on a half-day basis on 1 August 2001. Her previous experience covers general clerical work in Government and the private sector of 5 years and company secretarial work with local auditing firms of 3 years. E-mail Elbie Taljaard

Maria Teixeira joined us on 1 June 2008. Maria was employed in various administrative capacities with the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement in the south. She believed in self development and completed many short business courses during her 8 years of employment. She returned to Windhoek in 2007 to and was self employed for a period before she joined our team. E-mail Maria Teixeira

Louis Theron joined us on 1 March 2008. He is a Namibian, born in Cape Town, but grew up on a farm in the south. He obtained a B.Econ degree (in 1989) and a higher education diploma (in 1990) from UOFS. In 2003 he obtained an Honors Degree in Business Administration from the University of Stellenbosch. Louis joins us from Agribank where he was employed since 1992 working his way up to the position of Manager Financial Services at the time of his departure. Closer to home he served as trustee of the Agribank Pension Fund for 11 years and represented Agribank as director on various boards. Louis’ task is to relieve our retirement fund experts of their management responsibilities so that they can apply their knowledge and expertise for the benefit of our clients.E-mail Louis Theron

Caroline Thomas joined us at the beginning of 2003 from Standard Bank trust department where she gained extensive experience in the management of trusts, a field closely related to the pensions industry. Before joining Standard Bank she was employed by Nammed, Old Mutual’s medical aid scheme, again in a field closely related to our industry. She has bolstered our capacity to offer an even better service to a number of privately administered funds and to our Benchmark group clients. E-mail Caroline Thomas

Hilde Towe joins ‘old colleagues’ at the beginning of June 2006 from Metropolitan. Hilde is an old hand in pension fund administration having been a member of the old UPA team where she joined in April 1992. She realized from the start that she wanted to progress in life, and so became involved in fund administration from April 1994 from ‘humble beginnings’. Hilde is currently attempting to complete her grade 12 through part-time studies. She will apply her experience and knowledge to a portfolio of insured funds and Benchmark clients with an intention to become involved in private fund administration as soon as she has become accustomed to our administration environment. E-mail Hilde Towe

Alida Venter is another ‘old hand’ in retirement fund administration who joined us at the beginning of November 2006 from Metropolitan, after Metropolitan closed down its fund administration department. After 4 years in retail, she joined UPA in January 1994 as bookkeeper. She later joined UPA’ fund administration department in June 1995 where she was responsible for one of it largest funds. She left in August 2002 to join Metropolitan as administrator of its private funds. She holds the Certificate Of Proficiency conferred by the Insurance Institute of South Africa and has obtained two of four required credits towards the Intermediate Certificate (retirement fund management) of the Institute. Alida is portfolio manager responsible for a portfolio of Benchmark schemes and private funds. E-mail Alida Venter

Frieda Venter, another singularly experienced and qualified Namibian with a focus on retirement fund accounting and financial management stretching back to 1991, holds a banking related Lib (SA) certificate, and ‘closer to home’, the Certificate Of Proficiency and the Intermediate Certificate (retirement fund management) conferred by the Insurance Institute of South Africa. She joined our team in 2000 and has since been exposed not only to accounting matters but also to fund administration, handling a portfolio of funds in our Benchmark Retirement Fund. She is responsible for providing accounting services to and for exercising control of Benchmark Retirement Fund’s financial records and reporting. E-mail Frieda Venter

Anna Willemse joined the team on 1 July 2008 from Agribank where she worked as a Senior Accountant. During her 16 years of employment with Agribank she gained extensive experience in almost all financial fields. Before joining Agribank she was employed by Standard Bank. She adds the necessary capacity to the finance team to ensure additional control over the records of Benchmark Retirement Fund. E-mail Anna Willemse

Office support

At the end of February 2003, Lilly Boys, an old face from days gone by, rejoined our team. After the traumatic experience of retrenchment followed by a long but unsuccessful search for alternative employment, Lilly knocked at our door in desperation, at a good time. She is now responsible for all round office services, management of deliveries and for our reception and feels as if she had never been ‘out in the cold’.

And finally, Drolina Röchter joined our team as permanent employee effective 1 February 2005, after she had already been in our employ as a casual worker for the previous year. Her positive attitude, initiative, dedication and commitment towards her job convinced us that she is of the right caliber to join our team. Drolina takes pride in maintaining our offices in a tidy state at all times and she attends to all sorts of out of office errands in order to keep the wheels of our organization turning.