Key individuals

Together our team boasts some 450 years’ experience in our field of business and we look forward to servicing our clients well into the current millennium.

Our management team, and many of our personnel, has largely been in place as a team and worked together at UPA for many years prior to establishment of our company.

Director: Systems and Training

Charlotte Drayer joined us soon after the company was established and is, to our knowledge, currently the only person in Namibia holding the Higher Certificate in Retirement Fund Administration, conferred by the Insurance Institute of Southern Africa. Having been around in the pensions industry since 1985, she is well-known in our industry. She has literally pioneered pension fund administration in Namibia and is probably the most experienced and a highly competent fund administrator, in Namibia. E-mail Charlotte Drayer

Director: Client Sevices

Marthinuz Fabianus joined us in 2001, having previously been a member of our team, ‘fresh from school’ since 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 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 our industry in his mother tongue. Marthinuz served as president of the Retirement Funds Institute of Namibia from 2005 to 2006. E-mail Marthinuz Fabianus

Managing Director

Tilman Friedrich is a qualified chartered accountant and is one of a few Namibian Certified Financial Planner™ practitioners in the pensions field. He served his articles with Deloittes in Windhoek and qualified as chartered accountant in 1980. He was awarded the G H R Edmunds prize 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 today known as National Housing Enterprise (NHE) in 1982. At NHE he was instrumental in establishing the operational framework for the then 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. Tilman is co-founder of our company. E-mail Tilman Friedrich

Director: Technical Services

Mark Gustafsson as been in the employee benefits field since 1987 and is known as highly competent and dedicated fund consultant and personal financial adviser. 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 fund consultant and personal financial adviser. He was later promoted to client manager responsible for a portfolio of more than 10 private funds, for the healthcare, legal, and communication unit. As principal officer, he was also responsible for the company’s various umbrella funds. Mark is one of the most respected advisers in the Namibian pensions industry, with a reputation for professional and objective advice and assistance in formulating, implementing and maintaining personal financial plans. Mark is co-founder of our company. E-mail Mark Gustafsson

Director: Benchmark

Günter Pfeifer joined our team on 1 February 2009, to assume responsibility for the Benchmark Retirement Fund, as the fund’s principal officer. He joined us from De Beers Marine where he held the position of financial manager. Günter distinguished himself with a cum laude in his final year of Bachelor of Commerce (Accountancy) studies, after which he qualified as a chartered accountant. He completed his articles with Deloittes where he was seconded to the Stuttgart office in Germany for 1 year. He left the audit profession in August 1999 having attained the level of audit manager, to join Fedsure as portfolio manager. He left Fedsure's successor Channel Life in the position of financial manager early 2003 to join De Beers Marine. Through Beers Marine he completed the De Beers Program For Management Development at Gordon Institute for Business Science, and the Advanced Development Program at the London Business School. Günter offers a wealth of experience and expertise and is keen to further improve the functionality and offering of the Benchmark fund for the benefit of all its stakeholders. E-mail Günter Pfeifer

Independent Director

Harald Müseler retired as a former 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. Harald holds the position of independent director on a number of boards. E-mail Harald Müseler

Alternate Director

Louis Theron joined us on 1 March 2008 as Manager: Support Services. 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

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 an honors 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. Hannes is responsible for client services to participating employers of the Benchmark Retirement Fund.

Joan Böck re-joined our team in February 2002, having spent the previous three year in senior capacity in the Namflex department at Alexander Forbes, responsible for a large number of participating employers. Joan is a member of our team since 1993 and made herself a name as a highly efficient and reliable administrator who can be entrusted with the most complex and the largest funds. 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.

Santhea Grobler joined us in 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 applies this passion to her clients as a member of our Benchmark administration team and as our administrator responsible for our insured fund clients.

Agnes Brockerhoff joined the team in 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 offers 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.

Bianca Busch re-joined our team 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 of the Insurance Institute of South Africa 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.

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. As Manager: Fund Administration, she is key to our credo to provide ‘rock solid fund administration’ that lets our private clients ‘sleep in peace’.

Belinda Carlson joined us in March 2009. She started her career in the banking industry in 1992 as a clerk. She gained experience in various HR fields and had her first exposure to the retirement funds industry as a HR Officer at UPA, later Alexander Forbes Financial Services. She soon became interested in the fund administration and was appointed as a fund manager in 2004. Belinda holds a Certificate of Proficiency and an Intermediate Certificate of Business Studies from the Insurance Institute of South Africa as well as a CIS Intermediate Certificate from the Centre of Business Management of the University of South Africa. Belinda is responsible for the administration of a number of participating employers of the Benchmark Retirement Fund in the position of Portfolio Manager.

Lizette Fourie joined our team in April 2009 to assume responsibility as company accountant, from Horizon Commercial Capital, where she held the position of accountant for the past 6 years. Before joining Horizon Commercial Capital she was employed by Swabou life for the previous 6 years in the the position of department manager: accounts. Lizette obtained a B Com degree in cost accounting from Stellenbosch University and can call on extensive experience, having commenced her career in the late 1980’s. Lizette holds the position of Company Accounting Manager and is responsible for our company finances and office administration.

Amanda Heath joined our team in March 2009 from Alexander Forbes Financial Services where she was employed as a Fund Manager. She started her career in the retirement fund industry in 2001 and gained valuable experience over these years that should greatly contribute to her meeting her client’s expectations and needs. Amanda holds a Certificate of Proficiency and an Intermediate Certificate in Business Studies (retirement fund management) of the Insurance Institute of South Africa. As Portfolio Manager, Amanda is responsible for the administration of a portfolio of private funds.

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 calls on extensive 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 spares no effort to meet the needs of her clients.

Anita Keibib joined us in 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 Enterprises, 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 is a member of our fund accounting team, responsible for the financial records of a portfolio of private funds.

Sylvia Kessler joined us on 1 February 2010 as Trainee: Employee Benefits. Sylvia matriculated at DHPS in 2004, obtained her B Com degree (in financial accounting) at the University of Stellenbosch in 2007. In December 2008 she obtained her honors degree in cost accounting. She was a part-time lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch in 2009 and commenced studies towards a CIMA qualification. Sylvia strengthens our team with ‘state-of-the-art’ knowledge, which she is keen to apply for the benefit of our clients.

Stefanus Morris joined us in in 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 which he lives out superbly as a member of our Benchmark administration team.

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 field at Channel Life and Sanlam Namibia, since June 1998. She is now responsible for a portfolio of our largest private fund clients, having started out as Benchmark administrator. Her friendly helpfulness has earned her numerous accolades from clients and fund members and she will certainly ascertain ‘rock solid fund administration’ that lets our clients ‘sleep in peace’.

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 calls on extensive, relevant experience. She holds the Intermediate Certificate of the Insurance Institute of South Africa. Vicky’s passion is client service and fund administration. As Portfolio Manager, she is responsible for the administration of our largest funds with a team of 3 administrators.

Annemarie Nel initially joined our team at UPA in 1997, where she was responsible for the accounting function of a portfolio of pension fund clients. She later moved to Nedbank Namibia as financial analyst, to re-join our team on 1 August 2006. She started off in our fund bookkeeping department and also gained experience in fund administration at the same time. Her passion in life is people and so she moved on to assume responsibility for administration of, and client services to a portfolio of participating employers of the Benchmark Retirement Fund. 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.

Zaskia Ochs completed a B Compt 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. When family moved to the coast in 2006, she took up a position as Financial Manager with the Corvima Fishing Company. With the birth of her baby she resigned from full-time employment to have more family time available. She joined us in October 2008 after the family decided that Windhoek is actually the place where they would like to stay. She holds the position of Manager: Fund Accounting and Compliance she is responsible for financial records and controls and reporting to our private fund clients.

Aliza Prinsloo joined us in 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 privatization 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. Aliza started off as administrator in the Benchmark division. She then took on responsibility for a large portfolio of pensioners of our largest fund and has moved on yet again, to now be responsible for the administration of a portfolio of private funds.

Margit Rittmann joined us from Alexander Forbes in September 2009. She joined Alexander Forbes directly after matriculating at Dr Lemmer High School, Rehoboth, in 2002. Margit was awarded the Administrator of the Year award for three years in a row at her previous employer, where she finally held the position of Fund Administrator and – Supervisor. She holds the Certificate of Proficiency of the Insurance Institute of South Africa. Margit serves as administrator in the Benchmark division and is responsible for a portfolio of participating employers of the fund.

Rauha Shivute, a former colleague, rejoined our team in July 2002. Rauha obtained a BA (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. She holds the Certificate of Proficiency and the Intermediate Certificate of the Insurance Institute of South Africa and a Certificate in Financial Management through UNISA. Rauha started off in our fund accounting department, then moved on to be responsible for the administration of a portfolio of private funds as Portfolio Manager and moved on again to our Benchmark division, responsible for administration and client services of a portfolio of participating employers of the fund.

Sharika Skoppelitus started her career at UPA in 1996, ‘fresh’ from university and re-joined our team 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 is now responsible for coordination of client services to all private fund clients and is responsible for client services to a portfolio of private funds in the position of Manager: Client Services. Her passion is to ascertain that our clients enjoy a seamless and flawless fund management service true to our credo ‘rock solid fund administration that lets the trustees sleep in peace’.

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 in the banking environment she realized that her passion is the pension funds industry. Salome is responsible for the administration of a large portfolio of local authorities.

Elbie Taljaard joined UPA in May 1992 where she was initially involved on the fund accounting side but later moved to fund administration. She has been involved in this field of business ever since then. She re-joined our team in August 2001. As Portfolio Manager she is responsible for a number of prestigious private fund clients. Elbie holds the Certificate of Proficiency of the Insurance Institute of South Africa, and is one of our most experienced administrators.

Maria Texeira joined us in 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 and was self employed for a period before she joined our team as administrator in the Benchmark division. She has since moved on to assume responsibility for a large portfolio of pensioners of our largest fund. Maria has earned a reputation for her friendly demeanor and exceptional client service.

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. Caroline started off as administrator in the Benchmark division, the took on responsibility for the administration of a number of participating employers of the fund and moved on again to be responsible for a portfolio of large private fund clients as Portfolio Manager. She has earned herself a reputation for her determination and her firm guidance of clients’ business.

Yolinde Titus joined us in March 2010 as Fund Administrator in the Benchmark division and will be responsible. She started her career in the banking environment in 1991 where she gained extensive experience over a period of 13 years. During her employment with First National Bank she obtained a Certificate in Banking from the Institute of Bankers in South Africa. The family moved to Canada in 2005, where she completed a 2 year Diploma in Finance at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. 

Hilde Towe re-joined her former colleagues at the beginning of June 2006 from Metropolitan. Hilde is an old hand in pension fund administration having been a member of the UPA team since 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 started off being responsible for our insured fund clients and a number of Benchmark clients. Hilde is now responsible for the administration of the largest local authority in Namibia and is rated highly by her clients for her friendly demeanor and her commitment to her clients.

Ronél van Schalkwyk joined us in September 2009 from Scandia Kitchens where she was employed as an accountant since returning from England in 2006. She is a member of our fund accounting team and is responsible for the financial records and reporting of a portfolio of private fund clients in the position of Fund Accounting Manager. Her exposure to the pension fund industry dates back to 1998, when she was employed with PWC (Johannesburg) as a pension fund auditor. From 2000-2005 she was employed as a senior fund accountant with one of the biggest fund administrators in London, Hewitt Associates (Pty) Ltd. Ronel has a B Com degree as well as a diploma in Market Research.

Alida Venter re-joined our team 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’s fund administration department in June 1995 where she was responsible for one of its largest funds. She left in August 2002 to join Metropolitan as administrator responsible for its private funds. She holds the Certificate of Proficiency and the Intermediate Certificate (retirement fund management), of the Insurance Institute of South Africa. Alida started off in the Benchmark division, being responsible for individual business and a number of participating employers of the fund and is now responsible for one of our largest private funds as Portfolio Manager.

Frieda Venter is a singularly experienced and qualified Namibian with a focus on retirement fund accounting and financial management, as one of the longest serving members of our team, stretching back to 1991. She holds a banking related Lib (SA) certificate, and ‘closer to home’, the Certificate Of Proficiency and the Intermediate Certificate (retirement fund management) of the Insurance Institute of South Africa. She re-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. In the position of Financial Manager: Benchmark, she is responsible for providing accounting services to and for exercising control of Benchmark Retirement Fund’s financial records and reporting.

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 and expertise to our Benchmark team to ensure comprehensive, timely reporting and tight controls over the financial records of the fund.

Office support

Lilly Boys re-joined our team in March 2003, having previously been employed by UPA. She started off as receptionist and earned herself a reputation for her friendly demeanor on the telephone. She was later drawn more and more into general clerical work and is now responsible for general office administration and a number of bookkeeping functions.

Ujama Karamatha joined the team in 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 took up a position as receptionist with De Beers Marine Namibia from where she moved on to join us. She represents the company superbly as the friendly and helpful voice on the phone.

And finally, Drolina Röchter joined our team in 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 be a permanent member of our team. She was initially responsible for our kitchen, for deliveries and cleaning but has proven her ability to move on in life to where she is now responsible for general clerical and bookkeeping functions in addition to looking after the physical wellbeing of our staff.

Freelance contractors

We are assisted by a formidable team of free lance contractors, all of whom are well known in our industry and have many years of experienced and an exceptional reputation. We are proud to be able to call on their services whenever bottle necks are experienced, when special tasks or projects need to be undertaken or as back up for other permanent staff.

Amei Diener has a B Compt honors degree. She has completed her articles with Deloittes and has more than 15 years experience in fund accounting.

Sigi Gustafsson has a B Com degree and more than 15 years experience in financial management and accounting.

Hettie Koorsen was previously employed by Old Mutual and Nammed before joining Alexander Forbes in a senior management position, responsible for the administration of its umbrella funds.

Ingrid Lindinger can look back on 20 years’ experience in the pensions industry. She was employed by UPA as fund administrator. She later moved to Sanlam Employee Benefits where she was consultant to some of its largest private fund clients. She joined our team on a full-time basis in April 2007 as Client Manager until her early retirement in 2007.

Renelyn Mclune was previously employed by UPA, later Alexander Forbes in senior capacity in fund administration.