Leading Namibian pension fund administrator Retirement Fund Solutions (RFS) recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Founded in 1999 as a high-quality niche administrator, the company has grown to become the largest private pension fund administrator, with N$22 billion in assets administered on behalf of private funds and their members.
Pictured above, founder and Chairman Tilman Friedrich (left) and Managing Director Marthinuz Fabianus (right), at the 20th anniversary celebration.
Talking about the company’s status on its 20th anniversary, Managing Director Marthinuz Fabianus said it manages 36,000 active members, and pays monthly pensions to some 3500 pensioners. This involves some 218 unrelated employer groups, of which 150 are in the company’s flagship Benchmark Retirement umbrella fund and 47 local authorities are part of the Retirement Fund for Local Authorities which the company also administers.
The company founded the umbrella fund, Benchmark Retirement Fund in 2000, and the fund now caters for individuals, small to medium entities and even large employer groups who now find regulatory requirements too demanding. Benchmark boasts N$3 billion in assets under management for its members.
Fabianus lauded the support the company has enjoyed from both private and public sector as well as private individuals since inception to where the company is now a significant player in the local pension fund market.
Fabianus credited the company’s success to “the dedicated staff that serve the company’s clients with exceptional commitment and motivation”.
Talking at the same event, founder and Chairman Tilman Friedrich says that its success is attributable to dedicated and highly skilled staff, and a no-compromise approach to quality of administration.
On the topic of staff dedication, Friedrich recognised Charlotte Drayer, who joined the company shortly after its opening for no remuneration, on the basis of her conviction that the company would succeed. Drayer went on to become a director of the company.
On the topic of remaining focused on fund administration, Friedrich noted that an early investor that held shares in RFS criticized this approach and exited as it did not believe that the business model of Retirement Fund Solutions was sustainable.
The 20th anniversary of RFS, Friedrich said, is proof that the vision of the company was on the mark.
Friedrich went on to state that the company’s business model is widely regarded as unique, and its administration is henceforth acknowledged to be exceptional.
Axel Theissen of the Cymot Pension Fund and Martino Olivier of the Universities Retirement Fund, both long-standing customers of RFS, paid tribute to the company’s enduring commitment and expertise. The company provides services to the largest number of state owned entities and the majority of Namibian banking institutions, as well as a number of blue chip Namibian companies and non-governmental institutions.