Steady growth. Principal Officer of the Benchmark Retirement Fund Günter Pfeifer stated that the Fund is well governed and is achieving its objectives in servicing its members.

Talking about the Benchmark Retirement Fund's 2012 results at the Fund's AGM held on 26 September 2013, Robert Grant, partner of KPMG, confirmed that the member’s investments grew by N$ 224 million during the 2012 financial year, and that the Fund had assets of more than N$ 1 billion under management for more than 6,000 members.

The Principal Officer of the Fund, Günter Pfeifer noted that the Fund is structured to provide an distinctive range of retirement investments to fulfill the requirements of a wide range of Namibian investors. He went on to say that the Fund's Default Portfolio remained a popular choice.

Talking about activities in 2013, Pfeifer said that governance and administration of the Fund continue to be key focuses, and that the Fund was implementing additional measures to further improve the member’s experience in dealing with the fund. According to Pfeifer, the new measures are expected to further enhance reporting time lines.

"The Fund has pinned its reputation on accountability to its members, and the ability to report rapidly and accurately to our members, on their individual investments, is one of the aspects that sets it apart in the market. The enhanced administration measures will shift the goalposts for Namibian pension fund administrators," he said.

He added that the Fund was in the process of drafting a Communication policy which will augment the Fund's governance structures and processes.

Pfeifer also announced that he would step down as Principal Officer of the Fund with effect from 1 October 2013. The role, he said, will be taken over by Kai Friedrich. Pfeifer will now focus on executive management of the Fund, and will join the Board of Trustees as an additional member.

The current Benchmark Board of Trustees consists of Harald Müseler (Chairperson), Marthinuz Fabianus, Tilman Friedrich, Martin Moeller and Afra Schimming-Chase.

At the AGM, Sara Herbert of NMG Consultants issued a caution to retirement investors approaching retirement age. She said that investors should carefully consider adopting a too conservative approache during the late stages of investing for retirement, as this strategy might have a negative impact on the accumulation of their retirement capital.

IJG's Head of Research, Romé Mostert, gave a presentation on the short-term outlook for the Namibian economy, indicating that he expected an upturn towards the beginning of 2014. This should bode well for the investments of retirement members who are required to invest at least 35% of their assets in Namibia.