Alexander Forbes launches new Fund

| Thursday August 26, 2010 00:00

The Fund was registered with and approved by the relevant authorities in Botswana, which include the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority and Botswana Unified Revenue Service.

The A53 has been introduced to further augment existing vehicles for investing towards building a retirement saving.  The A53 is a flexible form of retirement fund that allows encashment of contributions and investment returns when a member resigns, retires or dies.  It also enables companies and employees to make voluntary contributions, which can run parallel with their existing pension fund arrangement to further augment retirement savings.

The A53 was created to address, amongst other things, the needs of non-citizens who would like to return to their country of origin at the end of their working life, citizens who would like to venture into business at the end of their working life and require huge lump sums at retirement, employers who would like to offer their employees lump sums cash tax free at retirement, professional employees who are hired on contract basis and employees generally seeking to augment their retirement packages.

Furthermore, the A53 offers organisations, existing provident funds, and individuals the opportunity to collectively invest in a segregated portfolio that places funds in bonds, cash and stocks across diverse geographic regions.

Currently, the A53 offers two major investment portfolios namely; the Money Market Portfolio and the Balanced Portfolio.  The money market portfolio is invested in Botswana, through a range of short term debt securities such as Treasury Bills, Commercial Paper, Bankers Acceptances issued by banks, government and corporations.  The money market portfolio is ideal for investors who need to use their money in the short term.

The balanced portfolio affords investors the opportunity to access equities listed on the local and global stock markets as well as in money markets and bonds. The balanced portfolio is appropriate for members who have a long term investment horizon.

The A53 has a Board consisting of four (4) Trustees and a Principal Officer appointed in line with the Pension and Provident Fund Act.  The board is responsible for the appointment of administrators, investment managers, bankers and auditors.