The regulator’s responsibilities are reduced to ensuring high corporate governance standards and reasonable returns on investments. Given these trends, one may ask whether the Namibian retirement fund industry is ready to assume greater responsibility to manage retirement funds without prescriptive investment regulations. There are, in my view, two compelling reasons why I have to answer this question with a qualified no.
It is my considered opinion that we are not ready yet and that some form of prescription is necessary to protect the investors and to assure socially responsible investments. I’m not saying that boards of trustees are irresponsible and would not act in the best interest of their members, but the following are factors that need to be considered.