BPOPF restructuring to cut spending

Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) is in the process of restructuring to fully implement its new service offering. The Fund decided to provide in-house services, which were formerly carried out by Alexander Forbes externally.

These services include the collection of members’ contributions and administration of benefits. Briefing the press last week, BPOPF Chief Executive, Boitumelo Molefe said BPOPF is currently on a restructuring process as it is now in-sourcing all services from Alexander Forbes.

“In this year we have been very busy. We are bringing in all services from Alexander Forbes to our house. For the first time in history BPOPF will have a back office in-house,” said Molefe. The services include Benefits administration, data services, trust services, investment management services and financial services.

The system is expected to be complete by October next year. Molefe explained that through the process the fund has to restructure to enable it to deliver the new services. She said the restructuring of the fund was approved by the board in November 2015 and has resulted in the new organisational structure and a five-year human resource strategy.

The insourcing system is expected to save the fund 70 percent of the cost of outsourcing payment services of its 153 000 members. “The recruitment for the new structure has commenced and is likely to be complete in the first quarter of 2016.

For the first time in its history, the fund is now geared towards a culture of service provision and development,” said Molefe.Through the new strategy, the fund will experience regular audits by Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA). “2016 is also likely to be the year when the new Retirements Funds Act comes into play, which will increase the need for greater regulation,” said Molefe.

Molefe also said they have already rolled out a new IT system to manage data for the members.