Principal Officer - Cape Town HQ at PepsiCo

What we're looking for: 

• We’re looking for an experienced Principal Officer to join our team.  

Key Responsibilities are:

GENERAL     

• Ensure that the Board of Trustees (the Board) oversees the performance of service providers on all matters relating to the Fund.
• Ensure that the instructions of the Board are acted upon and where necessary provide a report back to the Fund.
• At all times act in a fiduciary relationship to the Fund and act with due care, diligence and in good faith.
• Ensure that the Board is kept informed of strategic and corporate governance issues relating to the Fund.
• Ensure that all reports and presentations, as may be required by the Board, are attended to by the relevant service provider.
• Act as the liaison between the Board and all service providers, regulatory authorities and other stakeholders and ensure that all activities relating to the Fund are co-ordinated.
• Perform statutory functions as set out in the Act.
• Ensure that the Board has processes in place to monitor the performance of all appointed service providers in terms of their service level agreements with the Fund.
• Oversee the transition of any service provider changes.

FINANCIAL SOUNDNESS 

• Ensure that the Fund’s financial resources and the adequacy thereof are monitored by the Board via reporting by Funds’ actuaries.

ACCOUNTING & ADMINISTRATION     

• Ensure the implementation of all legal requirements.
• Ensure that the annual audit is arranged, supervised and monitored by the relevant service provider.
• Ensure that quarterly feedback is provided to the Boards on the Funds’ administration activities, cash flows, and report on and engage the service providers to manage any exceptions.

FICA REQUIREMENTS      

• Ensure that a record of all officers of the Fund, as required by the Act, is maintained by the consultants to the relevant Fund.

 ASSET MANAGEMENT     

• Ensure that the Board formulates an investment policy for the Fund in compliance with the Rules of the Fund and Regulation 28 of the Act, including the setting of benchmarks and formulation of asset manager mandates.
• Ensure that the Board has processes in place to implement and monitor the investment policy and the asset manager mandates.
• Ensure that the Board has processes in place to monitor that each of the service providers, as appointed by the Board, implement effective risk management systems to afford maximum protection of the Fund’s assets.
• Ensure service providers monitor adherence to Regulation 28 limits, including SARB limits on overseas exposure.
• Stay abreast of developments and changes in asset manager industry to monitor and manage risk exposure.

BENEFITS     

• Ensure annual drafting and timeous distribution of benefit statements by the relevant service provider.
• Ensure the timeous payment of transfer, withdrawal and retirement benefits by the relevant service provider.
• Engage retirees on in-fund annuity option.
• Ensure that death claim investigations in terms of Section 37C of the Act are performed competently and in a timely manner by the appointed service provider. Arrange for trustee allocation decisions, and formally communicate decision with beneficiaries after decision and before benefit payment.

COMMUNICATION

• Ensure that the Board has formulated a formal communication policy for the Fund which deals with the timeous provision of adequate and appropriate information to members of the Fund.
• Review the annual trustee report as drafted by the Funds’ consultants.
• Regularly review the various members booklets held by the Funds.
• Ensure that regularly recurring windows to select contribution rate and life cover changes are available and implemented correctly.
• Engage member stakeholders, including Shop Stewards, on Fund related queries and changes.
• Draft / review ad hoc communication regarding changes to fund structure and / or legislation and ensure effective distribution to members.

COMPLAINTS / QUERIES 

• Respond to complaints / queries addressed to the Principal Officer with the assistance of the relevant service provider.
• Liaise telephonically or in-person with complainants, as required.
• Liaise with Pension Funds Adjudicator on any complaints received via their office.

CONTRIBUTIONS  

• Ensure that the relevant service provider provides reports to the Principal Officer on the receipt of contributions by the Fund in terms of Section 13A of the Act.
• Implement the steps outlined in regulation in the event of any contraventions of Section 13A of the Act.
• Act as Monitoring Person for each Fund.

LEGAL & GOVERNANCE  

• Monitor and ensure the timeous drafting, submission and implementation of Rule Amendments by the relevant service provider.
• Act as the representative of the Fund in all legal proceedings.
• Review and where required arrange for external legal advice on service level agreements with service providers.
• Ensure that all policies, including the risk management framework, envisaged by PF130 are in place and regularly reviewed.

MEETINGS   

• Ensure proper meeting procedures and policies are in place as well as appropriate record keeping of decisions.

Ensure that the relevant service provider:

• schedules meetings of the Board and Committees in terms of the Rules of the Fund;
• arranges venues (where applicable) and sends out notices of such meetings;
• prepares and distributes Agenda documentation; and
• keeps attendance records and ensure minutes of all meetings are kept in such a way as to provide a clear record of events and decisions for future reference – particularly in the event of disputes.
• Ensure compliance with requirements of the Rules of the Fund in respect of notice periods, meeting intervals and quorums.
• Attend all meetings of the Board and any other sub-committee meetings as agreed by the Board.
• Review minutes of all Board and sub-committee meetings prior to distribution to Board.          

INSURANCE

• Engage relevant insurer regarding annual renewal of rates for both approved and unapproved policies and engage consultant on instruction of Board to test competitiveness of rates.
• Engage relevant broker regarding annual renewal of rates for both approved and unapproved policies and ensure rates are testes for competitiveness.
• Ensure Policyholder Protection Rules (PPR) are adhered to in respect of communication requirements.
• Communicate rate changes to payroll function for implementation on payroll system
• Engage relevant insurers on declined and/or problematic claims to ensure adherence to policy provisions and Treating Customers Fairly and PPR guidelines.
• Oversee data held on payroll system to ensure compliance with PPR requirements.
• Oversee campaigns promoting regular completion of nomination forms.
• Monitor operational performance of insurers.  

PRIVACY     

• Act as Information Officer for each Fund.
• Report as and when required to Information Regulator.
• Record and respond to information requests in terms of Protection of Information Act.   

STRATEGIC 

• Engage company management on changes required to funds to align with legislation, to improve operational efficiencies, and to ensure harmonization within organization.
• Report to Sector and Global functions on fund structure, statistics, asset values, and insured benefits (as applicable), as and when required.
• Provide input on internal company policies relating to fund- and related benefits.

Qualifications

• Ideally 7 Years’ experience as a Principal Officer, managing multiple pension funds and medical aid
• Tertiary Financial qualification – Preferably an Actuarial qualification
• Experience in unionised environment (preferably FMCG or Retail)