Maitland Appointed by South African Power Utility

Eskom Pension and Provident Fund (EPPF) in South Africa has partnered with Maitland to provide an investment administration and management platform.

The appointment follows a selection process, where Maitland was appointed to partner with EPPF in providing an investment administration and accounting services solution in June 2013.

The appointment of Maitland introduces changes to the EPPF’s asset administration to enable it to improve efficiencies.

EPPF is one of the largest defined benefit pension funds in South Africa. It manages more than R96 billion ($9.7 billion) on behalf of approximately 88,000 members, pensioners and beneficiaries. A portion of EPPF’s assets is managed in-house, but it also employs a number of external fund managers.

Through its master accounting solution Maitland has assisted in consolidating EPPF’s valuation, accounting, and reporting processes. It has also helped to make daily reconciliations between EPPF and its custodians significantly more efficient.
EPPF CEO Sbu Luthuli said: “We are focused on providing maximum returns for our members and therefore, efficiency is an important enabler. In Maitland, we have found a partner that truly understands this, which puts us in the strongest possible position to deliver the best returns with greater efficiency.”

While multi-manager structures help pension funds to secure the returns for members, a lack of standardization between ‘sub funds’ on administrative processes such as reporting and accounting, poses a challenge to pension funds. An outsourced solution helps these funds take advantage of the benefits of the multi-manager approach without the administrative burden.