Finance minister Malusi Gigaba admitted that the stalemate continues in pension industry negotiations — the parties at Nedlac have yet to agree on the future of provident funds.For now, members of provident funds can take out their pension pots in a lump sum, though government and business would like to see pension and provident fund rules aligned so that everyone would have to buy a regular annuity. But labour has dug in its heels.This stalemate notwithstanding, there has been some progress in the pensions industry.Changes to offshore regulations were quietly slipped into the budget.Soon, pension funds and retirement annuities will be able to increase their exposure to offshore assets from 25% to 30%.Rowan Burger, managing executive at MMI, says this will give investors the opportunity to diversify from a highly concentrated local market, where Naspers alone can account for 25% of the index.It is quite a bold move when a stronger currency makes offshore assets look cheaper in rand ...
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