FAQs

• Other than in the event of permanent disability, Members may not access any benefits from the Fund before the age of 55 years.
• No benefits may be withdrawn when members leave employment or are retrenched before the age of 55 years.
• All retirement savings in the Fund may not be ceded, pledged, or offered as collateral to creditors to secure debt.
• The Fund allows for early retirement before age 55 where a member is permanently disabled due to an injury or illness. The Trustees will be required to approve a formal written application for early retirement, based on medical evidence obtained at the member’s cost.

The Botswana Life Retirement Annuity Fund is seeking to accomplish the following goals with these changes:

• To comply to the Regulatory Requirements

• Ensure that Members are provided with the relevant and empowering information about their Retirement plans in a timely and periodical manner

The Botswana Life Retirement Annuity Fund operates on global best practice standards for retirement funds.

• A Board of Trustees exists to protect the rights and interests of members and to ensure sound governance and oversight;
• A separate Fund Administrator is appointed to manage the Fund, manage applications to the Fund, and independently verify the assets and liability valuations of the Fund;
• Members submit their applications and are admitted to the Fund upon acceptance, vetting, and verification;
• The Fund invests member contributions into a retirement annuity policy as selected by the member.
• A life stage investment model is used for the Fund in terms of which investment portfolios are selected which suit the risk profile of the member based on the number of years left to retirement.

This is a balanced and appropriate investment approach selected by the Fund’s Trustees);

• Annual member benefits statements are provided;
• Members will receive their retirement benefit upon retirement at their selected retirement date after the age of 55 years but before the age of 70 years.

For further information on statement changes please call our Contact Centre on 3623700 or email po-raf@blil.co.bw.

Your Financial Advisor is also well equipped to provide you with all information necessary for you to make the best financial decision for you and your loved ones.

There are a number of administrative and other benefits to using an umbrella fund, including but are not limited to:

• Even greater transparency;
• Increased opportunity for benefit preservation; and
• Reduced administration leading to greater agility and efficiency

The Botswana Life Retirement Annuity Fund was licensed on 13 September 2019. The Fund is a standalone umbrella retirement fund that houses all of Botswana Life’s new and old retirement annuity policy products, including:

• Mompati/Personal Pension Plan
• Offshore Gold
• Botswana Citizen Pension
• Personal Pension Plan Guaranteed

Umbrella retirement funds such as this one have been.

The benefit of an umbrella fund such as this has been.

To become a member of the Botswana Life Retirement Annuity Fund, applicants must complete the application form and submit the form together with the relevant documentation referred to in question 4 to any branch of Botswana Life.

Any eligible adult citizen or resident with the requisite documentation referred to below can join and become a member of the Botswana Life Retirement Annuity Fund. On joining, Botswana Life will issue a retirement annuity policy to the Fund with the member a life assured and principal member.

The following documentation is required:

• Completed Fund application form;
• Certified copy of ID
• Proof of residential address
• Proof of source of funds.

It should be noted that a retirement annuity is particularly advisable for younger people who should ideally start saving towards their retirement as early as possible.

During office hours, members/policyholders may view the Fund Rules, financial returns and actuarial valuation report at the Fund’s registered office. Copies are available at a fee determined by the Trustees. The Fund will provide members/policyholders with an annual benefit statement.

We are confident that the Botswana Life Retirement Annuity Fund will serve our policyholders and clients well and is yet another example of our vision to be Botswana’s first choice in life insurance-based financial solutions and advisory services, with a wholehearted and holistic desire to ensure we help create legacies, provide financial security and peace of mind, and empower our clients to truly walk tall. We are privileged to play our part in ensuring that Batswana are covered. The establishment of the Botswana Life Retirement Annuity Fund is very much in line with our strategy of servicing individual client needs, while a broad suite of other solutions also exists for supporting corporates and business owners’ needs.

All existing Botswana Life retirement annuity policyholders will be transferred to the Botswana Life Retirement Annuity Fund with effect 13 September 2019, the date of the registration of the Fund by NBFIRA, and will become members of the Fund from this date forward. 

Membership will end when a member retires, or dies before retirement, or chooses to withdraw from the Fund to move to another retirement annuity fund. Membership also ends once the total value of a policy after all fees and charges has been paid out, or has otherwise reduced to nil.

First time new clients buying a retirement annuity product will join the Fund and become a member once:

• Botswana Life has received the application and supporting documents;
• Botswana Life on behalf of the Fund has accepted the application;

and

• The member/policyholder contribution is received by the Fund’s bank account.

The Fund was set up to remain aligned to the requirements of the new Retirement Funds Act 2014. While Botswana Life has always had retirement annuity policies, the changes to the law in 2017 meant that policyholders also had to become members of a licensed retirement annuity fund registered with and controlled by NBFIRA. This also created an opportunity for Botswana Life to create a modern and enhanced retirement fund product to offer to its policyholders and clients. With the Fund under NBFIRA’s supervision, existing Botswana Life policyholders can rest assured that all their policy rights and benefits remain fully protected. Botswana Life and the Botswana Life Retirement Annuity Fund are privileged to be able to play our part in helping Batswana to plan and adequately fund for their retirement. We know we can do this best because our team is the best, and we are fully committed to growing further into the future, together.

Although Botswana Life Insurance is a sponsor of the Fund, the Botswana Life Retirement Annuity Fund is a separate legal entity and governed by a separately appointed and approved Board of Trustees. One of the body of Trustees is fully independent and not associated with the sponsor. The Trustees act with fiduciary responsibility and are required to protect the interests of members and act with impartiality, due care, diligence, and in good faith at all times. The law requires Trustees to apply the Rules of the Fund, appoint a principal officer, communicate with members, and ensure proper administration of the Fund. The Trustees have put governance procedures in place to fulfill these responsibilities.

A retirement annuity is a type of personal pension fund for people who want to make their own provision for retirement or who want to supplement their employer’s pension fund. Clients can use our retirement annuity to accumulate investment savings for retirement in a tax efficient way while they are still earning an income. The Botswana Life Retirement Annuity Fund was set up to look after our working clients and policyholders, to allow them to begin saving for their retirement today. At retirement, members will receive a retirement benefit, or in the event of their earlier death, their Dependents and/or Beneficiaries will receive the benefit. The Botswana Life Retirement Annuity Fund fully complies with the Retirement Funds Act, under the purview of NBFIRA, the regulator, and BURS. The Fund is also fully aligned to Botswana Life’s core mission, namely, to create legacies and meet the financial security needs of Batswana.

The Botswana Life Retirement Annuity Fund, Botswana Life, Peeletso Fund Administrators, and all appointed service providers to the Fund are required to know and apply the legislation and regulations applicable to the Fund.

This includes but is not limited to the following:

The Retirement Funds Act 2014 & Regulations, NBFIRA Act, Income Tax Act, and Insurance Industry Act. Prudential investment guidelines are prescribed by PFR2 which specify investment exposure limits with which the investment of the Fund must comply. In addition, the Fund must ensure tried and tested internal measures and controls are applied, as well as reviewed regularly.

Botswana Life and its associated companies and entities take compliance and governance seriously and understand the trust placed in us by our valued members and policyholders and remain committed to delivering nothing less than standards of excellence.

The new Botswana Life Retirement Annuity Fund (BLRAF) was licenced in September 2019 and is compliant with relevant regulatory requirements under the purview of NBFIRA (Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority).

The new Fund is a welcomed development in bringing even greater transparency through a dedicated fund administrator, increased opportunity for preservation, and greater agility and efficiency, all the while maintaining best practice and the utmost client confidentiality and security protocols.

Botswana Life as the sponsor has, in establishing the umbrella fund, seized the opportunity to further enhance what the business provides in the retirement annuities space, playing an integral part in ensuring that Batswana are able to secure their futures and that of their loved ones.

After the transfer of policies to the Fund, the policyholder becomes a member and the Fund becomes the policyholder. The following remain some of the key rights and responsibilities of members are:

• Members can access their retirement benefit upon retirement after 55 years of age;
• Members must report errors on any statements or reports received;
• Members must inform the Fund or Botswana Life of changes to their bank account or contact details
• Members must notify the Fund or Botswana Life of changes to their KYC submissions;
• Members must read the Rules of the Fund and check Fund statements, valuations, and financial returns provided to them;
• Members should refer to the Retirement Annuity Fund Membership Guide for more detail

A retirement annuity is a personal retirement savings vehicle while a pension fund is done through your employer and often referred to as an occupational retirement saving vehicle. Both are however retirement funds managed by appointed trustees. Contributions into a retirement fund (either member and or both member and employer’s) are tax deductible up to certain limits.

BLRAF in particular houses other retirement policies such as Mompati, Offshore Gold, Botswana Citizen Pension and Personal Pension Plan Guaranteed that will be overseen by a Board of Trustees. An administrator has been appointed as a third-party service provider tasked with protecting the interests of investors through independently verifying the assets and valuation of the Fund.

All changes affecting existing Botswana Life retirement annuity policyholders are subject to NBFIRA’s direct oversight and control and have been approved on the basis that they comply with applicable legislation and will not undermine existing policyholder rights and benefits. All existing affected policyholder rights and obligations will be transferred to the Botswana Life Retirement Annuity Fund and reflected in each member’s membership rights. It must be noted that the Fund in law becomes the “policyholder” of the transferred policies, although members retain their normal rights to deal with the policy as they choose.

BLRAF issues statements to it members at least once annually to show where their investments currently stand. These statements include the Benefit Statements and Tax Certificate. These are documents that have been previously shared with members. BLRAF is including Projection Statements as a new addition to these statements.

The Benefit statement and Tax certificates have been revised and would be presented in the BLRAF brand as well going forward.

 As confirmed by NBFIRA, Botswana Life will continue to administer the Fund until the appointment of a substantive licensed administrator in due course, Peeletso Fund Administrators (Pty) Ltd.

The Fund Administrator is appointed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees to handle the day-to-day operations of the Fund. These include record keeping, collecting contributions, arranging benefit payments. Fund Administrators have a fiduciary duty to ensure that they administer the Fund in accordance with applicable legislation and the Fund’s Rules.

Fund Administrators like Peeletso Fund Administrators must be third-party service providers separately appointed to protect the interests of members, for example by being able to independently verify the asset and liability valuations of the Fund.

Regulation 14 of the Retirement Fund Act outlines the duties of the Board which amongst many is to ensure that adequate and appropriate information is communicated to stakeholders informing them of their rights, benefit, and duties in terms of the rules, together with such matters as maybe prescribed by the Regulatory Authority.

To comply to the prescribed Legislation and to exercise the Fund’s responsibility towards its Members, it is important for members to be provided with timely and periodic statements relating to their Retirement plans.

As a licensed retirement fund, the Botswana Life Retirement Annuity Fund is subject to all the normal legislation and regulations applying to pension and retirement funds and any specific requirements imposed by the Regulator, NBFIRA and BURS on the Fund and on Botswana Life. Botswana Life and the Board of Trustees of the Fund will ensure that they remain fully up to date and compliant with these requirements.

The following is some of the main legislation and other items that govern membership of the Fund.

• The official approved Rules of the Fund;
• The Retirement Funds Act 2014 & Regulations: which governs all Retirement Funds,
• The NBFIRA Act: which regulates the non-bank financial institutions
• The Income Tax Act: This Act applies to contributions and benefits where we refer to tax
• The Insurance Industry Act: when a policy is issued to the Fund or a Compulsory Annuity is purchased, it must be issued by an insurer registered under this Act.

Amendments to or replacements of the legislation and directives issued by the regulatory authorities may change from time to time.

Benefit Statement are an annual summary of a Member’s pension savings, designed to give the member information about their savings at a particular time and what their savings could be worth in the future.

•  Existing Botswana Life Retirement Annuity policyholders are being automatically migrated to the Botswana Life Retirement Annuity Fund at no charge. This means that no new fees or charges will be applied to the transfer.
• Other than that, an existing policy will now be held by the Fund for the benefit of the member, all policy premiums, terms, and conditions of existing policies will remain the same.
• New members will need to submit, as part of their application,
• Completed application/proposal form
• Certified copy of ID, Proof of residential address Proof of source of funds

A Tax Certificate is document issued by the retirement fund that confirms the contributions that a Member made to the fund during the tax year. They are typically often relevant for retirement annuity funds to facilitate the use tax concession given by the tax authority.

A life stage investment model is where each member of the Fund is invested in an investment portfolio selected by the Fund based on their age and the number of years to the selected retirement date, between the age of 55 and 70 years.

Pension projections statement is a communication tool or document that helps future retirees understand the most probable value of their future accumulated savings or the most probable value of their future retirement income.