Board of Trustees

The GIPF subscribes to the principle that a well-governed pension fund should deliver sustainable value to its stakeholders. The Fund further upholds the high standards of governance through effective and ethical leadership. The Fund has also adopted sound risk management practices, strong internal controls, and high information technology governance standards. GIPF observes optimal regulatory compliance, stringent financial governance and responsible investment practices.

Strategy oversight

The Board creates value by exercising oversight over the implementation of the strategic plan. Executive management makes quarterly implementation reports to the Board, while the organisation holds an annual strategy review.

Trustees’ duties

The duties of the Trustees are to:

Manage, control and administer the Fund
Ensure that proper internal control systems are in place to mitigate significant risks
Establish a risk management framework and its review
Provide strategic and policy direction to the Fund
Receive regular management reports to monitor operational compliance
Propose amendments to the Rules of the Fund
Determine the investment policy, setting out investment guidelines and performance benchmarks in line with the policy framework
Establish and manage relationships with key stakeholders

Governance standards and principles

The Fund conforms to six fundamental governance standards and principles as provided for in the corporate governance framework: fairness, accountability, responsibility, transparency, competency and integrity. The GIPF believes that effective and ethical leadership is central to good governance, in line with the Corporate Governance Code for Namibia (NamCode) and the Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa 2016 (King IV). This implies that GIPF’s leadership must deliver not only a seamless strategy but also ensure operational excellence, which it accomplishes by adhering to the following:

Providing direction to the organisation through clear strategy
Giving effect to that strategy through the development of appropriate policies
Providing oversight over management’s implementation of the strategy
Demonstrating accountability and transparency through full disclosure