Pupil becomes the master

Octavia TsibesRetirement Fund Solutions (RFS) recently confirmed Marthinuz Fabianus as its new managing director to take over from long-serving Tilman Friedrich who will now chair the company's board.Fabianus joined the RFS in 2001. He graduated from the then Polytechnic of Namibia a diploma in commerce and a bachelor's in business management. “I have been in the industry for 24 years since 1994. The highlight has been the ascend of our business Retirement Fund Solutions to being currently the biggest wholly Namibian-owned pension fund administrator in Namibia and of course my recent appointment as managing director,” Fabianus said.Fabianus' meteoric rise has been a long time coming and started from humble beginnings. In 1994 he started working as a filing and delivery clerk for the now defunct pension fund administrator United Pension Administrators (UPA) under the tutelage of Friedrich.After three months on the job, Fabianus approached Friedrich on the basis that he wanted more challenges.As a trainee, he was told that his development would depend on his academic performance.In 1999 UPA was sold to Alexander Forbes, while Friedrich resigned to form RFS.On the other hand, Fabianus had risen through the ranks to become an associate consultant. He later took up the role of marketing manager at Old Mutual's employee benefits division.He resigned from this role in 2001 before teaming up again with Friedrich at RFS.At RFS he started as administration manager.He later become an alternate director, shareholder and director of client services, before his appointment first as deputy managing director and now as managing director. VisionarySpeaking of his vision for RFS, Fabianus says he wants the company to become a household name in the Namibian market.He promised to work tirelessly to pass on a healthy business to the RFS shareholders.RFS is one of the leading pension fund administrators in the country, and manages over 60 funds and 100 smaller groups under its Benchmark Retirement Fund.“Pension funds are subject to robust and dynamic regulatory requirements that we have to keep to and which increases the costs of managing pension funds,” he says.According to Fabianus, a draft law is in the pipeline which will change the face of pension fund administration.“Most employers and employees alike do not correctly understand the complex setup of pension funds which often leads to poor decision-making,” he says. Except for RFS, all significant service providers in the industry are extensions of South African companies, with huge financial backing and skills based in SA and minimal capacity created locally. Explaining his focus for the coming years, Fabianus said the four aspects which he will hone in on are visibility, key relationship building, dynamic stakeholder engagement and driving the company's strategic actions and goals.

Pupil becomes the master

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-06

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Pupil becomes the master

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-06

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