Page 100 - Profile's Unit Trusts & Collective Investments - March 2025

CHAPTER 5

The POPI and PAIA requirements are unrelated and have to be dealt with separately, although
POPI caused the requirement of Section 51 of PAIA, which defines the contents of every
organisation’s PAIA manual, to be amended. PAIA manuals have to be posted on websites and
made available at each organisation’s place of business (note that an earlier requirement that PAIA
manuals were to be lodged with the Human Rights Commission was removed). The PAIA manual
deadline was 31 December 2021.
CRISA and TCF
Code for Responsible Investing
The Code for Responsible Investing in South Africa (CRISA) was launched in July 2011. A second
version of it, CRISA 2.0 was launched in 2022 and reporting in terms of it became effective in 2023.
The code, a product of the Committee on Responsible Investing convened by the Institute of Directors
in South Africa, aims to encourage sound governance by major investors in their business activities.
CRISA applies to asset owners, asset
managers and service providers. In other
words, institutional investors such as
pension funds, insurance companies,
collective investment schemes, and other
financial institutions. Service providers
include consultants to pensions funds.
CRISA is endorsed by the Association for
Savings and Investment South Africa
(ASISA), the FSCA, Batseta (the
organisation of principal officers, trustees
and fund fiduciaries), the Government
Employees Pension Fund and the Institute
of Directors in South Africa.
CRISA, which is designed to work hand
in glove with the King code, gives direction
as to how asset owners should carry out their activities in order to act responsibly and achieve
sound governance. The code pays particular attention to the manner in which financial institutions
perform investment analysis and exercise their rights, as asset owners, in order to deliver value in
its broadest possible definition. In this sense, value is measured against the long-term
sustainability of activities, not just the financial benefits accruing to direct beneficiaries of the
investment business.
CRISA embraces five key principles, which should be encapsulated in formal policies adopted
by institutions:
1. The institutional investor should incorporate sustainability considerations, including a systemic
approach to integrating material environmental, social and governance (ESG), into its investment
analysis and investment activities.
2. The institutional investor should demonstrate the acceptance of the rights and responsibilities
of asset ownership diligently to enable effective stewardship. In practice, this means that
institutions are encouraged to engage with companies in which they invest, to attend and vote
at shareholder meetings in accordance with CRISA policies, and to promote transparency in
communication. Under CRISA, these responsibilities still attach to the institution even if
some functions are outsourced to third-party service providers.
3. Where appropriate, institutional investors should consider a collaborative approach to promote
acceptance and implementation of the principles of CRISA and other codes and standards applicable
to institutional investors and targeted capacity building throughout the investment industry.
4. The institutional investor should have sound governance structures and processes in place so
that investment structures and activities reflect and promote responsible investment and
diligent stewardship and proactively manage conflicts of interest.

98 Profile’s Unit Trusts & Collective Investments — Understanding Unit Trusts