Page 76 - Profile's Unit Trusts & Collective Investments - March 2026

Chapter 4 The CIS industry

ASISA was formed during 2008 by members of the ACI, the Investment Management Association
of South Africa (IMASA), the Linked Investment Service Providers Association (LISPA) and the Life
Offices’ Association (LOA). ASISA replaced the ACI as the licensed body tasked with self-regulation
of the collective investment schemes industry, to the extent permitted under Schedule 4 of CISCA.
As an industry association, a core function of ASISA is the formulation of best practice guidelines
for members. When it comes to policy and regulatory matters, ASISA also serves as a conduit
between members (such as fund managers) and the regulator (the FSCA). ASISA plays an important
role in the creation and distribution of industry statistics and in promoting collective investments as
savings vehicles.
A key role of the ACI was lobbying for legislative changes, an objective which ASISA continues.
As the AUT, for example, the industry body was instrumental in obtaining a tax exemption from CGT
for the collective investments industry.
Note that membership of ASISA is not compulsory although it is strongly encouraged by the
FSCA. The majority of unit trust companies in SA are members of ASISA, but some continue to
stay outside of the industry body. Non-members circumvent some of the disclosure requirements of
ASISA and their fact sheets, therefore, demand greater scrutiny on the part of independent financial
advisers (IFAs) and investors.
The FSCA (formerly the FSB)
During the course of 2018, as part of the restructuring required by the Financial Sector Regulation
(FSR) Act of 2017, the Financial Services Board (FSB) became the Financial Sector Conduct
Authority (FSCA).
In terms of the FSR Act, the regulation of the safety and soundness of financial institutions
will shift to the prudential authority that is functioning within the South African Reserve
Bank (SARB) – see Chapter 5 for more details. For now, the regulation of the soundness of
retirement funds, friendly societies and collective investment schemes remains with the FSCA,
but the prudential authority notes that the supervision of these entities will transition to it during the
2025-2030 regulatory period.
The FSCA, a quasi-government body funded by the financial services industry, will remain the
regulator of the market conduct of the CIS industry. The Registrar of collective investment schemes
was an official of the FSCA until the FSCA was restructured into a market conduct authority. There
is now a head of investments within the Conduct of Business Supervision division. Collective
investment schemes must be registered with the FSCA in order to operate legally.
All collective investment schemes are obliged to submit to the FSCA an annual report each year
and details of their portfolios every three months. The purpose of this monitoring is to check that
CIS managers are not falsifying their performance and that fund managers are investing according
to their deeds.
Since March 2015 the FSCA (then FSB) has taken responsibility for the disclosure requirements
of unit trusts and other collective investments – a function previously assigned to ASISA.
FSB Notice 92 of 2014 maintains and extends ASISA’s long-standing disclosure rules.
Salient points of Notice 92 include the following:
R Managers must ensure that all communications (including adverts) are appropriate,
clear and fair
R All funds must produce quarterly minimum disclosure documents (MDDs) that conform to
the FSCA model
R Performance figures must be truthful, objective and representative
R Managers must lodge with the registrar copies of all adverts, MDDs, application forms
and other marketing material
Linked investment service providers (LISPs)
The FSCA defines a LISP as a service provider whose business consists wholly or partly of
“implementing and or capturing investment instructions received from investment managers on

74 Profile’s Unit Trusts & Collective Investments March 2026