PSG held its annual conference in May – a hybrid event that saw delegates gather in-person at Sun City as well as join online from all over the country. This year’s theme was “Step up and stand out”.
PSG certainly does stand out: not only is its refreshed brand featuring a vibrant, eye-catching cyan blue, but the firm’s most recent annual financial results also set it apart from its peers. In an environment that has seen many financial services firms reducing headcount, PSG is expanding, investing in its people and bolstering its technology-forward position.
It All Comes Down to the People
“Navigating such punishing circumstances and producing the results we have, is truly remarkable,” said Francois Gouws, CEO of PSG Konsult. It all comes down to people, he explained. “We have a competitive group of professionals at PSG who don’t let difficult circumstances hold them back,” he says.
As Dan Hugo, CE of PSG Distribution pointed out later during the conference, more than 40% of advisers have been with PSG for longer than 20 years. Their achievements are reflected in the numerous prestigious awards conferred on top-performing advisers and offices in various categories.
As is tradition at PSG, winners are announced at the conference’s esteemed gala dinner, which formally took place in Sun City for the first time since 2019. However, thanks to the digital event platform, employees throughout the country were able to see the winners accept the honours on stage.
The annual awards encourage healthy competition among PSG’s network and celebrate not only profitability, but the extent to which advisers embrace the trusted PSG processes and live the firm’s values.
And the winners are…
Office of the year:
PSG Wealth R21 Employee Benefits and Wealth Management. Principals Nerine and Neels Brink accepted the award on behalf of the office.
Employee Benefits office of the year:
PSG Wealth R21 Employee Benefits also took the honours in this category, where its focus is on the employee benefits business specifically. They received the award on behalf of the office for the third consecutive year. This is the tenth time the office has won this award.
Wealth Adviser of the year:
Neels Brink, from PSG Wealth R21 Wealth Management walked away with the achievement – continuing his podium position where he achieved first place in 2020, was a finalist in 2021 and regained the top spot this year at the 2022 awards.
Wealth Manager of the year:
Brian van Rensburg from PSG Namibia (pictured) secured this year’s title. This is a first time win for Van Rensburg in the category.
Insure Adviser of the year:
Markus Fourie (pictured) from the PSG Silver Lakes Outeniqua office once again walks away with this award, having won it last year for the first time.
While these individual advisers and offices have made significant contributions to the ongoing success of the business, there are countless others that are deserving of recognition. For this reason, PSG also took the opportunity on the evening to recognise those advisers that reached certain milestones within the business.
External contributors: hearing from SA’s thought leaders
The conference celebrates PSG’s past successes but also looks to the future, bringing together renowned thought leaders to debate and discuss pertinent issues. For example, media personality JJ Tabane facilitated a panel discussion titled “Picking up the pace: how to accelerate economic growth” between journalist and political analyst, Max du Preez, Chancellor of the University of the Free State, Bonang Mohale and legal journalist, documentary producer and bestselling author Karyn Maughan.
Much of the conversation centred on the private sector and the role it needs to play in addressing issues from land reform to education and job creation. According to Mohale, “What’s really needed is incisive, bold leadership from business”, while Du Preez pointed out that we have an “innovative, energetic private sector and a collapsing public sector”.
However, because the rule of law is so precarious, business has every reason to be apprehensive about investing in SA, from Maughan’s perspective. “It’s all very well to say businesses must invest but you need to give them faith that what they’re investing in is sustainable and safe,” she says.
In his keynote address, Tito Mboweni, former Finance Minister and Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, added to the seriousness of the discussions. He warned that we are likely to see steadily rising interest rates, with the repo rate possibly ending the year at 5.5% to 6%. The former Minister also sounded a note of caution about pressure on government spending – especially from the social sector – and the “frightening” rate of increase in the debt to GDP ratio.
Given a very uncertain global backdrop and the challenges facing SA policymakers in an environment of rising inflation but pedestrian economic growth, he highlighted the urgent need for structural reform.
Standing out for all the right reasons
According to Dan Hugo, CE of PSG Distribution, one of the biggest focal areas for PSG is digital enhancement. This is set to continue over the coming years as various systems are implemented across the business to continue the company’s trajectory as a stand-out, leading financial technology firm. Having set itself the goal of transforming advisers’ and clients’ digital experiences, PSG has invested heavily to ensure its technological systems are up to the task.
“I strongly encourage advisers and other staff, as well as clients, to make use of these systems and processes because they’re there to make your life easier,” says Hugo.
Placing the client at the centre of its business means using technology to communicate with them in a meaningful way and the data suggests PSG has been successful on this front.
For example, the Think Big series of webinars – also available via YouTube or as podcasts via Spotify – reached 20 000 live attendees over the last year.
“There are plenty of other initiatives planned to improve client engagement, communicate more effectively and further cement client relationships,” says Hugo. These include regular client feedback sessions and hospitality events, as well as a better mobile experience and a simplified client onboarding tool.
The newly rebranded PSG looks set to continue to stand out, head and shoulders above its peers.