PSG goes beyond in its 25th year

PSG hosted its Annual Conference at Sun City during May – a hybrid event with more than 500 advisers and delegates in attendance from across South Africa. This year’s theme was ’Go Beyond’, and the group fittingly chose this platform to announce its plans to rename the business to PSG Financial Services, in line with its strategic growth objectives (and pending requisite approvals).

Celebrating its 25th year in 2023, the business has evolved into one of the country’s leading financial services providers. Today, PSG offers a comprehensive range of products and services, while remaining focused on delivering to its growing client base in line with its high standards.

CEO Francois Gouws kicked off the two-day event by setting the scene on what is required for the group to go beyond its perceived limits. He noted that the business has had 10 years of sequential headline earnings per share growth during tough conditions, along with five credit rating upgrades over the same period.

“Navigating challenging circumstances and producing the results we have, is a testimony to our people,” said Gouws. “We have a competitive group of professionals at PSG who don’t let difficult circumstances hold them back,” he explained.

Dan Hugo, CE of Distribution noted that the firm’s investment in technology is set to continue over the coming years, as various systems are being 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 will continue to invest heavily to ensure its technological systems are up to the task to not only keep growing its capacity, but also its capability.

And the winners are…

The event also serves as an opportunity to bestow recognition on top advisers from across the country who reached various milestones during the financial year. As is the tradition at PSG, these advisers, together with the winners of the individual adviser and office awards, were announced at the conference’s gala dinner.

Wealth Manager of the Year:

Paul Sullivan from PSG Melrose Arch secured this year’s title, making this his first win.

Wealth Adviser of the Year:

Dulcie Weyks, from Waterkloof Financial Planning, earned the achievement this year.

Insure Adviser of the Year:

Markus Fourie from the PSG Insure Olympus office once again walked away with this award, making it the third time in a row.

Office of the Year

PSG Pretoria East garnered this year’s award. Dawie Klopper and Eugenie Borcherds accepted the award on behalf of the office.

Employee Benefits Office of the Year:

PSG Wealth R21 Employee Benefits took the honours in this category.

External contributors: South African and international thought leaders share their insights

The conference celebrated PSG’s past successes but also looked to the future, bringing together renowned thought leaders to debate and discuss pertinent issues, and seeking to offer fresh insights to advisers on a variety of relevant topics.

Richard Quest, British journalist and news anchor for CNN International led an interactive audience discussion titled “South Africa – going beyond”. Stafford Masie, Tech Investor & Innovation Alchemist who launched Google in Africa, spoke about the breakneck speed of technological development and the fact that our focus needs to be on humanity. Kuben Naidoo, Deputy Governor of the SARB and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee outlined the specific challenges faced by South Africa, with loadshedding being by far the biggest issue.

Delegates also benefited from insights offered by the firm’s product provider partners, including Allan Gray, Santam, Ninety One, Coronation, and PPS, as well as two insightful panel discussions, one on the topic of SOE privatisation, and the second considering local and international politics, in particular the potential outcomes of the 2024 national elections.