Roné Swanepoel, CFA, Head of Sales, Morningstar Investment Management
With all the legal and regulatory hoops to jump through these days, the role of a financial adviser in South Africa has changed. It’s no longer just about numbers and returns. Advisers have become trusted guides, and in many ways, protectors. Fiduciary services like helping with wills, setting up trusts, managing estates, and making sure retirement funds are in good shape aren’t just add-ons but a core part of what clients need. At the end of the day, it’s about more than giving advice. It’s about doing what’s right for the client, being upfront, and always putting their best interests first.
What are these services?
At their core, fiduciary services mean putting clients first in every aspect of the financial planning journey. That includes avoiding conflicts of interest, keeping everything transparent, and managing assets with care and skill. In South Africa this is enforced both by law and by professional bodies. Practically, it means helping clients:
- Set up wills and trusts
- Plan and administer estates
- Manage investments and retirement funds responsibly
- Stick to tax and regulatory requirements
One of the main roles of fiduciary services in South Africa is stepping in as a trustee or executor. Whether for individuals or organisations. That means handling someone’s assets and making sure everything is managed and passed on according to their wishes, or as laid out in a will or trust. It’s a big responsibility.
Who is qualified to provide these services?
Only those properly trained, certified, and regulated. In SA, that usually means:
- CFP®qualified financial planners
- Fiduciary Institute of Southern Africa (FISA) members with an FPSA® designation
- Trust companies
- Are advisers giving enough attention to the fiduciary side of their role as advisers?
When you look at it from a business perspective, the answer is a bit of a mix. Some advisers are starting to take the fiduciary side of their role more seriously, but for many, it is still not getting the attention it deserves.
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Things like estate planning, trust work, and long-term client care don’t always feel urgent. They take time, they require careful thinking, and they usually do not bring in quick revenue. But they are becoming more and more important to how clients choose who to work with advisers. In South Africa, we are seeing more firms include fiduciary services as part of their core client offering and launching business units solely responsible for the fiduciary side of client needs, and especially for clients with more complex needs. Some advisers are even marketing this as a key part of what makes them different. They are saying clearly that they put the client first and they are showing it in how they charge, how they advise, and how they communicate.
Another trend we are seeing is that more advisers are starting to
outsource the investment side of things. By working with partners like Morningstar, they free up time and energy to focus on the planning and relationship work that really defines a fiduciary approach. This also helps reduce conflicts of interest, because investment choices are backed by independent research rather than product sales.That said, there is still plenty of room for improvement.
The opportunity is clear. Advisers who make fiduciary services part of their core offering and build their business around client-first values will stand out in a market where trust is everything. Those who treat it as a nice-to-have might find themselves losing ground.
Editor’s thoughts
Roné Swanepoel brings a refreshingly direct view on how the advisory landscape is shifting, and rightly so. Fiduciary care is not a “nice-to-have” anymore; it’s becoming a key differentiator for advisers who want to build lasting client relationships. Her piece underscores the growing client demand for transparency, trust, and long-term planning over product-driven advice. As more advisers outsource investment management to focus on what matters most, client wellbeing and legacy, this article spotlights a much-needed evolution in the profession.