Brian Karidza | Head of Actuarial & Benefits Administration, GEPF, South Africa | 9th edition #PIAFRICA
1. What are the major actuarial challenges and opportunities currently shaping the long-term sustainability of public sector funds like GEPF?
For the GEPF, the core actuarial challenge is balancing long-term benefit security with affordability. We need to manage longevity risk, changing employment patterns, and preserving the inflation-linked value of pensions over many decades. A newer challenge is incorporating early access under the two-component system, which changes the timing of cash flows and member behaviour.
The opportunity lies in better data and models. We can now monitor experience more frequently, refine assumptions and strengthen asset–liability management. This allows us to make more informed decisions and explain sustainability and trade-offs more clearly to stakeholders.
2.How does GEPF approach strategic asset allocation in response to demographic shifts and market volatility?
Our asset allocation is anchored in our liability profile rather than short-term markets. Through asset–liability modelling we test how different portfolios perform against our pension promises under various economic and demographic scenarios. Demographic shifts, fund maturity and design changes (including early access to savings) are explicitly built into these projections, especially from a liquidity and inflation-protection perspective. As we must absorb market volatility, the strategic allocation is set with a long-term view and reviewed periodically, rather than being adjusted every time markets move.
3.What key insights will you be sharing at PI Africa, and what makes this conference a valuable platform for GEPF?
At PI Africa, I will share a long-term public sector investor’s perspective on using private markets, private equity, infrastructure, real assets and private credit, to complement listed assets, manage risk and better match long-dated liabilities. I will touch on governance, pacing of commitments, diversification and how we think about measuring and stress-testing risk in illiquid portfolios. The conference is valuable for the GEPF because it brings together African and global investors, allowing us to benchmark our approach, learn from peers and contribute a South African public-sector voice to the discussion on private markets, regulation and development-oriented investment on the continent.
