FPI Launches Education and Training Trust to Empower Future Financial Planners

Key Highlights :

FPI initiates the Education and Training Trust to facilitate bursaries, scholarships, and professional development assistance.

The Trust promotes inclusivity in financial planning and provides donors with tax relief.

Donations are ring-fenced strictly towards education and training activities.

Key Background :

The Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa (FPI) has long advocated for professional excellence, ethics, and education in the financial planning profession. By introducing the FPI Education and Training Trust, the organisation has reaffirmed its position in making the profession more accessible to a broader number of South Africans.

The Trust emerged from a vision to deal with systemic issues confronting the profession. Most talented individuals, especially those belonging to underprivileged groups, cannot pay for tuition fees, professional certificates, or funds to enter the field. The Trust offers a systematic approach by granting bursaries, scholarships, and education assistance of other kinds. This makes financial planning not a career that is only open to those with sufficient means but a door that opens up to everyone with abilities.

The foundations for this project were established under the leadership of Prem Govender, with continued support and direction from past FPI Chairs Sankie Morata, Navin Ramparsad, and Kirsty Scully. Their vision and governance skills have assisted in setting up a legally independent Trust, completely adhering to governance standards and set up to protect all donations.

The Trust is also a reflection of FPI’s commitment to transformation within the sector. By providing structured opportunities, it addresses both social equity and professional development. It recognises that broadening participation is critical not only for individuals but also for communities who will benefit from having access to competent, ethical financial planners.

FPI CEO Lelané Bezuidenhout emphasized that the initiative is person-centred. It is intended for the rural province student who aspires to be a planner but cannot afford it, and for the mid-career practitioner who requires assistance to formalise their skills. It is about guaranteeing that talent and promise, rather than socio-economic circumstances, dictate entry to the profession.

Contributions to the Trust are deductible for tax purposes according to Section 18A, a motivation for corporate sponsors and individuals alike to give. The funds are ring-fenced solely for educational use, ensuring transparency and maximising impact. The donation process is easy and straightforward, reiterating the call that any gift, big or small, can directly influence the direction of financial planning in South Africa.

With the FPI Education and Training Trust, the institute has established more than an investment vehicle. It has established a platform for change, a pledge of inclusivity, and a commitment to making financial planning a truly accessible profession based on competence, ethics, and service.

About the Author

Mia Jones

Mia Jones is a Managing Editor at Education Excellence Magazine.