The Minister of Finance, as trustee of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), has approved the appointment of the AST-Thuso Consortium for the design and implementation of a Pension Fund Administration Solution. The first phase of the contract is valued at over R16 million.
The AST-Thuso Consortium consists of the AST Group and Thuso Information Technology.
In an earlier announcement, AST-Thuso was also awarded the IT Support and Maintenance Outsourcing contract at the GEPF, valued at over R50 million.
The GEPF has more than one million members contributing to the fund monthly, with more than 250 000 civil pensioners receiving benefits from the fund.
"We will design and implement a complete retirement fund administration solution for the GEPF, which will allow the fund to improve customer service levels," says John Ramatsui, AST`s Public Sector Executive.
"The scope of the project involves three phases and provides the GEPF with world-class functionality to perform its administration and management responsibilities with regard to the funds under its control."
By implementing the new Pension Fund Administration Solution, the GEPF will benefit from improved management of its assets, as well as streamlined and improved administration processes. It will also assist the GEPF in transforming itself into a commercially competitive retirement fund administrator.
It will further enable the fund to focus on its core business and its customers, the pension fund members.
"The GEPF has already developed a sound and professional relationship with the AST-Thuso Consortium on the outsourcing contract, which we extremely happy with," says Peet Maritz, the GEPF Chief Director.
"This project is developed with the specific objective of jointly providing a world class service to all our members and pensioners."
"The AST-Thuso Consortium offered the GEPF a full business solution, not just a package," concludes Maritz. "With the full solution, combined with AST-Thuso`s expertise and understanding of our business needs, we will be able to provide an even better service."
The Pension Fund Administration Solution comprises FDP/Compass (provided by SunGard Insurance Systems) as the core retirement administration application and a suite of complementary products for the imaging, workflow, document management and integration needs.
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In just three years the AST Group has established itself as one of the leading Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies on the JSE Securities Exchange.
Its consistent creation of value for shareholders, clients and employees has resulted in a steady increase in monthly revenue to the R100 million plus mark. AST is now the fourth largest South African IT company by market capitalisation, and is one of the top 3 in terms of physical infrastructure (mainframes, servers, desktops, and networks under management) and geographical footprint with over 62 physical locations.
Counting almost 90% of the top 100 JSE-listed companies among their clients, the AST Group services mostly large corporate and government clients, but they are increasingly offering their services to rapidly evolving Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).