Wide Horizons

What was the motivation behind creating Mozambique Previdente?

Mozambique Previdente was created in 2012, and started operations in 2013. The basic idea was to provide better pensions to the public in general. We have our national social security schemes that provide just the basics. The idea was to create a private pension fund for those able to save and start investing in their own private pension fund schemes. We started the company with a shared capital of $800,000 in cash, and our total investment rose to around $1.5 million.

How would you assess your first year of operations?

We started strongly and in our first year we started managing three funds and have three more in the pipeline. We started managing assets on a base of almost $1.5 million and ended the year on asset growth of almost $1 million to $2.5 million. In 2014 we wanted to grow not only in asset terms, but in terms of client base, which we expanded by 50%. We are also now branching out in terms of companies, and today have private and semi-private companies. We expect to grow by at least 20% in 2015 in terms of client base. And in terms of assets, we want to start investing more in properties and infrastructure in the country.

What is the profile of Previdente’s main clients?

Due to our shareholder structure we work more with state-owned enterprises. But one of the recent clients that we signed is a private sector entity. Our strategy is to first tackle the state-owned enterprises and then reach out to the general public. Emose is not only a shareholder but also our main partner. We provide all clients with a full range of pension fund schemes, in terms of defined benefit, defined contribution funds, and hybrid funds. We want to provide a complete range of benefits coupled with the pension funds, including medical, life insurance and funeral benefits. The law also allows us to put in home loans for the members of pension funds. We expect in 2015 to provide a more comprehensive range of products.

What will be the impact of Previdente on the local capital markets?

We expect to rank among the top ten players in the market. The law that allows the creation of pension funds also provides for investment maximum limitations, where for example, we can invest in government bonds up to 100%. This shows the direction that the government wants to take us in. We are now investing more in the money markets, but we expect to start investing in property very soon, once our asset value grows. And unlike other players, we bear limited risk and have greater cash flow, and can look at a broad range of projects. The region hosts the Retirement Funds Africa, which is an entity that tries to regulate and instill best practices across the region. At one of the conference we attended, it was discussed that we as Pension Funds need to look a bit more into new companies (entrepreneurs, SMEs, etc.) and invest in them. This will boost the job creation and further promote the country development with new jobs.

As a young company, how would you describe the environment for startups in the country?

The situation has been improving year by year, but there are still challenges to overcome regarding legislation, as fiscal and financial regulation is demanding. Yet once the government appreciates the new business opportunities arising and new businesses being created, it may amend legislation to ease up the playing field. I expect the new government to encourage foreign investment, but also to put local content in place and have locals working hand in hand to develop these new resources. We need to have well-established platforms for transfer of knowledge from foreign companies to locals.