About the Fund

The Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (ISASA) is the oldest, largest and most inclusive association of its kind in the region. ISASA is a non-profit organisation which represents its members and provides them with more than 50 services to protect their interests, promote best practice and support quality education and school sustainability.

ISASA serves more than 850 schools representing a broad spectrum of socio-economic and cultural communities, religious affiliations, philosophies and educational levels, from pre-school to post-matric. Our low-, mid- and high-fee member schools educate more than 190,000 pupils.

Established in 1974, the ISASA Retirement Fund and Provident Fund are umbrella funds with a long-standing legacy of excellence.  They were created to provide retirement and ancillary benefits for personnel of private/independent schools in Southern Africa, including retirement and disability benefits, as well as provisions for beneficiaries in the event of a member's death while still active.

The Funds are structured into the following parts:

1.      Retirement Fund:

2.      Provident Fund: Defined Contribution Fund.  The Provident Fund is in the process of being closed down.  There are no active members of the Fund.

Currently, 161 independent schools participate in the Fund and the membership of 9 960 includes 1 122 retired members (pensioners). The Funds’ assets amount to R6.4 billion. The Funds are managed by a Board of Trustees and administered by Old Mutual.

The Fund operates as an independent legal entity. This means it is not owned by any employer or the administrator and has the legal capacity to initiate or face lawsuits. The Fund is registered with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), ensuring it is efficiently managed on an annual basis. Additionally, the Fund has SARS approval, allowing members to benefit from the tax-deductibility of contributions and certain tax advantages when receiving benefit

The ISASA Retirement Fund is registered with the FSCA. The FSCA registration numbers are 12/8/11388/1 for the Retirement Fund (Part I and Part II) and 12/8/20855/1 for the Provident Fund