All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source. |
SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY |
REGISTERED QUALIFICATION: |
Occupational Certificate: Professional Principal Executive Officer |
SAQA QUAL ID | QUALIFICATION TITLE | |||
93602 | Occupational Certificate: Professional Principal Executive Officer | |||
ORIGINATOR | ||||
Development Quality Partner - POA | ||||
PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QUALITY ASSURANCE FUNCTIONARY | NQF SUB-FRAMEWORK | |||
QCTO - Quality Council for Trades and Occupations | OQSF - Occupational Qualifications Sub-framework | |||
QUALIFICATION TYPE | FIELD | SUBFIELD | ||
Occupational Certificate | Field 03 - Business, Commerce and Management Studies | Generic Management | ||
ABET BAND | MINIMUM CREDITS | PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL | NQF LEVEL | QUAL CLASS |
Undefined | 150 | Not Applicable | NQF Level 07 | Regular-ELOAC |
REGISTRATION STATUS | SAQA DECISION NUMBER | REGISTRATION START DATE | REGISTRATION END DATE | |
Reregistered | EXCO 0425/24 | 2018-07-01 | 2025-12-30 | |
LAST DATE FOR ENROLMENT | LAST DATE FOR ACHIEVEMENT | |||
2026-12-30 | 2029-12-30 |
In all of the tables in this document, both the pre-2009 NQF Level and the NQF Level is shown. In the text (purpose statements, qualification rules, etc), any references to NQF Levels are to the pre-2009 levels unless specifically stated otherwise. |
This qualification does not replace any other qualification and is not replaced by any other qualification. |
PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION |
Purpose:
The purpose of this qualification is to prepare a learner to manage a retirement fund within the legal framework in order to give effect to the purpose of the fund. A qualified learner will be able to: Rationale: This qualification will support the professionalisation of the role of the Principal Officer which has historically been unstructured and undefined. It will also support the transformation imperative as it enables incumbents to obtain a qualification that they may not have access to as working individuals who may additionally not satisfy traditional Higher Education access criteria. In developing this qualification, the occupational profile of the Principal Officer of a retirement fund was negotiated and agreed as the standard that should maintain parity across contexts. The Principal Officer is a statutory appointment with legislated minimum technical expertise required for the role of guiding the Board of Trustees in the management of a retirement fund. The Principal Officer must ensure compliance with all regulatory and statutory requirements imposed on the retirement fund and execute the corporate strategies. In terms of the sanction by the state regulatory bodies, the Principal Officer must be fit and proper, which includes competence, best acquired through a formal qualification. This qualification is the first of its kind - due to the unique financial services environment in South Africa, which, through forward thinking has established regulations to ensure integrity of financial services. This occupational qualification will provide much needed recognition (through RPL) of competence in expert incumbents who may want to formalise their education for purposes of career mobility or succession planning to ensure continuity and sustainability of retirement funds. The Principal Officer represents the cornerstone of governance in the fund - all governance interventions are initiated and driven from this function. The Principal Officer drives should thus be current on all compliance and governance issues to ensure compliance. The range of learners would include current Principal Officers, trustees and retirement fund functionaries with demonstrable experience in retirement funds and a relevant qualification with a desire to follow this career trajectory. Additionally, because of the close link to the claims and employee benefits functions, it is further envisioned that those people working in a claims or employee benefits and compensation environment may take up this qualification. This occupational qualification will form the apex of the retirement functionary learning path and will be linked to the Principal Officer Association (POA) professional designations. The learning pathway will include the Professional Trustee qualification. |
LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING |
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL):
RPL for access to the integrated assessment: Accredited providers and approved workplaces must apply the internal assessment criteria specified in the related curriculum document to establish and confirm prior learning. Prior learning must be acknowledged by a statement of results. RPL for entry requirements to access the qualification: Entry Requirements: A minimum of an NQF Level 5 qualification in any of the following fields or related fields; commerce and/ or finance and/or law and/ or human resources. It is advisable that to enter this qualification you have relevant retirement fund work experience (as the content of the qualification requires solid understanding of the workplace). |
RECOGNISE PREVIOUS LEARNING? |
Y |
QUALIFICATION RULES |
This qualification is made up of the following compulsory Theory, Practical Skill and Workplace Modules at NQF Level 7 totalling 150 Credits:
Theory Modules: Totalling: 50 Credits. Practical Skills Modules: Totalling: 36 Credits. Work Experience Modules: Totalling: 64 Credits. |
EXIT LEVEL OUTCOMES |
1. The ability to guide and monitor fund compliance with applicable external pension regulation.
2. The ability to implement and monitor fund rules and Board approved policies. 3. The ability to manage the operations, finances and investments of a fund. 4. The ability to guide and implement the decisions of the Board of Trustees. |
ASSOCIATED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA |
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1:
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2: Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3: Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4: Integrated Assessment: An external integrated summative assessment, conducted through the POA as Assessment Quality partner is required for the issuing of this qualification. The external integrated summative assessment will focus on the exit level outcomes and associated assessment criteria. An external integrated summative assessment, conducted through the POA as Assessment Quality partner is required for the issuing of this qualification. In order to qualify for the external summative learners must have a copy of a completed and signed Statement of Work Experience as well as proof of successful completion of all the subjects and modules or, in the case of RPL, a signed acknowledgement that they understand the learning assumed to be in place requirements. The external integrated summative assessment will focus on the exit level outcomes and associated assessment criteria. |
INTERNATIONAL COMPARABILITY |
This qualification is a new occupational qualification which has not been offered in any similar countries. The South African profession is represented through professional membership from all SADC countries and so this qualification will be the fore leader in the African continent. Globally, the retirement fund fiduciary is encompassed in the CEO role and the title Principal Officer is associated with civil service.
In the United States of America, a Principal Officer is "the officer in charge of a diplomatic mission, consular office, or other Foreign Service Post, such as a United States Liaison Office". In the United Kingdom, the Principal Officer is "a rank used in HM Prison Service, the Scottish Prison Service and the Northern Ireland Prison Service, as well as other prison services around the world. It is the highest uniformed rank, above senior office and below the grades of governor. A principal officer traditionally headed up each wing of a prison". Globally, it appears that the retirement fiduciary occupation is encompassed in the Chief Executive Officer position. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) ISCO -08 makes no distinction between a Principal Officer and a CEO, as the function of the Principal Officer can be best serviced by Unit group 1120: Managing Directors and Chief Executives. The Canadian NOC lists, unit group 0031: Senior Managers- financial, communications and other business services (Chief Executive Office CEO) as the only occupation related to the duties of the South African Principal Officer and requires "a university degree in business administration, commerce, computer science or other discipline related to the service provided". The Australia Power index released in August 2012 concurs that amongst CEOs "undergraduate degree in; economics, commerce or engineering are the most common". |
ARTICULATION OPTIONS |
This qualification is envisaged to have both horizontal and vertical articulation possibilities with other cognate qualifications such as:
Horizontally with: Vertically with: |
MODERATION OPTIONS |
N/A |
CRITERIA FOR THE REGISTRATION OF ASSESSORS |
N/A |
REREGISTRATION HISTORY |
As per the SAQA Board decision/s at that time, this qualification was Reregistered in 2015. |
NOTES |
Registered qualifications and or learning programmes to be replaced:
Recorded trades to be replaced: Name of the Assessment Quality Partner (AQP) for this qualification: |
LEARNING PROGRAMMES RECORDED AGAINST THIS QUALIFICATION: |
NONE |
PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO OFFER THIS QUALIFICATION: |
This information shows the current accreditations (i.e. those not past their accreditation end dates), and is the most complete record available to SAQA as of today. Some Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionaries have a lag in their recording systems for provider accreditation, in turn leading to a lag in notifying SAQA of all the providers that they have accredited to offer qualifications and unit standards, as well as any extensions to accreditation end dates. The relevant Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionary should be notified if a record appears to be missing from here. |
NONE |
All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source. |