10 December 2025
What a year 2025 has been – for Glacier as well as the broader industry! It’s an understatement to say that I am proud of what we have achieved with all of our stakeholders, and especially our intermediary partners, who choose us in their practice and on their clients’ investment journeys. We succeed when you succeed, and we value your support.
Exhilarating ups, disappointing downs, and everything in between
This year, a big step in the right direction for our economy was for our country to be removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list. South Africa's position at the moment shows potential to chart a more growth-orientated path. Core inflation is within manageable bounds, and the economy has shown modest growth in 2025 to date. In June 2025, South Africa secured a R25bn loan to upgrade transport and energy infrastructure and loosen bottlenecks. The Government of National Unity seems to manage political stability well, in the context of geopolitical dynamics.
A not-so-great feature of this year for the financial services industry, was the impact of a lower inflation environment on income for guaranteed annuities, driven by falling bond yields. On the contrary, market related annuities offered excellent growth. These market dynamics offer an opportunity for innovation. Consequently, we are excited about the Life Investment solutions that are on their way in 2026, specifically our hybrid annuity. We know that this solution will fill a gap in intermediaries’ offerings to their post-retirement clients. On the Discretionary side of our product range, we will also be launching a series of themed structured products within our Endowment wrappers.
Our tech modernisation journey made big developmental strides this year, and we are excited about the milestones planned next year, that bring us so much closer to launching one of the most dynamic, holistic investment administration platforms in South Africa, with new client and intermediary portals.
Glacier Partners, our latest initiative, where we acquire competitor platforms and operate third-party administration for those partner competitors on a white-labelled basis, has shown immense growth. The platforms we acquired in 2023 have integrated steadily into our business, and our collaboration continues to deepen, as we build and enhance our joint value proposition to the market. These partnerships offer Glacier access to new solutions, such as premium fixed income solutions that banks offer.
While the significant market growth has been positive for Glacier and our partners, this growth has led to an enormous workload pressure on our Client Service team, with about 1 million client instructions processed in a year. Despite the volume, we remain committed to maintain our service level standards for our business partners and their clients.
Our offshore solutions continue to perform well and we believe they will continue to play an important role in our clients’ diversified portfolios, especially in light of investors’ growing interest in this area of investing.
It’s the norm
Although the pace of change sometimes seems to be unmanageable; it has become a way of life. As individuals and as a company functioning in a constantly changing market, we are committed to making sure that we pivot and evolve, in an agile manner, in order to remain relevant for our clients and partners.
As a result, we must constantly be in a state of curiosity, motion, anticipation, and re-creation. We have all we need to succeed, regardless of the market cycle, even if change can be daunting. The dedication of our people, who serve with pride and passion, is crucial, as is the steadfastness of our intermediary partners who continue to open up a world of infinite investment opportunities for their clients.
Wishing you only the very best
May I take this opportunity to thank you for the role that you have played in our business in 2025. Wishing our employees, clients, business partners and their families a blessed, peaceful and restful festive season.
May 2026 be a year of success, self-care and abundance in every sphere of your life.
Best wishes
Khanyi
