The 15th Annual FISA Conference on 10 September 2025 at the Sandton Convention Centre broke a few records. In-person attendance was the highest since 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic depressed physical attendance, with around 220 persons attending. In total, 369 attendees were registered.
The Conference was also streamed live. Due to technical issues beyond FISA’s control, the live stream was interrupted during the first session of the day, but was restored during the second session and went without a hitch for the rest of the day. A recording of the full event will be available soon and online registrants will be able to access it for the next four months.
The Conference was opened by Prof Abel Esterhuyse of the Military Science Department at Stellenbosch University. He gave attendees a view of the world we live in with a presentation titled “A tense world: trends and directions,” setting the scene for a day around the theme “Fiduciary opportunities in a tense world.”
This was followed by a panel discussion on distributions between trusts with Mr Kyle Fyfe and Ms Robyn Armstrong of Werksmans Attorneys, Dr Albertus Marais of AJM Tax, and Ms Elizabeth Fick of Investec unpacking general legal and tax issues of these distributions.
Mr Hugo Murray from BassonBlackburn Attorneys spoke about opportunities around the appointment of curators and pointed out the legal aspects, pitfalls and positives surrounding curators ad litem, curators bonis and curators ad personam.
Dr Ronel Williams from TrustQore, Mauritius, took a fresh view at the ever-increasing compliance burden from a perspective of the opportunities this creates for professional fiduciary practitioners.
Mr Showkat Mukadam of Legacy Fiduciary Services in Cape Town spoke about the advice opportunities in Shariah estate planning.
The acting Chief Master, Ms Kalayvani Pillay, focussed on priorities to fix broken systems in the Master’s Offices, and the modernisation of the service delivery to the fiduciary industry by the Master’s Offices.
Mr Lance Rademeyer of LRA Auctioneers and Appraisers looked at the necessity for professional valuations of property in a deceased estate to enhance the potential for successful marketing of such properties.
Dr Liezl Groenewald, CEO of The Ethics Institute, closed the presentations around the topic “Ethics when circumstances pull in different directions” and posed some difficult ethics questions to delegates.
The day ended with a panel discussion during which questions to the speakers were discussed by the speakers.
To download the presentation slides, click here.