Artificial Intelligence in Retirement Funds

Understand why artificial intelligence is a governance and fiduciary matter for retirement fund boards, identify where AI already appears in the fund ecosystem, and locate the South African labour, inequality and energy context that changes the risk-reward calculation.

Key concepts

Target Audience: Retirement fund trustees, principal officers, administrators, operations teams, compliance officers, risk managers, IT professionals and service providers.

Duration: Approximately 2 - 3 hours, self-paced.

Learning Objectives:

- Understand AI as a governance matter and its connection to fiduciary responsibilities and member outcomes.
- Apply practical oversight principles through accountability, risk classification, AI policies and human review.
- Recognise ethical and data risks, including bias, privacy, transparency and unreliable outputs.
- Ask informed questions of providers about AI in administration, investments and member engagement.
- Explore legal and ESG considerations, including POPIA, Joint Standard 2 and South African labour and energy challenges.

Course Structure:

The course is divided into 12 including an ESG and AI bonus module, each with exercises, and a 10-question multiple-choice assessment. Supporting materials include a document, the Joint Standard 2, diagrams, video recordings, and external video links.

Click to download brochure here.

Syllabus

Artificial Intelligence in Retirement Funds | 12 modules | 3 hours

Modules 1 - 12

Module 1 – Introduction and Context
• AI’s role in retirement funds; trustees’ fiduciary responsibilities.
• Administration, investments and member engagement applications.
• South African challenges, human oversight and member outcomes.

Module 2 – Main AI Tools, Specialised Tools and AI Legislation
• ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and specialised fund tools.
• Confidentiality, approved tools and human oversight.
• South African and global legislative developments.

Module 3 – AI Governance Framework
• Board accountability, AI policies, inventories and risk classification.
• Human review, provider oversight and contractual safeguards.
• Monitoring, incident response and fallback arrangements.

Module 4 – AI Ethics
• Fairness, transparency, accountability, bias and privacy.
• Practical scenarios and proportionate safeguards.
• Understandable decisions and human review to protect member outcomes.

Module 5 – Trustee use of AI
• Responsible AI use for research, drafting and meeting preparation.
• Confidentiality, verification of outputs and approved tools.
• Acceptable-use policies, audit trails and human judgement.

Module 6 – Trustee Oversight of AI Across Providers
• Fund policies, data protection, fairness testing and human review.
• Contracts, audit rights and incident reporting.
• Provider exit arrangements.

Module 7 – AI in Administration
• Claims, contribution reconciliation, fraud detection and data cleansing.
• Workflow automation, accuracy, fairness and human intervention.
• Service standards and two-pot withdrawal validation risks.

Module 8 – AI-Driven Member Engagement
• Personalised communication, chatbots, education tools and projections.
• Multilingual support, accuracy, privacy and digital inclusion.
• Human support and safeguards against impersonation fraud.

Module 9 – AI in Investment Management
• Investment research, portfolio construction and risk monitoring.
• Model and data risks, limited transparency, herding and concentration.
• Human oversight, testing and cybersecurity safeguards.

Module 10 – Data Governance
• Data quality, privacy, ownership, traceability and member rights.
• Retention, secure destruction and cross-border transfers.
• Cloud and test environments, provider contracts and trustee oversight.

Module 11 – Legal and Operational Risks (POPIA and Joint Standard 2)
• POPIA, automated decisions, human review and provider responsibilities.
• Cybersecurity, resilience and incident reporting under Joint Standard 2.
• Model failure, vendor dependency, unapproved AI use and data leakage.

Module 12 – ESG and AI (Bonus Module)
• AI’s impact on jobs, inequality, energy and water in South Africa.
• Reskilling, human oversight and member benefits.
• Provider alignment with the fund’s ESG policy.

What you earn

Course fees

Fund Bookings

All costs are per learner and exclusive of VAT. Bulk discounts are available for groups of 5 or more.

This course equips retirement fund boards of trustees to responsibly oversee artificial intelligence by helping them thoroughly assess its benefits, risks, and overall impact on member outcomes. By providing practical guidance on governance, ethics, data protection, and provider oversight, it prepares boards to embrace innovation while safeguarding members’ long-term interests. Ultimately, the training reinforces the essential role of human judgment, clear accountability, and informed challenge when evaluating AI-assisted decisions.