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| Business |
| Bank sells financial management services |
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by
Aubrey Mchulu, 25 May 2004
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16:55:00
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National Bank of Malawi (NBM) has embarked on drive to market its Financial Management Services (FMS) division which it says is a trustee business unit offering services such as pension fund, taxation and property management to both corporate and individual clients.
NBM market analyst Wilkins Mijiga said in an interview on Monday that FMS also manages and administers deceased estates, administers death benefits for deceased employees on behalf of employers and settlement trust management.
Mijiga, who said FMS dates back to the days when NBM was the Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays Bank, said individuals who go to work abroad can also instruct NBM to manage their properties such as houses and other investments.
“It’s sad that when people die and leave wealth for their children and dependents, after 10 years the some of these children or dependents become destitute after the wealth is plundered,” he said. “But if they entrust their investments with us, that would not happen.”
Mijiga also said advantages of dealing with FMS in asset management are that there is confidentiality, high integrity and honesty, comfort and peace of mind to the client and a trusted service provider.
To employers on settlement trusts, Mijiga said, advantages of using FMS include concentration on key business while leaving the distribution of the benefits to the bank.
“People wait for years to get death benefits, spending the little they had on transport to the Administrator General but if employers use FMS, they will not discuss with relatives of deceased employers,” he said.
He also said under the arrangement, NBM ensures that children of the deceased employees still go to school.
“The benefits are beyond business. It’s a social responsibility because if we educate such children until they are adults, then they will have a brighter future and contribute to economic development of our country,” he said.
Mijiga said that by virtue of being administrators of deceased estates, NBM manages the property which forms part of the estate as advised by the will.
“If any person have property and they happen to be abroad or to go away from Malawi, they can assign their property to be managed by FMS where we can collect rental, invest and disburse proceeds as per instructions,” he said.
NBM, whose majority shareholder is the conglomerate Press Corporation Limited, is the country’s oldest registered commercial bank spanning a century old and has the widest representation across the country.
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