This 79th issue of Blue Chip focuses on the art, science and business of investment. Blue Chip is the financial planner’s chaperone to everything investment and this edition is a smorgasboard of the choices, decisions, lessons and associations that relate to it.
PROFILE Finding her
PROFILE Finding her finesse Mosili Lepheana’s interest in the financial sector and desire to help individuals better manage their finances and give financial advice has taken her on a journey from auditing, economics and finally, to financial planning, where she is making a difference and finding her passion. Lepheana joined the University of Johannesburg in 2013, starting at the Department of Economics and is presently working at the Department of Finance and Investment Management. She lectures Investment Planning in the BCom Honours in Financial Planning programme and is appointed as a supervisor for the honours and master's research in financial planning. Her corporate experience includes auditing and financial advisory. “My experience as an auditor taught me invaluable ethical principles as ethical behaviour is critical for the workplace, especially in the financial industry because it involves dealing with clients’ money,” she states. She had never envisioned a career in the academic spectrum before, but looking back at her journey now, Lepheana strongly feels that the transition from corporate to academia was the best decision she has ever made. Her job allows her to facilitate learning in the ever-evolving field of financial planning to the students entering the field that she is so passionate about, and to make a difference in equipping young financial advisors in holistic financial planning. She also gets to engage in interesting topics and different scenarios to best equip the students. Finance was always the core of Lepheana’s educational journal. Lepheana completed her undergraduate Bachelor of Business Science (finance) degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, then her Master’s in Financial Markets at Rhodes University. She has just completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning and is currently reading towards a PhD (finance). Her role as financial advisor motivated and shaped her current PhD topic, which is in financial literacy and retirement planning. Working as a financial advisor, she observed that many people struggled financially at retirement because they commonly believed that they had saved enough during their working years, but in most instances, that was not the case. This nurtured her interest in retirement planning, specifically an interest in finding solutions to assist people from the time they start their first job. “I gathered that one of the main reasons why people do not have adequate funds to sustain them throughout their retirement years is financial literacy,” she says. in finance Financial literacy projects In 2018, Lepheana was awarded the Academic Doctorate Advancement Project Towards Transformation (ADAPTT) SA-US DHET scholarship by the University of Johannesburg. The scholarship granted her an opportunity to be a visiting scholar at the University of Florida for three months. In Florida, she was hosted by the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences and her research advisors were working on projects that included financial literacy and education in the rural areas. The Department of Finance and Investment Management (DFIM) is currently working together with the University of Florida to improve financial literacy in South Africa using and redeveloping materials and lessons learned in their projects. Lepheana heads this collaborative project. The department has also been awarded funding by the Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority (INSETA) for this project and will be conducting workshops for their Cooperative Financial Institutions (CFI) members. The project entails the training of Master Money Mentors. The attendees will acquire the financial literacy skills to manage their own finances and will also gain mentorship skills on Finance was always the core of Lepheana’s educational journey. effective money management, thus equipping them to pay it forward in their communities by becoming money management mentors. The department has adopted a strong focus on the importance of financial literacy and how to invest back in the community, starting at home. The department is in the process of conceptualising a financial literacy programme for their students, concentrating mainly on the bursary students, as most of them face the challenge of managing the allowances they receive. The money management skills that they will acquire from the programme will equip them with skills to manage their finances and better prepare them once they start working and earn an income. Preparing graduates is another focus area of the department to best equip them for the workplace. Lepheana is part of the team presenting simulated real-life case study scenarios that engage holistic and critical thinking where presentation skills are required. The financial planning industry has experienced a great deal of changes in past years, mainly driven by consumer protection initiatives. The industry has moved from a sales-oriented environment to a professional setting. In addition, technological advancements have affected the delivery of services in the financial sector. Lepheana and the rest of the financial planning team at the department strive to equip students with adequate skills to manoeuvre in the ever-changing industry.
