FAIS 2025 in South Africa: New Risk Questionnaire Requirement

FAIS requirements can often evoke a sigh; none of us love paperwork, let’s face it. But some paperwork is designed for your protection and benefit… so it’s not all bad! 

So, you’ve got (e)mail… on the way, soon. 

The Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS) Act in South Africa is intended to protect you as a consumer of financial services and to ensure that you get professional service. 

What’s the point of the FAIS risk questionnaire requirement? 

The risk questionnaire is to ensure that the financial advice and product recommendations you receive from your CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional are suitable, aligning with your financial needs, objectives and risk tolerance.  

Here’s a little more detail: 

• It prioritises your protection – by ensuring that the financial advice you receive is tailored to your particular circumstances. 

• It uses comprehensive risk profiling to ensure suitability – specifically in three areas: risk tolerance (your willingness to take risks), risk capacity (your ability to absorb possible losses), and risk required (level of risk needed to achieve your goals). 

A win-win in the long run. 

By making risk questionnaires compulsory, FAIS ensures that all financial advisors act in the best interests of their clients. This in turn fosters trust in South Africa’s financial services industry while also complying with a principles-based regulatory framework. 

How does all this fit with your financial planning strategy? 

A sound financial plan is not built by choosing a portfolio based solely on emotion, return targets, or caution. Instead, it’s about balancing all three dimensions of risk – personality, need and capacity. At Netto Invest, we work with you to make these various trade-offs visible and also manageable, so that your investment strategy is both realistic and sustainable. 

By having honest conversations, running detailed scenarios and revisiting your plan regularly, we help ensure that you don’t just stay invested – but stay on track, financially. 

All that to say: keep a look out! You may find a risk questionnaire in your inbox in the near future. 

By Gareth Leonard, CFP® CA(SA)