At the Sanlam Benchmark Conference in Houghton last week, it was intriguing to hear about the changes in the retirement fund industry over the past 20 years. It was around 2006 that I was elected to the board of the then Avusa Pension Fund as a member trustee.As Anna Siwiak, head of product development for the Sanlam Umbrella Funds, told the conference, in 2006, administration was still largely done manually; member files were on paper.There had already been significant change even then. The largest of these had been that, in the private sector at least, defined benefit (DB) funds had given way to defined contribution (DC). The exception is the mammoth R3.6-trillion Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), which remains DB.DB was unpopular in the private sector, which is much more mobile than the public sector, as people who left early, say after less than five years, were only given their contributions back, not the matching contributions from the company.DB was designed for the era when people stayed in the same job until retirement and were rewarded with a gold watch. In the public service, people still have 40-year careers, but less and less in the private sector.Under DC, members got more control of their retirement savings. They took the full impact of market movement, so increasingly they were allowed to choose their investment portfolio. Ideally not to a ridiculous extent. It’s not sensible for trustees to offer the hundreds of funds that qualify under regulation 28 of the Pension Funds Act as options to members, but it is still sensible to offer high-risk and low-risk options ― even money market funds for members at certain points in their careers.Over 20 years, there has been a significant consolidation of funds, according to Sanlam. There were 4,057 funds in 2006 and by March 2026 there were 837 active funds. Many subscale funds, with assets below, say, R5bn ― including our own fund ― moved into umbrella funds.In the Sanlam Benchmark survey itself, there were 169 standalone funds and just 19 umbrella fund subfunds in 2006. By 2016 there were 100 standalone funds and 100 umbrella subfunds. By this year there were 76 standalone funds and 130 umbrella subfunds.Over 20 years, there has been a significant consolidation of funds, according to Sanlam. There were 4,057 funds in 2006 and by March 2026 there were 837 active funds. Many subscale funds, with assets below, say, R5bn ― including our own fund ― moved into umbrella funds.Retirement fund administrators increasingly find standalone funds complex to administer. Old Mutual has phased out of the standalone market, pushing funds, reluctantly at times, into its massive Super Funds umbrella fund.Sanlam has transferred its standalone funds to employee benefits specialist Alexforbes. Sanlam and Forbes are linked through Patrice Motsepe, a major shareholder in both businesses.But the industry (excluding the GEPF) has grown from R1.5-trillion to R5.8-trillion. Fewer, better quality funds is what the regulator, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, has aimed for, with improved oversight and a push for operational efficiency.As trustees, we could already see the direction of travel 20 years ago, as it had been well signposted. We knew there would be increased trustee accountability ― exams to qualify as trustees were introduced.We knew that the rather quaint provident fund would be phased out. Provident funds are not very helpful for retirement; instead of an annuity (monthly income), they provide a lump sum on retirement, which, like a lottery prize, is often blown within a few months.We hadn’t anticipated the two-pot system precisely, but we knew that stronger preservation mechanisms would be introduced.It is a relief to see that pressure for the regulator, and presumably market pressure too, has made fees more transparent. Administration fees have come down significantly. Economies of scale have also played a part, as the largest umbrella funds now have several million members under administration.Siwiak said it is not as easy as some might assume to reduce costs: legislative and regulatory changes require frequent system enhancements and process redesigns ― just consider the harmonisation of tax between pension and provident funds and the introduction of the two-pot system.In 2006, employers participating in umbrella funds were paying 1.63% a year in fees. Ten years later this had fallen to 1.19% and this year to 0.45%.There have been significant reductions in risk benefit premiums since 2006, in part as we have got to understand the environment caused by HIV/Aids, which is no longer a death sentence. Group death benefits premiums have fallen from 1.98% to 1.45% over 20 years and disability benefits from 1.57% to 1.01%.So even though employer contributions have fallen materially, from 10.2% to 8% of salary ― only partly offset by a modest increase in employee contributions from 5.8% to 6.09% ― the total provision for retirement has increased from 10.82% of salary to 11.38%. This is a lot better than many of us had hoped for.In a poor economy, employers have been trying to cut back everywhere. But according to Sanlam data, employer contributions troughed at 7.6% of salary in 2025. The workforce pushed back and in the 2026 survey had bounced back to 8%.This is assuming that companies offer employee benefits in the first place. I worked for two years for a London-based employer which hadn’t set up a pension fund or even a group retirement annuity. Staff had to take their chances with high-cost retail retirement annuities and medical aid ― with many opting for only the most basic hospital plan medical aid option.Approaching 60 there wasn’t much point for me in taking out a new retirement annuity and I continued my medical aid as a retail client, which was no more expensive than it would have been as an employee of Arena Holdings, as the old Times Media was eventually called.Employees should fight hard for their pension and medical aid cover. They might not seem that important at 25 or 30, but they are critical in later years.• Cranston, a veteran financial journalist, is author of ‘The Mavericks’, a new book about South African fund management.