2026 EBnet Evolutionaries Conference

Evolutionary Awards

Application Form.

Showcase your incredible work and win over R200,000 in advertising placements on EBnet and Pensions World SA.

Categories:

Greatest Impact - Did this investment change something real in the country, a community or the environment - and can you prove it?

Best in Employee Benefits - Is this a benefit people use, or only a benefit on paper?

Best in Investments - Did members get a better result after fees - not a better slide?

Best in Financial Advice - Can you show us one real member, and what you told them?

First Name *

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Submission Name *

Select an Award CategoryGreatest ImpactBest in Employee BenefitsBest in InvestmentsBest in Financial Advice

Greatest Impact

Did this investment change something real in the country, a community or the environment - and can you prove it?

1. What changed outside the portfolio? *In one sentence, what is better in the real world because of this investment? Jobs that last, cleaner power, water that runs, a town that kept a wage, less damage to land or air. Give the number, the place, and the dates.

2. How do we know the investment caused it? *What would have happened if this money had not arrived? Government would have built it anyway. Another fund would have bought the same asset. What did you finance that was not already going to happen?

3. Who else gained, and who paid? *Name the community, workers, customers or environment that benefited. What return did the investor earn? If the project needed a subsidy, a guarantee or a cheaper community deal to work, say so.

4. Is it still standing? *Has the plant, fund or programme been live for more than a launch year? What broke - construction, offtake, local consent, running costs - and what did you fix? A slide at financial close is not impact.

5. Did any harm came come with it? *Did the same investment take water, cut jobs, raise tariffs, or leave a rehabilitation bill? What do you measure on the ground, and what would make you stop putting more money in?

Best in Employee Benefits

Is this a benefit people use, or only a benefit on paper?

1. Do employees use it? *How many people took it up, claimed, or made a choice? Who did not - part-time staff, lower grades, dependants - and why not?

2. Is it easier than what was there before? *How long does a death, disability or medical claim now take from first call to money paid? What errors dropped? What did HR stop chasing?

3. What does it cost, and who is paid? *What does the employer pay? What does the member get?

4. Does it work when something goes wrong? *Walk us through one real case: a death, a retrenchment, an ill-health retirement or a two-pot withdrawal. When was it reported, and when was the money in the right account?

5. What did members complain about after launch, if anything? *Declined claims, double cover, people dropping medical aid or funeral cover because they did not understand the package. What did you change?

Best in Investments

Judge the product or solution that was better. Not the brand. Not the narrative. What changed for the investor.

1. What was better about this product or solution than what investors already had — and better than what? *Name the predecessor, the peer product, or the gap it replaced.

2. What problem or gap did it solve? *Be specific: a risk that was unhedged, a cost that was too high, an asset class that was hard to access, an income that was unsustainable, a default that members did not understand.

3. How did investors benefit? *Show the outcome in terms a trustee or member can use — return, downside, cost, income sustainability, liquidity, tax, or access — and over what period.

4. What additional benefits were derived beyond the headline feature? *For example implementation ease, governance, diversification, lower operational risk, better member understanding, or a benefit the original design did not set out to deliver.

5. What evidence shows the improvement is real and repeatable, not a one-off market outcome? *What would make a fiduciary comfortable allocating to it, or switching to it, on the strength of what it does better?

Best in Financial Planning

Judge the client’s experience. Value, comfort, a solution that fitted the life, and benefits that worked together.

1. What did the client’s experience feel like before this solution, and what is different now? *Speak to clarity, effort, and whether advice was something they could actually use.

2. What value did the client derive? *Put a shape on it — rands saved or protected, tax, debt, emergency savings, cover that matched the household, or a retirement position that moved.

3. How did comfort and confidence change? *Could the client explain their position, sleep easier about a risk, or make a decision they had been avoiding?

4. What was unique about the solution, and how did it integrate benefits, if at all? *Retirement, medical, risk, wellness, discretionary savings and advice — rather than add another standalone product?

5. Where did lifestyle improve or become more secure? *Family, work, health, housing, or the years after work. What would the client say is better about ordinary life, not about the product?

Please support your submission with: images (screenshots or photos) or statistics/success rates.

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If your submission is chosen to be profiled by our editorial team, you will be required to upload a video onto our YouTube link for the EBnet conference. *Accept

By submitting this form, you acknowledge that EBnet may publish your evolution on their website. *Accept

The 2026 EBnet Evolutionary Awards takes place in two rounds.

Round 1: Please submit your entry by completing the online form below by 12 October 2026.

Click here for definition of categories

EBnet’s Editorial Committee (The EdComm) will review the entries received in Round 1 and shortlist 3 (per category) to be featured in the 2025 Evolutionaries Conference. Those that don’t make this cut will be featured on www.ebnet.co.za

Round 2: Should you be successfully shortlisted, we’ll need a short video (max 10 min) from you to support your written submission, by 15 October 2025. Your written entry together with your video will be profiled in the 2026 Evolutionaries Conference, where the winners will be voted for by conference attendees.

To apply for the Evolutionary Awards, please complete the form above. Once submitted we will get back you with the next steps.

A Couple of Rules.

The EdComm’s decision on which entries to shortlist will be final.

To ensure fairness, a formula is applied to the votes received in the conference to standardise the opportunities for all industry role players, regardless of size.

Late submissions will not be considered.

By entering the awards, the entrant agrees that EBnet may publish their entry on the EBnet website and any social media (or other) platforms used for promotion.

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2026 EBnet Evolutionaries Conference

Evolutionary Awards

Application Form.

Categories:

The 2026 EBnet Evolutionary Awards takes place in two rounds.

A Couple of Rules.

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