Alan Tait is the current President of the Southern African Asset Management Association. We asked him some questions on his vision for this important body.

Who is SAAMA and what does it stand for?

SAMA used to stand for Southern African Maintenance Association, but we are in the middle of a rebranding exercise to change it to Southern African Asset Management Association (SAAMA). This is due to the focus companies are placing on Asset Management versus just maintenance on its own. SAAMA is essentially an association (Section 21, non-profit) whose objective it is to uplift the professional status of maintenance and asset management practitioners by raising the professional standards of maintenance and asset management in industry. SAAMA comprises two bodies, i.e. a Council, which is selected at an annual AGM, and Members, who join either as individuals or as part of their company's corporate membership.

What is your acquaintance with SAAMA?

I was previously a Council member and Vice President of SAAMA. Pragma has also had a longstanding relationship with SAAMA in that we have provided sponsorships and promoted SAAMA at the annual Pragma Conferences.

As President of SAAMA, what are your plans and vision for SAAMA for the next two years?

The President's term is for a minimum of two years, which gives one ample time to implement certain changes or ideas and make them stick. It is important to note however that the Council's role is to guide and nurture the association and we are only the custodians of the members' interests. The Council members are all volunteers, doing this in our own time at no cost, hence for the love of Asset Management.

My vision for SAAMA is quite simple: I want SAAMA to be to Asset Management what NOSA has been to Health and Safety, a body that has set the guidelines and standards. The way to get there is quite straightforward. The Council members are divided into Portfolios which focus on various elements ranging from marketing to finances to products to associations. Each of these portfolios has various objectives and accompanying action plans.

What additional benefits does SAAMA offer its members?

Our members have access to numerous benefits and services which SAAMA has to offer. By keeping our main objective in mind, i.e. raising the Asset Management standards, we have focused on packaging a couple of Asset Management specific services. Firstly, we have aligned everything we do with the BSI's (British Standards Institute) PAS55 standards. SAAMA is the South African representative for PAS55, which is a major feather in our cap as PAS55 is fast becoming the defacto standard worldwide. Our services also include benchmarking audits based on the PAS55 framework whereby we help companies identify their areas of concern and improvement. SAAMA also accredits training courses for training companies in terms of whether the courses should qualify for CPD points or not. CPD points are aligned with ECSA, thereby ensuring that delegates attending these courses are able to claim CPD points towards their professional statuses. SAAMA has also set up associations with other local and international Asset Management associations to ensure we keep abreast with what is happening in the industry.