InsureTalk59: New horizons in financial advice

InsureTalk59 took place on 19 February 2026, drawing close to 3 000 guests online. Carel Nolte, CN&CO founder and chief enablement officer of EasyEquities, and Carly Esterhuizen, head of brand at EasyEquities, welcomed guests to the first InsureTalk session of 2026 – headline sponsored by EasyEquities. The theme for the webinar was “New horizons in financial advice: Global perspectives, smarter portfolios and the evolving digital economy”.

Carel described it as “a big theme reflecting big shifts and big conversations”.

Carly introduced the first speaker of the day, Emile van der Linde of EasyCrypto, for his presentation, “Crypto isn’t what you think it is anymore”.

“I’m not here to persuade anyone to buy digital assets but rather to update your mental model with real data,” he said.

He acknowledged that much of financial services had formed its view of crypto during a period defined by “speculation, volatility, big headlines, scams, meme coins”, adding that this perspective “wasn’t necessarily wrong… just based on evidence from that time”, but argued that the evidence had since shifted materially.

Using Jamie Dimon and JP Morgan as a case study, he contrasted public criticism of Bitcoin with the steady build-out of blockchain settlement platforms, ETF participation, and institutional integration taking place behind the scenes.

He went on to outline structural changes across the ecosystem, including the rapid growth of stablecoins as “financial plumbing”, the approval of regulated spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, increased bank participation, and expanding regulatory oversight, including the FSCA’s move to declare crypto a financial product.

“These are not forecasts,” he said. “They’re happening already!”

He argued that crypto had shifted from fringe speculation to regulated infrastructure influencing settlement, liquidity and risk.

“Crypto isn’t what you think it is anymore… it’s already part of our financial system, and I think it’s time to update our mental models.”

Next up was Anthea Gardner of Cartesian Capital, who encouraged investors to “start with the goal in mind, define risk primarily as volatility, and recognise the danger of needing to withdraw funds during a market downturn.”

She also recommended matching your portfolio to time horizon and purpose, warning that “you need to take risk to make money, while remaining mindful of liquidity, ethics, and diversification.”

Drawing on recent research, Anthea highlighted the relative attractiveness of emerging market real yields, noting that “money flows to the higher yield”, and challenged conventional assumptions about always favouring offshore exposure.

She then outlined what she considered an “ideal portfolio” for a growth-oriented South African investor with a three- to five-year horizon: 62% in equities split between local and global markets, complemented by fixed income, listed property, alternatives and a small cash buffer for liquidity.

“This allocation aims for high total return, strong income generation, moderate offshore exposure, and performance designed to outperform inflation by 5% to 7% over the full cycle,” she said.

Through a lively explanation of simple versus compound interest and the “rule of 72”, Anthea underscored the power of staying invested and allowing returns to compound over time.

She reminded guests that volatility was part of the journey and that disciplined asset allocation remained central to long-term wealth creation.

Lizelle van der Merwe of the Financial Intermediaries Association reminded guests that that intermediaries were “not trying to survive, they are a critical market mechanism”, arguing that without independent distribution there would be less choice, reduced competition, and diminished innovation in the financial services ecosystem.

She highlighted the FIA’s recent advocacy wins, including:

saving the sector an estimated R10 million per annum through FSCA levy reductions,
pushing for fair, subsector-specific employment equity targets, and
securing changes to OMNI reporting from quarterly to annual submissions to reduce the burden on FSPs.

She also referenced participation in the G20 Social Summit and engagement with the New African Financial Architecture Initiative, positioning intermediaries as central to advising clients on evolving investment pathways across the continent.

“2026 is not merely a year to survive. It is the year to thrive,” she said. “The FIA has your back.”

Rianet Whitehead of FAnews and The Insurance Apprentice welcomed delegates back for 2026 and shared updates from both platforms, describing Season 12 of The Insurance Apprentice, now airing on E Extra in prime time, as possibly “one of the best… we’ve ever produced”.

“We have a new host, Taphelo Mokoena, stronger production quality and a continued focus on consumer education at scale,” she said.

Rianet highlighted FAnews’ growth, citing 2.6 million page views and strong engagement across CPD and regulatory content, and outlined key themes in the February edition, including:

The 2026 regulatory outlook
The co-insurance paradox
Evolving underwriting risks
AI and data analytics
Climate and cyber innovation
Emerging segments

Referencing industry debates on geopolitical risk, hybrid working trends, and recalibrated employee benefits, Rianet argued that “we are no longer simply pricing the past, we are underwriting uncertainty…

“While regulation, risk, and performance pressures are intensifying, the industry is actively innovating, educating and adapting in response.”

EasyEquities’ Veronique Janse van Rensburg provided a fabulous musical set, with an appearance by flautist Wouter Kellerman, before her colleague, COO Rish Tandapany, spoke on the pros and cons (mostly pros!) of managing a team remotely.

Rish drew on 15 years across eight markets to reflect on what it really takes to run global operations from a South African base.

“When you can’t be physically there, you stop trying to supervise and start building systems,” he said. “Distance forces leaders to move from control to culture, and from proximity to alignment.

“You cannot micromanage across time zones, so trust becomes your most valuable currency”.

Documentation, clarity and disciplined communication replace corridor conversations, and he argued that async communication often beats sync communication in distributed teams.

Culture, he added, is the glue: “When people aren’t physically together, culture holds them together.”

On AI, Rish was direct: “AI is my new favourite employee. At EasyEquities it already automates compliance, reconciliations and control checks across jurisdictions, turning days of manual work into real-time processing.

“It has helped convert hundreds of thousands of hours of document review into seconds, strengthened fraud detection and improved planning through predictive staffing models.”

But Rish was clear: AI isn’t really replacing people.

“It’s helping amplify their judgment,” he said.

In insurance especially, where claims response, fraud management and regulatory compliance define the brand, AI compresses underwriting timeframes and strengthens operational architecture.

His closing advice was practical: build rhythm, invest heavily in onboarding, measure outcomes not outputs and “embrace AI pragmatically”.

“Above all, stay grounded in your core ethos, even as you adapt it to different markets.”

Closing out the session was EasyEquities’ Higgo van Biljon, who oversees retirement products and is leading the launch of EasyAdvisor. Higgo framed the future of financial advice around two forces: a massive intergenerational wealth transfer and the rise of AI.

He argued that we are at a “structural shift defined by demographics, technology, and behaviour”, with an estimated $84 to $100 trillion moving from older to younger generations globally.

“In South Africa, where the average advisor is over 50 and most of the population is under 40, that shift will be felt sharply,” he said. “The advisor of the future must be investment-led, tech-enabled and behaviourally intelligent, moving from product distribution to capital allocation, from commission logic to strategy logic, and from selling access to delivering interpretation.”

Information and access are now abundant, he said, but interpretation is scarce.

Higgo contrasted traditional clients, who value in-person trust and are comfortable delegating decisions, with younger investors who expect instant digital access, global exposure, fee transparency, and AI-driven research.

Sharing his own story of starting to invest at 13, he explained how a lack of alignment with an advisor pushed him towards the EasyEquities DIY platform, where he learnt through both wins and losses. That experience shapes his view that the winning model is hybrid: human judgment combined with machine intelligence.

“Humans are emotional, biased and reactive. AI is rational, data-driven, and scalable,” he said.

But, he says, the real opportunity lies in human plus machine.

“Advisors must ask hard questions of themselves: ‘If my top 10 clients passed wealth to their children, would it stay with me?’ and ‘Would a 30-year-old choose me today?’”

In a world of ageing advisor bases, rising crypto adoption and over a million active retail investors on EasyEquities, the message was clear: “The future is not less human, but it is far more digital, transparent and client-driven.”

Carel and Carly closed the session by reflecting on a programme that spanned “from crypto shift into the mainstream, to portfolio positioning in calmer markets, to regulatory realities, to global operating models, and finally, the evolution of advice itself”.

The consistent thread was clear: “Advice is not disappearing, it’s adapting.”

Thanks to the headline sponsor EasyEquities and partners FIA and FAnews.

“Investment and insurance, at the end of the day, really is about people and relationships,” said Carel. A

Attendees were encouraged to visit www.insuretalk.co.za for certificates and to register for upcoming sessions, and special thanks were extended to Llewellyn from CN&CO Events for ensuring InsureTalk runs seamlessly behind the scenes.

You can watch the YouTube recording below. And don’t forget to REGISTER FOR INSURETALK 2026 to secure your spots for the rest of the year. See you on 19 March for InsureTalk60!