FMI’s Community involvement

Hard work pays off for two students FMI are committed to being socially responsible and aim to make a difference where we possibly can. Just as we believe that helping you to protect your income has a positive impact on the livelihood of many, so we believe that changing one person’s future can change the lives of many others.   As such, we are proud to give you an update on two of our bursary students.

CEO Brad Toerien (right back) with Nic Smit, Actuarial Analyst (left back) and FMI’s two bursary students, Asavela Rawe (front left) and Mondi Simbosini (front right). Asavelo Rowe (18 years) and Monde Simbosini (20 years) have taken one step closer to reach their dream of making their mark in the business world one day by completing their first year’s work experience at FMI.  The two friends made headlines on the well-known website ‘SA Good News’ earlier this year when they told their unique story of overcoming what seemed insurmountable obstacles to excel at school. Despite their remarkable results, the lives of Asavelo and Monde would have looked differently was it not for the intervention of FMI. CEO of FMI, Brad Toerien, said he was inspired and touched when he first read how these two young men studied late into the late night at school, because they had no electricity at home where they also faced other challenges. When he learned that Asavelo and Monde were offered no financial backing except for a small bursary from the University of Cape Town, he felt compelled to help them out. FMI and its partner, Lombard, subsequently granted both gentlemen full scholarships to study actuarial science, an industry related profession. ‘Asavelo and Monde have worked extremely hard this year and we are proud to have them here to gain some work experience.  We believe that you can transform a community by changing one life. We look forward to the day when they join our company full time ’, says Brad Toerien. For Asavelo and Monde the past year has been one of the best years in their lives. “We have come to realise that you have to work very hard to make a success of your studies”, says Asavelo.  Monde confirms this: “It is also important to surround yourself with people and friends who can support you and believe in what you do, like FMI and Lombard have done.”