Getting this right will demand changes

The ambit of our industry: We needed to address the issues of debt and not just savings or assets. We needed an integrated, holistic view of the individual and their lens of responsibility.

The nature of our consulting practices: We needed to provide advice about trade-offs. What individuals didn’t need to buy was as important as what they should buy.

We needed new business models where employers could use their buying power to lower costs and consultants were paid on retainer, not by commission.

We needed to ask the client what mattered to them – not tell them what they needed. Click here to find out more

HOW WELL DO WE UNDERSTAND SOUTH AFRICAN FAMILY DYNAMICS?

What was also clear was that none of these changes would take place unless both employers and the financial services industry saw value in promoting them. It’s well enough to suggest that putting in place a programme that helps employees manage their day-to-day financial demands more effectively should improve employees’ commitment to retaining their long-term savings.

To really effect industry change in providing such services demands a completely different business model – one where potentially employers, employees and service providers all co-fund these solutions. Expecting any of these participants to contribute in turn demands that we can demonstrate there is value to be added to everyone’s bottom line.

This was our intent in designing the Alexander Forbes LifeGauge Comprehensive. Translate exactly how much added value was actually brought to a business’s bottom line by introducing a lifelong financial well-being programme to their employees.

INTRODUCING LIFEGAUGE COMPREHENSIVE