3
BusinessDay www.businessday.co.za Thursday 7 September 2023
INSIGHTS
FIA INTERMEDIARY EXPERIENCE AWARDS 2023 Sponsored content
stainability Awards recognise Su and affordability: leaders, help ‘raise finding a balance the bar even higher’
•prAocerigorous ss
underpins the selection of winners, writes Lynette Dicey
T
he FIA Intermediary Experience Awards — commonly referred to as the FIA Awards — were announced last week at a gala dinner in Sandon. The awards recognise a select group of product provider brands for their role in empowering financial advisory businesses, and through these businesses making positive contributions to improving outcomes for clients. The annual event is a calendar highlight for insurance and investment stakeholders. Lizelle van der Merwe, CEO of the Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa (FIA), says the awards represent more than just accolades; they symbolise the culmination of hard work, innovation and a relentless commitment by financial product suppliers to improving the service delivery to intermediaries within the financial services sector. “These awards have emerged as a touchstone of excellence and a testament to the dedication of our industry as
Lizelle van der Merwe … trust. we to push the boundaries of what is possible,” she says. Winners are chosen through a rigorous selection process informed by a comprehensive and impartial assessment of thousands of FIA member responses. “The rigorous process that underpins the selection of winners guarantees that recipients truly embody the values of integrity, innovation and client-centricity that as an industry we hold dear,” says Van der Merwe. “Brands that receive an award are not only being celebrated by their peers, but also earn the trust and respect of the broader advice community,” she says, adding that the FIA Awards serve a “deeper” purpose of enhancing the lives of both FIA members and financial consumers. This year’s winners include the following: in the Non-Life:
Personal Lines category the winner was Santam. Western National won the Commercial category while Hollard won the Corporate category. In the Life and Investment category, Sanlam won the Risk Award and Allan Gray won both the Investment Product: LumpSum Award and the Investment Product: Savings Award. In the Product Supplier of the Year category, Momentum Corporate won the Employee Benefits Award while Discovery Healthcare won the Healthcare Award. The 2023 selection process rated more than 5,000 contracts across the employee benefits; healthcare; non-life insurance; and life insurance and investment disciplines. The FIA reports that the overall service results achieved for 2023 were closely aligned with those recorded in the prior year, with an overall industry score of 77.87% compared to 77.93%. The best-performing brand across the eight award categories increased its score by just 1.81% over the prior year, demonstrating the competitive nature of the FIA Awards landscape, and confirming the already high service standards achieved in 2022. There were some notable improvements in the intermediary experience ratings for brands in the investment lump-sum category this year, but overall service in respect of both personal lines and
commercial non-life insurance has been on a gradual year-onyear decline. “The overall service indicator serves as an excellent predictor for non-life insurers on where they need to improve service standards,” Van der Merwe says. Overall, the awards shed light on the practices, strategies and solutions that have not only achieved success, but have also created positive and lasting impacts on clients. “By showcasing these exemplary initiatives, we not only inspire others to emulate their success, but contribute to a collective elevation of industry standards.” Pointing out that improving outcomes for clients is a paramount goal for the entire industry, she says the awards play a pivotal role in this regard. “By recognising and disseminating best practices, we facilitate knowledge exchange, encourage healthy competition and foster an environment of continuous improvement. This, in turn, translates into enhanced products, services and strategies that ultimately benefit our clients, creating a financial services landscape that is safer, more efficient and more attuned to their needs.” Van der Merwe said the awards need to be viewed as a catalyst for ongoing transformation. “These awards celebrate the achievements that push our industry forward, all the while propelling us to raise the bar even higher.”
Benchmarks measure success, identify areas for improvement The financial services industry is facing a challenging market beyond the effects of Covid-19 with headwinds in the form of retention, increasing premiums, new players in the market and regulatory requirements becoming more prevalent. Additionally, revenue pressures are a growing concern that requires immediate attention and action. Dáil Consulting’s Ineke Prinsloo acted as an independent consultant to the Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa (FIA) benchmarking study. She says that to adapt to the current market conditions, product providers have several tools at their disposal, including the emergence data and the FIA’s independent intermediary benchmarking study as foundational capabilities, which can positively impact insurers’ relationships with their intermediaries and clients. Product providers who leverage these tools effectively can gain a competitive advantage in the market and improve their overall performance, she says. “Benchmark data analysis can help the industry to understand their competitive position, compare their performance to their competitors and identify areas for improvement. However, it is crucial to ensure the accuracy and relevance of the benchmarks to the specific industry or company, as relying on generic standards can lead to inaccurate insights.” Conducting a benchmark data analysis can be challenging, especially when a single financial services
Moiketsi Sebotsa with Santam’s award for Non-Life Insurer of the Year: Personal Lines. provider commissions the data. As Prinsloo points out, selfserving bias can be a challenge that leads to the selection and interpretation of data that supports preconceived notions or desired outcomes. Additionally, benchmark data stripped of short-term and long-term context only provides information on the accomplishments of internal teams without giving any information on the methods used to achieve those results or fundamental drivers of differentiated experiences. This can result in incomplete or inaccurate insights, which can hinder the development of effective improvement strategies. “Objective and unbiased benchmark data, such as the FIA’s independent intermediary benchmark, supports and informs constructive and
positive actions that benefit all stakeholders in the financial services industry,” she says. “By identifying areas for improvement and developing effective improvement strategies based on accurate and relevant data, product providers can enhance their competitive position, improve their performance and benefit their clients, shareholders and the industry. These actions can lead to a more robust, resilient financial services sector, aligned with the regulator’s agenda of the financial services industry, while providing the necessary support for government’s broader focus on sustainable economic growth.” Benchmarks are crucial to measuring success in each category, explains Prinsloo, providing a reference point for identifying areas for improvement and determining what “good” looks like. “The FIA Intermediary Awards are founded on credible standards that adapt to the changing operating landscape, intermediary expectations and client preferences,” she says. The awards set the benchmark for intermediaries across seven industry categories to recognise insurers for their exceptional products, solutions and services offered through intermediated distribution channels. They follow an independent process that rates and rewards product providers based on what is important to the intermediary and that aligns with changes in the intermediated business landscape. “The bespoke methodology developed for the FIA
guarantees that every vote counts in benchmarking,” she says. “Unlike other benchmarks that adopt a pay-for-play approach, every contract rated is considered in the overall weighting of the drivers, resulting in fair winners in each category — based on an overall weighting voice of the intermediary. The streamlined and digitally enabled research platform simplifies participation while adhering to governance on identity and research standards.” The research follows a three-pronged approach to ensure only eligible respondents rate a product provider. The survey tool features a unique identifier link that cannot be forwarded, preventing block booking. The device is platform-agnostic and asks a few qualifying questions. Finally, the results undergo a rigorous defence mechanism and two independent audits to ensure utmost accuracy.
EXPERIENCES CONSIDERED AND RANKED
FIA members’ experiences are considered and ranked in importance across seven standards of excellence, including the intermediary’s overall satisfaction with the product provider, the perception of service, product and relationship quality with the intermediary, aligning with regulations in treating customers fairly, the trust in the provider, effective complaint resolution and the degree to which the product supplier enables the intermediary to be successful through their value offering to the market and clients.
One of the biggest challenges facing medical schemes is balancing scheme sustainability while supporting affordability and value for members. Dr Ryan Noach, CEO of Discovery Health, says the scheme is focusing its efforts on finding the right balance to support affordability given the greater financial pressure on consumers, while offering the best value for members. The increase in health care costs, he adds, is being spurred by lifestyle-related diseases driving increased chronic disease burden and an ageing population – something that many health care economies around the world are grappling with. Medical schemes have taken different approaches to finding the balance between affordability and sustainability. Discovery Health Medical Scheme has successfully achieved that balance by investing heavily in new benefits and innovative approaches to maintain value for members while simultaneously improving the future health of members through preventative screening benefits, intelligent disease prevention and greater disease
management. The recent promulgation of the NHI Bill continues to garner significant attention. In its current format, the proposed bill restricts the role of medical schemes. Noach says while the current situation of inequitable access to quality health care in SA is untenable and unsustainable, limiting the role of private health insurance in a future NHI defeats the policy objective of expanding access to care. “SA’s private health care sector provides outstanding value for money to consumers and is one of the best in the world on this metric. It should be leveraged to collaborate with the public to extend access to high quality care.” Intermediaries in the health care sector are facing regulatory uncertainty and a lack of clarity around their role in the proposed NHI. Financial advisers play a critical role for medical scheme members, says Noach. “Consumers have varying health care and affordability needs and require personalised advice to balance their financial and medical needs. Advisers offer members the experience and expertise, backed by in-
Sharon Forman and Mdu Nene accepted the award on behalf of Discovery Health for Product Supplier of the Year: Healthcare.
depth knowledge of a complex landscape, to offer members cover that’s right for them.” He adds that advisers will still play a fundamental role in providing sound advice in an environment with a viable universal health care solution, with top up cover through private medical insurance. Another challenge facing intermediaries is the limited opportunities for new business growth. “New growth opportunities for advisers tend to sit outside the medical scheme industry, which requires advisers to increasingly advise on health insurance-type products. The introduction of low-cost benefit options within medical schemes will create a significant opportunity for growth within medical
schemes,” says Noach. These low-cost options have yet to receive the green light. In 2022, Health Squared Medical Scheme went into liquidation after its solvency level fell below the regulated minimum requirement. Its demise, says Noach, illustrates how quickly a scheme can deteriorate if its key sustainability metrics become unbalanced, raising a spotlight on the importance of sustainable pricing for the long term. “The industry today requires a financial adviser to also account for the long-term sustainability of a medical scheme in evaluating the underlying value of the medical scheme cover, looking beyond just price, when advising clients. A far more complex task than prior years.”
7 th Time Winner of the FIA Short-Term Insurer of the Year Award!
INTERMEDIARY EXPERIENCE
2023 CORPORATE Thank you to our broker partners
Underwritten by The Hollard Insurance Company Limited (Reg. No. 1952/003004/06), a Licensed Non-Life Insurer and an authorised Financial Services Provider