Western Cape Business 2017 edition

FOCUS
injury or illness, so the need to have insurance is
definitely out there. However, there is a big
educational need, which is why we went on a
journey with our Financial Education which offers
the public information on money management
as well as financial workshops, and also employ
facilitators to train communities, clients or stakeholders.
Even if we don’t bring any business from these
workshops and initiatives, they have a wider
micro economic benefit, and this impacts on the
macro economy, so we see it as an important project.
However, once you start speaking to people it’s a
whole new world and they suddenly realise they have
been wasting money for a long time that could easily
have been used to protect or build their financial life.
It’s important to us to help people who aren’t earning
much to realise their dreams and to reach their goals.
What we aim to bring to the attention of our clients
is the fact that, when it comes to your finances, if you
make a mistake you won’t pay for it now – instead you
really pay for it in 10 to 15 years time. Unfortunately a
lot of people wake up too late and suffer financially.
This is also why it’s critical to get out there to the
young workforce in particular, because if we can
help people to start out with the right decisions and
products from the start of their career it will make a
tremendous difference to their financial future.
effort to work in and create opportunities to give
back through staff volunteering. Staff who want
to participate can choose if they want to give of
their time, or they can give from their paycheck. To
honour their contribution, Old Mutual then matches
that amount at the end of the year and distributes it
to the relevant communities.
We also make funds available for our staff
members who have been working on community
projects. This is our Staff Volunteerism programme
where Old Mutual will donate up to R20 000 to a
project if our staff are supporting it with their time.
This obviously gives back to the community, but it
also allows Old Mutual to honour and support our
staff who give of their time through a meaningful
cash donation.
What is different about how you do your
business?
With our Mass Business unit we pay our advisers
salaries, not commission. We find that salaried
staff are better able to offer the correct service
to the public and that distinguishes them from
commission earners who are, perhaps understandably,
motivated by their commission. By paying them a
salary we believe it allows them to really look after the
client and to build trust as a financial adviser, not
just a sales person. Our advisers are then better able
to sell a client what they need and what they can
afford, not what the salesperson wants in terms of
their commission.
Our aim is to provide that really good service
because then we start to build a good relationship
with the client and they will then hopefully want
to seek our advice for their other future needs. We
see it as really caring for their wellbeing and then
going on a journey with the client, and by seeing
them as a person.
We’re also very passionate about our people -
our clients and our staff – and if you walk into our
business you will get the sense for how they care.
That spirit has really helped to make us successful.
How else does Old Mutual give back to the
community?
We are passionate about giving back to the
communities in which we work, so we make an
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WESTERN CAPE BUSINESS 2017