8 minute read
Alexander Forbes
Alexander Forbes continues to impart financial and social benefit to the people of Botswana through a customer-centric approach, diversified products and extensive social responsibility initiatives
Writer: Jonathan Dyble | Project Manager: Josh Mann
Business is buoyant in Botswana right now.
Owing to sizeable fiscal buffers and prudent political, social and economic policies, the country has enjoyed strong growth for a number of years. Further, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development recently outlined the new government’s plans to transform the economy following the conclusion of the October 2019 national elections.
From ICT improvements to the creation of sustainable jobs, tackling corruption, enhancing education and training, the provision of quality healthcare and attracting both local and international investments, its commitments have the country poised for prosperity, and many industries are already thriving.
“The financial services industry in Botswana is evolving, with more players entering this space and a shift noted in the regulatory landscape. The regulatory framework changes and amendments are necessary, which I’m personally expecting to instil confidence in the industry,” Poloko Masitara, CEO of Alexander Forbes Botswana states.
It’s been a little over 12 months since I last spoke with Masitara, but the Chief Executive is able to pick up with similar optimism to where we left off.
In the past year, Alexander Forbes Botswana has reported satisfactory growth, achieving a member under administration growth of 16 percent, high client retention coupled with booming new business growth and bolstered margins and returns to shareholders. The business has also managed to create a stabilised work environment following a major restructuring exercise which was aimed at implementing a more efficient operating model that will see the business achieve its vision of becoming the leading pension fund administrator, providing best advice to clients – and that’s merely touching the surface.
“We’ve also increased our marketing activities and visibility including our participation in industry events, planned and implemented the first annual Alexander Forbes wellness month, and rolled out revolutionary innovations such as the Consulting tool and Life Gauge tool, that are aimed at meeting the future demands of the retirement industry, focussing on assisting the board of trustees build stronger member replacement ratios and achieve robust member retirement outcomes. These tools focus on building a comprehensive retirement health, allowing us to demonstrate to clients their effectiveness in showing different variables affecting future retirement prospects,” Masitara states.
“Furthermore, our use of the AFONLINE platform has intensified – another tool our members can use to monitor and improve their retirement and investment planning through the use of the budgeting, saving, debt, tax, retirement, life and education solutions, as well as access to their retirement records.”
MANDATED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE To say that 2019 was a busy year for the company would be an understatement.
The entrance of new players and a rising awareness of the financial services sector has facilitated an injection of healthy competition in Botswana, and Alexander Forbes has reacted by continuing to improve its product offering and uphold its value proposition of providing financial wellbeing and peace of mind through integrated and holistic advice.
“We’ve definitely seen our model shifting from being product centric to client centric,” Masitara comments. “We’ve integrated all parts of our
business, developed our client facing team with divisional experts, introduced new, innovative solutions and a product enablement hub as well as created a joint service platform including our fund administration and shared services.”
Aside from the aforementioned operational improvements, it has also expanded upon already extensive participation in corporate social responsibility initiatives, delivering meaningful benefits to disadvantaged communities and individuals in a multitude of ways.
INTRODUCING ALEXANDER FORBES
The Alexander Forbes Group is a diversified financial services company with its head office in South Africa. It specialises in employee benefits and investments, providing financial advice, risk brokerage, and administration solutions to individuals, companies, parastatals and union bodies. We are launching a new service offering, medical aid consulting, which is our strategic focus to ensure we provide holistic solutions to our clients.
For individuals, Alexander Forbes Botswana’s services include preserving retirement benefits, pre-retirement planning, pre-withdrawal planning and counselling, retirement planning, discretionary investments, wills and estate planning.
For businesses, its services span the following segments: employee benefits administration, The Alexander Forbes Trust, client services, beneficiary funds, asset consultants, financial management and consulting and actuarial services. Its support of the Dignity Foundation is an ongoing example. A registered non-profit organisation, it provides sanitary pads, counselling for abuse, education on health and legal rights, cancer preventative medical checks treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and protection from sexual and violent abuse to girls nationwide.
“Further, we partnered with the Dreams Alive Club on its Girl Talk Dreamer’s exchange expo, which is designed to inspire adolescent girls and young women in pursuing aspirational careers,” Masitara adds. “We partnered with them under the investment, accounting and financial services career hub and sponsored 15 students attending the career expo. “We’re proud to work with them. Their programmes are focussed on empowering young people in the greater Gaborone area by engaging them in community activities and workshops that allow interaction with knowledgeable industry specialists and influential role models.
“They deliver positive recreational activities, facilitate career mentorships and develop discussions around communities and social issues that promote behavioural change.”
The Chief Executive herself also recently attended a price giving ceremony at Mosikari Secondary School in central Botswana, where Alexander Forbes sponsored the gifts that were presented to the best performing students, many of which are from challenged backgrounds.
Standard Chartered Bank
Standard Chartered Bank is the oldest bank in Botswana, having started operations back in 1897. A bank of many firsts in the country, Standard Chartered has been at the forefront of innovation and service to the people and government of Botswana. In 2019, the Bank launched the first of its kind Digital Bank, allowing customers access to over 70 banking services and the option of opening bank accounts directly from their smartphones without ever having to set foot in a branch.
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“We also sponsored and participated in various other initiatives such as the UB Foundation whose mandate is to offer graduate scholarships to high performing Botswana students, 250 of which have been supported since its inception in 2004,” she adds.
MOVING WITH THE MARKET Such initiatives reflect Alexander Forbes Botswana’s position as a stalwart of socioeconomic empowerment in Botswana.
Through the latter stages of 2019 and early part of 2020, the company has both continued to deliver upon a vast and growing variety of empowerment initiatives and bring ever better products and services to the local populous, further advancing the country’s financial services industry.
But what of the remainder of the year? And beyond that?
“Right now, we’re working on rolling out a new customer-centric system and enhancing our administration
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system to increase our operational efficiency, capitalising on new capabilities such as automation of our processes and moving towards a paperless environment,” Masitara muses, looking ahead.
“Technology is changing constantly in this market, and we recognise that we will continually have to respond in order to accommodate clients
across all age bands and improve their individual experiences with us.”
For Alexander Forbes Botswana, the outlook for the next 12 months will be to build a more resilient organisation focussed on improved client experience, increased shareholder value and energised workforce, capitalising on new opportunities, technological enhancement and diversification of products and services.
Adversity may need to be overcome in this period, particularly in the face of the local and global and economic impacts of the coronavirus, which has resulted in governments across the world take various measures to control its spread.
Botswana has not been spared and the government has already responded with guidelines and restrictions to protect people from the virus, while Alexander Forbes has also taken measures and implemented health protocols to safeguard both staff and clients against the virus. Masitara admits the virus presents new challenges for Botswana and Alexander Forbes – as a responsible corporate citizen – fully supports the measures that the government has introduced as a result.
Notwithstanding the impact of the coronavirus on the Botswana economy, Masitara is cautiously optimistic about the future of the country.
“Not only are our efforts in line with the transformation agenda of the new government, for which many are excited, but it also creates room for growth in the economy which will serve to benefit our industry and others moving forward.”
ALEXANDER FORBES BOTSWANA Tel: +267 3651900/01 enquiries.botswana@aforbes.com www.alexanderforbes.com
