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U.K. Broker Heath Lambert Sees Potential in Employee Benefits
(BestWire Services Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The advance of technology, combined with pressures on organizations to recruit and retain talent, is creating a bigger market in the U.K. employee benefits sector.
That assessment comes from Adrian Colosso, group chief executive of London-based broker Heath Lambert Group. Colosso discerns an appetite among employers for help with such issues as pensions, life insurance flexible benefits.
?We?re into corporate proper strategic planning and trying to come up with solutions to some of the staffing problems that people have,? Colosso said.
Colosso also points to the likely salutary effect of U.K. government pleas for the public to take steps to ensure financial security in old age. The law, he said, is moving toward compulsory employer contributions to pensions and mandated employee contributions, unless there is an opt out. Heath Lambert seeks to interest organizations in the bulk purchase of voluntary benefits that will be paid for by the employees.
?Legislation changes in pensions bring lots of new opportunities, greater levels of flexibility for individuals, greater realization of the necessity to plan for tomorrow,? Colosso said.
Colosso also sees potential for the development of private provision of medical covers. He said the United States is well ahead in this area, with such instruments as Blue Cross and health maintenance organizations. ?We?re about 10 years behind,? Colosso said. ?But it?s going to come.?
These trends are unfolding as growing trouble in the U.K. economy may be taking some minds off the need for long-term personal planning, Colosso said. ?We have all got woe and pain at the moment, with rising inflation, credit crunch, downturn in the economy,? he said.
Colosso said he believes a good employee benefits program is important if a company wants an effective work force. Happy employees are productive, he said. ?If you?re a good company, you try and deliver good benefits,? he said. ?The greater the level of success of the company, the better the quality of benefits.?
Heath Lambert, which has disposed of its general wholesale and reinsurance operations, regards employee benefits, delivered through its Heath Lambert Consulting division, as an important part of its strategic arsenal. Colosso, who declined to estimate the size of the employee benefits market, described the group?s competitors in this sector as ?everyone.?
?We design all the products,? Colosso said. ?We help with the implementation. And we help with the education.?
Clients for commercial insurance and brokering services range from tiny to large, Colosso said. A small company of, say, a dozen employees, might use the broker to arrange its entire insurance and employee benefits package.
Heath Lambert also provides inclusive packages for multinational corporations. ?But it?s a tougher sell,? Colosso said.
After the interview with Colosso, Heath Lambert Consulting announced it had reached an agreement to help Hogg Robinson Group, the corporate travel company, relaunch its flexible employee benefits program. The initiative moves Hogg Robinson?s program to an online format from paper.
David Kast, Hogg Robinson?s head of human resources, said the group had worked well with Heath Lambert on its insurance. ?So when we were looking to develop this new online benefits scheme, it was logical for us to speak to them,? Kast said in a statement.
Delivering an integrated insurance and consultancy package to a large corporation can be complicated, Colosso said, because of the different reporting lines that are likely to exist. Human resources, for instance, might control benefits, while the financial director might have jurisdiction over nonlife insurance.
Heath Lambert?s own research has put money well down on the list of what motivates employees. More important, Colosso said, are such things as a sense of belonging, having flexibility over hours, being treated fairly and being recognized for doing a good job.
Companies have to appreciate the depth of the desire for flexible benefits, Colosso said, to trade time off for longer hours and to divert money into pension funds.
?You need software systems to manage this stuff,? he said. ?Otherwise, it turns into a paper nightmare. And you?ll end up with an H.R. department with 100 people in it.?
Heath Lambert steers clear of independent financial advisers, who, Colosso said, are more interested in turning a profit than they are in planning. ?They?re only as good as their next commission,? he said.
Heath Lambert is in a position to provide some H.R. function on an outsourced basis. Some of this work also can be done by insurance carriers, Colosso said. But a lot of employee benefits systems have the added advantage of being self-administered, he said. An employee who wants to trade for a day off, for example, can type in a request and get an automatic answer, creating an audit trail in the process.
A good system can be had for about 20,000 pounds (24,600 euros), Colosso said, with Heath Lambert supplying the training and even the advice on what to buy. ?They?re nowhere near as expensive as they used to be because there?s a tremendous amount of competition,? Colosso said.
(By Robert O'Connor, London editor: Robert.OConnor@ambest.com)
Copyright ? 2008 A.M. Best Company, Inc.
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