Sanlam : wins FIA Product Supplier

15 June 2017

Sanlam has been named the 2017 Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa's (FIA) Employee Benefits Product Supplier of the Year. The FIA awards provide financial intermediaries the opportunity to recognise product suppliers that consistently deliver exceptional value to clients.

Dawie de Villiers, Chief Executive Officer of Sanlam Employee Benefits, said that the company's culture and business model is focussed on addressing changing client needs in partnership with intermediaries. 'The way our clients want to interact is changing rapidly with technological and generational shifts driving this change. For this reason, we've imbedded innovation into our DNA and made a wide range of investments in technology to bring an always-improving offering to our clients and to enable intermediaries to provide informed advice. From the introduction of Benefit Counsellors to the Sanlam My Retirement App, we are able to share real-time information and data between the sponsor, fund, employer, intermediary and member.'

'Our strategy has been to leverage synergies across Sanlam to develop what has been widely recognised as the market leading offering. Intermediaries have played a crucial role in executing this strategy as their input informs how we engage with members. This accolade, I believe, is a reflection of our partnership with intermediaries to help improve financial outcomes for the members of Sanlam funds,' he said.

'We've won this award previously and are delighted that the 2017 win represents an affirmation from intermediaries that Sanlam is on the right track in empowering them to add even greater value to our shared clients through our engagement model, service proposition and technological suite.'

De Villiers said that, the role of the intermediary has never been more important than in today's very tough economic conditions. 'Advice across various dimensions is critical to help employers, funds and members achieve better financial outcomes. And advice is what intermediaries do best.'