Future Liberty A Client and Adviser Engagement Perspective
Johan Minnie October 2020
Liberty Group Limited is an Insurer and an Authorised Financial Services Provider (no. 2409).
The Future is Not What it Used to Be People may soon tire of the observation that the Global Pandemic of 2020 changed everything. But nobody will lose their enthusiasm for the positive changes made to life insurance products, services, processes, protocols and promises. Liberty has accelerated the development and delivery of our digital transformation, and we are poised for future opportunities.
The Future Favours the Bold The future belongs to those bold and brave enough to accept its new realities, to adapt to the redefined wants and needs of its consumers, and to adopt fresh strategies and approaches to its marketplaces. Liberty has conceived, created, positioned and promoted a refreshed brand strategy that speaks directly to the hearts and minds of a human audience.
Putting Retirement to Work More patients will survive cancer. People will live longer, more complicated lives. The milestones of retirement will be altered and extended to accommodate the positive advances in healthcare and the negative declines in traditional job opportunities. Liberty is currently exploring and examining the latest insights and responding with new products and service offerings.
New Income Streams Entrepreneurship will bloom in existing and new areas of the economy. Side hustles accruing increasing amounts of active and passive income will become an important personal goal for people energetically pursuing financial freedom. Liberty is actively targeting and adding value to the Afripreneur cohort and is retooling end-to-end life and investment solutions
The Platform Economy Any business in the financial services sector will need to align seamlessly with the platform economy. This is a digital marketplace offering easy, intuitive access to a world of life solutions, as well as third-party leisure and lifestyle-enhancing products and services, for all generations, at every life stage. Liberty is developing new business partnerships to satisfy these expectations by empowering our advisers to help clients develop “the art of living their best lives.�
The Rise of Data Mining Individuals will regularly and happily grant access to a world of personal information in return for the promise of personalised products and services, competitively priced, simply packaged, proposed ahead of time, with real-time management and monitoring across omni-regulatory environments. Liberty has begun the process of future-fit, regulatory compliant personalisation as early as the quotations stage.
Digital Humanity Digitisation will become the norm across every sector of the services industries. Still, the inherent value of human interactions and high-quality personalised advice will become ever-more impactful and influential as behavioural science helps facilitate excellent, high-frequency fulfillment experiences. Liberty has precisely such an adviser philosophy and positioning in the marketplace.
The Experience Ecosystem We will witness the meteoric rise of the Human Experience economy. Here, the entire spectrum of complex personal wants and needs will have to be addressed and engaged in gaining instant appeal, and long-term loyalty, through enhanced highfrequency digital engagements. Liberty has built - and is continually developing – a fullyintegrated, cloud-based ecosystem.
The Power of Purpose Those businesses and brands that demonstrated active humanity, empathy, consideration, and a sustainable long-term perspective through the short- and medium-term turbulence of these darkest times will be remembered and rewarded with a positive predisposition. Liberty has established a reputation as a principles-based, purpose-driven business.
Beyond Financial to Circumstantial Future consumers will crave skilled and equipped life guides offering genuine attention and authentic focus on the entire spectrum of their personal and professional circumstances, at every stage and in every area of their lives. Liberty has always had the best advisers, and our transformation tools are busy augmenting their 360-degree digital capabilities.
Shared Value The adviser of the future will see an exponential growth of their business based on the invaluable expression of personal insights and human empathy. This will result in the development of unbreakable bonds linking an adviser to an expanding network of client family, friends and associates as their reputation spreads. Liberty has empowered advisers to position the quality of advice over and above the quantity of sales.
Delivering on Promises The future will see the growth of those companies in the life insurance space that set aside sufficient ‘pandemic reserves’ to cover the cost of settling valid claims without threatening their financial liquidity. Consumers will value these brands above competitors who over-promised and under-delivered, or who engaged in distressing tactics of unnecessary delay or dispute. Liberty has been demonstrating the power and importance of financial prudence and humane support throughout the pandemic.
The Test of Time New operators such as Fintechs and banks will enter the arena with digitally enhanced life insurance type offerings. But they will lack the credibility of established firms that have built brand equity, trust and deep relationships over many years. Liberty has been around for over 60 years, and we are continually developing our offerings. We fast-tracked our digital transformation in 2017 and accelerated it during the pandemic.
Renovate Evolve and Transcend In one sense, the future is always about to materialise, but at Liberty, we see it as something we can control and contribute to every day. As we continue to renovate our legacy systems, we are evolving our products and services, and contributing to an ongoing transcendence into an ever-changing future. For Liberty, this circular narrative is our North Star; it is a story of constant and continual transformation that we are writing for ourselves, our business partners and our clients.
The Future of Life Insurance is in Our Hands Carl Sagan once said, “the future is already here; it’s just not widely distributed yet.” This is certainly true for Liberty. Since 2017 we have been aggressively pursuing our path of digital transformation. That path became a super-highway after the onset of the Global Pandemic. We are now motoring along at a fantastic pace. We have already achieved many milestones, and we are on course to deliver on the expectations of our colleagues, business partners, clients and communities. Suddenly, the future is much nearer than it used to be. Our task now is to distribute the one we have created as fast, and as widely, as possible. In these uncertain times one thing is for sure – we have the people, products, processes, principles, passion and purpose to define an extremely positive destiny.
Liberty Group Limited is an Insurer and an Authorised Financial Services Provider (no. 2409).