Momentum Retail to focus on emerging middle class

19 Feb 2014

Momentum Retail is increasing its focus on the emerging middle class‚ with plans to set up a dedicated agency force to service this segment‚ chief executive Mark van der Watt said.

MMI's Mark van der Watt says middle class people need special advice. Image: MMI Holdings

"This segment of the market needs more financial advice than it is getting now‚" he said on the sidelines of a Momentum insurance conference in Sun City.

Momentum Retail has been gaining a better understanding of this market.

"At the same time as these consumers needing more financial advice‚ financial advisers are subjected to increasing regulation and the need to meet higher professional standards," he said.

"This has seen the financial adviser workforce increasing in average age‚ while new entrants have struggled with new commission structures that put a damper on their potential earnings," he added.

However‚ Van der Watt said the new regulations had resulted in better qualified‚ more professional financial advisers.

Better advisers

"In the UK where they have similar regulations‚ the number of advisers decreased but the guys (who were) left were a lot more successful as they were more qualified‚ so they were able to get more clients‚" he said.

Momentum‚ which is on a drive to market its brand directly to clients‚ released its life-insurance claim statistics for the first time ever to show to the market that it would rather seek reasons to pay claims than find causes not to pay‚ said Stephen van Niekerk‚ head of Myriad‚ Momentum's life insurance product.

In 2013‚ the life insurer paid R2.6bn in individual risk claims‚ of which R2.1bn went to death claims. The group also paid R1.4bn in group claims.

One percent of claims were repudiated‚ for breach of contract‚ in 2013.

Cardiovascular disease was the major cause of death claims last year‚ making up 33% of claims. This was followed by cancer (19%)‚ respiratory disease (14%) and unnatural deaths from suicide‚ accidents and murder at 11%.

Source: I-Net Bridge

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