Employee Benefits Consultant

Employee Benefits Consultants act as the main contact person for our client. To provide professional and expert advice to Financial Service Providers (FSPs) in terms of structuring, implementation and ongoing review of the employee benefits arrangements. This role will entail pre-dominantly working closely with External (independent) Employee Benefits Consultants and be responsible for the daily management and logistical control of the funds, to co-ordinate and facilitate interactions between departments, with the ultimate objective of providing a holistic servicing experience to External Consultants/Clients.

The scope of the role:

• The role offers an opportunity to use both retirement fund experience, legal and technical background. The incumbent must have experience with retirement funds in a consulting role
• Decision Making:
  • Make appropriate and timely decisions
• Problem Solving:
  • Solve complex business problems
  • Analyse information and select best solution from a range of alternative solutions
• Lead, guide and support:
  • Develop and maintain desired organisational culture
  • Effectively delegate the next layer of the principal officer team and support structures
  • Must have a good working knowledge of the business model, required leadership, behaviour and values
• Accountability:
  • Accountable for team (if applicable) and Board, Management Committee and Consultant decisions

Responsibility:

• Keeping up to date with Board Notices and Circulars issued by the Financial Services Conduct Authority relating to the Pension Funds Act and FAIS Legislation
• Researching legislation and keeping up to date on changes in legislation
• Continuous educational development in field of expertise
• Attending seminars relating(reasonably costed)
• Ongoing interaction with the Chairperson of the Board, the Chairpersons of the various Committees, the Principal Executive Officer/s and the Service Providers, as required
• Interaction with the participating employers in the Fund and FSP’s, as required
• Dealing with and responding to member complaints that have been escalated to the boards
• Handling fund matters with circumspection and confidentiality
• Providing consulting support to External Consultants on installation of new scheme as well as ongoing support – acting a sounding board for technical queries and being a Product Specialist to enable effective interaction with the External Consultant
• Manage current relationships and help grow the client base by creating new opportunities and relationships
• Liaison and assist with administration and system queries
• Provide assistance to consultants, Members and clients pertaining to investments, legislation and pending legislative changes which could impact participating employer’s benefit structure
• Detailed knowledge of group risk benefit arrangements
• Attend management committee meetings
• Set up regular meetings with FSP’s, prepare agendas for distribution and provide meeting minutes
• Attend to action items arising from minutes of meetings
• Present employee benefits business, product and process updates to consultants on a regular basis
• Manage the installation process of onboarding new clients, arranging for initial system training sessions and section 14 transfer processes
• Ensure that retainer fees and commissions if applicable are received in accordance with SLA and reviewed as required
• Provide investment, member and new business presentations to clients, consultants and members
• Provide and arrange new business quotations
• Grow assets under management with current supporting independent employee benefit consultants
• Keep clients updated on changes to fees/rates or products
• Be able to develop, maintain and enhance relationships not only with clients/consultants but the greater employee benefits team
• Ensures that TCF is understood and practiced by the funds and stakeholders
• Draws on TCF management information (and potentially contributes towards the input thereof) to monitor progress in TCF and address short-comings relevant to his/her area with urgency
• Keeps abreast of latest TCF information and guidelines as from time to time

Role Qualifications & Experience

• Relevant Degree in Law
• Postgraduate Diploma qualification related to Employee Benefits or Law would be advantageous
• CFP would be advantageous
• Membership of a professional body (e.g., FPI) would be advantageous
• Excellent knowledge of the legislation governing retirement funds is essential
• FAIS qualifications
• A minimum of 3-5 years employee benefits consulting experience
• Good understanding and interpretation of Pension funds, FAIS and related legislation

Technical Experience

• Strong knowledge of Employee Benefit industry
• Strong knowledge of Pension Funds, FAIS and related legislation
• Compliance and governance of Pension Fund structures
• Financial advisory knowledge
• Basic accounting knowledge with the ability to understand financial statements and investment
• Pension Fund Act and Regulations associated circulars issued by registrar
• Working knowledge of Retirement Fund Law, Income Tax Act, Labour Relations Act, Divorce Act, Long-term, Insurance Act
• Knowledge of Financial Sector Regulations Act
• Knowledge of retail products (Retirement Annuity Funds, Living Annuities, Life Annuities and Unit Trusts) as many complaints (Adjudicator, FAIS Ombud and even social media complaints) relating to these.
• Microsoft Office