Employee Benefits Service Consultant

About the position:

The Employee Benefit Service Consultant acts as the main contact person for clients to provide professional and expert advice to FSPs in terms of structuring, implementation and ongoing review of their clients' employee benefit arrangements. The role will entail working closely with External (Independent) Employee Benefit Consultants as well potentially required to consult to the Trustees/Management Committees of a portfolio of clients and be responsible for the daily management and logistical control of the funds. Also, to co-ordinate and facilitate interactions between departments, with the ultimate objective of providing a holistic servicing experience to External Consultants/Clients.

The role offers an opportunity to use both your retirement fund experience and 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 solutions from a range of alternative solutions
• Lead, guide and support:
  • Develop and maintain desired organisational culture
  • Effectively delegate to 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/Consultant decisions

Responsibilities:

• 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 as 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 to 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 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 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
• 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

TCF (Treating Customers Fairly):

• 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

Qualifications and Experience required:

• A Graduate qualification in Law or Finance will be a requirement
• A Postgraduate 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
• FAIS qualifications
• 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
• Working knowledge of Income Tax Act
• Working knowledge of Labour Relations Act
• Working knowledge of Divorce Act
• Knowledge of 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