Following the successful launch of Echelon Private Client Insurance in October 2009, the Echelon brand is poised to extend its range of solutions beyond personal lines short term insurance. With effect from 9 June 2010, Echelon entered the individual life assurance and investment market in South Africa. Backed by the Sanlam Group, Echelon Private Clients is focused on supporting financial planning practitioners and select intermediaries. The business offers innovative services and tools designed to differentiate and enhance the intermediary’s service delivery to clients in this competitive segment.
Echelon’s target market is the LSM10 segment – a sector of the market traditionally including professionals and business owners. Echelon adopts a “private client-style” approach to reaching its market, enabled by a niche service philosophy for select intermediaries.
“Echelon has secured quick traction in its short history”, says Ian Kirk, CE Santam. “Echelon’s initial success is founded on strong partnerships with intermediaries, superior service delivery and complemented with product innovation. Our strategy to segment the upper end of the market has been vindicated, and the fact that 88% of Echelon’s policyholder base is professionally qualified individuals supports this approach.”
Lawrence Gilbey, executive director of Echelon, says, “Echelon has been developed over the past 18 months primarily to take advantage of opportunities arising from a new financial services landscape - characterised by greater complexity, new legislation and more demanding expectations from intermediaries and clients alike.”
Hennie de Villiers, chief executive of Sanlam Individual Life says Echelon’s unique value proposition is in line with Sanlam’s strategy of pursuing initiatives that offer growth and diversification. “As a group, we are constantly looking for innovative, non-traditional distribution and service methods and Echelon is therefore an exciting venture for us. We are also focussed on growing our market share outside of the middle market, traditionally our strongest foothold, which this venture will do for us in the upper end of the market.”
Gilbey adds: “Every aspect of the business has been designed around two communities - the intermediary and the client. Our products are underwritten by Sanlam, an established and trusted brand. Our mantra is to offer products which are easy for IFAs to sell and easy for clients to buy. We have actively limited complexity and rules, and focused on financial planning, so that assurance products translate into sustainable needs-based solutions. We believe our value proposition will also enhance client confidence in their advisers post the product purchase.”
He said that in terms of the business’ broker-centric approach, Echelon aims to help select brokers grow their business by increasing business opportunities and improving operational efficiencies. Gilbey concluded that, philosophically, Echelon was striving to de-mystify insurance and promote financial planning, business development and product solutions that brokers and clients really need.”
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