What makes an employee benefits strategy work in practice?

Corporate benefits can often be treated like a box-ticking exercise, yet, more and more, they sit right at the centre of recruitment, retention and productivity. 

Many employers are investing significant sums in workplace pensions, healthcare benefits and employee wellbeing initiatives, but if employees don't fully understand what's available to them, they simply won’t use it.

Many companies don't have a benefits problem. They have an engagement problem.

In this episode of Inside Titan Wealth, Sophie Yabsley, Managing Director of Titan Wealth Channel Islands, is joined by Natalie Malone and Andrew Marsden from Titan Wealth's Corporate Benefits team to discuss what actually makes an employee benefits strategy successful.

Drawing on decades of experience working with businesses of all sizes, Natalie and Andrew explain why the strongest benefits strategies are built around people, not products. They discuss everything from workplace pensions, private medical insurance and group protection through to mental health support and wider wellbeing initiatives, while sharing practical insights into how employers can create benefits programmes that employees genuinely value.

In this episode:

• What makes a good employee benefits strategy
• Why employee engagement is key to getting value from workplace benefits
• How workplace pensions, salary sacrifice and financial wellbeing fit together
• How education helps employees understand and use the benefits available to them
• Why data, claims trends and absence patterns can help shape smarter benefits decisions

Subscribe for more conversations from Inside Titan Wealth on wealth management, financial advice and the people, ideas and challenges shaping the business. 

For more information about Titan Wealth, please visit our website: www.titanwh.com

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This communication has been produced by Titan Wealth Holdings Limited. If you decide to invest, please remember that investment involves risk. Investments can go up and down in value, so you can get back less than what you put in. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance and may not be repeated.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

On this episode of the Titan Wealth Podcast, I talk to Andrew Marsden and Natalie Malone about corporate benefits, employee well-being, and all that they can bring to the Titan group. We also, of course, talk about what one Titan means to them.

SPEAKER_00 0:15

This communication has been produced by Titan Wealth Holdings Limited. If you decide to invest, please remember that investment involves risk. Investments can go up and down in value, so you can get back less than what you put in. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance and may not be repeated.

SPEAKER_04 0:39

Hi guys, thanks so much for joining us on the Titan Wealth Podcast. We usually start with asking you to introduce yourselves, telling us a little bit about what it is you do and how you've got there.

SPEAKER_03 0:50

Yeah, hi. So I have uh been with what is now Titan for many years, 17 years I've been committed to the role. Um I work in the employee benefits teams, the corporate team, um, but very specifically uh risk and reward, uh, which I'll tell you a little bit more about um hopefully a little later in the session. Um I'm the manager of the team and I have a team of advisors both in group risk and in healthcare, and um I'm there to support businesses develop and create strategies around health and well-being and making sure they've got a happy, healthy workforce. Okay, so where are you based geographically? Uh so I'm based uh in Woking in Surrey, so not too far out of London. Uh but my team is very much regional, so we cover the whole of the country, um, all the way up to Scotland. So uh yeah, we support businesses uh small and large um all around the country. Okay, and you, Andrew?

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Yeah, Sophie, I'm I'm Andrew Marsden. I work in the corporate benefits team. My discipline is largely around the workplace pension space. I've been at Titan and the companies before Titan acquired us for 20 years now, would you believe it? Which has been a very, very enjoyable journey. Um and yeah, my role is to look after about 130 corporate customers, but also to bring new customers to the business, which is part of the job I particularly enjoy, um, and making sure

What does a good employee benefits strategy look like?

SPEAKER_01 2:08

that the business has the best possible benefits and the employees engage with them and get the most from them.

SPEAKER_04 2:13

Um, so we've actually had chats outside of the podcast, just um in getting to know each other as you do when two businesses join together. And what's really come across from you two is how passionate you are about what you do. So when someone asks you what you do for a living, Andrew, we'll start with you. How do you um get that message across and really allow people to understand what it means to you?

SPEAKER_01 2:36

Yeah, that's a great question. And it really depends on who I'm talking to, I suppose, Sophie. Um but what I try and portray to somebody is that my role is to make sure that any customer that I deal with, whether it's the actual business itself or any of its valued employees, you know, get the most out of what we're providing, whether that's the workplace pension, which is perhaps my discipline, uh the risk side, which Natalie and her team will deal with. Um but just to explain that you know, we want to make sure that employees of our customers in the corporate space get the best possible outcome. You know, they engage with their benefits, they understand them, they value them, and that's a very rewarding part of our job, I think, to actually see people with a light bulb moment where they actually start to value and understand these things. Because you'll be probably unsurprised, Sophie, how many people don't engage with them. And that's one of our jobs to actually encourage that sort of engagement.

SPEAKER_04 3:28

Okay, so Natalie, what happens when you walk into a business for the first time?

SPEAKER_03 3:33

Yeah, I mean, good question. A bit like Andrew had mentioned, it depends um what what we're there to do. So if it's a new client or an existing client, if we've been introduced maybe to that client from another part of the business. Um, but ultimately we're often meeting with either the people team, so it might be the HR director, HR manager. Um, for some of the smaller firms, it might actually be the financial director or CEO. Um, it really can be different each and every time. Um, but we're there really to sit down and discuss all aspects of the business that's ultimately going to uh affect them through their staff. You know, their staff are the best best assets. You know, if they've got a team of people that are unproductive, unmotivated, not engaged,

What corporate benefits consultants actually do

SPEAKER_03 4:17

you know, that's that's money lost to the business. Um so we're we like to be able to go in with a bit of a blank canvas, make no assumptions, um, and just uncover what it is the you know the business maybe pain points, needs help with, um, but ultimately create a really strong employee benefit solution that's going to you know protect their staff and make sure they're at work. Um but when they are at work, that they're productive, they're engaged, they're valuing the benefits that they are paying for, that you know the business can see that real return on investment and yeah, to add value. Educate education's a really big thing in our space.

SPEAKER_04 4:56

And these clients that you're working with then, what do they look like? They are corporates. Are they typically non-financial businesses? Are they of a particular size or does it vary? Talk me through that.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

Yeah, it really varies, uh Sophie. And you know, just adding to what Natalie was saying, one of the things that I really like about new customers is the excitement. You know, I really get um interested in what does that business do? Something new. It doesn't really matter what they do. You know, it's not just elite sports, it's not just vineyards. Natalie and I are very lucky to be working well with one just which has just started, but it can be any business. It can't be an accident, I guess. It is a happy accident, it's a very, very pleasant thing to do. But listen, joking aside, it doesn't matter who the business is, we love scale-ups, we love, it doesn't matter whether you're making widgets, we've got some fantastic businesses that do timber, they might make um plaster board. It doesn't matter to us. It's exciting to go in there to engage with them, to introduce yourselves and actually get to know that business and start to feel where we can help them. Now we are lucky in the sense that a lot of the new opportunities that come our way are often people that we know that may have moved on in their finance or people team role. That's very prevalent, isn't it, Natalie?

SPEAKER_04 6:04

Um, so they want to work with you again in their new role. Okay, well, that's testament to a great service.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

I think it is, yeah. That that generally must be the case, we think. Um, but also it doesn't matter whether it is a blank canvas, you know, we'll go in there, and because we've been doing this a long time, we know which things to ask, and we can probably spot something quite quickly, Sophie. And I would suggest to you in 99 times out of 100, we can enhance something for that particular business. So the new stuff is really good, but we deal with any corporate, and we were asked actually recently what is a corporate, and it can be anything, any employer,

Why every business starts with a different blank canvas

SPEAKER_01 6:35

doesn't matter to us. We want to make it clear in this podcast that the corporate benefits team will deal with any business of any size, and we're confident that we can enhance what they're offering their employees.

SPEAKER_03 6:45

And I think just to add to that, I think that's what makes it um interesting and exciting, is we are dealing with lots of different employers from your micro small business um owners that maybe have, you know, one or two staff to your large corporates that have got thousands of employees. You know, the I guess the core purpose is often very similar, but their needs look very different, you know. So we have to be able to tailor our approach, you know, truly sort of listen, ask the right questions. So we're leading them to help them understand, you know, how we might be able to help, um, yeah, with the you know, the services we can support with.

SPEAKER_04 7:21

So tell me a little bit about those services then. What does a really great employee um well-being package look like? What can you offer people?

SPEAKER_03 7:30

Yeah, so very specifically, obviously, my team, uh, we are in what I refer to as the health and well-being space, uh, because it can mean such a lot of different things, you know, to different employers and employees. Ultimately, you know, employers need to be able to um attract the best staff, so make sure their benefit package is really competitive and strong, um, but then keep them, obviously, once they're um, you know, in situ and and and want to stay, feel valued. Uh, so we uh the sort of core services are what you would expect in that sort of traditional insurance space. So things like private medical insurance, really tackling the issues in the NHS. You know, we are always hearing about you know the struggles in accessing medical treatment, big delays, cancelling of appointments that that really affects businesses. Um, things like group life assurance and group income protection, but it's making sure all of those things work well together, um, not just a pop it in place, you've ticked that box, you know, they've delivered what they need to, you know, ensuring employees are aware of what these things are, they know how to use them, but actually the two you know support each other because these benefits are expensive and claims can impact on these uh services. So yeah, it's it's drawing out all of the things that come with it. It's lots of added value uh services, support services, whether it's through mental health, whether it's through menopause support, it might be touching on you know neurodiversity and how they can help support employees in that space. Um, so it's not just there to you know react um when someone is poorly, it's making sure it's you know well-rounded and is going to support in lots of different ways. But beyond that, the the scope is is huge. So there's lots um you know to support a business through occupational health, pre-employment screening, um, screening programs to help protect those insurance policies, um, you know, the softer benefits around that you might get through a benefit platform, you know, EV car scheme, cycle to work. It's just really being open-minded to understanding the business to see really what's going to, you know, appeal to that demographic demographic of staff, you know, are they young, are they slightly older, what's important to them outside of work, you know, supporting their families or um, yeah, that's going to really engage them and feel valued.

SPEAKER_04 9:43

So it's very much a tailored ongoing service rather than just a one-off advice.

SPEAKER_03 9:49

Yeah, and you know, we look to you know meet with them throughout the year, um, you know, whether that's supporting them with the policies they've got or just making sure you know these things are being valued, they are being understood. So it might be that we do um, you know, midterm presentations, webinars, hold seminars um to really ensure people are engaged. And and if things aren't you know hitting the spot or not delivering as they should, uh we can adjust and look in different areas um to support in maybe a slightly different way. Um see working very, very closely with the team in corporate, um, we're very uh collaborative and often can make um you know for sure good savings there.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

And one thing that we do, Sophie, and I think Natalie and her team are always a bit jealous about this, is that what we do in the corporate team is primarily workplace pensions in the UK, which as you know is mandatory. So whoever we go and see, they have a workplace pension, which is great. So you know that when you walk through the door. Now, what we're looking for is

Beyond pensions: health, wellbeing and employee support

SPEAKER_01 10:42

is that scheme commensurate with that business? Does it have the right contribution structure? So people want to stay and people want to come? Are they using the right salary definition? Are they using something we call salary sacrifice, which some people may have heard of, which is very effective if used in the right way? Um, are they using the right provider, you know, getting choices around investment? But the one of the core things that we do that a lot of firms don't do, Sophie, is we actually introduce advice. We give people, all members, the option of getting guidance, so we steer them to the right uh place so they can do things themselves. But if they want to be told what they should do, which people do, I can guarantee it, we give them advice. And one of the things about Titan that we have so many avenues where we can involve our colleagues within Titan Wealth to deliver bespoke advice to members of our corporate businesses, and that is very rewarding for us to see. It's rewarding for the members and it helps our colleagues within the business as well. So it's a real win-win there.

SPEAKER_04 11:40

So do you sometimes walk into, you know, have a kind of discussion with a potential new client and find that they are not covered in areas that they think they are? Are you do you find there are pockets where you can add value even if they already have schemes in place?

SPEAKER_03 11:55

Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I think um probably we can add even greater value because often these things have sat there maybe untouched or they've not been reviewed in the right way, or potentially looked at wider options. You know, there's so many um available products and services in the market that many probably aren't even aware that's there. So it's you know, we love an opportunity to say look under, you know, look under the bonnet or uh a health check of what they've got in place. Uh, we you know, we'll always look to do that and see where we can improve, see where we can add or make changes. Um, and sometimes, you know, if it looks great, you know, wonderful, we'll just be able to talk to them about how we then maybe educate or you know, really drive that employee engagement. Um, you know, something Andrew certainly does in your space. You'll you'll take with you, you know, sort of financial planners and things like that to presentations. So, you know, they've got that opportunity to sit down and have a discussion if they want it. We've tried to make it as easy and as as accessible um as possible.

SPEAKER_04 12:54

So financial well-being is very much promoted as part of that whole well-being package.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Yeah, it really wraps around everything, if I'm honest with you, Sophie. And um, you know, when we go and see businesses, especially when they're new to tighten corporate benefits, I think I can't think of a circumstance where we can't add value. And you can have a business that has the right scheme, they're using salary sacrifice, but there's always something they're not doing right. It might be advice is only for the directors. Well, what about all these hardworking employees? And we can help, you know, and Titan can deliver there. So there's always an opportunity, and we always back ourselves that uh they'll probably engage with us.

SPEAKER_04 13:28

So, Andrew, you mentioned that you've worked in this industry for a very long time now.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

Did I mention that?

SPEAKER_04 13:34

So I imagine that over the over your tenure, this whole field must have changed an awful lot because I think as employees we we get a lot of benefits now that we never would have had 15, 20 years ago. Can you tell me a little bit about how your role has changed over that time?

SPEAKER_01 13:48

Yeah, well, very much so. You know, I have been doing this quite a long time, and it's my whole career has been in London financial services. And I think it has changed from an environment both in private, client, and corporate, where it was what's in it for us, and you know, how much can we earn out of a particular opportunity? And don't get me wrong, we are commercial, but we don't think that way anymore. It's more about, and I think it's perhaps an aging thing as well, but it's more about what can we bring to that business, how can we enhance that so they engage with us long term, and that's the key bit, and it comes back to this whole piece about financial well-being again. I don't think well-being was a word 20 years ago. I certainly hadn't heard of it. It's very prevalent now and and rightly so, and that's the key sort of message that we always have. Um, we're not necessarily in it to try and wring as much money out of them as possible, we're in it for long-term relationships and to introduce them as members to other aspects of our business for their betterment, really. So it has changed a lot for the better.

SPEAKER_03 14:43

And a happy client actually will seek out other things from you naturally anyway. Um, and I think that's where you know we've really sort of uh strengthened our proposition with actually you know being collaborative. You know, I think that way back, I don't know, sort of 10 years ago, there was a lot more silo working across our industry. You know, you would go to an intermediary perhaps for your private health insurance and another intermediary for your pension. I think now because we have the strength in all disciplines and we can demonstrate that to clients, um, you know, they feel safer and secure, and it's just easier to deal uh with, say, a one titan um because they're getting all the things they need from us rather than having to seek it from lots of different places. Sure.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

Collaboration is super important for obvious reasons, but it also makes corporates very sticky, they're not going to leave, you know, if they have another broker involved with the healthcare and the pension consultants doesn't have the gumption to introduce Natalie's team. We always do in our team. But if that was the case, Sophie, you could see that that business risk is there. So, you know, it's not always the case, but in probably most cases, we're looking after all disciplines, and clearly that's the best way forward.

SPEAKER_04 15:48

Absolutely. And so Natalie, we just touched there on how the kind of the industry has changed there over the uh the the period that you've both been in in the in work, but just in terms of your personal journey then, what has your career looked like and you know, how have you grown from sort of starting out to taking on more responsibility and that evolution?

SPEAKER_03 16:09

Yeah, I mean, I started out um in a really junior role, um, literally, you know, doing very basic admin tasks, finding reports, faxing um stuff across to which feels completely alien now, the idea of a standby fax machine and I used to wash the tea towels when I started. Um, but actually it was it was that um it was at Mercer, so one of our big competitors um in the employee benefit space, um, uh under a chap called David Pierce. And I genuinely remember even to this day, he was very passionate, he really believed in what he was doing and was really keen to you know help me develop and bring me on and sat me in a room and taught me the moratorium rule for medical. And it's strange, it sticks in my mind now, and I was much, much younger then. Um, but I actually think for me, having worked my way up sort of into a you know a client

The engagement challenge: when benefits go unused

SPEAKER_03 16:58

account manager role and an advisory role, and obviously now I'm a team manager, um, I really understand from a business perspective how important it is to get the everyday stuff right. Yes, we want to be excellent consultants, we want to be able to build out these fantastic well-being strategies for their business and staff, but actually the fundamentals, you know, the are they getting their invoice on time, are claims being paid, are you know, those things actually are very crucial to having good client relationships as well. Because if those things aren't working, it's it's problematic, it's difficult. Clients don't want that. So I think having a real understanding for that um helps me understand that bigger picture, and therefore my team, um, you know, they really understand jumped into them, the importance of uh the whole picture. So yeah, I think it's giving me good grounding and um really sort of I guess it creates real um core values which stick. Um and I think those traditional values are important even today.

SPEAKER_04 17:57

It's interesting when you talk to people across Titan, as I've had the privilege to do through this process, and you're talking to people that do completely different roles across completely different offices and working with different types of clients, but what unifies everybody is this desire to really give clients an excellent service. It's really it's a really harmonising piece across the whole of Titan. It's really nice to hear how passionate you are about delivering that. Um so when you're working with businesses, it sounds as though you're talking to a lot of different types of people there. You might be talking to the HR department uh through employees to the FD CFO. Uh how do you uh tailor your communications?

SPEAKER_01 18:41

Yeah, well, listen, that that does come from experience, Sophie. There's no question about that. And different businesses have different uh setups. You know, Natalie and I could be introduced to a scale-up business or a start-up business, sorry, which we'd be very keen to speak to. But chances are they don't have a people team. We'll perhaps look to introduce them to some people team external partners we work with and you know, try and offer that sort of enhancement. Uh but from a positioning perspective, uh Sophie, our view is that you know, is nuanced. Clearly, if I've got a finance director in front of me, probably I'll be focusing on the metrics. So salary sacrifice saves you £30,000 a year. That will pay for some of the things that you're thinking of doing in Natalie's space or maybe a digital benefits platform, all these things that it can fund, which clearly finance directors like the sound of that. Um, whereas when you're talking to the people team, maybe it is slightly softer. I think that's the norm. Maybe financial well-being is perhaps uh higher up there, market list than the finance director. So it is nuance, Sophie, but again, you know, the experience of our teams is vast, it really is, and we do have the experience and we know what to and how to talk to people. I think in terms of communication, there's obviously a third group there, which is employees, and that's a different message entirely. And as I said, certainly my piece, which is workplace pension, is to just really switch them onto the things that matter and to encourage them to engage, to do the simple things, you know, find old pensions, maybe consolidate, make your life easier. Think about how much you're paying in. Can you afford a bit more? It'll all come back later on, hopefully. And think about where your money's invested. And you know, one of the great satisfactions I get in my job is that light bulb moment I mentioned earlier, where you can see somebody's eyes think, I now start to understand this. Because there's nothing worse if I was an employer of thinking that my employees, I'm paying for this pension, they don't get it, they don't care, they're not looking. That's useless. You know, we really and don't get me wrong, there will be uh people that just stay in that camp and that's on them, isn't it? As far as we're concerned, we'll give them every chance to get the best outcome possible so they can have sunny days in their retirement as opposed to greatness.

SPEAKER_04 20:50

So a bit more on that then. Uh why is it that there's such a sweet spot there then between education and engagement? Because it's that whole we can take a horse to water, isn't it? Um, you know, there's no point in employers paying for all these benefits if employees aren't aware of them and aren't using them. I'm sure that's a really common theme that you see, in that employers have the you know the best intentions and they put these things in place, but perhaps they're lacking in that piece where they actually educate the staff as to what that means for them.

SPEAKER_03 21:20

Yeah, and I think that's that's hugely important for us. It is the education piece, and we do lots um around that. So whether it's you know simple email comms, whether it's um creating employee handbooks, uh presentations, as we mentioned earlier, you know, that's vital. We we will do that, and often we'll do them together. So, you know, if it's the right audience, um, we might combine a pension and a well being presentation together. Um so it's it's quite literally asking them to take a moment stop. You know, these are the things you've got access to. It could even be as simple as, you know, here's an app to access your mental health support. Download it whilst we're here, you know, sort of really encouraging them to physically. Stop and engage. We also have, you know, a fantastic benefits platform, which we talk to lots of our customers about, have made it really accessible for them to be able to roll that out. And again, keeping it simple, making it easy, you know, a one-stop shop for an employee so they don't have to go searching. All of those things are kind of built into the conversations we have with clients to ensure you know they're valued because it is the only way you know they're they're going to see that return on investment is if people are understanding of what they have and how they use it. Um, and like I say, engage with their pension.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

Yeah, just to build on that, it it it varies, but a lot of customers have no engagement at all. You'll be surprised, Sophia. They

Education, communication and creating "light bulb moments"

SPEAKER_01 22:41

have nothing. So they have a pension, they might have a group life scheme or something, but no one's telling their employees about this good stuff. That's useless, isn't it? What we also find, Natalie and I, is some of our competitors, and these are fine businesses, but they don't do the personal touch. If you want to see the benefits, go onto this website, go and look yourself. And we know people don't do that. If you show it to them as a face-to-face or an online uh presentation, it's so powerful, it really is. And that's what we try and do with all our customers.

SPEAKER_03 23:11

And also keeping it simple, you know, it's it's not making it too complex or jargon-ridden. You know, we want employees to understand what we're telling them. So it's it's keeping it in a you know, a simple, relatable manner that you know, when they're listening, it makes sense. Um, so that's really important as well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Listen, I got an email two days ago, and Natalie was probably thinks I'm showing off, but it's factual. I can show you the email. Well, I did a presentation last week and uh they said thank you very much for the presentation. The feedback was really good. Not so much the content, but how you went about it. And I really like that.

SPEAKER_04 23:45

That's so nice, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 23:46

It was nice that they actually made an effort to say that, and it's because I tried to speak to a group of people who are not particularly much older than my two kids. So you try not to be their dad, but you just want to switch them on to what I think they want to think about, which is find that old pension, bring it across, maybe think about paying more in. You're young, don't sit in that fund, make your own choices. But if you don't want to make a choice, know that we've got a group of people in the background that will happily help you at some point. And you can see their eyes lighting up, as I've said many times, and that was really nice to get.

SPEAKER_03 24:18

But actually, we get that a lot, and I think, you know, I've said this to you that you know, I'm always really aware, because I don't get always the same opportunity to maybe have the the one-to-ones with employees. So it might be a presentation you do to a group of employees, but that's probably the most interaction my team will often have. There are exceptions to that. Um, but like when we go and see certain businesses, and it's they literally are so familiar with Andrew. Oh, hi Andrew, hi Andrew, hi Andrew, which is really nice, you know, pension guy.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

And some of the guys in our team are all the same, but to be the pension guy or the pension man, they'll call us different things, hopefully nothing worse than that, is a good thing. You know, it's nice to be recognised. And yesterday I was at a law firm that Natalie works with me on fantastic business, and one of the partners saw me in the room I was in, which I'm always in when I'm there every quarter, and he then came back and said, Do you have a slot? He came to see me, he's a very wealthy equity partner there, and within half an hour he's referred on to the designated wealth advisor at Titan Wealth who'll now take him on a journey. So it's really just good, it's just that recognition and being sort of, you know, it's trust.

SPEAKER_03 25:26

I'll tell you trust. It is trust. And it is trust, and I think that's what is really important, and that is how they engage with other parts of our business, you know, and we have lots of that, you know. And I think a really great example is a client you've worked with for a really, really long time. Um, you know, a couple of colleagues in my team have been there meeting with them, and again, the same was echoed. It was, you know, I love I love the style of engagement. We have a really tough crowd and a crowd that don't really want to listen. But you know, the comments were, you know, they really engage with Andrew because he he he he tailors it in a way that makes them stop and listen. And I and I think you know that's a real skill. No, I know. Um, but you know, it's it's genuine, you know, learn over time and the trust is built over time. Makes it worth well, doesn't it? Yeah, they then appreciate you coming in, they look forward to you coming in almost.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

I know you're talking about I'm there tomorrow.

SPEAKER_03 26:16

They are a tough crowd, so they are a tough crowd.

SPEAKER_01 26:18

But it's again, that's quite rewarding, isn't it? When you have somebody glaring at you, and these are mostly, you know, mid-50s guys that do a hard job, they really do. But if you can actually just draw their eye to something, they think, yeah, maybe I'll do that.

SPEAKER_04 26:34

Great cover from challenge, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_01 26:35

It does, it's a bit of a challenge. You can't get them all, but if you can get some of them, that's a good thing, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 26:40

So, Natalie, as part of your role, you look at trends and data. What MI can you provide businesses with uh you know from that? Because that's quite powerful, right?

SPEAKER_03 26:50

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it really does vary depending on the size of the client, naturally. Um, so much of data is protected this day these days, which has been a challenge in itself. Right. Um, but uh we will rely on um all sorts of data. So we um in the healthcare space we actually track um claims trends. So we um have someone in the team that has uh the skills to um do their own uh claims uh tracking, and uh that's actually been really useful for like challenging manure with providers, which we've had loads of success with. It's also really helpful to clients because they can um plan their future budgets around our predictions and um you know what we are tracking. Um we do heavily rely on lots of data from the providers, so it could be something you know, around um, you know, the um employee assistance program, you know, is it being accessed? If so, what type of things are they accessing it for? Particular areas they might be again, pain points that we can help, you know, counteract that with particular services or bring people in um that might be able to do, you know, a uh some more kind of structured sessions. So we I guess away from the core services, there's lots of stuff around the edges which helps to support in different ways, seminars, workshops, line manager training. Um, lots of this actually is as well available free of charge. So many of the providers, um, group income protection, for example, because they really see the

Workplace pensions, salary sacrifice and financial wellbeing

SPEAKER_03 28:15

value in um if they have got an engaged employer that's going to be or that's willing to be educated and take part in these training sessions, the likelihood is those staff are going to be better sort of uh catered for, looked after, um, and less likely to go into claim. Um, so you know, there's lots of this kind of support within these um policies that are often missed or forgotten about. So, you know, we really try and draw all of those things out that you know as no cost to the business going to help support the business and ultimately longer term um, you know, protect those um employees. Um, but yeah, data is key, and we do have access to lots of different data. We also rely on data from the um employer, so where they have data around things like sickness absence or just absence in general, we can help use that um to build out policies that's going to tackle those areas. So is it mental health, is it MSK? Have they had you know a higher than average uh proportion of cancer claims? We might need to bring some screening in and see if we can tackle that early on so that it doesn't reach um those those sort of problematic stages.

SPEAKER_04 29:21

Okay. So, Andrew, I'd like to talk a little bit about how the corporate benefits team and the world that you live in fits in with the wider tightened group and how you perceive there to be an opportunity to work together with different services.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I think there's a massive opportunity there really is because as I mentioned earlier, one of the key parts of our proposition, certainly in the workplace pension space, because it is ultimately an investment in most circumstances, Sophie, is for us to give all of the members access to advice. And one of the great things about Titan, which has been enhanced in recent times, is the ability for different advice channels. So it's not just a group of individuals that work within the business or the part of Titan that we work within. There's a business in Kettering, which has, you know, 40 young people who are super keen to come along to the corporates that we're involved with, which is really encouraging. And they're great guys and they're really enthusiastic. They want to be there, we want them to be there. So there's loads of different ways we can deliver, and that's so important. And so, and it's actually something that distinguishes us against other firms in that we can deliver advice to anybody as a member of a scheme. You don't need to have £250,000, you don't need to be a director. If you're the youngest person there and we can help you with something, we'll do that. And that's a real key part to it, which I think is really, really powerful. And yeah, and talking about the word powerful, one of the things I was thinking about when we were prepping for this today is that one of the things about Titan is that it's so I feel so confident when I go and see a customer now, which I've always been pretty confident, but I feel that with Titan, even if it's just the gillet with the Titan wealth badge on, it just sort of makes me feel part of something quite powerful and good, which means that the chances are we can do it better than whoever they're engaged with or anybody they may want to talk to. And that's a really nice thing. And I think it gives us such an edge.

SPEAKER_03 31:12

Yeah, confident that there's a solution. I think, you know, I think with the naturally with the the growth of the uh business, but it's not um, you know, it's obviously through acquisition of other businesses that can complement what we do and um add to what we do. I like you, I think it's the confidence that if you're asked something, I might not know, but I do feel confident that I'd be able to find the answer within our business and somebody would be able to help, um, which I think's about.

SPEAKER_01 31:40

You're absolutely right. I totally agree with that. And one thing that we've been told a lot, haven't we, in the last year, which is a really powerful message from you know our CEOs, is that we're a vertical business, aren't we? I've never experienced that before, where we can actually go in and talk to members of a workplace pension rather than say, Well, we're gonna advise you, but actually you're probably gonna end up in a fund over there with whoever it might be, to actually give them the message that the fund is going to be managed by part of our business is really powerful because we have ownership of that. We're gonna make sure it works, and that's a really interesting part that's come quite recently. So um, you know, the addition of other parts of Titan's business is only a plus point, it really is.

SPEAKER_04 32:20

I think that visibility that you can um convey is a really important part of that trust piece as well. Because if you care about a client's outcomes and you can say, look, you're gonna be uh invested into that fund, and I have met the person that looks after that money, and I see them when I'm in London every Tuesday, and I, you know, we have coffee together, you know, that that just builds that trust in that relationship, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_01 32:41

And listen, you know, I know it sounds a bit twee, but we do care about the people that we then want to advise, and I take a personal interest in that. If they come to me and say that that journey hasn't been as they hoped, then that's disappointing and we'll fix it. Yeah. So, you know, it's not just a pass it on and then bye-bye. It's you know, we want to engage with them a year later and check that it's worked. And guess what? In 99 out of 100 cases, it's a very good outcome for them.

SPEAKER_04 33:07

So, as part of this podcast process, we're asking everybody what does one Titan mean to you? Natalie, do you want to start?

SPEAKER_03 33:14

Yes, and I did share this actually on a podcast I was on yesterday, and I know it sounds very strap liney, but I I think I mentioned this to Andrew bigger, better more, which I think feeds into what we've just said a moment ago. Yeah, because and I and I and I genuinely believe that, you know, we we it's not just that we've scaled up and we've got this bigger business. Um, it you know, it's better, it's more. There's lots of areas in which we can help support our customers from the small, you know, all the way through to that large client that's got lots of employees. Um, there really isn't anything we can't do or we can't help with, um, which I think's you know, for us a great place to work, you know, to be able to deliver that to our clients confidently, um, yeah, is is great.

SPEAKER_01 33:57

Yeah, for me is is that piece and building on that, I would say to be the best. I really truly believe that Titan wealth will become the best in many disciplines. There's no reason at all we can't be the best broker of corporate benefits in the UK and other parts of the world because our international coverage is hopefully which you know all about. So, you know, for me, Titan, one Titan means being the best and going on that journey and doing my small part to help corporate benefits become the best possible corporate benefits advisors. And I'm looking forward to seeing that happen.

SPEAKER_04 34:32

Guys, it's been absolutely great chatting to you. Thank you so much for your time, and I look forward to working with you going forward this.