≠Success in ≠Relocation: the cross-border agenda

Relocation, whether for work or for leisure, can be an exciting yet stressful time for high net worth (HNW) individuals. Our latest research explores the objectives, attitudes and expectations of these individuals ahead of relocation. Their concerns and motivations vary and for the most part they extend beyond the financial.

During this time of change, wealth providers must adapt a holistic approach to successful wealth management solutions involving managing multiple financial factors to suit HNWs developing needs. To meet HNW expectations, advisors must avoid tunnel vision when it comes to offering cross-border advice.

To understand the financial complexities of relocation we asked European HNWs about their relocation experiences. For many, a new location means new priorities; over half of these individuals said setting up a new bank account was at the top of their to-do-list with tax related priorities following close behind.

Interested in learning more? Get ready for the upcoming launch of our newest research on wealthy relocators!

KYCTech-OneLife: a fruitful collaboration

Milenko Keserovic (Compliance Manager at OneLife) and Luc Maquil (Co-founder of KYC Tech) shared the first steps of the collaboration between their two companies during the RegTech Summit which took place at Luxembourg-Kirchberg on 12^th October. “One click, One KYC report” actually best describes their common Compliance – or Reg – and Technology – or Tech – project.

“Technology makes compliance more efficient. It facilitates administrative tasks and allows employees to work on projects with added value” started Luc Maquil, who co-founded KYC Tech with his partner Thierry André to help answer the growing challenges posed by regulatory constraints. “We have a symbiotic approach, as we look to apply our RegTech solution in an efficient way for the business” explained Mr. Maquil. The solution is composed of multiple ingredients, the first one being raw data (PEP lists, terrorists lists, sanctions lists…) which can also be extracted from the internet, social media, etc. Workflow is also a crucial step: who undertakes the action? What needs to be done? Exchange and collaboration are key. Then comes architecture: identify, select, plug and comply.

“Save time and focus on added value”

Milenko Keserovic then took the stage to go over the collaboration between OneLife and KYCTech. “When we onboard a new client, we face a number of regulatory constraints. First of all, we need to screen the name of the client – client being a generic term, also meaning entities and not only the holder of the policy” started the Compliance Manager, who continued: “These tasks are currently being done manually. KYCTech has a fully automated solution: when we register a client into the database, the system makes an automatic call to the platform and the results come back in just a few seconds”. Then, the Compliance team can easily decide whether to onboard the new client or not. “The results are positive. Clients are categorised in the right way and the tool is user-friendly. It has a lot of benefits: no manual work means less risk of error” explained Milenko.

KYCTech also provides OneLife with an Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) solution. Here again, work is currently being done manually, and experts have to devote a lot of time to collect information and documents. “The RegTech startup is able to offer an EDD report which we have tested: we send a request and receive a comprehensive report within the next 48 hours. We can then focus on analysing the file” added the Compliance Manager who describes the report as “accurate, useful and full of information”. The tool is automated, simplified, immediate and cost efficient. Moreover, the two experts are also currently developing solutions to facilitate the tasks of the compliance team when it comes to dormant policies.

Finally, Milenko Keserovic explained that on the one hand this project has been managed in an agile way, based on exchanges and interaction between the teams of KYCTech and OneLife. On the other hand, the RegTech startup tries to understand how OneLife employees work, what and why they do it. Milenko Keserovic and Luc Maquil can only agree on this exciting project: “We both realise more and more that technology can really be helpful and allows employees to save time which can be used for tasks where human judgment is needed”.

InsurTech : using technology to change the client experience

On 12 October, at the second edition of the InsurTech Summit at the Novotel Kirchberg, CEO OneLife, Marc Stevens, participated in a round table discussion in the company of his Luxembourg peers. The experts from the life insurance serctor discussed the themes of innovation and investment in the area of InsurTech.

The session was moderated by Geoffroy Gailly, Partner at KPMG, who asked about the return on investment in the area of InsurTech. “What are the amounts and how are they invested? How do you measure the ROI ?” asked M. Gailly.

For Marc Stevens, measuring the end-to-end ROI is simply not possible : “A better way of looking at it is to define a field of application and to to take processes into account”. The CEO of OneLife then shared a number of examples with participants: the use of robots for e-mail management, requiring an investment of two days, in order to gain 20 man-days per year. In addition, prospectiing using social media and notably LinkedIn. This investment, led by Christophe Regnault, Digital Marketing Manager at the life insurance company located in Capellen, is already bearing its fruit. As Marc Stevens indicates, the cost is 10 times lighter than using traditional prospection methods and the ratio is 3 times higher. Moreover, according to the CEO, certain questions remain: “How can these prospects be converted into real partner relationships ? In fact, our prospects are developing in a digital environment, so the question is, can your company evolve in the same universe as them?”

At OneLife, investment in technology goes hand-in-hand with a new way of managing projects, with an Agile type of approach advocated by Eric Lipper, COO of the life insurer. “We are now able to deliver new products and services in a much shorter timeframe. This was the case with our App developed last year. If it is difficult to evaluate the return on investment from A to Z, a number of different factors may be calculated which demonstrate that we are moving in the right direction” added Marc Stevens. He went on to say : “Spending is easy, Smart spending is way more difficult”.

The Luxembourg life insurance experts then discussed the digital transformation within their respective companies. Marc Stevens began his speech by sharing an example of a site comparing different non-life assurance propositions, launched over 20 years ago in the Netherlands. «Today, 60 % of product distribution passes through this site. However, the same concept for life insurance companies just didn’t work’. With this example, M. Stevens also emphasised the importance of the interchange between human contact and technology. «Some do not want either telephone or face to face contact, as they are used to a totally digital experience. But in our sector, some still prefer human contact. One of the challenges is therefore to be able to integrate this interchange process”.

The client – and partner – experience is key and technology can now allow an optimal level of exchange which creates new relationships. “Thirty years ago, technology wasn’t mature. Today, we are involved in a process of change with a variety of different marketing operations and HR tools etc … we have embarked on a journey without really knowing the final destination. But one thing is sure, the client experience can only benefit from it, as will, in fine, the experience of our employees, our partners and our clients” concluded Marc Stevens.

≠Success in ≠Relocation: HNW Relocation – what you need to know

Relocation is a life-changing, somewhat hectic (!) but enriching adventure which many high net-worth (HNW) individuals are choosing to embark on. Around a quarter of HNW individuals have already launched their cross-border adventure and 13% of HNW individuals have plans to follow suit.

As more and more HNW individuals are choosing to relocate, their financial needs and expectations of wealth providers transform. It has become increasingly important that wealth management providers are able to provide dynamic solutions and products which suit HNW relocators’ changing needs.

Our upcoming research on cross-border relocation explores some of the key facts, motivations and concerns HNW individuals have, as well as the financial decisions which arise as a result of moving countries.

Interested in learning more? Get ready for the upcoming launch of our newest research on wealthy relocators!

A day of meeting and sharing

At our 10^th Investment Forum in Brussels this month, intermediaries from around Europe had the opportunity to meet fund house representatives and OneLife team members during a day of discussions ranging from cross-border relocation to the role of non-traditional assets in life products.

The 10th edition of the OneLife Investment Forum at the Brussels Kart exhibition centre in Belgium on 19 October gave our intermediaries the opportunity to meet and discuss with representatives of many leading fund houses as well as our OneLife teams.

Cross-border and investment were the key themes of the forum, at which 43 fund houses were represented, including both long-term OneLife partners and new additions to the community.

OneLife CEO Marc Stevens opened the forum by introducing Pepper, a humanoid robot who interacted with visitors throughout the day through an iPad on its chest, providing information on OneLife and posing for selfies.

Participants chose among 38 sessions organised by OneLife and the fund houses in English, French and Flemish, on topics ranging from investing in a low-interest environment to exploiting risk premiums and combining alpha generation with lower volatility.

In the morning, the focus was relocation. OneLife wealth structuring team members presented portability case studies involving moving from Sweden to Portugal, from the UK to Spain, France to Portugal and Belgium to France. They were supported by external experts from Carnegie Private Banking, Uria Menendez, Baker McKenzie, Cuatrecasas, Arkwood and RPBA.

In the afternoon, OneLife investment relationship manager Ruben De Roover moderated the main conference, leading an interactive debate on flexible management involving DNCA Investments, Ethenea, J.P Morgan Asset Management, M&G, Investments and La Financière de l’Echiquier.

Non-traditional assets were also on the agenda. OneLife director of non-traditional assets Anthony Lorrain and financial assets analyst Liana Aghabekyan conducted a panel presentation providing insight into current topics such as: why Luxembourg life insurance is particularly suitable for non-listed assets; how non-traditional assets can be integrated into life insurance contracts; and risks relating to unlisted assets in regulated and non-regulated environments.

The formal proceedings were concluded by a lively debate on vital geopolitical and macroeconomic issues between two keynote speakers, leading economists Etienne de Callataÿ and Charles Gave.

OneLife demonstrated its prowess as a digital pioneer by enabling all visitors to benefit from Poken, a cloud-based event management platform that uses a device and touchpoints to exchange contact details, collect documents and provide live feedback on the event.

After a day of learning and networking, visitors enjoyed a dinner, a giant anniversary cake and musical entertainment to close this successful event.

Enjoy photos from the event => here – and save the date now for the next edition: 18 October 2018.

Article by Vinciane Derulle

GDPR in the life insurance sector: constraints and opportunities

On 12^th October, more than 200 professionals from the Fintech world gathered at the Novotel Kirchberg for the first edition of the RegTech Summit. While local and international experts focused on the opportunities brought by the use of RegTech solutions or on the importance of securing information in a big data era, Eric Lippert, COO of OneLife gave a presentation on the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation. How will it impact the life insurance sector?

Companies are not yet compliant

The COO of OneLife started by sharing numbers about the upcoming GDPR regulation, which assesses the readiness of companies: “In October 2016, 97% of companies in Europe had no strategy to deal with GDPR. 23% expect sanctions as they won’t be ready. And more than 50% admitted they won’t be fully compliant”. Yet, Eric Lippert thinks Luxembourg is in a good place and has a strong advantage compared to other countries in Europe, mainly because of the banking and insurance privacy laws, and the presence of authorities such as the CSSF and CNPD. “We have been dealing with data privacy for years” he added.

New rules will be game-changers for life insurers

Eric Lippert then listed several differences with the current privacy policies: in case of a data breach, companies will have 72 hours to provide the CNPD with all the relevant documentation, the fine will go up to €20m or 4% of the turnover. “It will have huge consequences for the companies who do not respect these new GDPR rules” explained Mr. Lippert. Another important aspect of the new European regulation will be the consent: as a matter of fact, the formal consent of the customer will be needed in order for companies to use the data. They will also have to be able to prove and provide it at any time. Finally, the ‘right to be forgotten’ will change the game, with customers now able to ask the insurer to delete all their data, and so will the portability aspect: insurers will have to facilitate the transfer of data if the clients request it. “The major constraint will actually be administrative, with the formalisation of the new rules. This requires the appointment of a Data Protection Officer and annual audits of the processes and rules in order to make sure the company remains compliant.

Eric Lippert ended his presentation on a more positive note, highlighting that GDPR also means new opportunities for life insurance companies: they will be able to take control of their own compliance, build a stronger client relationship based on trust, work on the quality of their data, enhance their digital marketing. “There is also a huge opportunity in Europe for centralised KYC” he added.

Focusing on the Essentials. Ready for PRIIPs financial regulation!

Learn more about the scope of the new regulation, its aims and requirements – and how OneLife has been preparing for the changes

All you need to know about the new regulation in this short video :

We all make resolutions for the New Year, amongst others to be prepared for the challenges ahead.

Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products, or PRIIPs, is a new EU Regulation due to enter into force on 1 January 2018. The aim of the regulation is to enhance transparency and comparability through greater disclosure to clients. This is achieved by providing investors with key facts and figures about the products, their purpose, costs and any potential risks before they make the investment. All through a standardised and mandatory document called Key Information Document (KID).

OneLife is founded on fresh thinking and a proactive approach. Get informed about the PRIIPs initiative through this short video!

“Create champions within your organisation”

On 21 June, in the afternoon, the OneLife HR and Digital managers, with the continued presence of Nicola Doherty from LinkedIn and Alizée Del Mastro from Lynda.com, presented the workings of the tool proposed by Lynda.com in full detail to the members of the executive committee, managers and beta-testers.

For Nicola Doherty, whose mission was to ensure that staff may benefit from the full capacity of the e-learning platform, “Lynda.com meets the needs of Millenials, always on the lookout for new skills and training”. She added: “in many companies the new generations justifiably complain of the lack of training. Lynda.com’s interest is as follows: staff will not need to spend hours on training. The idea is really to maximise the few minutes spent in order to refine one’s professional skills”.

Communicating, encouraging and sharing

The Regional Sales Manager also explained that the success of this training programme depends on the commitment of staff. This must be communicated, therefore: via newsletters, via the creation of an intra-company club or simply by creating and sharing a playlist of training which potentially corresponds to the various members of a team or to all the employees of OneLife. “Speak about it over lunch, initiate a discussion, create habits” Nicola Doherty recommends. The possibilities of communication within a team, and even for all the staff, are many: posters, sharing experiences or gamification techniques recompensed for the most assiduous employees. She added: “This tool will enable you to create real champions in your team, in your company. They share their successes and thus transmit their motivation to their staff. Why and how they use the platform? What is their favourite training? What is felt about their daily work and their missions? Share your figures! It is how you are going to promote the tool which will make it successful.” The training, if integrated into the performance evaluation process, will also enable the next stages of a career to be determined: leadership, management, but also more technical solutions, which must not be neglected. Nicola insists also on the importance of feedback and user experience: to managers, company management, but also to the LinkedIn and Lynda.com teams. “This feedback must be constructive and will enable all stakeholders to enhance the efficiency of the platform” the LinkedIn employee stressed.

Alizée Del Mastro went further: “Managers, create a learning path within your team! The training available on the Lynda.com platform enables your knowledge to be refreshed and updated. This is a crucial point in a company in the midst of transformation”. The videos are displayed according to their popularity, recommended and tagged: the Lynda.com algorithm thus proposes the training that most closely matches your profile. On the technical side, managers play the role of administrator on the platform, enabling them to assign training to their staff and to ensure that they have been followed, while adding personalised documents and messages. The aim is therefore to encourage the members of one’s team but also to align their skills so that they can complement each other. Lastly, reports can be produced: connection frequency, content viewed, devices used and much, much more. “It is important to monitor staff habits when this type of training plan is initiated. The manager must observe, understand and adjust, if necessary. Hence the great importance of feedback” Alizée explains. And as Nicola stresses, the purpose of these reports is to facilitate both the life of managers and of the staff who undertake the training.

A flexible e-learning platform

The beta-testers then shared their experience after several weeks of testing. For Nathalie de Kerchove of the Compliance & Risk department, “the strength of this e-learning platform lies in a great choice of training and it is very easy to access”. She also highlighted the flexibility of the solution proposed by Lynda.com: it is not necessary to spend hours or days on training Jérôme Lejeune of the Customer Services department drew the same conclusion: “The division into chapters is very practical, as is the possibility of pausing the training and videos that you have started”.

Lastly Laurence Parison, Chief Human Resources Officer, concluded by highlighting the importance of following your own training, and not only those imposed by the managers: “The mandatory training may be undertaken during working time, but everyone is responsible for developing their skills. Hence the great benefit of subscribing to solutions such as Lynda.com. So we can speak of a win-win situation for the employee and for the employer”.

Motivating and engaging teams around e-learning

The e-learning platform, available to all OneLife staff, was presented in the presence of Nicola Doherty, from LinkedIn and Alizée Del Mastro from Lynda.com. The specialists in online training thus presented, in detail, the possibilities now available to the employees of the life insurance company. A first for a Luxembourg financial sector player.

The event was also held in the presence of Nicola Doherty, Regional Sales Manager for LinkedIn, who started her presentation: “The primary mission of the professional social network is to create economic opportunities for all by making tools available to find a job on the one hand and enabling companies to find their future talent on the other”. But, today, competencies are changing and LinkedIn has fully understood this: the largest professional social network now offers an e-learning platform, after buying Lynda.com, the world’s leading online training platform, founded over 20 years ago, a few years ago. “Today Lynda.com is the biggest film studio, after Hollywood. Over 30 videos are released in English every week, and more than 10 in other languages” Nicola explained, adding: “these videos are created so that the student can benefit from all the time spent”. Her subsequent presentation was completed by Alizée Del Mastro, live from Austria.

“Our trainers are professionals, experts in their field. The e-learning solution enables you to update your knowledge, whether this involves software, soft skills or leadership. Some of the training modules will be sent to you directly by your managers, but it is also up to you to find those which can help you develop professionally. Be curious” Alizée Del Mastro explains. The training may last from 20 minutes to five hours, but it is possible to select the chapters which directly concern the interested parties. “They are different from professional training since they are much more flexible. They are available at any time and wherever you may be. They are sometimes also completed with exercises and can be downloaded to be consulted offline” Anna Lehmann-Bertini, the HR specialist explains. The most popular training within the company is also pushed onto the front page and the Lynda.com experts will work hand in hand with OneLife’s HR and Digital departments over the coming weeks to point managers and employees to the training best adapted to their needs. “Some may be integrated into your annual training plan, into your team’s or may be viewed in working groups, etc.” Alizée explains.

“It is important to try to find time, to have an idea of the skills one wishes to develop, and thus to spend a few minutes a week on the platform. It is not necessary to spend three hours a week on Lynda.com, but a few sessions of ten minutes or so may suffice” Christophe Regnault, Digital Marketing Manager, added before concluding this, the morning session: “It is up to us to create a real movement and engagement around Lynda.com. It is a social, living tool. It must be shared: your favourite training, your playlists and even your certificates that you can display on your LinkedIn profiles”.

OneLife Academy: the life assurance company officially launches its e-learning platform

On 21 September, the OneLife digital and HR teams, represented by Christophe Regnault and Anna Lehmann-Bertini, presented its new online training tool, announced at the Digital Days in June, to all its staff.

“A few months after presenting our new training strategy to you, we are officially launching our OneLife Academy, in partnership with LinkedIn and, more particularly, Lynda.com” explains Christophe Regnault, Digital Marketing Manager. There are now several thousand training opportunities available to the employees of OneLife. But the launch of this academy is only one part of the company’s transformation plan: numerous meetings will thus be organised, on a regular basis, with the purpose of presenting the advances made, but also the new technologies and future projects.

As Christophe Regnault underlines, to learn it is henceforth necessary to “unlearn, to better re-learn” as the famous American futurologist Alvin Toffer explained. “In the past we merely executed what we had learnt”. Today, in a world which is constantly moving, it is necessary to continue to develop”, the digital manager explains. This is why OneLife has joined up with LinkedIn to propose an e-learning solution to all its employees. This platform is easy to access, open to all, and enables staff to follow the training possibilities available at their own speed. They can also be followed on various PCs and mobile devices. “The social aspect is also important: we can all learn from others. Dialogue and communication are thus keys in succeeding with such a training programme” Christophe Regnault adds, going on to say: “LinkedIn, and its Lynda.com solution, offer the best possible training combination”. The content is produced only by professionals. The videos are filmed in Austria and in Silicon Valley. They are all made with a specific aim: helping professionals by offering them comprehensive and concrete solutions. Every expert, or speaker, thus shares their knowledge.

For Anna Lehmann-Bertini, HR Specialist, this e-learning solution proposed by LinkedIn will benefit all employees, managers, members of the executive committee and thus, in general the Luxembourg life insurance company. “Today you all have access to almost 10,000 training possibilities, wherever you want and whenever you want. As for managers, they can select mandatory training for the members of their team, in order to maintain and enhance the skills of every employee” the HR specialist explained. The training chosen by the managers must be followed during working time. To do this the HR department is making five iPads available to the members of the firm, along with the possibility of reserving meeting rooms. The ball is now in the court of OneLife’s employees: it is they, therefore, who have control over their own professional development.