Latest / Financial Planner Life Podcast / Natalie Malone on the Financial Services Career That Puts YOU In Front of Entire Workforces

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Natalie Malone on the Financial Services Career That Puts YOU In Front of Entire Workforces · Financial Planner Life Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Employee benefits is a well-known term in financial services, but very few explore careers within this specialism.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_02: So, in this episode, we slow it down and unpack what that actually means.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_02: I'm joined by Natalie Malone, who leads the risk and reward team within Titan Wealth's corporate division.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_02: We start by breaking down employee benefits into simple terms.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_02: What actually sits under risk and reward, and how health, protection, and well-being fit together, and the real problems businesses are trying to solve when they come for advice.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: Natalie shares how she built her career almost entirely in this space, starting in junior roles, progressing into leadership, and why employee benefits became a long-term career rather than a simple stepping stone.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: And we finish with leadership and culture, how teams work together.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_02: And what does one titan mean in principle?
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: So let's get to it.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_02: Natalie, thanks so much for joining me today on the Financial Planner Life Podcast.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: How are you?
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, very well.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: Very excited, I think.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: You think you're excited.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's a good start.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_02: I'll tell you what.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, it's all good.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_02: It's all good.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_02: Don't worry about it.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'll tell you why, because we've never had anybody on the podcast that's ever spoken really about employee benefits.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm really excited to talk about that as a career.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: Lots of people hear about it in financial services, but don't really understand the career pathway and what it is you do on a day-to-day basis.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: You've been in that um side and speciality of financial services for quite some time.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: You've seen it in all different levels.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: So well positioned to give us an insight into employee benefits today.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: So, in simple terms, right, what is it you actually do?
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it's a really great question because I think certainly in sort of the financial planning world, it's very, very different in employee benefits.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so we are our customer, our client is uh corporate businesses.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: So people like uh HR managers, HR directors, can be financial directors.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but in simple terms, we look to build out a well-being strategy for the business.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the any employer's greatest asset is their people.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so their people need to be fit, they need to be well, they need to be engaged, um, so ultimately are productive.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: So in very yeah, simple terms, that is what we are um tasked to do uh is build out something that really works to support their staff.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: Love it.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: Look, I was a business owner myself, I had a recruitment company, 25 people in it, and I spent a lot of time making sure that my staff were happy, sometimes a little bit too much time, right?
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_02: Because you kind of get really worried that they're gonna leave you.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: Or so you start you know getting mental health policies in place and you know, um gym memberships and all those typical types of things.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: You're a risk and reward manager?
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, correct.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_02: What's the difference between risk and reward when it comes to employee benefits?
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_02: How does that mean?
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: So within the world of employee benefits, employee benefits can mean lots of different things.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: Really depends on the business, depends on what you need to recruit the best talent and keep them, um, and then obviously keep them well.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: I consider risk and reward to be uh risk is to the business.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, what what risk um do they have in terms of like I say, retaining their staff, making sure their staff are present, making sure that their staff are, you know, uh motivated and you know, want to do the best of the business.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and the reward is is really what you're going to put in place to keep them, to keep them engaged, to keep them, you know, sort of wanting to come to work.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I think, you know, again, it all depends on demographic of the um of the business of the staff uh as to what those benefits might look like.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but traditionally, sort of core benefits might be things like private health insurance.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: We know there's real challenges in the NHS.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um many staff might be out of work, not able to access the treatment they need quickly.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they need solutions in place to make sure that that is well catered for, that they are, you know, getting that treatment back to work quickly.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, any pressures they might be suffering at work or outside of work.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: You mentioned um things like mental health support, um, so employee assistance programs, lots of things that are available in the health and well-being space to keep their mental health um protected strong.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um so it's not just sort of physical, um, it's very much their sort of mental uh well-being as well.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just looking for potential solutions, policies that are really going to help help support their staff.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: But it can go far beyond, you know.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: We often look at things that are, you know, cycle to work schemes, gym memberships, as you mentioned, electric car schemes.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: So it's building out that whole picture, being holistic, you know, really trying to fully get under the bonnet of maybe any potential issues or the real key drivers of the business to make sure we've got the right benefits in place.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: So, how long have you been at Titan Wealth then?
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so I've been at Titan Wealth.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: Well, again, my time kind of extends beyond.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: So there's been a couple of acquisitions, which meant I've been at different parts of the business.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I've been with the let's say Titan business for sort of almost 17 years, um, so very long time.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and working in different roles.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, although I head up the risk and reward team now, um, I have previously been a healthcare consultant, so that's really sort of where my journey, I suppose, begun in the consultancy space.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I actually joined from really early doors, so I started from the bottom and have worked my way up, and I think for me that adds really great value because I can fully understand the whole picture.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, there's some real sort of trivial things or things that might seem trivial that actually to a business, to an employer really matters, makes a difference.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you know, data efficiency, you know, managing their employee data and managing those policies.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, we want to do the absolute best from a consultancy aspect, but actually the basics need to work really well.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, also it needs to be very easy to do business with us and you know to manage those policies.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I think having the um experience at that really sort of um junior level has meant I've got some real sort of core values which carry through now into this kind of uh sort of manager space and how that all comes together, how that all um you know interacts, um, but also for from a business perspective and what they might need from us.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: So employee benefits and uh anything like corporate pensions, etc.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_02: Anything in the corporate space, this is really a business to business role.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and again, you know, not something we talk about a lot on the financial planning uh uh plan of life, um, is the business to business.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: It tends to be, you know, B2C, but you know, private private client.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um so and for me that's quite exciting because my background is business to business.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: I've always been a business developer in whether it's recruitment and now it's podcasting.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: So business to business is is it's it's a very exciting space and it's an interesting area for me.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: But it's all about who I speak to in that business to build the biggest relationship and have the most influence.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: So, as an employee benefits consultant working for Titan Wealth, who do they approach when it comes to actually selling in the services of Titan Wealth and the employee benefits and the corporate stuff?
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: Who are they approaching?
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_02: So talk a little bit about that aspect of the role.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it really, really is varied.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we have a very diverse range of clients from your micro small business owners up to your you know, your large corporate entities.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, the people within the businesses that really are going to be managing these things are going to be going to be different.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: So typically it is usually a HR or a people team that you know we would really want to connect with because they're at the heart of benefits, at the heart of looking after uh staff.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, that's usually uh where it lands, a HR manager, HR director.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: However, you know, a finance director will play a big part, a smaller firm, it might be a CEO.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it just very much depends.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: But ultimately, I think those sort of collective group of people are the people that are going to decide on these things because you know it's not just a want or a need to offer staff a really great, you know, robust benefit package.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: Ultimately, someone's got to sign it off, it's got to be paid for.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you know, connecting and and building strong relationships with the likes of you know the financial director of the business is as important as you know, really connecting and engaging with a HR team.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_02: So what's some of the biggest problems out there in the corporate world then when it comes to the job that you do?
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: What are the problems that they have and what are the solutions that you're actually offering?
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think one of the biggest things, I mean, like I say, we talk about, you know, attracting and retaining really great staff.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I think, you know, that the cost of all these benefits, certainly in the healthcare space, um, you know, they they are soaring, you know, they are quite a big financial burden to a business.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it's really being able to um I mentioned holistic before, it is a real sort of passion in our team.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I have a team of, you know, specialists in healthcare and risk, and we very much work together to look at that whole uh package because there um you know is often a case that private health insurance is deemed as a really great uh benefit to offer staff, but it's very expensive and very impacted by claims.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: There's lots we can do in the group risk space.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: So when I say group risk, um, you know, what I'm naturally referring to is things like group life assurance, group income protection, critical illness.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: So actually, by um, you know, working on things like signposting and employee engagement programs that you know sort of steer them in a slightly different direction, so there's less impact on the PMI because these other policies aren't hit so hard by um these types of uh claims that often have lots of really great added value services built within, um, so apps for you know access to virtual GPs and mental health support and uh you know bereavement counselling, lots and lots of great sort of additional benefits that actually they're kind of there for free, they're there for people to take advantage of, not going to impact on premiums.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we we kind of do a lot of reworking of benefits, but um most important for us is really the education piece, which we do work very closely.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: You mentioned sort of um like sort of corporate pension team.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we're very collaborative, we really try and draw on all of the expertise across our group.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so my risk and reward team will work very closely with a corporate pension team because employee benefits is that whole package, including pensions.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: And what we can often do is you know, look at a pension scheme.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: They might not be doing something like salary exchange, for example, uh, which there are great savings to be made by often moving into that space, which will then help to unburden some of the costs in the healthcare space.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it is really relying on um all expertise, all resources, and making sure you know we're fully embedded in that uh relationship from all sides.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I think even down to the financial planning piece, you know, whilst this is a step away from that and it's not something, you know, perhaps is been a focus in the past, you know, that does feature as much in that kind of overall relationship with the client because you know, the um sort of I guess financial education, financial well-being is really impactful on employees, you know, if they're struggling perhaps with their financial situation, they're going to be distracted, you know, they're going to be struggling.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's then going to impact, you know, on their work.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: So for us, we, you know, we really see the value in the end-to-end uh support.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, the staff that it maybe I might be talking to or a corporate pension advisor might be talking to.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: We really do like to signpost the fact we can support from an individual perspective as well.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll often bring in our private client advisors to presentations we might be doing or meetings we might be having to embed their services as well.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: So financial well-being is something you touched on.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: And there is a duty of care, isn't there, for businesses, I think, to look after their employees' well-being, whether that's financial, physical, or mental well-being.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: I genuinely do.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_02: I think a lot of people spend 40, 50, often sometimes 60 hours working for a company.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_02: They're giving their time up for that business, and that business is there to make a profit.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: There is a sense of responsibility, I believe, that it lands on the shoulders of the business owner or business itself to look after the employees' well-being.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: But they're very nervous a lot of the time.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_02: Why should we?
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_02: You know, why why should we spend that money on it?
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_02: What does data say?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: Does data say that it's a valuable investment for a business to invest in their, you know, in their staff's well-being through these programs?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: So we rely very heavily actually on data and data from all aspects, you know, whether it's um employers sharing their um data with us.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: So it might be the absentee rate, it might be um the um sickness absence.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: We rely on data from the products we um uh support employers with.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: So it could be uh around pain points, the they might have high mental health usage on their private health insurance, for example, or their group income protection, they might have long-term absentees in, you know, again, suffering maybe with mental health or something similar.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, all of that data we use to help better support the businesses in justifying the expense of some of these things.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: So, yes, there are some employers that might be a bit resistant or can't see the value as to why they might need it.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think being able to show them where their sort of pain points might exist and what we can put in place to help support um, you know, those issues and then demonstrate with results.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: So we will always look to um try and provide that full picture.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: So if it's certainly someone that's maybe apprehensive of putting something in place, if we can show them, you know, by having a group income protection scheme, for example, there's lots of early intervention support.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: So they want to actually get involved with the people that might be suffering but not yet off sick.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: So what can we do to help them so they don't go off sick?
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: So that business then keeps them working, keeps them engaged, keeps them well, and they've not got then somebody perhaps that's off for six months, 12 months because they haven't been supported well enough.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I think data is incredibly important, um, but also showing the results from that, you know, using that data to implement some of these perhaps new services, um, and then how they help to reduce future spend on benefits.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: And a lot of companies actually send financial planners into the businesses to deliver like financial planning workshops and well-being workshops.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_02: Is that something that Titan Wealth having of a strong, strong financial planning business?
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: Do they come into those companies and offer that service as well?
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: So we um typically with uh a corporate client, it will start with perhaps a um a corporate pension advisor.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: So they might be delivering uh different stages um of life in terms of you know pension savings, pension advice.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but along with those guys, they'll they'll often bring in a yeah, financial planner so that we can book in one-to-one sessions.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and yes, if there is um uh an opportunity to deliver something a little bit more detailed um to staff, then yeah, 100%.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um as I say, I I feel like there's such a strong link, especially now with current day pressures, you know, the cost of living and you know, everything kind of soaring.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, people's finances are really heavily affected.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: So if they've got that, you know, real guidance, that that advice on what is right for them to do, um, you know, it's really going to make a difference to their well-being.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_02: And also as well, it's a fine line between like, you know, financial worry creates financial anxiety, which develops into a mental health condition.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: And we do see it, you know, that is again through data, through engagement, they are the sort of things that do occur.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why, you know, we really some you'll often, or sometimes there's reference, I think, in in my space to being a broker.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I really dislike that term because we've we never see ourselves as that.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we truly believe in the consultancy aspect and being holistic.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it can't just be a one service line thing.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: It is really being able to one of my favourite phrases actually is um listening to understand, not speak.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: And that really kind of sits with me all the time is that it's it's taking the time to sit with a business and properly, you know, listen, really understand uh what is right for them, and then create this sort of well-being strategy that's going to deliver for you know their staff and the business.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but education, so you know, we work really hard on things like staff presentations, webinars, um, anything that's really going to educate their staff on things they have access to because you know, ultimately businesses are paying for these things, and many things are often misunderstood or forgotten about.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but how they have a direct link to you know to other parts of the business and um uh services that may exist that they've just not um you know not connected by the two.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_02: I think one of the things you said they're consultancy.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_02: You act like a consultant, act like you are a consultant to these businesses and the relationship is really important to you, right?
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: So to kind of give somebody an understanding, when you say that and you're going into a business and you are consulting for that business, okay?
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_02: You're not going in and saying, hey, how you doing, knocking on the door and trying to sell something and see you later.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's a consultancy that leads into a relationship that leads into ongoing consultancy and tweaking and all of those typical types of things, right?
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_02: Just talk to talk to me a little bit about that, like that that initial kind of consultancy, if you like.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: How do you determine the need for the services that you're offering?
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: How do you position and create, I suppose, the employee benefits package that is suitable for the company that you are uh wanting to work with?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so um again, I think research is key.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think you you really must do your best to understand the business before you you sit down and talk to them.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: So, how how big are they as a business?
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: Are they just UK only?
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what is their industry type?
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: Is there blue colour colour, white work uh white collar workers?
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so we can, you know, we have lots of um data that we can naturally sort of um you know reflect on, uh, which helps.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: But I think doing what we can to understand them before we sit down with them, but making no assumptions.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I do like to approach most things with kind of a blank canvas, um, like I say, with the knowledge in the bank that I think you, you know, you might have this understanding of them.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: But then asking questions and listening, I think it it really is sort of key.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: So it might be um, you know, what benefits they currently have in place.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: Do they even have any?
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, how are they engaging with their staff?
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what are they doing to communicate these benefits?
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, is is there a great understanding, understanding and awareness of being like how how do I access them?
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think you know, it's really easy to implement these things and forget about them.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: I've ticked the box, you know, they're in place.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: But actually, if nobody knows how to engage with them, nobody knows how to access them, they've immediately lost value and you know, you're paying this money and it's not really delivering um, you know, what you've wanted it to do.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I think, you know, for us, we do our best to understand, you know, what we think that business might look like, but ultimately go armed with lots of questions and and listen.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: I think um, you know, what what are their what are their struggles, what are their pain points, you know.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like I say, is it attracting talent?
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Is it keeping talent?
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: Is it you know the fact that they've got a high number of MSK conditions that you know they need to tackle?
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: It could be a number of different things, but businesses all look different, and you could have, you know, two businesses that seemingly are in exactly the same industry, similar sort of size, but needs can be entirely different.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think that's why, you know, for us, that's where the consultancy comes in, is the the listening to understand.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_02: So you you essentially you you do embed yourself within that business as well for the for the long term to understand.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I liked what you said there, like two businesses in the same um industry or profession doing the same thing could be vastly different.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, do you notice the difference in culture when you go into these different businesses?
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: Are they are they you know, is there such a thing as you know, people say, like, oh, you know, the our culture's this and their culture's that.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: Does it does it change business to business when you're seeing so many different companies?
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think naturally it does.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: I think, you know, depending on you know the environment that they work in, you know, are people in the office?
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: Are they remote?
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: You know, are they um you know engaging face to face?
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Is it all virtual?
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, so I think cult culture obviously plays a huge part in employee wellness, um, but very much, I think, different and and different industry types, you know, have you got a um a majority male workforce versus female and you know what that might look like?
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I think, you know, for us, it it's it's sort of targeting or understanding and targeting that as well, because if you've got like an area we've been working on recently is helping to support businesses with um like menopause awareness because there's new legislation coming in.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: If you've got more than 250 staff, it might be that you don't have you know a huge amount of women in your workforce, but you have got to protect and you've got to support these individuals to making sure that.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Got the right solutions in place for that.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, helping ear with things like neurodiversity, because that's really sort of new and emerging in our space.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: Lots of providers are now providing solutions to help, recognizing that it's something that you know adults will struggle with, and actually giving them the right tools, they are then going to do the best job they can.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it's not really just those traditional benefits that you might think of, you know, a private health insurance or a cash plan, dental insurance.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, it's much, much bigger than that.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's making sure you know we know all we can to be able to support in those more niche or um less traditional um sort of ways.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, what I find a bit crazy is that businesses haven't really learned into the whole menopause thing, but that it's now a thing and the legislation's coming in and it's been there forever.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um and the needs change so much for Wynn in that in that situation.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_02: My wife is is perimenopausal at the moment, and she also has something called PMDD.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_02: I've understood and started to really understand perimenopause, PMDD, menopause, how it shows up.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_02: And as a male, I've got to really kind of observe and understand.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I think as a business owner, you 100% need to observe and understand because women can change a lot, you know.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_02: And there has to be flexibility and understanding to be able to deal with that.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you can't treat a male the same as a female, no.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: Vice versa, you know, you can't.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: There has to be um things in place to be able to support that person.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_02: So I find that really, really fascinating.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: I spoke to a financial advisor um a couple of weeks ago.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_02: I was at an event, um, and she's doubling down on that because during a period of when a woman is probably building her wealth similar to like a male, that's when menopause hits.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_02: So the wealth building phase, when kids are a little bit older, and now they're going out like the 40s, 50s, that kind of end of the 40s, 50s, that's the wealth building stage for a lot of people, but yet they're having to go through menopause.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: So it's about understanding and talking to women about preparing for that and when to maybe invest a lot sooner to counter that.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and I think you know, that it's a really, really great point and actually something for us to reflect on, actually, and probably build out because um, you know, it can be really sort of debilitating, you know, for women.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I think if they've not got the right support in place, but actually, you know, like I said, it is beyond the just supporting the women, it is um creating that awareness for men, um, men in the workplace, men that have got wives at home that might be struggling in the workplace because their wives are suffering at home.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's not just working alongside uh women.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: And actually, we have done a lot of work, uh, very specifically in that space.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: So, this client that I mentioned, I think we mentioned you earlier, um, actually, that's what was delivered.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: It was a menopause awareness workshop for the men at their work so that they could really fully understand um how that is you know going to affect the women they might be working with.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and she and they actually had said that they've had the most amount of questions and feedback following because it really resonated with them.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um so it's it is incredibly important, and um yeah, I think the financial financial planning piece is is probably actually very key to that.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_02: On that note, I um was on the board of um trustees for a brilliant charity called Tool Club, which is a men's mental fitness charity, raising awareness of men's mental fitness, and you create these little talk clubs.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, how are you out of 10 and why and what are you doing to work on yourself?
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: And men get together and they talk and they share and they move forward.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_02: I was speaking at a men's mental health day for St.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_02: James's place, and after that, we actually then created these mini uh workshops basically.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_02: And we invited a lot of men along.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_02: We had about 30 odd guys.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: The biggest concern to their own mental well-being was the wives going through the menopause, and they they they were struggling as men, they were struggling.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I was just blown away by that.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_02: I've sat back listening because I hadn't been into and and and these were guys again, like sort of 50 plus, right?
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: Average age of advisor is 55 years old in New York, yeah, right?
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_02: So these are financial advisors I was talking to as well, and they were openly talking about that as being, I would say 60% was was based around that.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: So men want to know, men want to talk, and men want to understand.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_02: So again, like things like Talk Club, and that they and with talk club, you should lean out, you know lean into them.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_02: Go and uh maybe I'll introduce you.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: But they do offer uh corporate solutions to businesses to create male talk clubs.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like to get men talking, obviously, three quarters of all suicides are male.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: You know, so it's a real great talking point.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_02: And and where we and there were I was just I sponsored my I I I I was on the board of directors, I had it in my business.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_02: We held talk clubs at our business, and but we had it open to women as well.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_02: It worked, it worked really, really good.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_02: So I think there is this line that you can bring financial you can bring uh mental health and well-being into the workplace.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: It just I think it has to be um delivered by somebody who has uh qualification, expertise, and knowledge in the subject and shouldn't be left to the employees of the business.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like the uh mental health first aiders, I thought is terrible.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_02: It's my personal opinion.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: You know, expecting somebody within the business to be a first aid mental health first aider without any experience apart from like a couple of hours on some kind of CPD, and then they become sort of almost trauma-domped on, yeah, and it affects the culture of the business.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_02: That's not how you do it.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_02: You you you have to bring experts in or externally where I as a business owner can signpost my staff to it, whether they've got a drinking problem, whether they've got a drug problem, whether they've got a problem with their finances or their relationship.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_02: I love the whole signposting thing because I am somebody who wants to sit down and fix everybody's problems.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_02: And in the end, I realized it took up so much of my time as a business owner, so much of my time trying to fix other people's problems.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_02: It was like, why am I doing this?
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_02: So I became very good at signposting people, and I've had some fantastic successes from people that work for me where I have signposted them and it's completely changed their lives.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm so pleased that when I did that within my business.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and actually it's it's huge because and I think the thing that's missed is there's actually so much available.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, even within these sort of traditional insurances, there are there is so much sort of professional support available that needs signposting.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: People miss, um, employers miss.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there's also lots of help and support um, you know, for for line managers.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: So the other area that we often work on, and and yes, it's you know, whether a manager is ever fully equipped for many of these situations is questionable, but actually giving them some tools, some you know, mental sort of resources for managing that kind of first line of spot the signs.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely spot the signs.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: So what um we work with actually many um many organizations, but we can often, on the healthcare side, build in well-being funds, which they can use, and many employers have, um, to put in things like uh, you know, LIME manager training uh for mental health support, very specifically around uh sort of suicide prevention.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um we can run um seminars and workshops on awareness.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um so again, helping for individuals to recognise the signs, but also recognize the signs in their colleagues where they might need to signpost them to something that is available within the business that they might not yet have thought about.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um but there is so much um there is so much that is available to help support, uh, whether it's mental health, whether it's physical health, um doesn't have to be expensive.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: That's the other thing.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think there is often this misconception if you're in maybe a smaller business that you think I can't afford it.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we are here to make people's budget work smarter, not harder.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and there is lots of uh emerging um solutions.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: So there's PMI light, you know, real recognition for this fact that private health is too expensive.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: We can't afford it.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: We have to do something.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's now a you know, a need, not a nice to have, it's a must.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there are lots of things coming into the market that means any business could put a baseline of um health and protection, you know, it might look different to a bigger organization, but it a very cost-effective, um, very cost-effective way.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's yeah, just relying on good people to help um understand your business and talk to you about your options.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: Fantastic.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, lots of lots of support available.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_02: So it gives it like what I'm feeling from employee benefits is also they're you know, you're having a positive impact on people's lives, right?
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_02: That's the key to this.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_02: What the driver is you are having a positive impact.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_02: The business is uh looking after their staff, which means they're happier.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_02: Hopefully profits go up.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, it affects the bottom line.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's what they're interested in as well.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_02: You know, but also I think deep down people really do care about the people that work for them and give it their time and their lives for the business.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: You're at work most of the time most of your time.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's faced it.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_02: You spend most of your time at work, which is why it's a great opportunity to be able to offer help and support, I think, in the right, in the right way and not try and fix it yourself, basically.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_02: And that's one of the mistakes I've seen lots of business owners, including myself, try to do as soon as I lent into employee benefits.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, what a what a release.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: And it's but it's also a real mind field.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if if it's not something you're doing every day, you know, even for our advisors that you know, we are we have a specialist team, so all we do every day, there is still a lot, you know, that you've got to stay on top of.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I think as a business owner or a HR lead, um, you know, it's it can be quite a minefield for making sure you've got the right things.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: Because equally you don't want to pay for the stuff you don't need.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, it's got to be effective, it's got to be, you know, what's right for that that business.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_02: Every step of the way, you're reviewing, reviewing, reviewing, reviewing what's working, what's not looking.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_02: Let's look at the data.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_02: Now, sounds really exciting.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_02: But if somebody wanted to either get into employee benefits or transfer their skills across into employee benefits, what you know, what type of people do you look for?
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you're a team manager, you know, you run a team and you're looking for good quality people.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_02: So let's tell the world, what type of people do you look for when you're taking on an employee benefits manager?
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think um for me, you've got to um you've got to have good people skills.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: We are um we are a people business, people by people.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_01: You know, clients will buy into you individually.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, they've got to be able to trust you, trust you to deliver what you promise.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, and so for me, people skills is key, having empathy um for others.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we work in quite an emotive space at times.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: If we're dealing with employees' claims, you know, it could be someone is trying to access their private health.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, they're probably at their lowest, they're not feeling well.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um if they're off long-term sick, they're not feeling well, you know.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it can be quite an emotive place.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_01: So it's ensuring that they've got um yeah, the right people's skills, but the passion and empathy to want to help, want to help businesses, want to help um employees.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so for me, that's sort of you know, everything else can be learned.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, as a business, we really support uh people's progression.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um so many people with my team have either come from within our business, so they've maybe been at a junior level initially, come from a client support role into a more sort of junior associate consultant role, and some that have recently progressed into a full consultancy role.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, that again, sort of circling back to that kind of understanding the basic needs of clients, you know, they've got those kind of core skills, but ultimately, you know, they are the people that want to want to do good for a business.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, a member of my team, we're talking about mental health, has recently signed up to be um a mind campaigner, um, saw it as an opportunity, and just like I think that would really help support my clients.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if I kind of am a little bit more in touch with that, understanding it in a in a deeper way.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you've you've got to have that real kind of thirst for for learning, for for wanting to know more so you can help um in a better way.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_02: What about qualifications?
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_02: Because a lot of people listen to this thinking about financial planning, you've got to be level four qualified.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's a regulated role or non- Yeah, so we don't we don't have that in our space, but we do um expect good standards.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_01: So um uh CII, uh Chartered Institute um of insurance uh qualifications is what we seek.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: So there are very specific uh qualifications for health and risk um as advisors, which we would expect um those individuals to have just for good uh good standard of uh consultancy, good standard of expertise, but it's actually not required.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: So it isn't something that all firms will ask you to have.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: However, it it demonstrates um your commitment to that role, demonstrates your commitment to learning your skill, your trade.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: Well, listen, thank you so much for providing a bit of a snapshot of employee benefits.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_02: I think a lot of our listeners will probably find that super interesting, and maybe you consider this um as a career.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm sure they could reach out to you on LinkedIn if they want to find out a little bit more information or what it's like to work for Titan Wealth as an employee benefits consultant.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_02: On that note, with Titan Wealth, there's a question I'm asking everybody, which is um, what does one Titan mean to you?
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I I have given this some thought.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and um, and this may sound a little cheesy, but I've actually said this a few times to my team.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_01: And um, having been on the journey of growth uh to get to where we are with Titan currently, but it's definitely still growing, um uh it is bigger, better more.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I know that sounds, like you say, a little maybe uh I don't know, strap fly new, but I I kind of you know genuinely believe it because we have now got the scope to truly help all um, you know, sort of in all ways from you know that individual advice all the way through to corporate businesses.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_01: There really isn't anything Titan can't do, um, you know, from yeah, so financial planning advice, uh pension guidance, you know, best workplace pension schemes, employee benefits for their staff.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we are truly holistic and and can help, you know, in the fullest, fullest way.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_02: Fully joined up because I've heard that you're one of the best introduces your side of the business into the financial planning side.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_02: So that's only going to be positive for anybody in their financial planning career, there is.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what it's saying.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_01: So whether you're looking to join um as a financial planner or as a uh you know a corporate consultant, you know, we are really collaborative, truly collaborative.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, that's how we do our our best business is uh working together and being able to, you know, support from each side, um, because that's given given the client the best outcome as well.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_02: Love it.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_02: Well, Nassie, look, thank you so much for joining me today on the Financial Planer Life podcast.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_02: Giving us an insight into employee benefits and what it's like to tighten wealth.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um massive thank you.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_01: No, thank you very much.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_01: Appreciate your time.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_01: Keep up the good work.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_01: Cheers.