Employee Benefits Consultant

Employee Benefits Consultant

The company is a Consultants and Actuaries (Pty) Limited is FSP licensed, and FAIS accredited and provides services in the following areas:

• EB Consulting and Secretarial services
• Legal and related services
• Risk benefit design and rebroke
• Trustees and members communication
• Broker services (retirement, risk and funeral schemes)
• Actuarial services through our partners

Our client is an independent EB Consulting and Advisory firm that offers unbiased and expert advice on all aspects of retirement fund for the employers, trustees, and members.

The Company also offers secretarial work to various retirement funds including training to the trustees and members.

Overall Purpose of the job

• Manages a portfolio of employee benefits clients. Responsible for all client services aspects related to the portfolio and retention of portfolio clients.

Managing a portfolio of clients

• Dealing with all day-to-day queries in respect of retirement fund members, participating employers, service providers, brokers, etc. Ensure that all queries are logged, monitored and progress reported on and, where possible, resolved.
• Assist employers with Fund implementations and assistance with Section 14 processes.
• Monitor the submission and approval of Special Rules and rule amendments.
• Implementation of investment decisions.
• Assist in the setting up of a Local Advisory Committee meeting (PPWAWU in particular) and the election of member representatives.
• Set up and attend Board of Trustees, Special Board, Death and Investment Sub-committee meetings and any other adhoc meetings and prepare agenda items and supporting documents for preparation of the meeting. Taking, preparation and distribution of Board of Trustees/Death/Special Board/Investment Sub-Committee meetings and any other adhoc meeting minutes in line with the client SLA.
• Responsible for all action items arising from these meetings and coordinating responses from all Service Providers.
• Review the Employer's risk benefit structure at the intervals agreed upon from time to time. If necessary, consider and recommend alternatives in consultation with the principal consultant.
• Perform a rebroke exercise of risk benefit costs/investment consulting costs when necessary and summarise the results for the review by the Trustees in consultation with the Fund consultant.
• Manage and drive relationships between Aurora, members, participating employers, and service providers. Monitoring client service on an ongoing basis and taking corrective steps to improve client service, where necessary.
• Ensuring proper SLAs are contracted with all clients.
• Ensuring all clients' FICA documents are submitted.
• Doing presentations to employers/members/trustees.
• Ensuring proper member communication protocols are in place on all key clients.
• Attend HR and/or administration meetings where necessary to resolve matters.
• Provide training to members/employers/trustees on any new changes within the administration environment or any changes to legislation.
• Regularly testing benefit structures and costs to ensure best advice is in place at all clients.
• Establishing, monitoring and reporting on the performance of the complaints management process.
• Distribution of monthly/quarterly investment reports to trustees.
• Performs any other administrative or related tasks as and when required or delegated by the Fund consultant that are within her capabilities, or for which she has been trained or shown how to perform.
• Review system processes to improve effectiveness and clients' needs.
• Ensure procedures and processes are adhered to within the administration team regarding contribution/premium collections, claim payments, data management, fee collections and audit findings.
• Ensure that the fidelity cover is in place for all relevant funds.
• Ensure that the benefit statements are distributed timeously according to the signed SLA's.

Financial Management

• Ensure that expenses are minimized in line with the client budget.
• Ensure that all billable work is invoiced and submitted to the client for approval.

Management Information

• Develops and submits a monthly management report to OPSCO on the activities, successes, failures and anticipated needs of the portfolio so that management is kept informed of the performance against objectives and SLA's.

New Business

• Assist the Principal Consultant with new business initiatives.

Client relationship

• Keep client updated with developments in the employee benefit market.
• Ensure that the client employee benefit programme remains competitive, cost effective and appropriate in line with the client profile.
• Conducting presentations and workshops for Board of Trustees, members, employers and employees. Maintaining ongoing relationships with all clients.
• Following up queries and resolving problems of clients, members and pensioners.
• Daily communication and correspondence with clients, both formal and informal.
• Ensuring timeous response of client queries and requests.
• Maintaining existing client base (retention).
• Ongoing clients contact and interaction.
• Liaising with insurance companies, investment managers, and other external parties where necessary.
• Co-ordination and follow up of death benefits (advice to trustees, meeting with families networking and sharing of information with all internal and external contacts).
• Keeping abreast of all employee benefits developments.
• Managing the entire process of workflow.
• Delivering of service and commitments to the Building and maintaining a trust relationship with client.

Facilitating and Co coordinating internal and external departments

• Internal co-ordination and liaison to ensure ultimate client service and attainment of client objectives.
• Delegation and instruction to internal departments.
• Close involvement with Administration.
• Liaising with administration department regarding withdrawals, retirement, death and benefit statements Ensuring tasks are completed to satisfaction of client Monitoring and follow up of instructions and information requests.

Knowledge, Skills and Behavioural Dimensions

High-Level Knowledge

• Industry knowledge.
• Pension Funds Act.
• Income Tax Act.
• Product knowledge.
• Systems & Processes.
• Financial management.
• Client management.

High Level Skills

• Technical Consulting skills.
• Presentation skills.
• Negotiation skills.
• Communication skills.
• Networking skills.
• Computer literacy.
• Relationship management skills.

Behavioural Dimensions

• Delivery skills (Planning, Time-management, Task prioritisation, Ownership).
• Attention to detail.
• Service orientated.
• Pro-activity.
• Dependability.
• Initiative Living the Values.

Accountability

• Take responsibility for your actions.
• Deliver on time and value other people's time.
• Strive towards improvement by being willing to learn and to change.
• Be proud of what you do and your contribution.
• Treat each client's request/need with respect and as important.
• World class client service.

Service to Society

• Community welfare, environmental protection, development of products and services that meet real physical, social or psychological needs.

Resource Fullness

• The ability to deal resourcefully, i.e. creatively, imaginatively, self-reliably with unusual problems, difficult situations or unanticipated opportunities.
• Listen to clients' needs.
• Provide quality management information for the business to adapt to changing circumstances.

Team Work

• Willingly helping team members with their workload.
• Helping the team to complete their tasks to meet deadlines.
• Working together to deliver to clients.
• Sharing job knowledge and skills.

Experience and Qualifications

• Matric.
• Degree or Diploma (Accounting, Economics or Pension funds).
• 2-3 years relevant experience in EB industry.
• Computer literacy (MS Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint).

Please note that if we do not contact you within 14 days, please consider your application as unsuccessful.

Desired Skills:

• Employee benefits.
• Pension Management.
• Financial Management.
• FAIS.
• Consulting.

Desired Work Experience:

• 2 to 5 years.

Desired Qualification Level:

• Diploma.