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Financial Planning
January 6, 2020

Brokers are heroes too

<strong>By: Alex Simeonides, CEO Capital Legacy</strong>

<h2><strong><b>Letter from the Capital Legacy CEO</b></strong></h2>

As we wrap up on what has been a phenomenal year for Capital Legacy, it’s important to us to honour the people who play an important role as we journey towards changing the industry – our people, our supporters and clients. I would like to thank every one of you who has helped us grow and be where we are today.

A superhero doesn’t need to be someone who wears a cape. A superhero is someone who sets out to change the way things are done, for the benefit of the people around them. Through the commitment of our people, the support from our dedicated brokers and our clients who entrust their legacies to us, we are able to change the landscape with regards to estate administration and the provision of Wills. It is our mission to increase the quality of service and accountability of estate administration, as well as make it easy and accessible for everyone to have a Will – a foundational tool in estate planning.

But it’s not just about giving lip service to the cause, we put our money where our mouth is. This year alone, we paid out R13 million in cash benefits. This means we paid approximately R1 million per month to families to help them cover the costs of the funerals and to pay for the monthly household expenses, such as school fees and electricity, amongst other benefits. It means we were able to financially support families when they had lost a loved one, especially when that loved one was the sole breadwinner.

Don’t be mistaken though, the cash benefits are merely an integrated benefit of our long-term insurance offering. To us it��s not just about providing financial liquidity when people need it most, it is about taking care of the legal fees and expenses that your average Joe and Jane didn’t even know they would have to pay when their loved ones pass away. We covered R83 million in client fees – this means we covered the cost of the Executor’s fees, we paid for conveyancing when properties needed to be transferred, and we cover the ongoing costs of the trusts they established through their Wills. As a result of us offering quality, legally-sound Wills at no cost, we have been able to provide 72 000 individuals with their Will drafts, this year alone. This has been a complete game-changer in the industry as many other players have started offering free Wills, albeit simple Wills, in an effort to keep up with this growing industry-trend.

Despite the numerous ways in which we help people through our innovative products and service offerings, one that stands out is how many families we have walked the estate administration journey with and who have gained closure and peace of mind because of our efficient and compassionate processes. 390 – that’s how many estates we finalised this year, and that’s how many families we have helped.

This year, we also took superhero steps to secure the continuous growth of our company to the benefit of our clients and supporters. African Rainbow Capital made a significant investment in Capital Legacy this year, which enabled us to make considerable progress towards attaining our goal to more than double our business over the next five years. It has provided us with the opportunity to expand our business significantly, as well as to do the research and development needed to introduce new products and expand some of our existing products and service offerings, on a larger scale. We continuously strive to enhance our products and service offerings. We keep our finger on the pulse, ensuring we not only meet industry standards but surpass them. We don’t want to follow the crowd; we want to lead the industry. What this investment means with regards to our goal of changing the industry is that we will do it so much sooner and to greater effect.

But making a difference doesn’t just end with our products and services – when everyone else was offering free Wills for a limited time we used our already existing and established service offering to give back. Through our Will.U.Help initiative which leveraged off our free Will Collection Service, we raised R 35 100 for the Dempsey Foundation, to support children who have cerebral palsy.

Through our innovative free Will Collection service alone we have fetched 7 600 of our clients’ finalised and signed Wills and taken them to a secure storage facility until they are needed, for amendments or estate administration. These are 7 600 Wills of which the ink won’t fade, neither are they susceptible to fire nor flood. This number excludes the number of Wills we receive directly from our clients and supporters. When we say we offer a secure safekeeping service for our clients’ Wills – it’s exactly that. It’s about elevating the benchmark according to which clients receive service when it comes to something as important as their Wills. We consider it so important that we use the same courier service the banks entrust with their clients’ credit cards.

But stats only show the effectiveness of something and we aim to increase the number of stats we can proudly display. We have introduced 45-days’ free cover prior to plan commencement date, for all our clients. Which means clients no longer need to wait to be covered or worry about only being covered from their first debit date. Once the application form is signed, we provide this offering to our clients. Life is unexpected but your cover really shouldn’t be.

Another way in which we create monumental savings for our clients is through our Group CorePlan™ which provides 50% cover of fees, at a monthly premium of nil, to both corporate and societal groups. Furthermore, as health and technology advances, we realise that at 60 you still have decades of living ahead of you, and we now cover up to 70% of the unavoidable fees for Clients over the age of 60 years, helping people of all ages to reap the rewards.

Our people who have been foundational in the executing of our products and services grow each month. As a result, we have moved to bigger and more beautiful offices – making work a place that our people enjoy coming to.

Next year, we promise superhuman growth, exciting new developments, and out-of-this-world benefits that will create even greater opportunities to provide quality products and services to our supporters and clients.

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