Roxane says the Investec Life milestone proves there is a good reason to invest in technology.
Investec Life has reached a R10 billion cover milestone only two and a half years after its launch in October 2017.
“The achievement of this milestone supports the view that the insurance market is still an attractive space for those who are innovating,” says Investec Life CFO Roxane Leita.
She adds that the milestone shows that Investec Life’s “omnichannel” offering addresses a gap in the traditional insurance market, where clients can choose how they want to purchase life insurance, underpinned by world-class digitally enabled processes.
Investec Life CEO Michael Goemans says the company’s growth trajectory has always been mindful of the need to address deep transformational gaps in the operating models of a typical life insurance company. “In a broader market environment where traditional risk product growth has been flat over the last five years, it was not simply about launching a new insurer, but rather addressing an underlying need for a more deeply personalised and relevant risk offering.”
Roxanne adds that the implementation of technology solutions can be very costly with long implementation times, “but this achievement shows that there is a good reason to invest in the technology as client insurance purchasing behaviours are changing and insurers can no longer dictate how the client must interact with them.”
She says that the milestone has required teamwork and a commitment to challenge the status quo in life insurance and how it protects long-term wealth. “Every single person at Investec Life was responsible for us achieving this.”
Roxane explains that as the CFO, she helped enable and equip the business from a financial perspective, providing information and support to allow the business to make better financial decisions to reach this milestone. This includes being involved in forming the strategy and day-to-day financial and regulatory activities that are needed to keep the business running. “We have a very flat structure, with a lean high-quality team, and the CFO plays a key business partner role in this.”
