2017 Zimnat Life Agents Awards
There was pomp and funfair at Cresta Lodge on the 9th of March where Zimnat Life Assurance was giving away prizes to agents who excelled in 2017. Agents who scooped the awards this year included;
• Funganayi Nyakatswau – Top Manager 2017
• Molline Ruchiyo – Top Agent 2017
• Taurai Nerio Pome – Top Agents 2017 1st runner up
• Nicola Ndlovu – Top Agent 2017 2nd runner up
• John Munaku – Rising Star
• Tinashe Nyamuwe – Exemplary Agent of the year
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Zimnat Life Chief Executive Officer, Mr Munyaradzi Javangwe congratulated the agents for a job well done in 2017 and expressed gratitude to the Sales Team for their efforts and for overcoming the various challenges faced in that year.
The Zimnat Group Chief Executive Officer, Mustafa Sachak was the guest of honour at the event and encouraged the Sales Team to value and uphold customer experience as one of the pillars to ‘Make Life Better’ for customers.
The event, which has become an annual event on the Zimnat Calendar carried an African theme and guests were entertained by Hope Masike.
The No Claims Bonus Experience from Zimnat
July 2013 saw the exciting launch of a first ever to be seen in Zimbabwe, the No Claims Bonus Funeral Cash Plan by Zimnat. The product was well received and this year our clients will get to experience this added benefit on their policy as we make our maiden payments.
Already there is so much excitement in the air with our clients who are looking forward to this experience. The beginning of the year has seen a lot of clients inquiring and seeking confirmation on whether indeed this was going to be happening. As Zimnat, we are so proud and excited to be seeing our clients getting to experience this service and it will further rubber stamp that Zimnat is surely all about innovation that is meant to “make life better” always for our clients.
The No Claims Bonus is just but one of the many other enhancements that we have made to our products since the comeback of insurance products post dollarization era. Zimnat was the first Life office to offer such a product. Our Family Funeral Cash Plan started as a simple funeral cash plan which offers financial protection in the event of death with covers ranging from $500 up to a maximum of $5000.
The introduction of this unique No Claims Bonus feature on our funeral cash plan has remained unique across the local insurance industry and it was the unfolding of our quest to continuously improve on our offering to our valued clients.
The Zimnat journey of making life better for our valued clients through anticipating their needs and working towards providing solutions for those needs did not end with the No Claims Bonus
launch.
We have proudly launched other added benefits onto the Family Funeral Cash Plan namely the Hospital Cash Back facility as well as the Tombstone and Vigil benefit.
In addition to that we have also revised our maximum funeral cover to an amazing $10 000. These added benefits are not just part of a “me too” strategy but they came as a result of the guarantee that we offer our valued clients that we will always make your life better by bringing you relevant solutions to your financial needs. Zimnat is also excited to be sharing that we have also recently launched an exciting new Whole Life plan with added benefits, namely the death benefit, funeral cover, free will writing facility and an annual benefit escalation.
All this is meant to make the lives our clients and their loved ones better and as Zimnat our final promise lies in honouring our final promise through paying claims.
As we go deeper into the year it is time that you help us make many other lives better by recommending your friends and relatives to sign up with us for a guaranteed peace of mind through the range of products that we have to cater for all your short - long term financial needs and protection.
By Rufaro Vambe
Strange But True Health Tips
Your health is your wealth and you should invest in your wealth just as much as you invest for your future.
Diet
There’s an easy recipe if your goal is to keep away problems like heart disease and strokes.
• Eat more fruits and veggies.
• Choose whole grains. Try brown rice instead of white. Switch to whole wheat pasta.
• Choose lean proteins like poultry, fish, beans, and legumes.
• Cut down on processed foods, sugar, salt, and saturated fat.
• Maintain a well-balanced diet always
• Don’t skip breakfast
Remember it’s not always about quantities but quality also.
Physical exercise
After a long, exhausting workday, exercising sounds like the last thing you would want to do, but getting your sweat on will actually energize you. Fatigue along with mood and depression improves after a single 30-minute moderate intensity exercise session. Everything we do uses oxygen, so when you exercise it helps you work more efficiently and you don’t tire as easily and you also function better mentally. Exercise boosts your heart health, builds muscle and bone strength, and wards off health problems.
Cut down Your stress
Stress can take a toll on your health. You probably can’t avoid it altogether, but you can find ways to ease the impact. Don’t take on too much. Try to set limits with yourself and others.
• To relieve stress, try:
• Deep breathing
• Meditation
• Massage
• Exercise
• Healthy eating
• Talking to a friend, family member, or professional counselor
Drinking lots of water
When you feel bloated, drinking water sounds as if it would only drink water when you’re bloated make matters worse, but it can often help. If you’re on a high-fiber diet, for instance, then your body needs more water to work more efficiently.
• Clean pure water from a protected source
• Aim to take not less than 2 litres of water per day, your body needs it.
Brush up on hygiene.
Many people don’t know how to brush their teeth properly. Improper brushing can cause as much damage to the teeth and gums as not brushing at all. Hold your toothbrush in the same way that
you would hold a pencil, and brush for at least two minutes. This includes brushing the teeth, the junction of the teeth and gums, the tongue and the roof of the mouth. And you don’t need a fancy, angled toothbrush – just a sturdy, soft-bristled one that you replace each month.
Mental health
Healthy living involves more than physical health, it also includes emotional or mental health. The following are some ways people can support mental health and well-being.
• Get enough sleep daily
• Try something new and often for instance eat a new food
• Do some mind exercises eg read, do a puzzle occasionally during the week
• Let yourself be pleased with your achievements, both big and small.
Let's Get To Understand The Zimnat Group Products
There are several products that the Zimnat Group offers. In this column, we will be taking you through some of the products offered by the group, benefit structures and why you should get them. All of these product are some form of investments. Everything you do in life has a reason for example you get married to settle yourself in life with a soul mate and lead yourself towards a family life. You work to make sure that your family does not fall short of basic necessities, you save money for various reasons like vacations and unforeseen events. Even after all this, one needs to protect his/her family in the event of uncontrollable circumstances like accidents or death. The Zimnat Group is here for you during your life journey and beyond. We are here to Make Life Better for you. Let’s explains on some of the products that individual or corporates need to invest in:
MICRO-FINANCE
Everything is going Micro these days. Why? To make it relevant, affordable and accessible. Our Microfinance arm has readily available loans for various uses. The most interesting and latest product is the MICRO HOUSING LOAN. The product is available to anyone with a house or stand and wants to build or improve it. Why go for MicroFinance? The most affordable rates and flexible terms in the market.
INDIVIDUAL WHOLE LIFE PLAN
We know and respect that you work tirelessly to ensure that your family, businesses and assets are always protected. The whole life plan is an insurance policy which is guaranteed to remain in force for the insured’s entire lifetime, provided required premiums are paid, or to the maturity date.
Why go for the Individual Whole Life Plan?
• Provision of day to day living expenses upon death
• Protection for outstanding mortgage loans
• Provision of funds to pay any estate duty taxes upon death
• Taking Insurance cover on the life of key people in a business
• Protection of the surviving partner (s) in the event of death of the other
GROUP BUSINESS - FUNERAL PLAN
Getting a funeral cover has never been easy as a group with our Group Business department. Whilst death is a painful event that comes unexpectedly, we should all prepare and be able to live with peace of mind knowing that loved ones are cushioned against the funeral expenses.
Why go for the Group Funeral Policy?
• Affordable rates for as low as USD0.50
• No medical examination
• No waiting period for deaths as a result of an
accident
• Flexible premium payments which can be paid
monthly, quarterly or yearly
GENERAL INSURANCE - HOSPITAL CASH PLAN
Health is everyone’s greatest asset. Sudden illness or accidental bodily injury can sometimes leave one financially incapacitated. The Hospital Cash Plan is a benefit product which pay off when a policyholder is hospitalized as a result of an accident or sickness. The plans acts as a complementary product to the Medical Aid. The benefit can be used to pay off any shortfall which might have occurred and additional expenses incurred when one is hospitalized.
Why the Hospital Cash Plan?
• No medical check-ups
• Covers maternity and pre-existing conditions
• Pays up to $200 for every day spent in hospital
• Covers pre-existing conditions
• Cash payouts whilst in hospital
• Flexible premium payment needs
• Covers an unlimited number of dependents
ASSET MANAGEMENT - STABLE INCOME FUND
This is my favourite and perhaps the most relevant, not only for corporates but for individuals as well. Everyone, at one point in time, needs to invest. The Asset management arms links all the above entities – investing in short and long term instruments. With 8 registered asset managers in Zimbabwe, Zimnat Asset Management has been rated NUMBER ONE (1) on a rolling 3, 4 and 5 year period for Pension Funds.
Stable Income Fund
A simple but stable fund is the Stable Income Fund. This is a taxable purely money market fund, providing a reasonable, stable and low risk environment. Its underlying assets are high yielding fixed income instruments namely corporate debt instruments, bankers’ acceptances, certificates of deposits and other interest bearing liquid assets. This fund is ideal for taxable individuals wishing to receive a stable income from their investments, as opposed to achieving capital growth.
Combining all these products
With the Zimnat Group products, we are not only interested in one part of your life but we want to be with you all way.
ZIMNAT – YOU PARTNER FOR LIFE
The Zimnat Digital Journey
The internet has taken over as the source of information for anything that people need to know. No wonder all the talk around us is about the digital age, internet of things, big data,
the list goes on. Unless you contextualize this and bring it home to what exactly it means to your business you will forever see it as a foreign concept.
Our drive at Zimnat has been to do just that, bring it home and see how it impacts us as a business! The Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe puts the active internet penetration rate at 49.5% of the country’s population as at 30 September 2017.
The most active age groups online are between the ages of 18 to 44. This is largely through handheld devices like cellphones and tablets. So why would that be of interest one would ask? These statistics were useless until we started to ask ourselves the really uncomfortable question……...What does this mean to my business?
The job of any commercial business is to grow its profits. Elementary business courses will speak to the fact that one of the ways to grow profit is to grow the Topline (driven by penetration) and in this case the client base.
In growing this client base it’s not only about getting the numbers but getting the right quality of clients (targeting clients who are not only willing but able to pay for the service). A concept of fishing where the fish are!
Since the fish are on the internet, Zimnat has undertaken to drive digital as additional channel to capture relevant target audiences. Traditional print media has been declining in relevance generation by generation but is still significant. What we have seen is that the print runs of newspapers have declined but readership has remained steady, growth due to the sharing communities.
So, newspapers are now also more than the physical paper but are also going digital as well. The plan was to make use of it as a complementary low cost but high impact channel.
Part of that journey has been with online and social media advertising. On social media we decided to focus on Facebook first and grow our presence which sat at 13K Likes before the
launch of the digital campaign.
True to our drive to “make life better” we took an angle to say how do we communicate our products but also make sure we are indeed making the consumer’s lives better. We took our ordinary products and took a view to say how these really serve our clients and better their lives.
It was this deep understanding of the consumer and our purpose that led to a digital campaign that was highly emotional yet answering the consumer’s needs. We drove that angle that
showed how our product could change or impact their lives for the better.
This was topped off with the relevant targeting. We served the ads to the relevant target audience that fit the age, income and lifestyle fit. We kicked off the campaign on the 19th of March
and what we found was amazing. When you talk to people they actually talk back! Especially when you are driving a relevant message that speaks to their needs.
Below are some of the link ads that were flighted for the campaign:
The Zimnat campaign is performing exceptionally well in its two weeks from launch with a unique reach of 302K people with that target audience being served with the campaign at an average
frequency of 5.11 times (more stats are shown in the table below).
The targeting for this campaign includes contextually relevant sites with themes of general insurance and life assurance, micro insurance. What has been amazing has been the engagement rate which is quite high at 3.63% for a brand! According to Michael Leander an award-winning Marketing speaker and trainer, an engagement rate “above 1% engagement rate is good,0,5%- 0,99% is average and below 0,5% engagement likely means that you need to realign your messages to that of your audience’s expectations – and in the process attract more compelling and engaging contributions from your community members”.
Within the two weeks we managed to grow the page with 4,767 new likes! We got a lot of comments and enquiries about our products. On an average day we were getting over
100 enquiries. We had to put in place system internally to deal with these enquiries. It has been exhilarating and rewarding work. These stats are quite impressive against a backdrop of low trust in insurance products in Zimbabwe due to fluctuations in value experienced during the hyper inflationary period. Some of the comments are shown below:
The vision is to redefine the way insurance is seen by the ordinary consumer, demystify it and get them excited about insurance. The next steps are to go beyond just communicating but rather allowing clients to start and finish these conversations online. This will be done through redefining distribution and increasing the platforms where clients can get quotes online as well as complete a transaction through to payment.
We are also excited about bots that offer consumers service. Particularly in a country where half the internet usage is on social media. We are actively looking at a Facebook and WhatsApp bot. We will also continue to look at new ways to simplify insurance to consumers and truly make their lives better!
By Angela E Mpala (Zimnat Group Marketing Executive)
Personality Of The Quarter - Paula Thaka
In this section, we bring you up close and personal with some of the Zimnat staff, so you get to know the person behind the face you see everyday in the office. In this edition, we profile Paula Thaka, from the Audit department in the Zimnat Life Assurance.
Q: How long have you worked for the company?
A: 20months (1year 8months)
Q: Before working here, what other places have you worked?
A: Lupane State University, Bulawayo City Council
Q: Are you more of a hunter or a gatherer?
A: Gatherer
Q: You're a new addition to the crayon box. What color would you be and why?
A: Gold(my favorite color) because it's associated with royalty plus i have never really seen a gold crayon, it's usually all sorts of yellow but never gold.
Q: Suppose you found a lottery ticket that ends up winning $10 million. What would you do?
A: A greater part of it will be invested in property. I am into commercial livestock farming so i would invest in that as well. And obviously i would use the change for shopping hahaha.
Q: What do you think about when you're alone in your car/room?
A: My future mostly. I wonder what it has in stock for me.
Q: What's your favorite 90s jam?
A: Anything by Celine Dion and Westlife
Q: What's your current favorite track?
A: Eish i do not have one particular track but i love Zulu love songs.
Q: What was the last gift you gave someone?
A: A set of towels.
Q: What were you like in high school?
A: Noisy in class hahahaha, very sporty. I was basically an all-rounder and very bossy.
Q: What was the last thing you watched on TV and why did you choose to watch it?
A: America's Next Top Model because it's entertaining plus it has lots of fashion going on hahahahaha.
Q: Tell me something about your job other than money that inspires you to keep working there.
A: Besides the love and passion i have always had for Internal Auditing, i developed love and passion for Zimnat through my experience here. I'm driven by the desire to make the company better, especially with regards to making all our business processes not only efficient but effective as well - meaning reducing costs and timely service delivery to our clients.
This is not an overnight type of task, but a continuous improvement and the desire to see that continuous improvement keeps me going.
Zimnat makes life better for others. Rarely do we mention making life better for Zimnat and that's what my job is. Making life better for Zimnat hahaha.
Q: What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?
A: Ah i can't remember.
Q: Pretend you're the CEO. What 3 concerns about the company's future keep you up at night?
A: Being able to operate as a going concern and further growing the company. Adapting to the fast changing technological environment. Ways of motivating and retaining the company's human resources in the future, we wouldn't want to lose our skilled staff to competition.
Q: What do you work toward in your free time?
A: I study a lot.
Q: Describe the color yellow to someone who is blind.
A: Hahaha that is hard but i would probably say it's a very soft color like the warmth of the sun.
Q: How would you convince someone to do something they didn't want to do?
A: Assist them to show them it is doable.
Personal Image
The story of your life starts with your personal image. What's my story? Is a question that we all need to ask ourselves and when you look at your life so far, do you feel happy with what you see? No matter the status of your story, whether good or bad, you want your life to matter, you want your story to be significant. I believe no one wants to feel like whether or not they lived on this earth it doesn't make a difference.
You can make your story great and all you have to do is make a difference with whatever you have. There are many ways to focus on 'your image', something that i am passionate about and continuously learning about from other people who have excelled in this area.
Etiquette and image if well nurtured can enhance your real value on the market place just like a polished diamond. There are many dictionary definitions of the word image but when it comes to personal image, it is all about how you are perceived by others.
Different factors are integrated into your image such as body language, the way you carry yourself, your visual communication(your personal appearance) and your verbal communication (how you use your words).
Although the spoken word does carry weight as we develop rapport, we are initially judged by what people see. Each time you meet someone, they will evaluate you either consciously or subconsciously. they will ingest your clothing, your hairstyle and your accessories. They will then assess how you carry yourself.
Every aspect of how you appear is pieced together forming a picture or an interpretation of your image. It is this interpretation that will determine whether they will listen to you or not.
Being capable and hardworking in the current economic environment is simply not enough but you need to stand above the rest. It may be a career advancement opportunity that you are looking for, a promotion or to impress clients or somebody important to you, remember that with a good personal image you cab project positive first impressions to whoever you meet and wherever you go.
Your conversation skills can be more important to your success int your professional life than your grades in school. Your image, as being good in conversation helps you to achieve success. Good conversation promotes liking because people enjoy being around people who can carry on interesting conversations. Good conversation creates an attractive image of wittiness, intelligence and self confidence. You can learn a few tricks on how to do this by watching and listening to Oprah Winfrey. She is one woman who i respect so much who has the tact to converse with ease and insight. if you are able to carry on a good conversation, this makes people think of you as having more intelligence, wit and self confidence than those who cannot do so.
Nothing is more important than a healthy sense of self-esteem and loving yourself for the following reasons:
- Life becomes simpler and lighter when you love yourself more. You will not beat yourself up or drag yourself down over mistakes or temporary setbacks.
- You will have more inner stability and self-sabotage less. When or oponion of yourself goes up, you will stor trying to get so much to get so much validation and attention from other people. You become less needy and find an inner stability even when.
- The increasing self-esteem and self-love also makes you feel more deserving of good things in life and go will go after what you really want with more motivation then ever before.
- You will be happier, you will have more fun and develop a competitive image which will present better opportunities for you professionally and socially.
As you start working on your personal total image, it is your homework to identify what it is that does not personally give you that competitive advantage. Identify the key areas that make you comfortable and do research on how you can work through these areas and when you do that:
"When others are standing, you shall be outstanding"
Economic Developments and Impact on Financial Planning
Zimbabwe is going through an economic transformation arising out of the political developments of 14 November 2017 which saw the change of leadership in the Government. The new administration has set goals to achieve economic stability through:-
• aggressive international re-engagement
• addressing the fiscal deficit as advised by the IMF
• re-building public and investor confidence as a short-term priority target
• amnesty on foreign currency repatriation issued to both individuals and corporates who had externalised foreign currency.
The country’s economy is facing structural challenges from high informality, weak domestic demand, high public debt, weak investor confidence and a challenging political environment. The liquidity crisis in the country is a manifestation of structural deficiencies and distortion in the economy. Inflation keeps rising and loss of value is rampant. This turbulent environment makes financial planning difficult.
Implications for financial planning
Financial planning entails the wise management of your current finances and assets to enable you to achieve your future personal goals and dreams whilst at the same time negotiating the financial barriers that inevitably arise in every stage of your life. Your financial plan should cover the following:-
• Risk Insurance policies - these policies are for risk management purposes for the protection your investments, property and your life. The parallel currency exchange rate gives rise to mismatch between your “transfer replacement value” and your insured amount such that you may not be adequately covered at the time of a loss. It is therefore important to quarterly review your risk insurance policies to ensure that you are adequately covered.
• Estate planning- this entails the use of both testamentary and inter-vivos trusts, wills, as well as other durable powers of attorney for estate planning. Rising inflation erodes value in your cash legacies and return on investments in both your inter-vivos and testamentary trusts. To counter the effects of rising inflation, you must ensure that your investment strategy yields a return that is higher than inflation and ensures that all the cash legacies are regularly adjusted for inflation.
• Retirement planning- this assists you in evaluating your options and important elements of your future retirement including cash flow available for the provision of the required income needs. Pension and retirement policies are also affected by rising inflation. For pre-retirement, ensure that your investment returns are higher than inflation whilst for post-retirement you must cater for longevity.
• Investment planning- entails analysing your current investment holdings and identifying opportunities to cater for a well-diversified portfolio that aligns with your risk tolerance at any given time for investment portfolio improvements and updates. In addition to your Retirement investment portfolio, you should have a personal investment portfolio to support your retirement portfolio. This personal investment portfolio must be well balanced and actively managed depending on your stage in life and risk profile. Always ensure that a return above inflation is achieved. A well-diversified portfolio which includes local and offshore investments is recommended. Offshore investments offers currency hedging and protects you against sovereign risk.
• Tax planning- which takes into account tax planning decisions with strategies designed to minimise your tax liabilities and maximise your cash flow. It is recommended that when changing employment, you should not encash your pension contributions, but rather preserve or transfer to a new pension fund to avoid being punitively taxed. It is recommended to defer pension cash payments until you retire as the law exempts all senior citizens from taxation. You are also encouraged to make additional voluntary contributions if the total pension contributions to the pension fund is below the tax-deductible limit. Contributions to a personal pension plans is also recommended as these are tax deductible.
• To wrap up, you must ensure that you meet with your financial planner on a regular basis to review and make the necessary adjustments to make your financial goals achievable. In the short-medium term, the stability of the Zimbabwean economy is very much linked to the outcome and acceptability of the forthcoming harmonised elections to be held on the 30th July 2018. If the elections are credible and acceptable to the International Committee, more FDI will be expected to flow in resulting in a more stable and growing economy. Such an economy makes financial planning easier.