From the CEO's Desk
Welcome to our final newsletter for the year. As the year comes to an end, it presents the perfect opportunity to reflect and reassess our plan and check if we have indeed made life better for our customers and stakeholders. In the spirit of celebrating our achievements, I would like to dedicate this communication to the outstanding efforts of the entire team which has resulted in our businesses being recognized on a few fronts.
Firstly, a hearty congratulations to the Grand Re team who have broken new ground. The business has been upgraded by 5 notches from BB+ to AA. This is an amazing feat and is testimony of all their hard work and efforts they have put in throughout the year. Well done to Tatenda and the Grand Re team!
Winning is in the Zimnat DNA! Zimnat Life Assurance also got an upgrade in their GCR rating from A- to A, with a stable outlook. Things are moving forward and up at Zimnat.
Earlier on in the year Zimnat General also an upgrade in their GCR rating from A- to A+. This is also an impressive move of two notches from their previous rating. As Zimnat our drive is to keep growing and making life better!
Congratulations also go out to the Zimnat General Insurance team for winning the Customer Service Excellence award for short term insurance. This is the second year running they have won this award. Congrats to Stanley and Patricia and the Customer Service and Zimnat General team for continuing to provide exceptional service. We are expecting even bigger accolades in future.
My final congratulations go to the Marketing team for representing the brand well and winning 8 awards at the Marketing Excellence Awards. The awards are as follows:
- Top Marketer of the Year Award: Angela Mpala
- First Runner-Up for the Marketing Oriented CEO of the Year Award: Mustafa Sachak
- First Runner-Up for the Brand Manager of the Year Award: Shingirai Mazambani
- The Best Outdoor Media: Zimnat for its Borrowdale Car Crash Billboard, where rocks appear to be tumbling out of a container onto a real car beneath the billboard.
- First Runner-Up for the Best Print Advert of the Year: Zimnat’s Gadziriro/ Lungiselelo Press advert.
- First Runner-Up for the Best Customer Engagement and Experience of the Year Award.
- Second Runner-Up for the Best Social Media and Digital Campaign of the Year
- Second Runner-Up for the Best TV Advert of the Year.
It is exciting to see that we are now breeding a culture of excellence at Zimnat. In all that we do we want to be the best. As we go into the New Year and grow our businesses 10X, I can only see us dominating our respective markets and indeed “Making life better”.
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Customer Services Week
By Patience Mutsvanga
The first week of October every year marks the international world’s commemoration of the Customer Service (CS) Week.
The Customer Services Week is a campaign which is devoted to recognising the importance of customer service and honouring those who serve and support customers with the highest degree of care and professionalism.
The Zimnat Group, together with all the other organisations in Zimbabwe and abroad, commemorated Customer Service Week from the 7th -11th of October 2019 under the theme, ‘” Magic of Service”.
The theme recognized that good service is magical. It can turn an unhappy customer into a satisfied long-term customer.
This year’s celebrations were centred on harvesting referrals from colleagues and walk in clients and creating lasting memories in customer's minds.
The official opening was done at Zimnat Head Office as Luigi, the Zimnat Mascot and the customer service team welcomed staff members and customers as they came in.
It was magical for staff members and they found it too good to believe such that they felt they had to introduce themselves to the team and clarify that they worked for Zimnat and were part of the team.
Different branches unveiled the magic in different ways as they were creating magical memories for their customers calling out clients whose birthdays fell during the week and extending some giveaways to them, serving refreshments to customers, and taking pictures.
Some branches had the privilege of hosting the Zimnat Executive team during this week.
It was a fun filled week and below are some of the highlights.
Highlights of the CS week;
The Magic of Service pool tournament
Clive Tahwa (GB) the Zimnat Group’s 2019 Magic of Service pool tournament Ultimate Champion.
Thabani Sithole (GI) scooped the first runner up award of the Zimnat Group’s 2019 Magic of Service pool tournament.
To seal it off, Andrew Matandana (GI) walked away with the Zimnat Group’s 2019 Magic of Service pool tournament second runner up title.
Sports jersey day
Ronaldo Tahanira had the coolest jersey
Zimnat scoops eight Exceptional Marketing awards
Zimnat, a leading player in the insurance and wealth management industry for more than seven decades, won eight awards for marketing excellence at the 2019 Marketers’ Association of Zimbabwe Exceptional Marketing Awards ceremony in Bulawayo on Saturday.
The awards ceremony is held annually in recognition and celebration of excellence for organisations and individuals who have pushed their brands and led successful marketing campaigns during the year.
Zimnat was nominated for 15 of the award categories. It won awards in eight categories.
Its Group Marketing Executive, Angela Mpala, won the Top Marketer of the Year Award, while its Group Chief Executive Officer, Mustafa Sachak, was First Runner-Up for the Marketing Oriented CEO of the Year Award.
Zimnat Life Assurance Marketing Manager Shingirai Mazambani was First Runner-Up for the Brand Manager of the Year Award.
The Best Outdoor Media Prize went to Zimnat for its Borrowdale Car Crash Billboard, where rocks appear to be tumbling out of a container onto a real car beneath the billboard.
First Runner-Up for the Best Print Advert of the Year was Zimnat’s Gadziriro/ Lungiselelo Press advert.
Zimnat was also First Runner-Up for the Best Customer Engagement and Experience of the Year Award.
It was Second Runner-Up for the Best Social Media and Digital Campaign of the Year and for the Best TV Advert of the Year.
Speaking soon after the awards ceremony, Ms Mpala said her team was thrilled and felt honoured to receive such recognition from the industry.
“It is indeed fulfilling to see that our efforts are being noticed and that the brand is growing and becoming more visible in the market,” she said.
“We also want to truly thank our customers for their support and inspiration, without which we would not have achieved this.
“We can promise that there is much more to expect in the future and there will be still more interaction with the brand. Our purpose is to make life better for all and we will maintain this focus,” she said.
At the same awards last year, Zimnat received five awards for excellence and work done in 2018.
The Zimnat Group has four main business units, namely general insurance, life assurance, asset management and microfinance.
The group is driven by a determination to make life better. It is associated with the Sanlam Group, the largest non-banking financial institution on the continent.
A Guide to Financial Nourishment
‘It is not about how much money you make, how much money you keep but how hard it works for you, and how many generations you keep it for.’-Robert Kiyosaki much money you keep,]
Financial wellness is the ability to manage short-term finances while also saving for long term goals. Signs of financial wellness may include among others:
- Being able to pay monthly mortgage
- Affording to maintain a good standard
- Confident in ability to afford health-care related payments
Financial objectives are rarely achieved without foregoing or sacrificing current consumption (spending on goods and services). This restraint is accomplished by putting money into savings for use in achieving future goals. By saving, you are much more likely to have funds available for future consumption. Effective financial management separates the haves from the have-nots. The haves are those people who learn to live on less than they earn and are the savers and investors of the society. The have-nots are the spenders who live from pay-check to pay-check, usually with high consumer debt.
This article seeks to address concerns with saving and investment planning, one of the key pillars in financial planning. Discussed will be the fundamentals of establishing goals and objectives, investment portfolio and investment portfolio attributes. The objectives may include safety and security of the funds invested (principal amount), profitability (through interest, dividend and capital appreciation) and liquidity (convertibility into cash as and when required). These objectives are universal in character as every investor will like to have a fair balance of these three financial
objectives. Determining your objectives means that you must have a good understanding of your short-term, medium-term and long-term investment objectives. This is where a risk analysis must be completed in order to see your willingness or ability to take risk. You should consider one important thing and that is your income. It is important to note that your income and your ability to earn income are your biggest assets when it comes to accumulating wealth so protect it by taking out income protection insurance.
Investment Portfolio
An investment portfolio is a set of financial assets owned by an investor that may include bonds, stocks, currencies, cash and cash equivalents, and commodities. Further, it refers to a group of investments that you can use in order to earn a profit while making sure that capital or assets are reserved.
Components of a Portfolio
The assets that are included in a portfolio are called asset classes. The investor or financial advisor needs to make sure that there is a good mix of assets in order that balance is maintained, which helps foster capital growth with limited or controlled risk. A portfolio may contain the following:
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Stocks
Stocks are the most common component of an investment portfolio. They refer to a portion or share of a company. It means that the owner of the stocks is a part owner of the company. The size of the ownership stake depends on the number of shares he owns.
They are a source of income because as a company makes profits, it shares a portion of the profits through dividends to its stockholders. Also, as shares are bought, they can also be sold at a higher price, depending on the performance of the company.
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Bonds
When you buy bonds, you are loaning money to the bond issuer, such as the government, a company, or an agency. A bond comes with a maturity date, which means the date the principal amount used to buy the bond is to be returned with interest. Compared to stocks, bonds don’t pose as much risk, but offer lower potential rewards.
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Alternative Investments
Alternative investments can also be included in an investment portfolio. They may be assets whose value can grow and multiply, such as gold, oil, and real estate. Alternative investments are commonly less widely traded than traditional investments such as stocks and bonds.
INVESTMENT ATTRIBUTES
There are essential attributes of an investment that need to be considered when making an investment decision and these interact with your personal needs, goals and objectives. These attributes include but not limited to:
- Risk
- Liquidity
- Time
- Return
- Inflation
- Interest rates
Risk
Risk is the potential to make a loss from an investment. The risk profile of your portfolio of investments should change depending on your personal attitude towards risk. The more risk-averse you are, the more cash and fixed interest you will want to hold. People who are not risk-averse will be happy to carry more shares, property and perhaps debt in their portfolios as they seek better returns over the long term.
Liquidity
Liquidity is the ability to turn your investment into cash. It is very important during times of financial stress especially with the economic meltdown in Zimbabwe where people are in dire need of liquid cash. This one is also a double-edged sword. What good is an investment if you cannot get your money back out? What if you come across a better investment how fast can you get access to your money in another investment to go with the perceived better investment? On the other hand, the ease of getting access to your money potentially could aid you in making less than optimal investment decisions. Many great investments like many valuable things take time to mature.
Time
The longer you must invest, the more risk you should be able to theoretically be able to tolerate as markets tend to move in cycles. Should you need to realise money within one year, you will have very little tolerance for risk since there is no opportunity for you to wait for your capital to recover in poor market conditions. If you have a long-term strategy, you will be able to ride the ups and downs assuming you’re properly informed of the investment process and cycles. Its recommended not to change your investment strategy purely because of underperformance. You should rather stick to the asset allocation for you risk profile and maintain exposure to the higher risk investment vehicles.
Return
High “rates of return are deceitful sirens that sing but to lure the unwary upon the rocks of loss and remorse,” Arkad, the richest man in Babylon. Investments that promise high rates of return should be considered carefully. Conversely, an investment with a low rate of return should not be scorned. Make sure you consider the investment over a long period of time, say 10 to 20 years. Some investments that look terrible in the first three to five years may be one the best investments out there.
Inflation
The risk of inflation depleting an investment portfolio is a real threat. In a country such as Zimbabwe where inflation keeps plummeting with Zimbabwe's month-on-month inflation rate decreased to 17.70 percent in September 2019, its lowest level since May, from 18.07 percent in August, investments must outperform inflation otherwise the steady erosion of your investment in real terms reduces the buying power over the long-term.
Interest Rates
Investments such as government bonds and money market instruments are very closely linked to interest rate movements. In a lower interest environment, you may find that low risk fixed interest rate investments do not give sufficient income to live on. If interest rates go up, the capital value of a bond will decline, and opposite is true. If you were to speculate as to whether interest rates would go up or down, you could make a fatal error and invest in a long-term investment that is pegged at lower interest rate or suffer a capital loss if he sells it.
You should always make sure to have a personal investment portfolio to support your retirement portfolio. A well-diversified portfolio reduces risks and with the current economic conditions, it is recommended to invest offshore.
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GCR upgrades Zimnat General Insurance rating to A+
Global Credit Rating (GCR) revised Zimnat General Insurance’s national scale financial strength rating to A+(zw) Stable Outlook, from its previous rating of A-(zw).The financial strength rating (formerly claims paying ability) went up two notches.
GCR is the leading emerging market focused ratings agency, rating the full spectrum of security classes based on the best international standards.
It accords both International Scale and National Scale ratings. Together with its international affiliates, it rates almost 3 000 organisations and debt issues spanning four continents.
Explaining the rating upgrade GCR commended Zimnat’s sound business profile and disciplined approach to underwriting and capital management.
This comes after Zimnat has been on employing value preservation strategies, to counter the uncertainties presented by the operating environment.
“The insurer has maintained strong brand recognition and evidenced healthy growth momentum over the review period, with a significant increase in market share in the 2018 financial year, underpinned by comparatively high-risk uptake in key lines of business,” GCR said.
More operational flexibility comes with such a good rating, positioning Zimnat General Insurance as a strong short-term insurer of choice supported by the quest to provide the market with realistic insurance cover products that help clients achieve their set objectives and make their lives better.
Events – Sanlam Cape Town Marathon
By Takudzwa Zuze
Zimnat offered its social media followers an opportunity to win an all-expenses paid trip to Cape Town to participate in the annual Sanlam Marathon.
The marathon took place from September 22 to 23. It is the only Gold status marathon on the African continent.
Every year the marathon attracts over 23 international running clubs, including a world class elite field of athletes and more than 15 000 runners.
As a way of making life better, Zimnat gave away an all-expenses paid trip to three lucky winners – two social media followers and one member of staff – who participated in the marathon.
On arrival the three of them were chauffeur driven from the airport to the Radisson Red hotel situated at the world renowned Waterfront and had welcome dinner at The Yard, where they joined other runners invited by Sanlam across Africa, during which they shared ideas on how best to tackle the marathon the next day.
Here’s a video of the journey and stay in Cape Town for you to enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qreBfLPRzc&feature=youtu.be
After the race they were invited to the Sanlam hospitality tent to unwind and relax over some food and drinks, after which they had enough time to go shopping and sight-seeing of what is arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
“We wouldn’t have made it without you Zimnat. Thank you for such a beautiful experience,” said Lilian whose eyes were filled with tears of joy and excitement.
Zimnat group marketing executive Angela Mpala was also excited about how the event turned out.
“As Zimnat, we continue to make life better in every way that we can,” she said. “Our partnership with Sanlam, the largest non-banking financial institution on the continent, provided us with an opportunity to enable Lilian, Tariro, and Patricia to participate in this top-class marathon, alongside athletes from many other countries.
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Zimnat offers travel insurance
Over the past 400 years insurance has become an intrinsic part of our lives. Whether in a store, driving, sleeping in a hotel, visiting a friend abroad or even walking to work, you or your assets are to some extent covered by insurance.
Travel insurance is one of the things we often forget to arrange in our rush to get ready for a trip, yet accidents and emergencies do happen.
These are never welcome but if they occur when you are away from home they come with an extra level of stress, since obtaining help in a foreign country can prove a challenge and be very frustrating.
If you are travelling anywhere in the world, whether alone or with your family and friends and whether for business, cross border trading or pleasure, Zimnat can at least make sure that an accident or emergency does not become a total disaster.
Zimnat General Insurance offers you and your loved ones cover that will help make your life better in your time of need, with cover ranging from emergency medical expenses and illnesses, including pre-existing conditions such as HIV, to legal assistance, transmission of urgent messages, replacement of travel documents, money or credit cards, injury, flight cancellations and even lost baggage.
Perhaps you or a member of your family falls sick and has to be hospitalised while on holiday, leaving you faced with huge hospital bills, or you are left stranded at a border because your travel documents and money have been stolen.
Situations like these are why travel insurance is a must. When you have travel insurance with trip cancellation benefits, you can obtain reimbursement for prepaid, non-refundable trip costs when you have to cancel your journey for a covered reason.
Covered reasons can include serious illness, injury or death of the insured person, a travel companion or a family member or a natural disaster or other event that renders your destination uninhabitable.
When you are wondering whether paying for travel insurance is worth it, weigh up the small cost of buying insurance against the massive costs of a medical emergency overseas or replacing stolen or lost goods and money.
For business people, whether they are travelling to other continents or to a neighbouring country, perhaps as a cross border trader, Zimnat travel insurance provides cover for travel delays, lost trade samples and cancellation costs.
It even has an optional hospital cash back plan in the event you are hospitalised.
For those travelling as groups, whether on holiday or on an educational trip, Zimnat offers affordable group cover schemes. A group might be made up, for instance, of friends, family members or students.
Insurance can be really affordable. When you request a quotation for travel insurance, Zimnat will present you with multiple coverage options, so you can pick the plan that best suits your trip and budget. The best way to find a low-cost travel insurance plan is to request a quote for your next trip and plan ahead.
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Zimnat launches another innovative billboard campaign
By Shingirai Mazambani
Motorists driving towards Harare’s city centre along Borrowdale Road are likely to be surprised to see just before the racecourse what appears to be boulders falling from a container on a billboard and a car beneath the billboard that appears to have collided with them.
This is our latest innovative billboard advert intended to illustrate how unexpected accidents can occur, the implication being that it is wise to be insured against accidents.
“Whatever life delivers, Zimnat makes it better,” is the message displayed on the billboard. The message here is that whatever life throws at you, Zimnat can make the situation better.
The 3D advert which includes a realistic looking container and a real wrecked car at the foot of the billboard, makes the scene that is portrayed of a car colliding with falling boulders look realistic. This makes the advert dramatic and unique.
The billboard was launched exactly a year after we made headlines with our award winning 2018 billboard campaign, which included a real car embedded in a wall in the city centre.
With this billboard we hope to replicate the success of last year which saw us winning an award for the Best Outdoor Advert of the Year at the Marketer’s Association of Zimbabwe Exceptional Marketing Awards.
We have also revamped all our billboards across the country to communicate our new theme of how we make life better for our customers.
The messaging on the billboards covers all Zimnat business units, which include general insurance, life insurance, asset management and micro finance.
In a dramatic twist of events the billboard made social media headlines immediately after its installation when the wrecked car at the foot of the billboard was vandalised resulting in the wheels being stolen.
A true reflection of what may happen after any accident. However thanks to the Zimnat General motor insurance cover the wheels were replaced in 2 days reiterating our commitment to making life better for our customers in their time of need.
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milkShake
Sanlam hosted a graduation ceremony for the 2019 Cohort of the Sanlam Senior Leadership development program in September. The program attracted leaders from African countries where Sanlam is represented.
Zimbabwe was well represented by a team of 5 (Imagine Acacia) which was made up of senior leaders drawn from the Masawara Insurance group of companies. As part of the training program the country teams were asked to come up with a viable business plan which they were to pitch to Sanlam for buy-in.
Team Imagine Acacia were awarded the best business pitch out of 10 countries further highlighting the great talent within our ranks.
Team Imagine Acacia decided to think outside of the proverbial box and came up with “a milkShake” for all the Zimnat products on one platform.
The project called milkShake is a platform that will allow Zimnat customers to create a mix of the Zimnat products according to their financial capacity and preference.
The business world is gravitating towards financial inclusion, and with the new milkShake Team Imagine Acacia hopes to change the Zimbabwean non-banking financial services sector as we know it.
With the Masawara Group having already acquired a 50% stake into the trademarked brand, Milkshake is the next big thing to happen to insurance in Zimbabwe. Keep looking out for more developments on milkShake!
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