“For us, it is always rooted in our purpose.” | Monitoring retirement planning with benefits and pensions
Eric Monteiro explains Sun Life’s core mission
Sun Life’s primary mission is to help clients achieve their lifelong financial goals. Eric Monteiro, senior vice president of Group Retirement Services, boils down to three key elements of his team’s strategy: engagement, ease of planning, and personalized advice.
In an interview with BPM, Monteiro explained that Sun Life prioritizes engagement by leveraging digital tools to provide timely nudges to clients. These reminders prompt clients to take important actions such as maximizing employer contributions and updating beneficiaries.
“For us, it’s always rooted in our purpose, which is to help our clients achieve lifelong financial security and live healthier lives,” he tells BPM .
According to Monteiro, the first element is engagement, and once that is complete, the second element is simplification of the planning process. Mr. Monteiro proudly highlighted the company’s flagship tool, One Sun Financial Plan, which helps increase client trust and commitment. This increases your retirement account balance and improves your financial security.
Monteiro points out: In fact, they make higher contributions and have higher balances. When we look at so-called retirement readiness, which we measure at the plan level and at the member level, we actually tend to be more prepared for retirement as well. ”
Providing personalized advice forms the third key element of Sun Life’s GRS strategy. Through the 360 Plan Advice service, clients receive customized advice from licensed financial services consultants at no additional cost. Monteiro told BPM that the service is designed to meet a wide range of needs, from simple coaching for junior employees to comprehensive advice for employees nearing retirement.
“Our 360 Plan Advice provides personalized, in-depth consultation that adapts to each client’s unique circumstances,” he added.
All of these concepts are tied together by one essential element: innovation. Monteiro highlights three key strategies to stay ahead in terms of innovative products and services. First, we listen to plan members and sponsors through regular surveys and client partnership councils where clients provide feedback.
“I personally read through the comments of planning members based on the survey. It is extremely important to understand what the client is thinking and what they need,” he says at BPM I will tell you.
Second, Sun Life monitors global trends, particularly markets such as Australia, the UK and the US, and learns from evolving approaches. Finally, they adopt an agile, test-and-learn mindset. Monteiro is also proud of the AI-based One Sun Financial Plan, which provides personalized strategies and recommendations, as a key innovation.
“We are deploying in an agile manner, knowing that not every attempt will be successful, but each attempt teaches us something valuable,” he said. Masu.
At Sun Life, we take retirement planning seriously. Although an often neglected area of overall benefit planning, Mr. Monteiro is passionate about helping clients achieve their wealth goals through consistent contributions. And, as he told BPM, features such as employer matching, auto-enrolment, and auto-escalation play a key role at this stage.
“We aim to involve our members at every stage of their financial journey and provide them with the tools and advice they need, when they need it,” Monteiro explains.
Monteiro is quick to remind us that retirement planning isn’t just about saving for retirement, it’s about understanding how to spend those savings once you retire.
“Flexibility and choice are key when it comes to decumulation,” he adds. “Retirement is different for everyone. Some people may choose to travel or buy a vacation home, while others may choose to be conservative, spend less and stay closer to home. Whatever it is, I think people We want people to be able to confidently plan for the retirement they want, when they want it.”
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