Must do better, says CEO

Darfoor feels Alexander Forbes should be providing solutions for all life stages and be as reliable as a Swiss watch

It is less than 300 days since Andrew Darfoor took over as CEO of Alexander Forbes. He says the group is not yet where he wants it to be.

“I would like us to be seen as reliable as a Swiss watch, giving precisely what our customers expect every day,” says Darfoor.

But, he says, the team has started to deliver. It has generated enough cash in the year to March to declare a 23c special dividend, on top of the 23c final. The trading margin increased for the first time in three years, by 0.5% to 27.2%.

The big disappointment, he says, is in the revenue line, up just 1.2% at R3.43bn. Darfoor says it is no good blaming the economy, as Forbes is a self-help business.

It has 1.4m members and it has barely touched the surface. Just 80,000 have been converted into retail clients.

“We have focused on three or four touch points in our clients’ lives, principally just before retirement. We should be providing solutions for all life stages.”

A key to the strategy is the “Back to the Boardroom” approach. The primary relationship has tended to be with fund trustees, but these are often not helpful except for narrow pension fund concerns. When it comes to accessing employees for retail products, company directors and management are more useful.

Forbes will make a concerted effort to move its standalone pension clients into its umbrella fund (it is merging its three funds into one). Darfoor says the margin in the umbrella fund is double that on the standalone fund.

“But, more importantly, we have closer access to the members and can offer solutions more easily.”

Investment Solutions was recently renamed Alexander Forbes Investments and it will drive the development of outcomes-based solutions