Antonio Lorenzo, Scottish Widows’ chief executive, has said that passion for advisers propelled the company to win Company of the Year.
This passion has seen it roll out a raft of changes.
In the individual pension adviser business, Scottish Widows has launched a centralised retirement proposition, simplified its charging structure and removed the drawdown charge for new business.
In its workplace business, the company has invested an additional £30m in its Driving Pensions Value Programme for workplace pension customers – building on the digital transformation.
Mr Lorenzo said: “Our coverage and customer-facing teams, have worked extremely hard to ensure that the service we provide to our advisers, employers and customers matches and exceeds their expectations.
“Receiving Company of the Year is recognition of the effort these teams have put in over the past few years and I am extremely proud of them.”
For the Retirement Account, it has increased its first call resolution to 88 per cent. This means staff do not have to hand off adviser queries between departments, resulting in less time on hold.
In the customer delivery area, staff continue to work on projects to make continuous improvements, removing waste processes and barriers to trade.
For personal pension customers, Scottish Widows removed early exit fees across personal pension policies.
This enabled customers to switch to alternative products or providers, or to exercise pension freedoms, free of charge.
All exit charges were removed before the charge cap deadline of 31 March.
In 2018 the company will significantly invest in its retirement account drawdown proposition for advisers, coupled with investment solutions for clients in retirement.
In the protection business, Scottish Widows will also roll out more bespoke service solutions, focusing on individual business models rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
Ways to success:
- Scottish Widows has entered into an agreement with Zurich to acquire its UK workplace pensions and savings business.
- Launched centralised retirement proposition, simplified charging structure, and removed drawdown charge for new business.
- Invested additional £30m in Driving Pensions Value Programme.
- Introduced a new digital hub for employers.
- Removed early exit fees across personal pension policies.
