Owned 100% by Foyer Group – the largest private financial group in Luxembourg since 1922 and whose shareholder structure is based on the descendants of the families that created it – WEALINS, with over 25 years of experience, is a company that is aimed to provide “tailor-made” solutions of life insurance and capitalization on 10 European markets.
Letícia Soares, Country Manager in Portugal at WEALINS, confessed to us that the key element for the success of the company is – first and foremost – belonging to Foyer Group, since it contributes with a strong solidity, trust and credibility in terms of the relationship with the client and the market itself. But not only that. The commitment in the market that is assumed and guaranteed is, without a doubt, its DNA based on five corporate values: trust, integrity, independence, excellence and innovation.
WEALINS develops tailor-made solutions to meet the needs and expectations of each client. It is essentially governed by a BtoBtoC approach (Business to Business to Client) in the markets where we are active, and its strategy is not to seek direct clients. “We work to provide or develop solutions to our partners,” explains our interviewee.
An example of this is the portability of the insurance contract, considering the global world in which we live, taking advantage of the possible structuring “of the way the client wants to invest, where his children reside or where the beneficiaries live. We are able to advise the client when he changes residence, for example, according to the legislation of each country” she adds, assuming that, “people are already more informed, although Portugal has a mature market for this type of insurance. It’s a market where people are increasingly used to being offered this type of solution”, the company’s national representative says.
WEALINS offers a service of excellence that differentiates the company from the (seriously) competitive market. Being a flexible company and belonging to a solid Group like Foyer, “we are far above what the regulator demands: we are talking about a Group with a solvency ratio – according to today’s directive – of more than 200% ”, she says.
NEW TIMES, NEW PIPES
It was important to understand how a Group of such size – and operating in 10 different countries, with different markets – reacted to the reality that today is defined and called Covid-19. For our interviewee, “maintaining quality service to our partners and their clients was our number one priority”, in response to the pandemic that was rapidly spreading worldwide. Within a few weeks Foyer Group put their 800 employees on telework. Being a family business, the primary concern and desideratum was to safeguard the entire body of resources of the company, i.e. our employees and collaborators and this rapid initiative was extremely important and fundamental”, explains our interviewee.
In the case of Letícia Soares, since she works in Luxembourg, she quickly returned to Portugal until she got through the most complex phase of the crisis. Thus, new measures had to be put into practice, without ever neglecting the commitment that defines them as a prestigious team. “We have always been available, we have tried to ensure that the excellence and level of service we offer to our clients and partners would not be altered, in fact, this problem has never arisen, because we have the true notion of what it is to support our partners and clients”.
Looking back at this not too distant past, our interlocutor takes pride in the spirit and joint effort that was created and fostered, opening doors to a curious growth in a difficult period. “At WEALINS the demand for life insurance has increased. This happened because the whole company made a point of being present by any means: phone, e-mail or videoconference, using any available means to reach those who needed us and our services. This is the kind of business where our partners and their clients need to know that there’s always someone available,” stresses Letícia Soares.
“FROM ADVERSITIES ARISE OPPORTUNITIES”
We are talking about a company that works in freedom to provide services, – with an european passport, the insurance company can have activity and distribute insurance in other countries of the European Union always with physical presence. This means that “even being a company based in Luxembourg – and even in a time of lockdown, the company never stopped giving an answer, or a feedback to any existing question”, guarantees Leticia Soares who describes the important role of the back office in the whole process. “The company readjusted itself and all this environment ended up helping us to affirm and focus on our mission, and we all managed to understand it. It was something that made us grow”.
Despite the work of our interviewee, who usually went through travel – and less office – there were tools that were not fully developed and that started to be, since “from adversities arise opportunities”, she explains, highlighting the fact that the Group has made innovation one of its strategic axes and aims to become a “technological company specializing in the provision of top quality insurance services that meet the expectations of its clients”. “The world is digital and we have to learn to live with it, because we have to make use of the added value that this new format brings us”, she assures, remembering that currently, they bet on a new and technologically advanced system “that will create efficiency in the work structure”.
The digital solutions were already being planned for the technological era ahead and, in the future, the goal is to find the right balance between digitalization and human relations to meet the needs and expectations of our partners and their clients, since “trust and physical presence are still essential in building long-term relationships and especially in this type of business”, says our interlocutor.
HOW WILL THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY AND ITS TRENDS CHANGE IN THE CURRENT ENVIRONMENT?
Simple question, but one that may have a complex answer. We asked Letícia Soares about this scenario and she started by explaining that “although Foyer Group is the leader in the local insurance market in Luxembourg, we, at WEALINS, basically work with life insurance for wealth management, wealth transmission and protection. So I think that, increasingly, and this being a personal view, I believe that what can be changed, and speaking of Portugal, is the mentality, the way we face our mortality”.In this way, our interviewee believes that life insurance, as well as the transmission of wealth, have become more conscious issues in global society, and the coronavirus has awakened a sense of its importance. “Especially in the transmission of wealth, where people have begun to worry about safeguarding their heirs in the future”, she assumes, adding that “we work with insurance linked to investment funds, but I think it has helped to think more about tomorrow and the future”. Making a deeper analysis of the market, Letícia Soares admits that all countries lived the pandemic in a different way, not least because there was no survival manual before this unknown reality.
EYES ON THE FUTURE
For Foyer Group and consequently for WEALINS, what will be most important, first of all, is to understand what the pandemic has changed in the market, to verify the impact caused and to act according to the conclusion observed. “For now our purpose is to make sure that if a second wave comes, we will be even better prepared so that the client does not feel a difficulty in the proximity and relationship with the company,” says Letícia Soares, who adds that “the fact that the market and the economy change, also ends up affecting the way we think and act, so we will understand what will impact in the near future, so that we can develop and offer the best solution”.
With a new CEO, WEALINS will keep the same strategy and the same commitments. The company operates in ten markets, and the main objective – at the moment – is, before looking for new markets, to consolidate those that already exist, and the primary purpose is always the same: “to be always present for our partners and their clients, giving them a concrete and efficient response”, concludes the Country Manager in Portugal of WEALINS, Letícia Soares. ▪