Cash Conversion benefit Qorus Innovation in Insurance Awards 2023

The Cash Conversion benefit enables clients to receive an additional up to 100% of their life cover in retirement in tax-free cash instalments yearly from age 65. As a population, South Africans are uninsured with a population insurance gap of over 50% as well as poor savings rates and for retirement funding with little state support. Further to this, accelerating advancements in medical technology and an increased focus on health and wellness unlocked through Shared-value engagement has resulted in Discovery Life policyholders are living longer, exacerbating the longevity risks associated with retirement. Recognising this need, the Cash Conversion benefit pays out up 100% of the life fund’s value in ten tax-free cash instalments yearly from age 65. Crucially, this does not reduce their protection benefits which remain fully intact. This benefit allows clients to monetise their health and wellness management, supplement their retirement savings and achieve a highly efficient return on the premiums that they pay for this benefit. Clients can maximise their pay-outs by managing their health and wellness, which results in a boosted total Life Fund through Annual Benefit Increase adjustments. Importantly, this product is a risk cover product that provides clients with their protection needs while additionally supplementing retirement income. The Cash Conversion benefit is funded through risk management where the rate of return is not reliant on the investment market but provides returns to the client with no market risk. The product is not reliant on the performance of the market, but rather on the client’s behaviour, offering increased stability and sustainability in retirement when needed most. Projections of return on premiums range from 4.5% to 12.7% in excess of consumer price inflation, with clients who are more engaged in their health and wellness receiving greater returns, recognising their health and wellness asset developed prior to retirement. In a market where affordability results in insufficient risk protection and retirement funding, Cash Conversion enables the purchase of a product that meets the client’s need for protection while concurrently benefiting from supplemented cash in retirement, ensuring client’s utility and perception of the product is improved.