AFM member news
AFM member news
This month’s newsletter includes a range of stories from members, with news on PG Mutual’s sponsorship of table tennis’ National Championships, loyalty bonus paid to credit unions by CUNA Mutual, a new partnership by Benenden with the Lawn Tennis Association, and a new guide from Paycare on developing employee benefits.
PG Mutual to sponsor table tennis National Championships
PG Mutual, the specialist income protection provider, has been unveiled as title sponsor of the 2016 table tennis National Championships.
The St Albans-based company has invested in the event, which will be called the PG Mutual National Championships.
The latter stages of the event from March 18-20 will be televised live on ITV4, giving both the sport and PG Mutual national exposure.
Mike Perry, CEO of PG Mutual and an enthusiastic table tennis player, said: “We were looking for a sport which fits in with our ethos as a business.
“Our support for the National Championships shows what you can achieve through sport. From a recreational sport which you might pick up on holiday, with hard work, dedication and the right support, you can achieve and compete at the top level.
“We are very much dedicated to families and work hard to give them the right support when they need it, so it’s a very good fit for us.
“We see this as the beginning of a fruitful relationship with Table Tennis England.”
Sara Sutcliffe, Chief Executive of Table Tennis England, said: “We are delighted to welcome PG Mutual to the table tennis family and thank them for their commitment to and investment in our sport.
“With the England Leopards currently performing heroics at the World Championships and the PG Mutual National Championships to be televised live on ITV4, this is an exciting time for our sport.
“We very much look forward to working with PG Mutual in the months and years ahead.
“I would also like to thank our commercial partners at Female Sports Group for their hard work in securing not only TV coverage but also bringing a title sponsor to the table.”
Fraser Houlder, Female Sports Group Director, said: “We are proud to be working with Table Tennis England as their commercial partners as Sara and her team continue to grow the sport and raise its profile.
“Having secured ITV to broadcast the championships we are now delighted to have brought on board a title sponsor. Table Tennis is a family sport and has a huge participation and fanbase and in our discussions with PG Mutual we have found a company who can share this passion with supporting families. They see that table tennis is a sport on the up and they want to be a part of this.
“We see this as the start of a long-term partnership between PG Mutual and Table Tennis England.”
Loyalty bonus from CUNA Mutual
AFM member CUNA Mutual is once more paying a loyalty bonus to credit unions in the Guaranteed ABCUL Pool for Loan Protection and Life Savings insurance.
For the second year in a row, CUNA Mutual– the global credit union insurance provider – will pay a rebate equal to a full month’s premium for January 2016 to ABCUL member credit unions who offer Loan Protection and Life Savings insurance as part of the CUNA Mutual ABCUL Pool.
This second rebate means that credit unions in the ABCUL Pool will have shared a combined loyalty bonus worth almost £500,000 over the last 13 months. It will be paid to all participating ABCUL Pool Credit Unions at the beginning of March 2016.
The loyalty bonus is equivalent to an average rebate of 68% on credit unions’ ABCUL membership dues, and for a number of credit unions, the rebate is actually greater than the amount they pay for their annual ABCUL dues.
In other words, for many credit unions, the cost of ABCUL membership is almost covered by this exclusive member benefit alone – and in some cases, it’s more than covered.
Three years ago, ABCUL and CUNA Mutual worked on re-designing the Loan Protection and Life Savings programmes with three objectives in mind:
- To guarantee that ABCUL-member credit unions, regardless of size or situation, would be able to obtain affordable Loan Protection and Life Savings protection.
- Increase the simplicity of rates and benefits.
- Provide credit unions greater peace of mind by increasing the stability of premiums, ensuring they remain affordable over the long term.
When the Pool was launched, every ABCUL member credit union at that time was given the option of joining the Pool. For those that chose not to, it made commercial sense to remain individually rated.
By creating the Guaranteed Pool, ABCUL enables credit unions to benefit from spreading the risk and avoiding peaks and troughs of claims performance at an individual level. This creates stability of rates, and means all participants benefit from this pooling of resources.
The new programme has exceeded expectations on these objectives and – because it is offered by a mutual provider – the Pool’s good performance has seen these substantial loyalty rebates being paid to ABCUL-member credit unions.
ABCUL Chief Executive Mark Lyonette said: “We’re proud to work with CUNA Mutual to help credit unions affordably offer Loan Protection and Life Savings Insurance, and to give the peace of mind they provide to hundreds of thousands of credit union members and their families. Our credit unions are differentiating themselves by helping thousands of families each year deal with the financial burden associated with bereavement.
“The success of the ABCUL Pool – including this very substantial loyalty rebate – is testament to the benefits of co-operation, and this unique programme delivers exceptional, real value to our member credit unions.”
CUNA Mutual Europe Chief Executive Paul Walsh (pictured) said: “I’d like to express our thanks to all at ABCUL; to Mark, his team and the Board for working with us in making this a stronger and more sustainable protection programme that’s open to ABCUL credit unions, regardless of size.
“By creating a strong and robust pool of credit unions for Life Savings and Loan Protection by leveraging the scale of the combined ABCUL credit union group, CUNA Mutual have been able to provide all our credit unions with a fair, inclusive and sustainable benefits programme. This is strength through co-operation in practice.”
Loan Protection Insurance covers credit unions when a member dies with a loan outstanding, which means the debt dies with the debtor and the estate is not pursued.
Life Savings Insurance means that credit unions that offer this benefit pay a single lump sum to a member’s nominated beneficiary upon death, which is based on the value of the member’s shares (or savings) in the credit union, and can assist family members with additional funds to support end of life expenses at the very time they need some comfort, support and assistance.
149 ABCUL member credit unions are in the Pool and have these policies with CUNA Mutual to provide significant benefit and comfort to their members, and all those credit unions are eligible to benefit from the loyalty bonus.
Benenden launches new partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association
Benenden has joined up with Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to run a series of Benenden Tennis Festivals across the country this year – with the aim to promote health, fitness and inspire more people to play in their local clubs and to change public perceptions about tennis.
Research launched on 3rd March by Benenden ahead of Team GB’s match in the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas has revealed that over one in five (20.4%) parents would like to play more tennis with their family and nearly 1 in 5 (15.6%) believe that there are more British role models in tennis than any other sport.
With sunnier, lighter days fast approaching you’d expect families to lace up their trainers and get out on to the tennis court, but perception barriers to taking part in tennis were also revealed in the survey with 20% of people thinking that tennis is an elitist sport and nearly a quarter (24%) believing tennis is too expensive to play.
The research also found that 88% of people agree that more needs to be done to make tennis more accessible, with data from the LTA stating that 70% agree that it is a great way to keep healthy. Benenden and the LTA have come together to positively address this issue by running a series of Benenden Tennis Festivals across the country this year, with special packs available free to GB tennis clubs containing everything they need to organise a festival with the aim of getting more people playing tennis more often.
Greg Rusedski, former British number one tennis player, said: “It’s interesting that the public still believes tennis is too expensive to take part in. It’s an oddly popular misconception when all you actually need is a racquet, ball, a friend, and public court which can be free to use. The Benenden Tennis Festivals organised by the LTA are designed to inspire more people to play tennis via clubs across the UK and to hopefully change the public perception that tennis is too elitist.”
Lawrence Christensen, Group Marketing Director at Benenden, said: “Promoting good health and wellbeing is at the heart of Benenden’s values and with 70% recognising tennis could be a great way to keep fit, the Benenden Tennis Festivals are a great solution to a perception that tennis isn’t as accessible as it could be. British success in tennis professionally is on the rise and we want to help the LTA to get more people playing tennis more often.”
Benenden and the LTA are hosting Benenden Tennis Festivals throughout the year right across the UK to coincide with key seasons in the tennis calendar. Over 380 tennis clubs signed up for the first festivals coinciding with this weekend’s Davis Cup by BNP Paribas match with the second series of sign-up for the grass court season beginning on 7th March.
Paycare helps employers retain key assets with guide launch
The ‘How to Develop and Implement an Effective Employee Benefit Strategy’ guide provides a series of top tips on motivating, rewarding, and retaining staff, and we’ve made it available for you on our homepage www.paycare.org.
Retaining good employees is absolutely critical in ensuring the long term health and success of any business. Our company warns that Accutane from the https://summitps.org/accutane-isotretinoin/ requires strict medical control. The patient should take a general and biochemical blood test and go to the doctor to assess his general condition and laboratory data at least once a month. With absence costing UK industry an estimated £30billion a year and the recruitment of a new member of staff costing over £30,000, it’s more vital than ever before that employers do all they can to energise and engage their existing teams.
With job satisfaction and workplace happiness becoming increasingly more important to individuals than monetary rewards, employers are having to find alternative ways to ensure that their teams feel valued and motivated, and that in turn their overall wellbeing and productivity are enhanced. We are passionate about bringing real benefit and added value to companies across the UK, and are hugely excited to have launched a dedicated guide which outlines a variety of ways in which businesses can guarantee a happy and high-performing workforce!
The guide covers:
- Mental and Emotional Health
- Physical Health and Fitness
- Stress: The Number One Cause of Absenteeism
- Prevention and Early Intervention
- Employee Benefits vs. Costs of Absenteeism
- Employee Engagement and Involvement at Board Level
- Reviewing Your Benefits Strategy