What We Do

Retirement Fund Consulting Services

CITO Benefits is well placed to provide consulting services for the Bilfinger due to our independent position. We can provide the following consulting services to the Bilfinger:

Strategic Review And Benefit Design
The consultant helps plan the strategic direction of the employee benefits arrangements upfront and each year to ensure the benefits encourage productivity, loyalty and engaged employees, whilst protecting future financial security. Data analysis and industry insights are used where possible to ensure that the decisions that are made, are appropriate for your employees.
Advice
The fund consultant is qualified and up to date on their continued professional development. The fund consultant provides you with accredited advice on benefit structuring, contribution rates, risk benefits, investments, communication and legislative changes.
Investments
General investment advice is provided in the context of the retirement fund. If the retirement fund has appointed a specialist asset consultant, the fund consultant will liaise with the asset consultant to provide services to the fund.
Operational Effectiveness
The consultant ensures operational effectiveness and smooth running of your fund. This includes setting up meetings, providing secretarial services like preparing agenda packs and taking of minutes
Training
The fund consultant provides training to the employer and its human resources staff. The consultant provides a monthly newsletter that includes legal updates on topical issues.
Member Communication
The fund consultant prepares written communication material in addition to that which is provided by the fund itself. Member presentations at induction for new employees will be included as well as an annual presentation to existing members.
Legal
The fund consultant will review the fund’s special rules and arrange for drafting and amendments by the fund administrator.

BENEFIT DESIGN USING DATA ANALYTICS-
We believe it’s critically important to know whether your members are on track to receive adequate income in their retirement. It’s not good enough to only benchmark your retirement fund against others in your industry, you need to ensure that your members are able to reach a comfortable retirement income. The goal is to ensure better outcomes for retirees. Our team will help you use your fund’s data in our SmartGuide to make decisions on your retirement fund’s benefits and contributions.

We use the data analysis to assist you in determining the benefits strategy. The strategy can then be tailored to the specific issues that your members are experiencing.

The data analysis will help you better understand the effect of the costs of factors such as the cost of existing benefits and contribution rates on the income that members can expect when they retire. This data analysis and our industry insights are used to ensure that the decisions you make are appropriate for your membership.

We will use our SmartGuide to help you design and measure the most appropriate benefit structure to meet the needs of your members. We will help you understand legislative issues that affect your fund and ensure that your benefit structure complies with legal requirements.

COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INFORMED BY DATA ANALYSIS-
The consultants use the data analysis from the SmartGuide to assist the you with setting your retirement fund communication strategy. The message being communicated can then be tailored to the specific issues that the members are experiencing.

It’s not enough for you to know the overall status about whether your members will receive enough income in retirement. Members need to know what income they are likely to receive in retirement. Members should be reminded to use the projection statements and calculators that are available to consider all the retirement savings they have, and what the effect of additional savings would be on the expected income in retirement.

THE CONSULTANT WORKS WITH THE FINANCIAL PLANNER-
The fund consultant will work closely with a financial planner to ensure that consistent message is provided to members. The financial planner can assist with induction presentations for new members, financial wellbeing presentation for members, exit presentations if there are retrenchments or members leaving the fund, pre-retirement presentations for members and on-site consultations.

The financial planner can assist members who don’t have a financial planner with reviewing their savings and insurance benefits. This can include short- and long-term savings, and investment information. Assistance with short term insurance is also available. The financial planner can help members that need to draft or review their wills. They can also help with setting up of trusts.

Healthcare Consulting Services

We work in partnership with our clients to enhance and maintain the wellbeing and health of employees to optimise productivity. We help you to:

Design your healthcare strategy
Evaluate it regularly
Select and manage providers
Communicate the benefits to your employees.

We consult across the broad spectrum of healthcare products and services including medical schemes, primary care solutions, gap cover, employee assistance programmes, wellness programmes and international cover solutions.

Financial Planning Services

Strategic Review And Benefit Design
The NMG fund consultant uses the data analysis from our SmartGuide to guide you in a strategic review of your risk benefit arrangements which includes but not limited to Life ,Death Disability and Critical illness benefits. By using the SmartGuide, the consultant will be able to identify issues that apply to your members.
Market Testing
A market testing exercise will be done at least every three years as part of this review. The market testing exercise involves approaching accredited insurers who provide group benefits to compare the premium rates, medical free cover limits and terms and conditions of your group risk policies and ensure that your employees have being covered on the most appropriate policy.
Liaison With The Insurer
We liaise with the insurer of your risk benefit arrangements to manage the medical underwriting and claims processes for Client.

Member Services

Traditional healthcare service models have a limited interaction with employees leading to low engagement levels and many employees not enjoying the benefit of a trusted healthcare advisor.

We have a proactive approach to member services and focus on employees and look to identify benefit usage and plan selection at an individual level.

Communication
We aim to maximise the engagement with employees to ensure that they know who we are and what we do. The key to engagement is effective communication. SmartConnect is a first-to-market communication strategy that provides our healthcare consulting team with the necessary communication tools to reach members effectively. This market-first solution ensures that we reach your employees directly. Employees get access to CITO educational tools with no data costs.
The communication channels include:
- Email
- Post
- SmartCall contact centre
- Onsite presence
- Walk in to CITO’s offices
- SmartView SMS service
- SmartScreen technology
- Internet and intranet technology
SmartCall Contact Centre
Your employees and their dependants will have access to SmartCall, at no extra cost, to assist with unresolved queries, problems with account payments, confirmation of benefits and administration procedures, clarification of annual changes to benefits, changes to membership status and disputes with medical schemes, administrators or service suppliers.
Plan Selection Assistance
NMG’s healthcare consultants have developed an Intelligent Plan Selection Tool to identify members that are on plans that do not fit their usage data. NMG uses this information to proactively contact individuals who should possibly consider changing plan options at the end of each calendar year

Administration Review Services

CITO Consult powered by is well placed to provide an independent review of administration services for Clients. We can are committed in finding you the best administrator to assist with the following services:

Ability to submit Claims must be submitted electronically
Member Records
Members have their own investment account (priced daily). Assets and liabilities are matched.Section 37D deductions (divorce, maintenance and home loan deductions) are held on the member record.
Integrated Accounting Systems
Accounting functionality is built into the system. The accounting record is updated in real time with the system record. Monthly management accounts are used. Assets and liabilities are matched.
Workflow Enabled Administrators
They have different security access and the manager has control and can review processes. The administrator is led through every process by the system.
Electronic Interface
Electronic Interface with banks and SARS Bank statements can be uploaded. Cash book entries are reconciled electronically. Tax directive applications are done online.
Web Portal And Smartphone App For Members
Access to own record. Update nomination of beneficiary forms. Fund-specific communication can be made available to members on the web portal or smartphone app
Communication Material Access
annual benefit statements and all relevant certificates. A contact centre with the relevant official language capability . Relevant and up to date communication strategy for members
Legal Services Prepare The Fund Rules And Amendments
Liaise with the regulator and SARS for the approval of the fund rules and amendments in terms of the Pension Funds Act and Income Tax Act. Assist in obtaining legal opinions on matters relating to the fund on request of the board. Draft responses relating to complaints of an administrative nature and submit any responses to complaints lodged against the fund on behalf of the board. Submit documents to the Authorities as requested by the fund. Regular legal updates are provided to clients. NMG can assist in ensuring that the fund complies with the legal requirements. Draft Section 14 documentation and arrange for submission to the regulator.