EXCLUSIVE: Insurance and reinsurance organisation Aspen has launched an online financial education programme for its 700 UK employees.
Its financial education programme, which is provided by Nudge. launched on 20 April 2018, ahead of Aspen’s annual flexible benefits selection window in May. It was launched via an email campaign and through promotions by the organisation’s reward team.
The new programme is part of a wider strategic review of Aspen’s reward and benefit offering. This review included a focus on providing better support for employees regarding their financial wellbeing, and also looked at the organisation’s pension scheme and sharesave scheme.
The programme allows employees to access a personalised online platform, with content to help manage their money and support them in planning their financial goals. The programme also sends employees personalised notifications, or ‘nudges’. These are bite-sized tips relating to financial information specific to the individual. For example: details pertaining to developments in legislation or interest rates, information on lifestyle changes, such as moving homes, or alterations to employee benefits provisions.
Aspen is also introducing a new pension option in May 2018, in time for the next benefits selection window, and as part of its financial wellbeing strategy. Employees will be able to flex their employer pension contributions in order to support personal financial objectives, once they meet a minimum employee contribution. This will allow them to save into other vehicles, such as an individual savings account (ISA) or Aspen’s sharesave scheme, or to pay off existing debt.
Elliot Rees-Davies (pictured), global head of reward at Aspen, said: “As individuals, we all have different lifestyles, priorities, goals and ambitions. Our aim is to offer our people access to the rewards and benefits that are among the best in our industry, and which help every individual make the most of their time with us.
“We undertook a full review of our benefit offering and realised that we could do more to support the financial wellness of our people. We decided to introduce comprehensive financial education support ahead of our annual flex window to help guide our people not only in better managing their money, but also in making benefit selections that fitted their lifestyle and priorities.”