Financial services firm Prudential is launching into the employee benefits market with the introduction of voluntary and flexible benefits products.
The Pru@Work package will offers arrangements of private medical insurance, healthcare cash plans, travel, accident and life coverage, voucher products and tax-friendly computers.
Dave Harris, business to business director at Prudential, said: "Now is a good time [to enter the market] as many large corporates are looking at their [benefits] provision. This ties product provision and communication together in one neat modular package."
The company will roll out flexible benefits to initial clients later this year and will add a voluntary benefits module in 2006.
The Pru@Work online platform was developed by Vebnet and is hosted by IBM. It builds on Prudential's own internal flexible benefits system, You Choose.
Harris dismissed the suggestion that benefits providers were entering the market to use it as a platform to tout thinly veiled financial products. "That's a fairly naÔve view. Basically there's always a commercial agenda and I'd say most HR managers know that."
- For more information contact Derek Mansfield on 07760357387or by email at derek.mansfield@prudential.co.uk.