Customers

Providing excellent service is critical to retaining our customers through tough and uncertain economic times.

We provide over 12 million customers internationally with longterm saving products, asset management, banking and shortterm insurance products and services.

If we are to manage their financial requirements well, we must understand their needs and provide them with accurate advice, the most suitable products and good service. This means working with all our customers - personal and business in a way that is open, honest and respectful. At a time when the wider financial sector is under close scrutiny, this is more important than ever.

We continue striving to deliver high levels of customer service. All our businesses have clearly communicated processes enabling customers to give feedback on the services we provide, so that we can respond to any problems promptly and effectively.

In 2009, key elements of good customer service included:

Making sure our customers were uptodate with developments within our business and across the sector;
Providing financial advice at a time when customers were most likely to need it;
Consolidating our products to offer our customers a clearer and more efficient service.

In 2010 we will continue refining our products and businesses as we try to give our customers value for money and transparency, while offering the financial protection, advice and support that they need.

So how did we address these core customer issues in 2009?

Providing regular communication

We need to make sure our customers understand how we have responded to the challenges that the market situation has posed and how they are affected by what has happened. In 2009 we held about 25% more meetings with the companies that invest in us, compared with 2008. We expect a similar level of interaction in 2010. Across the Group, we made sure our customers were kept uptodate with emerging issues and latest developments. In most of our business units we have reviewed our customer communication strategies and expanded our activities to include additional emails, enewsletters, seminars, blogs, meetings, videos, Q&A sessions and letters from CEOs. These tools have enabled us to explain to our customers how our businesses have been affected by the financial crisis, specific portfolio developments, market changes and performance across the year.

Providing financial advice and assistance to our customers

Old Mutual has a long history of providing financial tools, training and advice to corporate and individual customers to help increase financial literacy levels, improve financial management and help our customers to understand our products and see how to benefit from using them. Providing this support across the Group was more important than ever in 2009.

Our customer service centres provide appropriate advice across all our business units. When relevant, we provide free seminars to help advisers prepare for changes in the regulatory environment. In many of our businesses we provide additional support and free management seminars for our small business customers. In 2009, for example, Skandia UK launched a new online financial planning tool enabling advisers to demonstrate how to maximise taxefficient withdrawals from collective investments and investment bonds.

Improving product offering and service

In 2009 we reviewed the products and services we offer across many of our business units to ensure that what we offer our customers is simple and efficient, and creates wealth over the longterm.

This process is never complete, but we made progress during the year and it will continue across the Group in 2010.

Skandia Investment Group has undertaken a project which involves reviewing Skandia Investment Management Limited's (SIML) fund range in the UK. The bulk of the project has been completed, with the merging of seven funds and closing of 15 funds and share classes, to produce a clear and cohesive fund range. Within this project, Skandia UK and Skandia International have also taken measures to simplify and reduce the number of inhouse life and pension funds. As a result, the number of UK funds has been reduced by one third of its original size. This means that the business is focused on delivering performance by managing more money through fewer funds creating a more streamlined approach. By bringing together existing funds, we are in a greater position to deliver more value for customers; managing fewer funds with larger assets enables economies of scale that can be passed on to clients. We have cut some annual management charges by about 25% which, together with the adoption of a more flexible investment approach, has been very positive for our clients.

Preventing financial crime

Reducing the Group's vulnerability to financial crime is a central component of our risk programme. It is an area on which we continue to focus our attention, having set up a dedicated team at Group level in 2007. The team focuses on important risk and regulatory areas such as money laundering, bribery and corruption, whistleblowing and sanctions compliance across the Group.

During 2009 we worked closely with all our businesses to maintain vigilance in this area.We emphasised the importance of engaging seniormanagement across the Group with our financial crime specialists to fully understand the risks and responsibilities associated with financial crime. The Group's Audit and Risk Committee also received annual updates on the state of our financial crime controls.

Our Group Information Security Working Group, consisting of representatives from across the business units, met four times in 2009 to share security best practice and identify common areas in need of specific focus. Additional networks are also in place between Group businesses that share particular crime issues, such as Nedbank and Skandiabanken. At Nedbank we are exploring various biometric solutions for preventing identity theft and deterring bank robberies. Learnings from this will be shared where relevant across the Group.

Recognition for our service to our customers

Across the Group we work hard to provide choice and flexibility to our customers, whose needs change over time. We continue to develop innovative, value for money and transparent savings and investment products. In 2009, our reputation for good customer service and the strong relationships we have with our customers earned us a number of awards, including:

Old Mutual South Africa won the 'Best South African Customer Service Centre' award at the African Stars Awards and the 'Longterm Insurance Industry Service Excellence' award from the Ask Afrika Orange Index;
In Norway, Skandiabanken was ranked by EPSI Rating (Extended Performance Satisfaction Index) as the best customer service provider across all industries;
Skandia International won 'Best Commitment to Service' at the International Investment Fund and Product Awards;
Skandia:BSAM won the 'Best Customer Service' award from the China Information Associate and China Service Trade Associate.