We are primarily focussed on the creation and management of wealth assets for our clients. The operation was initially focused on the planning aspects of life assurance (estate planning, retirement planning and buy and sell business assurance) and this was purely as a result of the legal backgrounds of our two founding members Gerrit Bezuidenhout and Craig Shillaw. However they quickly came to rea
lise that there was a need to shift the focus away from life assurance and on to more innovative and cost efficient solutions in order to offer true value to our client base. Thus the focus was shifted to dealing more directly with companies that could provide investment strategies that matched the needs of the clients. Strategic alliances have been created with asset management companies that are financially secure and that offer prudent investments. Plan for Life will only use local product providers who are listed with the Financial Services Board and that manage at least R20 billion in assets. These companies must also be diversely managed and not have a single owner. This way we are ensuring that assets are not misappropriated. Mark Flanagan joined Plan for Life in 2003 and is now a strategic part of the planning structure. Currently we have offices in Pretoria, Stellenbosch, George and a head office in Durban and manage over R 1.1 billion worth of client’s assets and are able to negotiate competitive rates due to our size. We have however not lost focus on the need for life assurance and we have dedicated advisors and administration staff to provide the most appropriate solution to any of our clients in need of life cover whether this be for business assurance, contingent liability cover or simply family protection. As a truly diverse financial services provider we are also able to offer advice on short term insurance (protection of assets), medical aid cover, pension fund administration and retirement planning. We are quick to admit that no single person in our business knows everything and thus we have employed persons who have expertise in each area. Thus when a solution is provided to a client there has been input from a number of personnel. Plan for Life currently employs 30 people throughout the country. We are a licensed financial services provider and are registered with the FSB (license no 17092) and carry indemnity cover with Santam.
