Unum 2010 Annual Report Download - page 11

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9
A New Policy Dynamic
Expands Opportunities
to Serve
How are economic and political changes impacting the
benefits market in the U.K.?
People in the U.K. have never had enough protection to start
with. Now, with an unprecedented budget deficit to tackle, the
government is cutting back on public spending, including welfare
benefits for disabled people. This means that individuals will
need to take more personal responsibility for their financial
futures, especially given longer life spans and extended periods
in work.
Despite the acute need for a backup plan, around 90 percent
of private-sector workers in the U.K. – nearly 16 million – do not
have income protection insurance. The reasons for this are many
and varied. A key factor is that employers often cover just senior
and executive leadership and not the whole workforce.
How will Unum respond to this new market opportunity?
We can’t expect many companies to spend more on benefits
right now. So finding ways to help an employer better balance
their benefits and increase their perceived value will be a key
focus for us.
We recently introduced Unum Select, which brings exible
funding and plan structures to market. It will enable employers
to extend their financial protection benefits to their whole staff.
So what will be your focus over the next year?
We have a fantastic opportunity to expand the market, and our
leadership gives us a tremendous advantage. But to succeed,
we need to systematically break down the barriers that have
inhibited growth in coverage. Our strategy will be to:
• Educate employees and employers about the need for
financial protection and the risks they face if they don’t
have adequate protection in place;
• Create exible products and funding options to meet the
needs of employers and employees across their entire
workforce;
• Be the best at what we do, delivering real value to our
customers and making a positive difference.
Financial protection shouldn’t be a benefit only for executives
earning high salaries. We want Unum to be widely known as
the company that brought financial protection to all the working
people in the U.K.
Q
A: Jack McGarry
President and Chief Executive Officer
Unum UK
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