Hymans Robertson launches financial wellbeing service for employers

Hymans Robertson LLP is launching a new financial wellbeing service for employers - Hymans Robertson Personal Wealth (HRPW). HRPW has been working successfully with over 20 large corporates over the past year and is now fully launching for business. It offers employers the ability to give their people a tailored programme of financial wellbeing services including wellbeing workshops, one-to-one guidance consultations, financial coaching and financial planning.

Analysis from HRPW shows that financial wellbeing is people’s biggest wellbeing priority, above social, physical or mental wellbeing, so it’s vital for financial health to play an important part in employee support strategies. Despite this, the research found that only one in ten workers (11%) said that they were offered any financial wellbeing support at work.

Commenting on employers’ approach to wellbeing, Julie Hammerton, Partner and Head of Hymans Robertson Personal Wealth, says:

“Most organisations have made great progress in supporting their people’s physical and mental wellbeing. But when it comes to financial wellbeing the story’s a little bit different. We know from our research that financial wellbeing is people’s number one wellbeing priority - ahead of physical, mental and social wellbeing. Yet only 11% said that they were being offered financial wellbeing support at work.

“From our experience over the past year it’s clear the landscape is shifting. Many more employers are recognising that their people need support, and that they can play a valuable role, particularly with most of us having to take more responsibility for our own lifetime savings.

“Hymans Robertson’s spent the past 100 years helping our clients’ pension scheme members through working with corporates and trustees. Increasingly our clients have been asking us to play a more direct role in how we support their people. The way in which our clients have stepped up to help colleagues at the key moments in their lives feels like a real shift in how organisations are viewing their role in financial wellbeing and the support they can give.

“Employers recognise that worries about money and finances can have a big impact on all other aspects of health, as well as productivity in the workplace. They’re also aware that so many people are hitting the snooze button on planning for retirement, and when the alarm finally goes off it might be too late for many to get back on track. Backing this up, our research found that well over half (58%) of those aged 55 to 70 are worried about their quality of life when they do retire. The situation might be even worse for those in the generation following behind who have less Defined Benefit pension savings and property wealth to fall back on.”

Commenting on why people are more likely to get financial support if it’s offered through their employer, she added:

“Unfortunately, trust in the financial services industry remains consistently low, with recent research from the FCA finding that only 2 in 5 (41%) UK adults trusted the industry*. This will be a barrier for so many people accessing the financial help they need. Most don’t know who to turn to, but they’ll generally put faith in their employer’s ability to source trusted help.”

HRPW offers employers flexible financial wellbeing programmes tailored to the needs of their workforce. These can be targeted at employees through all life stages, from the start of their careers through to retirement.

Commenting on how HRPW works with employers, Julie Hammerton added:

“We work closely with our corporate clients to deliver a programme that meets their organisation’s specific needs and objectives.

“All our services are delivered by qualified and accredited financial experts. Through using technology, we can give meaningful support to people who may never have been able to access it before - but it’s always fronted by a real person. Personal finances are deeply personal. Understandably, most people want to talk things through with someone, and ideally who has the right qualifications and ability to help people find their way through the complexities and jargon that often comes hand-in-hand with finance.”

What Hymans Robertson Personal Wealth offers

HRPW works in partnership with employers to agree a programme of activity that meets their objectives and the needs of their employees. All services are powered behind the scenes by excellent digital support and can be made available either onsite or virtually and will evolve over time to stay relevant and effective.

The key building blocks of HRPW’s financial wellbeing programmes include:

• Financial wellbeing workshops run by highly qualified and accredited coaches. These help employees understand a range of important financial topics through a series of interactive webinars or seminars covering life’s big events and challenges.

• One-to-one guidance sessions: bookable consultations for those who would like more meaningful guidance from financial experts.

• Individual coaching where employees are assigned a dedicated financial coach for a year.

• Financial advice from highly qualified financial planners is also available. 

• Employee access to a financial wellbeing portal, HR MyMoney, is offered as part of the service. This hosts educational content, a variety of tools and calculators and has open banking functionality to give people a real-time, holistic view of their finances.

• Employers are also provided with employee-facing materials to support the programme of activity.

*FCA Financial Lives 2022 survey (published July 2023)