Employee benefits veteran pushes button on Beneficia consultancy

A Scottish-based veteran of the employee benefits industry is looking to shake-up the sector after pushing the button on a new consultancy.

Alan Fergusson  want to look on things differently. Picture: Contributed

Alan Fergusson was most recently employee benefits director at Mattioli Woods, following its acquisition of Aberdeen-based Kudos Financial Services in 2011. Having left that position earlier this year, he plans to tap into a fast-changing marketplace with the launch this week of his consultancy business, Beneficia.

Fergusson – a 20-year industry veteran – said the new venture would challenge the traditional broker/provider relationship by taking its expertise in-house to employers who often have little or no internal resource dealing with benefits and reward.

“Even if a team does exist, we can enhance and assist,” he added. “Beneficia will provide true consultancy to employers, without the alliances and established norms that exist in a market which can prevent information flowing.”

Beneficia, which plans to expand its services across the UK, will work on projects including benefits tendering, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) harmonisation, flexible benefits, benefits technology, health and wellbeing, workplace savings, and engagement and communication.

Fergusson, who will be the consultancy’s managing director, added: “We want to look on things differently, see it through a different lens.

“The market doesn’t encourage transparency and that’s exactly what we feel it should. What ends up happening is that employers don’t get as full a picture as they should get of the tools that can engage their employees in the very benefits they are paying for.”

“Major changes are taking place in delivery of employee benefits in general. Relationships need maximised, and spend needs optimised.

“So much is talked about engagement, motivation and wellbeing, but what is delivered is a fraction of what could be done with the tools that are already available.

“We want to get in the middle of these relationships, look at them from the inside and decide with our clients what we can structure to benefit their employees.”