Old Mutual Kenya unveils countrywide financial education campaign

Financial services firm Old Mutual Kenya recently embarked on a countrywide campaign targeted at empowering Kenyans of all cadres to better invest and secure their future.

The need for increased financial education continues to drive local financial and insurance institutions to design strategies aimed at persuading Kenyans to better invest and save their earnings.

The initiative, which will take the form of road shows and conference engagements in various regions in the country, will see the firm’s financial advisors train community members on calculated investing while demystifying myths around insurance.

Rueben Java, CEO, Old Mutual Kenya shared that financial education is critical for Kenyans as it will equip them to understand their finances and better manage them.

The campaign comes against the backdrop of a recent study dubbed “Old Mutual Savings and Investor Monitor (SIM)” conducted in 2013 that revealed information gaps around Kenyans financial attitudes and behaviors.

SIM highlighted that 24% of Kenyans are extremely confident in making good savings and investment decisions, 11% are not confident while the rest- 65%- are averagely content with their investment choices.

 “These insights into savings and investment aim to empower ordinary Kenyans to take control of their own financial futures.  This is a demonstration of Old Mutual’s commitment to helping people do great things with whatever / income they have, and guide them to make decisions that will protect and benefit them and their families,” Java added. 

The report also revealed that 39% of Kenyans seek to own a business as a key financial goal while 32% are keen on owning property; 7% shared that they are focused on completing their education, within five years from the date of research.

Meanwhile, only 12% of Kenyans across major cities in the country are very satisfied with their financial readiness for retirement while 34% claim to not be satisfied with retirement planning; of those that do have a retirement fund, 28% claim that they are aware of the value of their savings, while 72% are not aware.

Charity Wainaina, Head of Marketing, Old Mutual Kenya underscored that the initiative will serve to educate Kenyans on how to best manage their personal and family finance; a key area that continue to plague Kenyans who are continually developing an appetite for fruitful investments.

“Financial education and insurance is a sensitive area of focus and a lot needs to be done in supporting Kenyans on making tactful and beneficial financial decisions, while industry players work to increase insurance penetration in the country.” Charity added.

According to a report released by the Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI) in September, the overall insurance penetration among Kenyans is still low, although it increased to 3.44% in 2013 compared to 3.16% in 2012.

The report further revealed that the insurance industry made a pre-tax profit of Ksh. 18 billion in 2013 up from Ksh. 15 billion in 2012, as insurers stepped up efforts to increase penetration of their products and services among Kenyans.

Finally, the campaign will complement the ongoing Old Mutual Kenya’s Questions campaign that saw the firm engage social issues champion and queen of comedy Anne Kansiime, among other Kenyan celebrities, to get Kenyans to open up on inquiries regarding insurance and stir conversations on financial planning; through a creative approach.