In the insurance sector under the Freedom to Provide Services (FoS) regime, innovation has always been crucial. The very creation of FoS in life insurance illustrates this innovation “It all started with lawmakers who transformed this opportunity into a wealth insurance business whose expertise and know-how are now recognized internationally. Insurance companies began developing specialized products and new markets emerged across Europe and beyond. At Wealins, we are currently operating in ten countries,”says Luc Rasschaert, CEO of Wealins. Innovation goes beyond products and also focuses on Wealth Planning solutions. The digitalization of the offer has significantly improved efficiency for both distributors (brokers, family offices, private banks,...) and Wealins.
“We’ve seen a tsunami of regulations putting pressure on the margins of both distributors and insurance companies. Thanks to digital solutions, intermediaries can now significantly reduce the time spent on administrative tasks, while clients can modify their contracts directly from their smartphones.” Whether due to economic realities, regulatory inflation, or ever more specific client needs, innovation has never been more necessary. “Companies within our sector that fail to innovate risk to eventually disappear in the face of competition. Without innovation, catching up on service offerings and process optimization is incredibly difficult,” notes Marcelo Mailos, Innovation and Project Manager.
We rely on collaboration between the different stakeholders of the ecosystem to stay one step ahead
Anticipating Partners & Clients Expectations
Naturally, Wealins has placed partners and clients expectations at the heart of its innovation and digital transformation strategy. “There are two ways to address these needs: either by relying on the feedback provided by intermediaries or by anticipating them and monitoring technological market trends. In a constantly evolving environment, we rely on collaboration between the different stakeholders of the ecosystem to stay one step ahead,” explains Marcelo Mailos.
The company, leveraging the expertise and knowledge of FOYER GROUP to which it belongs, has a long-standing habit of collaborating with other industry players. It participates in workshops and events on innovation and artificial intelligence. “We work hand in hand with AI-driven startups to implement new solutions. We maintain close relationships with our brokers to assess their needs and develop APIs that enhance efficiency and the user experience.”
A Collaborative Approach
Data management and AI are also essential for improving the customer experience and internal operations. However, AI cannot function effectively with unstructured data. “We migrated our ten data processing systems to a single Software as a Service (SaaS) model. At the time, it was a bold decision that gave us a competitive edge by enabling structured data extraction for our partners and regulators. Investing in this infrastructure has allowed us to build the necessary foundation to integrate AI. We are currently collaborating with a start-up (Legalfly) which is helping us to develop use cases aimed at improving our legal efficiency,” says Luc Rasschaert.
At the same time, the company has actively involved its employees in its ongoing innovation strategy. Two years ago, Wealins invited its staff to identify organizational processes that could be improved. “Both management and a group of volunteers independently established their priorities, and they aligned perfectly. We then asked them to draft proposals, which ultimately led to meaningful changes within the company.” This process led to the creation of the innovation unit, designed to facilitate and promote innovation. Marcelo Mailos joined this unit a few months ago.
“We are implementing initiatives that will become new skills, ways of working, services, and even markets. Innovation is an everyday endeavor, and we aim to stay ahead to remain competitive.” Automation, simplification, digitalization, and AI are the key drivers of this innovation—both internally and for partners and clients.
Our culture of innovation enables us to offer high value-added services to our partners and their clients
Attracting the Talent of Tomorrow
Wealins intends to capitalize on innovation and its Luxembourgish identity to attract future talent. “What convinced me was this imperative to innovate. We are constantly questioning the status quo. What makes this exciting is that we see the future evolving, and everything is possible. We strive to improve our performance day after day, and we have full support from management to do so,” says Marcelo Mailos. For Luc Rasschaert, this approach explains the company’s strong performance in 2024. “Our culture of innovation enables us to offer high value-added services to our partners and their clients.”
3 questions to Benoit Van Lerberghe
Chief Innovation & Transformation Officer
How is AI transforming the Wealth Insurance sector?
The adoption of AI and automation is enabling the Wealth Insurance sector to enhance the user experience, optimise risk management and improve our operational efficiency.
How do you integrate AI into your day-to-day business?
On a day-to-day basis, we integrate AI to optimise the management of operations, and we are also looking to develop solutions in the fields of compliance (KYC), complex investments and legal to optimize our processes
What role does human expertise still play?
AI is not intended to replace human expertise, but to complement it. Our teams are therefore involved in defining and implementing new solutions. The value chain is also being rethought to enable our teams to focus on their business expertise and on supporting our partners and their clients.
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