Since the inception of Benecaid, we’ve strived to fill a void in the small to medium-sized Canadian health benefits market. In 2018, our innovative and ground-breaking products and technology were recognized more than ever. As we look back on the year, we thought we would recap the top news that has had the greatest impact on our business. Here are the biggest Benecaid headlines of 2018 and a sneak peek into what 2019 has in store for our advisors.

We became an APRIL company

In the month of April, Benecaid was acquired by the APRIL Group, an international insurance services group and leading wholesale broker headquartered in France with operations across Europe and Canada. This has opened doors to reach an even wider, national audience, and the opportunity to take some of our products onto the international stage. To support this growth, we’ve also grown our team with talented new additions and exciting new roles for some of our dedicated employees. In October, to support an even greater presence in Quebec, we appointed a new senior manager of sales to help us develop and grow our group benefits solutions in that market.

We now also offer our advisors access to new and exciting products. In addition to health and dental plans through Benecaid, we can offer access to property and casualty products through APRIL Canada Insurance and APRIL Marine who are already operating nationally throughout Canada.

Honeybee gains even more momentum

Our digital employee benefits platform, Honeybee, has garnered so much national and international attention that we’ve also grown our product, development and marketing teams. We’ve been working hard to bring even more exciting products to the platform and helping our customers make a smooth transition to personalized, digital benefits for their employees.

It’s been an exciting year for Honeybee. While new entrants and “disruptors” battle incumbents for media attention, we are quietly winning in the trenches, with our advisors using Honeybee to fight back against direct sales! Honeybee is quickly emerging as the go-to platform for progressive small group employers, whether they have three, 30 or over 300 employees. The solution is simple and elegant, solves real-world problems for employers and employees, and offers all of the products and coverages you would normally insist on for your clients, but in a digital, personalized way.

What’s to come in 2019

Next year won’t just be more of the same. We have big plans for feature expansion across all our products, as well as some big Honeybee releases that will further establish us as the leader in our space. Our revolutionary ASO product Flexstyle continues to experience growth, with top retention and sustainability results in the market today. The hard work we do to actively manage costs while maintaining stellar service makes all the difference, and we will continue those efforts as a core value proposition.

Look for more products within Honeybee, dynamic plan designs, and new ways for your clients to experience the power of our digital platform. Plus, a much larger community of Honeybee companies are being onboarded, which will help us make the platform even better. We already have a large cohort of new Honeybee companies set to join in the first two months of the year, some of which are making a lot of noise in their respective industries. So look for some big client announcements in 2019.

We are ending the year strong and looking forward to charging into the new year with the continued support of our advisors and kind recommendations of customers who have entrusted us to play such an important role in their companies, and in the lives of their employees.

As always, if you have any questions about our products and services, or would like any more information, feel free to contact your Executive Benefits Consultant or email us at advisors@benecaid.com. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from all of us at Benecaid.