The conference for financial planners, held on March 11 by the Go Practicum community, was a major event in the finance and insurance world in Israel. The conference aimed to expose participants to the radical effects of increased life expectancy on the labor market and the worlds of insurance and investments, and to hold a discussion on the role of the financial planner in the era of extended life expectancy.
The lectures and discussions at the conference started from the assumption that retirement from the labor market is the starting point for a new and fulfilling economic life, not the end point. Therefore, a broad conceptual change is required, including regulatory, economic, and organizational reforms, adapted to the new reality of life where people live more years.
The conference was organized by Moshe Laron and Yossi Belisha, founders and managers of the Go Practicum community, a community of about 150 retirement and financial planners leading the retirement planning industry in Israel, with an understanding that retirement planning is a necessary process for every worker in Israel. The Go Practicum community works to promote the local retirement planning industry, incorporating professional elements and advanced technological tools. The content management of the conference was conducted by the Fintech for Longevity Academy, led by Dr. Ira Sobel and her team, who deal with the readiness of international and local organizations for the demographic trend of aging. The conference included a variety of lectures, panels, and interviews with experts from various fields including healthcare, capital markets, actuarial science, accounting, insurance, and long-term care.
The conference opened with a lecture by Dr. Ira Sobel, who introduced the evolving concept of "The Longevity Economy". The guiding principle of the Longevity Economy is to emphasize the contribution of older adults to the economy and labor market, aspiring to change the prevailing paradigm that presents aging as a risk and the elderly as a burden. The Longevity Economy seeks to create an innovative worldview that sees extended life expectancy not only as an opportunity for growth for the individual and his family but also as great potential for society and the economy as a whole. Dr. Sobel's lecture discussed global demographic trends and their impact on changes in the labor market, pension systems, healthcare systems, along with changes in the consumption patterns of seniors in different places around the world. At the end of the lecture, Dr. Sobel discussed whether the longevity economy, which holds the potential for healthier lives over time, is expected to balance the burden created on economic systems such as pensions and national insurance. The ideas presented in the lecture accompanied the discussions throughout the conference.
Among the prominent speakers at the conference was Professor Tzvi Laron, the 2009 Israel Prize winner for medicine and the oldest doctor in Israel. Professor Laron, born in 1927, is a globally renowned researcher and one of the founders of pediatric endocrinology in Israel. Laron contributed a medical perspective to the conference, mentioning current research dealing with the relationship between the growth hormone and life expectancy.
As someone who has researched the growth hormone in various contexts throughout his life and even discovered a rare form of dwarfism named after him ("Laron Syndrome"), Professor Laron shared with the participants recent studies that have succeeded in proving the correlation between different levels of the growth hormone and life expectancy, and a lower likelihood of diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
An interesting additional lecture presented the billions of dollars flowing into research and development in various research centers around the world in an attempt to find a cure for the phenomenon of aging. Gil Arazi, founder and CEO of the investment fund FinTLV, spoke about the revolutionary impact expected from the increasing life expectancy on the global insurance industry. In his lecture, Arazi introduced the field of InsureTech (insurance technologies), relevant to health and longevity, and the prominent companies operating in the field. For example, a company named Altos Health, backed by none other than Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, was presented. Bezos has set himself the goal of curing diseases by rehabilitating the health and resilience of cells through a technique of cellular regeneration.
Arazi's lecture emphasized that companies dealing with various aspects of life expectancy are redefining the business models of insurance companies, and therefore, insurance companies and financial regulators alike are required to prepare for this in advance.
Later in the day, we heard from Rivi Beller, founder and CEO of SKEELZ, a startup working to promote employment in the third age, maximizing the potential of the human capital of this population group. Emphasizing the skills they have accumulated over their years of activity in the labor market, Beller presented how SKEELZ harnesses artificial intelligence technology to change the face of employment for elderly men and women in Israel. In her lecture, Beller presented several examples of successful placements of older workers in various organizations, placements that were made using SKEELZ's unique technology. These examples create great optimism in the context of older employment in the new world of work that requires workers to have a set of updated skills and abilities.
Alongside the world of employment, the panel on "The Economic Life of Older Adults" allowed a glimpse into the economic challenges and opportunities related to older adults in Israel. The multidisciplinary panel included Ilanit Adesman, Head of Insurance and Fintech at KPMG Israel, Keren Etkin, a global expert on aging technologies and author of the bestseller "The AgeTech Revolution", Kobi Kalman, CEO of Harel 60+, and Rachel Ledany, CEO of the Association for Family Caregivers. Ilanit Adesman emphasized the implications of the introduction of the international standard IFRS 17 into the insurance world in contexts relevant to the conference, and Etkin brought examples from the world of technologies that promote optimal aging. Kalman from Harel spoke about the importance of reverse mortgages as a means of improving the economic resilience of older adults in israel, and Ledany shared with the participants the standard "Family Caregiver-Friendly Organization" that her association founded and she leads.
Later in the day, Dr. Ira Sobel spoke about the changing role of the financial planner in the era of longevity. Dr. Sobel presented the global trends in the field and the need for financial planning that reflects the new reality alongside technological developments that enable the prediction of health events in later life. Against this background, an attempt was made to distinguish between "financial planning" and "longevity planning" and to learn about the possibilities inherent in expanding the occupation of the financial planner also to additional areas such as employment in the third age, nutrition, sports, and health, in combination with experts from various fields.
Alongside the limitations and the need to respect privacy regarding the sharing of health data, the importance of integrating health data in long-term financial planning was presented. This, with the aim of achieving a higher level of accuracy in characterizing the savings and risk needs of the individual.
Towards the end of the day, Harel Videman, CEO of FNZ Israel, presented the company's wealth management platform. From a holistic financial management perspective, Videman offered an innovative approach where FNZ's unique technology serves as a platform for long-term financial planning, and he presented how retirement planners can leverage this technology for optimal financial planning. Indeed, one of the survey responses passed at the conference raised the need and demand for new digital tools that would improve the interaction of planners with their clients.
The conference concluded with an open discussion on the role of financial planners and retirement planners in the era of longevity. Participants were invited to present their personal views on the topics raised at the conference. Some raised the need for government funding for retirement planning and financial planning through bodies such as national insurance, and some proposed re-examining the one-time contracting model with clients and converting it to a subscription-based model: such a model could allow for ongoing assessment of the financial needs of the client over many years, while identifying changes in their economic, health, and family situation and updating the financial plan accordingly. The discussion on the importance of mandatory health savings and the call for retirement management and planning from a young age emphasized the recognition of the changes required in financial and pension planning as we know them today.
Participants called for greater cooperation between financial planners and experts in related fields, the development of new financial products, and the adaptation of public policy to the changing reality. In addition, the opportunity that opens up for financial planners, retirement planners, and their peers to expand the range of services they offer was discussed, taking into account a variety of economic and insurance solutions that can support the older population. Financial planning from a young age and the transition to a subscription-based financial planning model represent a paradigm shift in the field, which may lead to optimal results in coping with the challenges of longevity and aging.
In conclusion, the conference emphasized the need for innovative thinking aimed at developing creative and advanced solutions to the challenges of aging. It is important to continue discussing these topics, to deepen the research, and to promote a policy that can support a society coping with the consequences of aging, while ensuring the well-being of the individual and society as a whole.