Alexander Forbes Consultants & Actuaries

What Alexander Forbes Consultants & Actuaries does

Alexander Forbes Consultants & Actuaries (AFCA) is a UK-based actuarial and employee benefits consulting firm that traces its origins to 1831 as a Scottish actuarial consulting practice. The firm grew to operate six UK offices with over 300 employees and generated £27.8 million in revenue for the fiscal year ending March 2012. In 2012, AFCA was acquired by Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc (JLT) for £17 million in cash consideration and integrated into JLT's Employee Benefits division, where it contributed approximately 25% of division revenues post-acquisition. The firm historically served UK corporate clients with employee benefits services spanning Health and Wellness, Risk management, Annuity, and Investment consulting, with operations centered in Croydon.

The firm's offerings were associated with a broader digital platform linked to the wider Alexander Forbes Group (publicly listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange under ticker AFP). Platform components included AF Connect (a personal secure customer portal for managing investments, documents, and tracking claims) and a suite of consumer investment products — Living Annuities, Retirement Annuities, Preservation Funds, Tax-Free Savings Accounts, Investment Plans, Global Wealth Builder (international equity exposure), and Crowdvest (collaborative saving). The AF Rewards program aggregated over 400 brand-partner discounts, functioning as a customer loyalty ecosystem layered onto the core financial product set. The UK entity historically operated an enterprise field sales motion for corporate clients alongside the consumer direct-to-consumer digital platform.

The business model combined a digital self-serve distribution channel with hybrid human-adviser support. Revenue streams included fees from investment product distribution (subscription/recurring on retirement products such as Living Annuities and Retirement Annuities), professional services fees from financial advisory work covering retirement, tax, estate planning, and insurance, and affiliate/referral economics from the AF Rewards partner network. Customer segmentation spanned individual retirement investors, general individual investors pursuing wealth growth, and corporate employers requiring employee benefits consulting — structured as a hybrid segmentation approach. Specific pricing was not publicly disclosed, though the platform referenced "low fees" and "FREE quotes" as customer acquisition signals.

Name

Alexander Forbes Consultants & Actuaries

Legal name

Alexander Forbes Consultants & Actuaries Limited

Website

https://alexanderforbes.co.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

1831

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Alexander Forbes Consultants & Actuaries provides actuarial, employee benefits, and financial planning services to UK corporate clients. Acquired by JLT in 2012 for £17 million, the firm had £27.8 million in revenue and 300+ employees across six UK offices at acquisition.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Actuarial and Employee Benefits Consulting

NAICS

Insurance Agencies and Brokerages (52421), Agencies, Brokerages, and Other Insurance Related Activities (5242), Pension Funds (525110), Health and Welfare Funds (52512)

SIC

Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Accident & Health Insurance (6321), Life Insurance (6311)

akta.pro primary industry

Employee Benefits Brokerage & Consulting (FSAEADAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Worksite Critical Illness Insurance (FSAIAMAC), Worksite AD&D Insurance (FSAIAMAE)

Keywords

• Actuarial consulting services
• Employee benefits consulting
• Financial planning services
• Retirement annuity products
• Investment advisory services

Headquarters

HQ city

Croydon

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Investment Products Distribution: Alexforbes generates revenue through distribution of investment products including living annuities, retirement annuities, preservation funds, tax-free savings accounts, and global investing solutions. Customers invest either as lump sums or monthly contributions.
2. Financial Advisory Services: The company provides financial advice services covering retirement planning, tax and estate planning, insurance, and investment guidance, generating revenue through advisory fees.
3. AF Rewards Program: Discount and savings program offering over 400 deals from branded partners, potentially generating referral or affiliate revenue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Alexander Forbes Consultants & Actuaries provided actuarial, employee benefits, and financial planning consulting services to UK corporate clients. The firm specialised in Health and Wellness, Risk, Annuity, and Investment consulting, helping employers design, implement, and manage employee benefit programmes and pension scheme arrangements. The UK entity was acquired by JLT (Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc) in 2012 for £17 million and integrated into JLT's Employee Benefits division.

Product overview

Alexforbes is a South African financial services company offering a comprehensive suite of retirement and investment products. The core offering centers on retirement planning solutions including Living Annuity, Retirement Annuity, and Preservation Fund products for post-retirement income and savings preservation. The platform also provides general investment products such as Global Wealth Builder for international equity exposure, Tax-Free Savings Account, Investment Plan for monthly contributions, and Crowdvest for collaborative investing. A key digital enabler is AF Connect, a personal secure customer portal for managing investments and tracking claims. AF Rewards is an ancillary loyalty program offering discounts across 400+ brand partners. The products are delivered through a digital platform with online application capabilities and financial advisory services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AF Connect: Personal secure client portal for viewing personal details, investments, documents, and claims tracker.
• Global Wealth Builder
• Crowdvest
• AF Rewards

Products and services

• Actuarial Consulting Services Professional actuarial advisory services for UK corporate clients including pension scheme valuations, funding analyses, liability management, and actuarial reporting for trustees and corporate sponsors.
• Health and Wellness Consulting Advisory services to corporate employers on designing, implementing, and managing employee health and wellness programmes as part of their broader benefits offering.
• Risk Management Consulting Group risk consulting covering life, disability, and related insurance benefits for corporate clients seeking to protect their workforce against key-person and income-protection risks.
• Annuity Solutions Consulting Advisory on annuity structures for corporate clients, including bulk annuity arrangements and employee retirement income solutions.
• Investment Consulting Investment advisory for corporate employee benefit schemes, supporting trustees and sponsors with asset allocation, manager selection, and ongoing investment governance.
• Financial Planning Services Financial planning advisory covering retirement planning, tax efficiency, and wealth management strategies for individual clients, delivered in conjunction with consulting engagements.
• Living Annuity Post-retirement investment product giving retirees flexible drawdown access to their retirement savings, with low fees and ongoing income options.
• Retirement Annuity Tax-efficient retirement annuity enabling individuals to accumulate retirement savings through regular or lump-sum contributions with low fees.
• Preservation Fund Low-fee preservation product allowing members to transfer pension or provident fund savings when changing jobs, keeping retirement capital invested.
• Tax-Free Savings Account Tax-advantaged savings account allowing investment growth without tax implications, supporting monthly contributions or lump sums.
• Global Wealth Builder Global equity investment exposure product providing simplified international diversification for investors seeking offshore equity allocation.
• Investment Plan Monthly contribution investment plan supporting goal-based investing and lump-sum investment, allowing customers to build wealth over time.
• Crowdvest Collaborative investing platform enabling multiple contributors to help an individual reach a defined investment goal through pooled contributions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 400 brand discounts and savings available through AF Rewards

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Mercer: Global actuarial and employee benefits consulting firm that succeeded the JLT acquired book following Marsh's acquisition of JLT in 2019; directly comparable employee benefits brokerage, actuarial, health and wellness, and investment consulting capabilities that AFCA contributed to JLT's division.
• Willis Towers Watson: Major actuarial, risk, and employee benefits consultancy; directly competes with AFCA's UK Health, Wellness, Risk, Annuity and Investment consulting practice and serves the same corporate employer segment.

Broad incumbents

• Aon: Global insurance brokerage and risk advisory with a substantial UK Employee Benefits practice serving corporate clients with health, wellness, retirement, and actuarial consulting services comparable to AFCA's offerings.
• Old Mutual Wealth (Quilter): UK wealth management and platform provider with retirement, protection, and advised investment propositions comparable to the retail-focused Alexforbes retirement and investment product set.
• Hargreaves Lansdown: UK's largest direct-to-consumer investment platform; the self-service online model plus wide range of retirement, ISA-style, and global investment wrappers is highly comparable to Alexforbes' AF Connect/online platform approach.
• AJ Bell: UK investment platform serving self-directed and advised customers with SIPP, ISA, and dealing accounts; competes with the online investment platform and retirement product positioning of the Alexforbes range.

Regional players

• Sanlam Investments: Major South African financial services group with retirement, investment, and employee benefits offerings directly comparable to the broader Alexforbes brand in the same domestic market.
• Old Mutual South Africa: Large South African life insurer and investment provider with retirement annuities, living annuities, preservation funds, and corporate employee benefits comparable across the same product set.
• Discovery Group: South African financial services group combining health, life, investments, and rewards ecosystem (Vitality); comparable to Alexforbes' health & wellness benefits plus AF Rewards lifestyle loyalty proposition.

Others

• JLT Group (now Marsh McLennan): Strategic acquirer of AFCA in 2012; its Employee Benefits division was the direct recipient of the AFCA book and provides the natural post-acquisition counterfactual for the consulting and actuarial book of business.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/alexander-forbes

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Alexander Forbes Consultants & Actuaries