PREVI management
Relationship with members
PREVI's management dedicates great attention to the quality of the customer service available to all participants of the pension funds under its administration. In its relationship with active participants and their beneficiaries, pensioners, and former participants, PREVI looks for the consolidation of its mission and perspective in favor of the quality of life of its participants, answering to their expectations and becoming a cause of pride to the public it assists.
Approaching the participants
PREVI's effort in its quest of being closer and closer to its participants by improving the quality of its services and widening the participation mechanisms in the management of benefit plans is not recent.
It should pointed out the creation and the work of the Advisory Boards that since 2006 operate in the formulation and proposition of policies and in following up the entity's administration
At present, Plano 1 as well as PREVI Futuro plans count with Advisory Boards composed by three representatives appointed by the participants and three appointed by the sponsor.
PREVI's by-laws states that each plan under its management having 10 thousand or more participants will count with a similar board.
The Code of Ethics and the RSA Policy detail that PREVI's relationship as well as that of its staff with all participants and all the people related to them must be regulated by respect and transparency in order to give correct and timely information, assuring thus the effectiveness and quality of their services.
Among the Specific Principles of the RSA Policy regarding the relationship with participants and their representative entities, besides the responsibility for the payment of the benefits, are included also the following: the dialogue and acknowledgement of the legitimate interests of participants and pensioners; the continuous effort to improve services and operations with the participants; to use any available opportunity to inform and sensitize the participants about aspects related to corporate sustainability; responsible investment and socio-environmental practices in one's private life; to encourage volunteer activities; the periodic divulgation of policies, management practices and results obtained by PREVI.
Number of people enrolled under PREVI's services
At the end of 2009, PREVI figures showed a total of 178,162 participants, among active participants, pensioners and retirees. Those numbers show an increase of a little more than 1% compared to previous year.
Benefits Granted
During 2009, the plans administered by PREVI paid around R$5.9 billion in benefits. More than 99% of that amount referred to payments o n behalf of retirees and pensioners under Plano 1, since that was the first plan set up.
Customer Service
PREVI has several customer and relationship service channels with its participants. Counts with a telephone number reserved to the clarification of doubts, complaints and solicitations; the e-mail section "Fale conosco" and a self service section in its website; a room to receive senior and handicapped citizens; consulting services regarding options for resigning from Banco do Brasil; letters and communications sent directly to the participants; other channels of communication, like the PREVI magazine, the space reserved in the PREVI payment slips to convey information and messages interesting to participants, and the Annual Report. All of them help to maintain participants informed about all activities related to the PREVI administration.
Each year, after publishing the annual Balance Sheet, PREVI directors participate in state capitals and important cities of meetings to present the results obtained during the previous year. Quite often also, presentations are also set up before union labors and employee-representing associations. On those occasions the necessary clarifications and explanations about the required subjects are rendered.
The attention to participants, by means of orientations and explanations to all issues is coordinated by the Gerência de Atendimento ao Associado - Great - (Participants' Customer Service Office). To facilitate the contact with PREVI, achieving thus an improvement in its services, a reduction in operational costs and greater satisfaction among its participants, PREVI has promoted changes in the customer service procedures and in the processing of all requests received. Among the implemented initiatives are the communication of protocol numbers and deadlines expected to give an answer to the participant, and reorganization of some internal procedures for the classification, analysis and routing of the all requests received.
Part of the Central de Atendimento aos Participantes (Customer Service team for participants)
The customer service quality is permanently monitored, and the satisfaction of the users of our services, evaluated. Through our switchboard, that research is accomplished automatically at the end of each call, and the participant isn invited to express his degree of satisfaction with our service. The results are daily computed. The responsible office performs weekly and monthly follow-ups which include the monitoring of calls and of the complaint and suggestion reports, as well as the evaluation of the employees' performance and the results of the customer satisfaction index. Additionally, post service rendering contacts are made with those participants who expressed any dissatisfaction in the research.
Listening to the participators
Periodically, PREVI performs nationwide researches to measure the reputation and the satisfaction of the participants with this entity. The first research took place in 2000, and other editions came out in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009.
The latest two researches, those of 2008 and 2009, tackled different themes. In 2008 it was focused on the institution and the satisfaction of participants. In the following year the emphasis was in the evaluation of the perception of participants with relation to PREVI's communication vehicles (magazine, site, Annual Report and payment slip).
The lessons learned during the previous years helped those new researches evolve to more sophisticated and encompassing models, with multiple objectives and stages. The present versions allow the comparison of the results between the researches and the analysis of the evolution of the indicators. In 2005, evaluations regarding the services rendered to participants were incorporated to the scope of the research, and in the 2008 version, were added the findings about the degree of satisfaction containing aspects related to the management of the entity.
In general, the evaluation of the latest researches shows positive results pointing to more favorable indices than the previous ones, particularly with regard to evaluation of the group of products ands services offered by PREVI.
PREVI ha sustained a reputation of being a solid organization, reflecting securitysafety to its participators, fruit of the continuity of a lasting relationship with Banco do Brasil, from which, under the perspective of its participants, is inseparable. Those close ties linking PREVI to Banco do Brasil consolidate the former's characteristics of solidity, trustworthiness and security.
The researches show, notwithstanding, a few criticisms and suggestions in relation to PREVI's Annual Report, the language of which was considered to be very arid and difficult to understand to those who do not posses a background in accounting. One of the suggestions received recommends that the explanatory notes were more elaborate and became more conspicuous.
Highlights of the results of the latest researches (latest data from 2008)
Pension Fund Educational Program
In observation to the recommendations of the Managing Board o the Complementary Pension Funds (CGPC), acknowledging the importance of pension fund and financial education, and in order to establish another relationship channel with its participants, PREVI developed and started the implementation of a Pension Fund Education Program.
In 2009 a series of communication actions linked to that program was already effectuated, using several vehicles, among which PREVI's site at Internet, the PREVI magazine and other communication instruments, like e-mails and the self-service centers. Other activities linked to that program, like courses and speeches, are included also in the implementation plan.
That program is assigned to all PREVI participants (active, beneficiaries, and pensioners), and counts also with a segment designed to the sponsor's employees who are not yet affiliated to PREVI. It covers relevant aspects of financial and pension fund education, such as general information about official and private pension funds; taxation, expenses and costs; general ideas about investments; getting ready for retirement; personal financial organization; follow-up of plans' management, and specific details about PREVI products and plan benefits.
Investment profiles: more options, more information, more relationships
PREVI launched in 2009 the investments profiles for the participants of Plano PREVI Futuro, sharing with them the decision of where to invest the each one's individual funds and allowing him a more effective action upon his investments.
The investments profiles allow plano PREVI Futuro participants decide which percentage of the balance in his (hers) account to invest in variable income instruments. The choice is optional and the participant may choose one out of three available profiles: conservative, moderate and aggressive. In case he decides not to choose any of the profiles, the funds from the participants arebe automatically directed to the PREVI Profile, the variable income application limits of which are annually defined in accordance with the plan's investment policy.
Aware that those options widen the participants' demands for information about the management and the results of plans, PREVI has invested permanently in the improvement of its publications and communication channels.
At the same time that it boosts funds management looking for better results, the investment profiles consolidate themselves as an educational instrument for the participants, stimulating them to ponder about how well their fund is doing, the available options, the risks and opportunities involved in each one of them. That attitude meets PREVI's expectations, allowing it to bolster its activity together with the participants and forming thus a more and more mindful, participative and demanding group of participants.
By the end of 2009, 2,233 participants (3,94% of total active participants under Plano PREVI Futuro), had already opted for one of the new investment profiles. With that, the amount of reserves that migrated to those profiles reached R$89, 1 million.