Our Story

The Journey

In 2020 we recognised that the financial literacy gaps in New Zealand existed across a wide range of financial management topics and that addressing estate planning alone was suitable for some environments but others needed a broader solution. Driven by the increased demand for financial support and information from employers across Aotearoa, we decided it was time to help bridge the wider knowledge gap in our communities.

With our network of experienced and credible financial service professionals we developed a range of financial planning packages designed as employee benefits to improve the wellbeing of New Zealand’s working community.

So here we are! Today we partner with innovative leading employers who view wellness holistically and are prepared to think differently regarding traditional employee benefit offerings, and together we help improve the financial wellness of working Kiwi’s and their whānau.

The Beginning

In 2018, Footprint was born. Our focus was on improving financial literacy and helping change the perception that Wills are about retirement. Our aim is that in turn this will drive a behaviour change that results in more people getting their Wills earlier in life.

The Footprint experience was designed to meet the growing needs and expectations of those who prefer to connect via digital channels, look for products and services that provide a lifetime of value, and want to engage with companies that believe in giving back.

With a tricky topic at hand, we decided to take a different approach to offering Wills by sticking to our core value of “keeping it real” and making this challenging topic light-hearted and easy to understand. We specifically wanted to separate ourselves from the traditional dark, gloomy and almost taboo reputation of Wills and estate planning. By keeping our language understandable and our messaging relatable we believe we can encourage more conversations and more action, which results in less people going through undue stress and hardship at an already difficult time.

The Idea

Back in 2014, Perpetual Guardian, one of New Zealand's most recognised trustee companies broke with tradition and started offering customers the option to do their Wills online. Research conducted at the time had shown that 15% of those surveyed were open to digital. However, by 2018 this had increased to 82%. Recognising that providing online services was radically different from the traditional face-to-face approach and that specialised technical and digital expertise needed its own dedicated environment a new innovative business was created.