Most successful entrepreneurs innovate to meet needs in the marketplace, but few have transformed conventional thinking as Ross Beerman. As the founder and managing director of AllLife, Beerman is helping build a brighter future for those living with HIV in South Africa.
As a keynote speaker at the Business Civic Leadership Center’s CSR: Business Solutions for Emerging Markets Global Conference, Beerman shared AllLife’s strategy and impact with an attentive audience. Established in 2004, AllLife is a rapidly growing provider of life insurance and health management services to people living with HIV and diabetes in South Africa.
Affecting roughly 18% of South Africa’s population, HIV crosses all demographics of the country. Of those with the disease, more than 2 million fall within the market traditionally served by life insurance companies.
However, until Beerman showed that there was another way, those living with the disease were generally unable to get life insurance coverage and a wide range of other financial services products—limiting their ability to participate fully in the economy.
“At the time there was the perception that HIV=AIDS=death,” said Beerman. “With this mindset that the disease was terminal, many people simply chose to not manage it and stepped away from their support group. They didn’t bother to be educated, to buy a house, or to plan for the future.”
What did Beerman and his partners see that the rest of the insurance industry ignored?
“Of course all life insurance companies are for-profit entities,” he said. “So are we. The accepted thinking was that most of the people affected with HIV would not live long enough for the companies to make a profit. So we began to explore how we could help ensure that our clients were able to live longer, healthier lives.”
That’s the basis for AllLife’s success. Through a focused, hands-on approach, AllLife requires that its clients commit to an appropriate treatment regimen. AllLife then tracks and monitors each client’s treatment schedule and regularly communicates with them to help assure they remain healthy and on track with their treatment plan.
“Our clients understand our commitment to them and they have embraced our message,” said Beerman, “which is that you’ll live a long time and we have invested a lot of money that you will, so please listen to what we’re telling you.”
On average, AllLife speaks with each of its clients once a month typically via telephone, text, or email. It’s working. The company is seeing rapid growth—between 50 and 60 percent each year.
Beerman shared that AllLife also runs an aggressive advertising campaign with an overt message for potential clients, but also a call to action for the broader society. “Our adverts show society that those with HIV are valued as customers, so we’re slowly changing the stigma associated with the disease,” he said. “We’re changing thinking around the terminal nature of HIV and encouraging those affected to plan for the future.”
AllLife is a powerful lesson on the power of asking the question, “What if?” And it’s a wonderful reminder of life’s true value—summed up in the company’s tag line: “Because all life is for living.”
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