#Interview
The Gingko team relies on company pension schemes (bAV). “We want to make a modern company pension plan a natural part of modern compensation packages – as a contribution by companies to the financial well-being of their employees,” says founder Philip Liebenow.
The young company Ginkgo from Berlin, founded by Carl Meran and Philip Liebenow, relies on company pension schemes (bAV). “Ginkgo helps companies to offer their employees a company pension plan (bAV) to supplement their – far too low – statutory pension, which finally becomes an attractive part of compensation packages: without sales commissions, with capital investment in ETFs, completely digital – a quasi trade republic for the bAV,” founder Liebenow explains the concept.
In an interview with deutsche-startups.de, the Ginkgo maker presents his company in detail.
How would you explain gingko to your grandmother?
Ginkgo helps companies to offer their employees a company pension plan (bAV) to supplement their – far too low – statutory pension, which will finally become an attractive part of compensation packages: without sales commissions, with capital investment in ETFs, completely digital – essentially a trade republic for the bAV. With minimal administrative effort for companies. To do this, we combine technology and efficient processes with modern financial products. While politicians are still arguing about pension reform, we are making a very concrete contribution to solving Germany’s pension problem.
How did the idea for Gingko come about?
The inspiration for the idea of ginkgo was that company pension schemes play a very important role in many countries. In Germany, the company pension scheme lags far behind in comparison, despite the massive pension gap in this country. There is a 50% “white space” among SMEs and so-called low earners. A key reason for this is the shortcomings of the company pension schemes currently available on the market: far too expensive and non-transparent financial products and a poor, outdated user experience. Here, building on previous professional positions in software and FinTech companies, we saw a concrete opportunity to make company pension schemes much more efficient, attractive and up-to-date with technology, modern financial products and digital processes, especially for SMEs.
What were the biggest challenges you have had to overcome so far?
To raise awareness of how crucial costs are in company pension schemes – as well as in other financial products – because a lot of pension is lost due to fees that are too high and usually not made transparent, which everyone urgently needs to compensate for the pension gap. Even one percentage point more costs – i.e. 2% instead of 1% – makes a massive difference in the long term, due to the weaker compound interest effect. Efficient and transparent financial products are becoming increasingly popular in private saving and investing today – thanks to Trade Republic, Scalable Capital & Co. The bAV is still lagging behind here. On it!
How exactly does your business model work?
Traditionally, in the company pension scheme for SMEs, money is made through high sales commissions and high ongoing costs. We do it differently: The ginkgo platform only offers commission-free so-called net tariffs with transparent and low ongoing costs. Accordingly, our business model works differently: We are financed primarily through a fee from the employer for the use of our ginkgo platform and for services in launch, implementation and employer branding of the bAV. And we receive a service fee from insurance companies for the digital support of contract management, as the ginkgo platform massively reduces manual administration efforts. We think: Since a company pension plan is a win-win for employers and employees as part of a compensation package, it is a fair compensation model that fits the company pension plan.
Which project will soon be at the top of your agenda?
We want to make a modern company pension plan a natural part of modern compensation packages – as a very concrete contribution by companies to the financial well-being of their employees. To this end, we want to greatly expand the topic of awareness and education.
Where will gingko be in a year?
At a completely different level of visibility in the market and awareness of the fact that occupational pensions work – and must – work very differently than before: more cost-efficient, more profitable, more digital – as an finally attractive component of compensation packages.
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