FROM THE
FROM THE
CEO ’ S DESK
Dear reader ,
As you read this , the
14 th edition of The Professional , you will soon also have the opportunity to browse through our financial results for 2024 . It was yet another good year for PPS and hence for our members . After good investment market returns in 2023 , 2024 proved to be another good one , making it the second year in a row that we can declare above-average investment returns . On the operating side , underwriting profitability is now much closer to our long-term actuarial assumptions , a welcome development after the COVID-19 years . The PPS subsidiaries , assisting our members with investment and short-term insurance solutions , are also growing strong and added to the returns earned . In short , we expect that our members will be pleased with our overall results .
As important as the financial results , is the recent announcement that PPS has started a division that offers products to other , nonprofessional market segments in South Africa . It is called glu . For the first time since the big demutualisations of the 90s , millions of South Africans will again be able to have their financial needs , such as insurance cover and investments , taken care of by an organisation where mutuality stands central .
Organisations like ours often start small – whether from penny-premiums collected door to door or farmers pooling resources . In our case , it was a few dentists securing their families ’ futures during a world war . From these humble beginnings , mutuals have grown . Despite a wave of demutualisations , mutual and cooperative insurers wrote US $ 1.41 trillion in premiums globally in 2022 , holding a 26.3 % market share . Together , mutuals share a powerful purpose : creating a safer , more resilient world .
Despite being so strong in other areas of the world , the mutual insurance model is small in Africa . This strikes me as an anomaly : Africa is after all a place where communities often stand together and pool resources . Think of stokvels and the spirit of ubuntu .
One of the reasons might be regulatory . Over the past few decades , regulators have done little to encourage mutuals to develop . But this is about to change ! The United Nations ( UN ) has declared 2025 as the year of the cooperatives ( mutuals ), noting that the mutual model is a crucial solution for addressing various global challenges and advancing the implementation of many UN Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs ). In its resolution , the UN General Assembly encourages regulatory regimes to “ review existing laws and regulations in order to make the national legal and regulatory environment more conductive to the creation and growth of cooperatives by improving existing laws and regulations or enacting new ones ”.
So , the founding of glu is in tune with these global developments . In years to come , we expect it to become a major financial services brand in the South African landscape .
I want to emphasise that our business operating under the PPS brand will retain its relentless focus on graduate professionals . If anything , the launch of glu will allow us to be even more focused . Strong walls exist between the two brands : different corporate identifies , different management teams , different operating platforms , different solutions appropriate for the different segments , even different values .
As we look ahead , PPS remains committed to serving graduate professionals with unwavering focus , while glu marks the beginning of a new chapter – one that aligns with global trends and brings the benefits of mutuality to more South Africans than ever before .
Regards ,
PPS Group Executive
Izak Smit
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