allowed to join was a major decision . But the society did not stray from the professional market segment . Today , with the principle of mutuality , the professional focus is core to what PPS stands for and how it operates – for professionals only .
In many a CEO report , I have mentioned that the behavioural traits of the professional market segment are beneficial to our ethos of mutuality . Our experience is that professionals generally exercise responsible personal risk management , are unwilling to terminate insurance cover , are urgent to return to their professions when sick , and often have the desire to continue in their professions to advanced ages . This leads to lower lapses and claims and ultimately to more profits to share between members .
But , apart from drawing wider boundaries around eligibility criteria , there was one other aspect in which the paths of the Dentists ’ Provident and PPS have diverged over the years , and that is the scope of services .
For much of its history , PPS was about income protection , but that changed over the last few decades . Today , PPS ’ s solutions cover much of the spectrum of financial services . The first significant increase in scope was at the end of the 1950s and 1960s when the society started to provide medical aid benefits , in what eventually developed into what we know as Profmed today .
The other areas into which PPS expanded – such as investments and short-term insurance solutions – happened after the turn of the century . The strategy was to initially partner with existing market players when the acorns were sown , and for these businesses to eventually become full subsidiaries when the young trees have been firmly anchored . An interesting phenomenon of many of these new businesses was that , like the PPS mothership , they were founded during challenging times , often when there was a particular need among the PPS membership . PPS Investments , for example , was started in the middle of the 2007 recession . A recent addition to the PPS offering is indemnity protection for medical professionals , which was rolled out when that market was in distress . We often note that it is in the DNA of the organisation to come through when times are tough .
Yes , institutions of endurance outlive the people associated with it . Our innings are but blips in the much longer timeframes of visionary organisations . I often wonder what those founding fathers of the forties would say if they could observe what this oak tree has already become today .
In the words of Bokkie Gerber , the author of PPS ’ s 75thanniversary celebration book : “[ PPS ] is the story of eight that became tens of thousands . The story of a few pounds sterling that became billions of rand . “ The story of a Friendly Society that became a world leader in mutuality . But most of all , it is the story of the members and those individuals who served PPS with distinction .”
I ponder what this oak tree can yet become . As the young subsidiary trees that were only planted in the 21st century grow , and as PPS also start to sow acorns on other continents , perhaps we might be as astonished as those founder dentists might be today . In the famous words of Winston Churchill : “ This is not the end . It is not even the beginning of the end . But it is , perhaps , the end of the beginning .”
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