PPS Short-Term Insurance operates in a more volatile market segment and, as in the previous period, saw an increase in claims for climate-related events such as floods, fires and heavy hailstorms, as well as in claims for equipment and infrastructure damage caused by loadshedding. Yet, it performed better than planned and due to the scale built over several years, it is now in a breakeven position. PPS Healthcare Administrators (PPSHA) once again delivered superior service to the members of the schemes it administers, including Profmed. A significant development in 2023 was that the business started to provide services to the Botswana Public Officers Medical Aid Scheme (BPOMAS), bringing its first cross-border client on board. This aligns with the Group’s strategy of expanding into new markets and territories, both within South Africa and in the Southern African Development Community region and beyond. And finally, our associate business in Australia, PPS Mutual (Australia) is growing strong. We celebrated our 11 000th professional member in Australia in 2023. It has also recently been voted by the independent financial advisers in that country as the best life insurance business, something we are extremely proud of. Our South African members benefit from fee income and royalties from Australia. Due to our success in Australia, we are currently setting up a similar business next door in New Zealand. Innovation Throughout the Group, we continue to innovate to meet the evolving needs of graduate professionals. Our PRO-FiT member engagement platform, for instance, enables our members to have direct control of their PPS portfolios, engage with the larger professional community and explore ways to optimise the value of their PPS Profit-Share Accounts™. In 2023, we introduced a complementary intermediary engagement platform, which enables independent advisers to engage more efficiently with PPS and to view the portfolios of clients who hold PPS solutions on a convenient dashboard. We are also rolling out an artificial intelligenceassisted workflow engine called Pro-Flow, enabling us to automate and expedite many routine functions, such as claims processing and tracking. In 2024 we will roll out an enhanced Group app, which is currently in pre-release testing. This will give members and independent advisers alike a single mobile point of entry into PPS. Other innovations unique to PPS include the PPS ProfitShare Cross-Holdings Booster, which consistently adds value for members with qualifying products across the PPS Group. It is important to note that members not only gain from Profit-Share from the new solutions they take up (that is obvious) but also “boosts” the profit from existing holdings. Similarly, the PPS Investments Family Network, a first-in-South-Africa innovation introduced in 2021, promotes the aggregation of individual and family assets, enabling members to enjoy reduced fees due to a larger combined asset base. The PPS difference Due to our mutual model, PPS stands out as a distinctive entity in the South African financial services landscape. Since there is no value leakage to shareholders, we can provide a rich value proposition to our members. In an election year that will mark 30 years of democracy, we remain focused on delivering this value to our members. Ours is a hard-won democracy. We encourage our staff, members, the advisers we work with and the nation as a whole to exercise their valuable democratic rights and to cast their votes on election day. Regulatory changes and compliance Regarding regulatory issues, there were relatively few changes in 2023 compared to other years. Of note, however, is the fact that the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill, which was introduced to Parliament in August 2019, was passed by the National Assembly on 13 June 2023 and by the National Council of Provinces’s Select Committee on Health and Social Services on 6 December 2023, paving the way for the introduction of a national health insurance scheme. However, our view remains that it will take a very long period to be implemented, with many details still lacking, including sustainable funding. We remain committed to representing the voice of professionals in legislative and regulatory processes. We will continue to monitor developments related to this legislation. CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT 16 Leadership commentary
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