Performance Factors such as low economic growth, high inflation levels and interest rates, loadshedding and an unstable global geopolitical environment all impacted our members during the reporting period. These issues notwithstanding, we continued to enhance our life and risk solutions suite. Notable among these was a comprehensive review of our underwriting standards. This will be a major supporting element in the development of a new digital onboarding process. Advisers will also be able to use this platform for members who might not have active solutions with PPS, but who wish to reconnect with us. Our member engagement platform was enhanced in Quarter 1, 2024 (after the reporting period covered in this report). Members now have access to an automated Profit-Share Account™ calculation feature, which gives them greater insight into their PPS Profit-Share Account™ balance over time. It enables them to calculate the benefit of adding additional qualifying products to their portfolio and what the potential impact on the account balance could be. Related enhancements to our intermediary engagement platform, which was introduced in 2022, further improved efficiencies and enriched our relationships with our intermediaries and, through them, our members. From a performance point of view, new sales of life and risk solutions decreased by 12% in South Africa compared to the previous period, partly because we reported an exceptional increase in sales during 2022. The macroeconomic environment naturally also had an impact. The actual annual premium income for the year was R245.4 million, representing a decrease of 12% compared to the previous year’s figure of R279.6 million. Furthermore, the number of new members joining PPS with products also experienced a year-on-year decline. A total of 7 611 new members joined, marking an increase of 301 members in comparison to 2022 (7 310 in 2022). Weighted against this, our lapse percentages remained exceptionally low – well below industry standards – mainly due to the lifetime value PPS offers its members. Looking ahead We are optimistic about our prospects in 2024, although we anticipate that economic growth will remain constrained. We therefore expect post-pandemic interest in life and risk solutions to remain steady, if not to increase. Further, while emigration continues to have an impact on the graduate market, this is likely to be offset by the Group’s focus on new markets and territories, where uptake of our solutions is likely to be good. We will also be launching a new onboarding and underwriting experience, which will significantly improve the sales experience with PPS. UP 15% from 2022 R3.72 billion Gross risk claims UP 8.7% from 2022 R6.0 billion Gross premium revenue earned DOWN 12% from 2022 R245.4 million New life risk annual premium income UP 15% from 2022 10 521 Profit-Share millionaires (South Africa) UP 22% from 2022 R5.74 billion Total benefits paid to members UP 37% from 2022 R2.02 billion Exit payments The numbers above are for South African operations. 31 Group performance
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