Solving The Riddle Podcast
Financial decisions shouldn't feel like a mystery. Solving the Riddle simplifies the world of money, providing the tools and topical advice you need to master your personal finances and secure your long-term wealth.
Solving The Riddle Podcast
How South African Professionals Can Secure an Instant Estate & Share in Billions of Profits
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Why does insurance always feel like a "grudge purchase"? What if your monthly debit order didn't just buy peace of mind, but actually built a massive, multi-million Rand investment asset for your retirement?
In this episode of Solving the Riddle, hosts Andrew Whitewood and Alec Riddle sit down with Shaun Ruiters, the CEO of PPS Investments. Together, they unpack the game-changing concept of mutuality and explore how South African graduate professionals are leveraging unique profit-sharing models to close the country’s massive retirement gap.Shaun shares his inspiring journey from a small town in the Western Cape to the top of the financial services sector, shedding light on how PPS (Professional Provident Society) has created nearly 15,000 millionaires simply by returning operating profits and investment returns directly to its members.
What We Unpack in This Episode:
The Power of Mutuality: Why buying insurance from a mutual provider makes you an owner of the business and how that translates to a massive return on investment.
The Cross-Booster Benefit: How holistically planning across life cover, investments, and medical aid can boost your profit-share allocation by up to 30%.
Bridging the South African Retirement Gap: Statistics show that graduate professionals live up to 10 years longer than the national average. We discuss how a dynamic, holistic plan (and a healthy profit-share account) keeps you from running out of money.
An Infinite Ecosystem: How PPS is reinvesting in South African communities, building schools in the Eastern Cape, funding STEM initiatives, and offering millions in bursaries to build the next generation of professionals.
Introducing "Glue": How the core principles of Ubuntu and mutuality are being brought to the broader South African public, expanding the mutual pool beyond graduate professionals.
The Alpha of Financial Advice: Why having a dynamic financial planner to keep you "on the fairway" is worth more than any standard asset management fee.
Key Stat from the Show: Last year alone, PPS paid out R4.2 billion in claims to support members in their darkest hours, while still distributing R7 billion in profits back to their members' profit-share accounts.
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Follow our personal accounts:@alecriddle @andrewwhitewood THE INFORMATION SHARED IN THIS PODCAST IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE FINANCIAL ADVICE IN ANY WAY OR FORM. IT IS IMPORTANT TO CONSULT A FINANCIAL PLANNER TO RECEIVE FINANCIAL ADVICE BEFORE ACTING ON ANY INFORMATION SHARED.
Introduction & Welcome: Mr. Shaun Ruiters (PPS)
SPEAKER_02Hey everyone, welcome to the room. Financial is shaping your future. And together with any reason we need to help people make simple financial decisions. Hi everyone and welcome back. Today we are super privileged to have Mr. Sean Raters from PPS Investments with us today. A massive welcome to the Eastern Connect, Sean. Thank you very much, Andrew. Great to be here. Awesome. And Alec, once again, welcome back to the show. The feedback has been absolutely phenomenal. I'm sure you can agree, Alec. But today we're going to be unpacking quite a topical, conversational issue that a lot of us face out there, be it in normal day-to-day life, be it in the industry, in that we all need to ensure ourselves, Alec and Sean. You both know that
The Dilemma: Instant Estates vs. High Monthly Premiums
SPEAKER_02I've got a very young family. I've got twin girls, Scarlett and Mackenzie. I've got a beautiful wife in Lindy. And I need to create this instant estate, okay? But I need to pay a lot monthly from a debit order point of view to create this instant estate. And I think a lot of people out there grapple with this issue in that, for example, they have to pay Sean and Alec five, six grand a month, for example, for insurance, and they get nothing in return. But I think the key thing today, and we're going to unpack in a lot of detail, is that you can partner with a product provider, with financial planners that can create an instant estate, ensure your family's needs, but also provide a return on investment. Because at the end of the day, Sean and Alec, we actually don't want to claim against that life cover or income protection or severe illness. But Sean, it's quite a lengthy intro. I just want to pause there. I've known you for the best part of 15 years. Um obviously we first met in Port Elizabeth, then I moved down to Cape Town. We worked fairly closely for seven years. But please intro or introduce yourself to all our viewers and listeners, and please just make it
Shaun Ruiters' Background & The South African Story
SPEAKER_02as personal as possible.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, thank you very much, Andrew and Alec, for having me. And yeah, thank you to the viewers for listening as well. I think, you know, from an introduction point of view, um, I've been in the industry for about 22 years now. As you've said, it's been 15 years of a journey with UNB. Um, I come from a very small area in the Western Cape called Belar. Um, probably I'd I'd put it in an underprivileged type environment. Um, you know, again, I'm I'm rooted in statistics. I love looking at stats. Um if you look at the three-year degree um rate of Balar as an example compared to the national average, Balar sits at 9% of the population actually having a degree compared to the national average at 12.2. Or an area where I now stay um in Durbanville compared to roughly about 60% of that population. So uh lovely bat lovely um upbringing, but but uh but a difficult one. Um so it's been a hard road into the industry, but it's been it's been uh it's been a great one. So I feel like I understand the South African story very well, and uh to your point, um, you know, I understand the fact that we require things like instant estates. Um and even looking backwards, I should have known it then, but I I know it now.
SPEAKER_01We'll come back to to the school at a later time in in the uh this episode. Tell us a little bit about the history of
The History & Ethos of Mutuality at PPS
SPEAKER_01PPS.
SPEAKER_00Uh thanks, Alec. Look, PPS it's uh it's an interesting concept. I mean, I think in the 90s or prior to the 90s, the concept of mutuality or mutuals was very big in South Africa. Company like Old Mutual, a company like Sunnam, which is actually an acronym, so South African Nationale Levens Ashuransi Matska Pay, which was a mutual. Thank you. Thank you, Andrew. But um, so PPS is one of the few mutuals left in the country. It's a mutual insurer first and foremost. Um, and what that means is that those the the members, those people that buy the actual product are the owners of the business in itself, which to Andrew's point earlier, um, means if you buy the insurance product and you're an owner of this business, there's a return on investment around that specific um portion of your profitability of that insurance product. So PPS is quite uh, and it's a long-standing business, it's been around since 1941, about 85 years now, and it offers broad financial services uh products, but again, the ethos is mutuality. We serve those that uh serve the country in a sense.
SPEAKER_01Touching on mutuality, um, I've got a client who's a doctor, and his profit share account is now sitting at about two and a half million. Um and the allocation he gets into his profit share account each year now is more than what he's spending on the cover. So that's quite significant. So yeah, so it's it's it's it's quite amazing, but also PPS is for a specific group uh in South Africa. Perhaps you want to elaborate
Member Eligibility & The Power of Student Membership
SPEAKER_01on that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, thanks, Alec. I think I mean we it was it was started by eight dentists in in 1941, and and you know, the genesis of the business is that we became a graduate professional business and or the business for the graduate professional. Really, what that means is that we are looking for four-year um degreed um individuals to join this this entity. Um, and again, once they join, they become owners of the business. So if they have an insurance product specifically, um, and from that point of view, you know, it the pool is covering each other. Um, I think all three of us here are members of of PPS. Um and you know, if we if it was just us in the room, it would be Sean and Andrew covering the day that um Alec requires, you know, some some cover for his life or cover for his illness. Um so it's it's a it's a unique concept, um, and and I think it's definitely something that can serve the country quite well if more people understood it. Um yeah, so eight dentists started, how many members today? So if you include the student membership, roughly 150,000. If you exclude it's about 135,000 um members of or owners of this business, um, of which about 8,200 sit here in the Eastern Cape with us. Three being in this room right now.
SPEAKER_01So so for the listeners and viewers, PPS Professional Provenance Society is essentially for uh those with uh four-year degrees, graduates, um, and very importantly, uh the students um can become members. And I think that this is incredibly important. I mean, I think of uh my own daughter who died who took out a student membership of PPS being a physio, and and how that helped her through the most difficult stages of her life. You know, during COVID, uh got COVID twice, um, her PPS cover paid out, um, then she got cancer, and PPS was there to to hold her in through that journey with both with income protection and critical illness. And the one thing I want to share here is we often think as financial planners and maybe even clients, that you know, this cover is for a purpose, this incident estate that Andrew spoke about, or or replacing income and so forth. What I saw with my own daughter was that she was in this dark tunnel where there's very little light. She was just being diagnosed with cancer. And we were sitting around the dining room table when I informed her about the fact that I'd taken out this critical illness for her and she was going to get this lump sum payout. It was a case of to see the mind reopening, the dreams occurring about well, I can use this for this, I can put that aside as a reserve fund and so forth. So I think that sometimes, you know, it's a it's a grudge purchase until you need to claim. And many people do need to claim. I think critical illness is or income protection, it's probably, you know, one in three males, one in four females. I think it's close to the stat. But yeah, so it's it's serving a very real need. And as you say, there is a portion uh going back into a profit share account which makes a significant difference.
Holistic Financial Planning Across the PPS Ecosystem
SPEAKER_01Andrew, you want to come in there?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think I think the most important point for me personally, but I think we all agree uh on the show today, is that this is a component of holistic financial planning. And the term lifestyle, we can use many different terms, but this is uh a solution, and and Sean and the business understand that. But the key thing from a financial planning point of view, PPS also just don't offer, for example, life cover severe illness. Like Sean, I said earlier in the intro, is the CEO of the investment business. Um, maybe Sean, if you can take us down that avenue a little bit, right? Speaking about holistic financial planning, and we've spoken about many different topics on the show already. But if you look at the PPS stable, what other solutions are there within the PPS stable? And then I would also maybe let's take that step into profit share and let's unpack profit share, the whole benefit of being the owner, even though you're actually only a member, but you become an owner and you can share in profits. It's just it's phenomenal. I think I think it's just such a beautiful product. But the key thing um is it starts with those products and those solutions at the end of the day.
SPEAKER_00No, very true, Andrea. I mean, maybe maybe just quickly on Alec's point as well, um, around your daughter, it's uh you know, it's it's also an interesting concept that you know if you if you critically think about it, you funded your daughter's income protection and and uh the the cover that she required at the time. And that really is the ethos of mutuality. The fact that it's it's our collective that's building it together, that in these instances of difficulty we can cover each other. That's the ethos of mutuality.
SPEAKER_02Well, you mentioned earlier this morning that we actually funded your aeroplane ticket up at a PE this morning, you know what I mean? But it's it's key that people understand this concept and the principle of the business because once the penny drops, it's just it's like a aha moment, right? And and I know we're gonna get to profit share, but yo, what other solutions do you offer at PPS?
SPEAKER_00So, I mean, Andrew, the the the point around holistic financial planning is that if we are the the business for graduate professionals, we need to understand them, walk that journey around holistic planning with them as well. So, you know, whether that be a young professional that you know requires uh cover for their business and themselves, you know, their hands being uh a critical component of their actual future income as well. Um, or whether they're starting to think about retirement and being able to offer an investment product at that specific period or a tax wrapper for that matter, um, for even to cover themselves from a health indemnity point of view. In the in these practices, you know, obviously uh things may happen and you require that kind of uh cover as well. Um and then you know, we also actually offer assistance around um financial planning for our advisor partners through a division called Triple S inside of our business. Um short term is there from a coverage point of view, and we are in the the supply chain of education and medical as well. So we also have an insurance a medical insurance business called ProfMed, and all of these different components is is actually interlinked around the ownership, which interlinks back to the profit share. So if you have more multiple of these solutions, uh we will actually increase the profitability. Well, you you increase your own profitability um through it.
Maximizing Returns: The Profit Share Cross-Booster
SPEAKER_01So, Sean, let's let's elaborate there a little bit because you've got a thing what we call the cross booster. Yes. So if I take, for example, life cover, um, a percentage of that premium finds its way back into my profit share account, correct, plus the growth on that account. But if I, for example, uh now I'm a shareholder in PPS, essentially. I'm a member and a shareholder. If I then, for example, use prof med or the short-term insurance, I get a boost to the profit share. Correct. Can you explain how that happens?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so so the profit share itself, if you have a qualifying product in the insurance space um and you now become a member or owner of those different subsidiaries as well, investments, uh, you've got a need for medical aid, prof med, for every additional product you take out uh from the subsidiary, you get an additional 10% profitability too. So if you holistically plan as a professional with your advisor across the full um um gambit of our of our solutions, you can earn up to 30% additional profits um from these different solutions, 10% per subsidiary.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so nice super boost there. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00100%, Alec. 100%.
SPEAKER_02And making this relatable again, Jens, is for example, I'm happy to share. I've got over 100,000 ransoming in my profit share account. But Sean, I and we also had this conversation a little bit earlier. I was a little bit slow on the uptake, Alex. So I only had certain insurance benefits, like my life cover, disability, some of my income protection, severe illness, etc. But very recently I added the short term. I'm also very much looking at at Prof.Med at this point in time. I think the key thing is it's not, we're not saying that you must take out the full suite with PPS. And I think that's a point I've made there is that even taking my personal circumstances into consideration, I'm slowly but surely having a look at the solution set, um, the the suitability to my specific needs. But the key thing is that it starts with that product set, it's a great product set in in general if you look at it strategically and high level, but there is this return on investment. And sure enough, if I remember correctly, last year you guys at PPS distributed about seven billion in profit to the members. Is that correct? That's the same thing. And how many how many millionaires are out there now with regards to profit share accounts, etc.? Maybe share a little bit of that detail because those stats are absolutely phenomenal. Yeah, uh it's to me, it's almost like jaw-dropping.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I mean, the the total profitability to your point was just under 7 billion. Uh, operating profit came in at just under two, and the rest came out of the investment returns, you know, as we consolidate that asset over time um of all the members. Um, I think over time we've we almost we just show of 15,000 millionaires created, the youngest being 41 years old.
SPEAKER_02I mean, that's I've obviously done something wrong then.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, me too for that matter. Both of us are in that camp. Um, but I mean the the oldest being uh around 90, and last year 15 people, 15 individuals got more than a million dance profit share just in the 2025 year. So from that point of view, it it is a phenomenal product, exactly.
SPEAKER_01Let's let's use this to
Closing the Retirement Gap & Longevity Statistics
SPEAKER_01link into a thing that we like to call the retirement gap. Okay. So we know that most retirements are underfunded in South Africa. So this is a way that certainly professionals and also um you know uh people who are supporters of uh you know PPS investments and so forth can uh maybe uh you know get these these benefits. And as I mentioned, I've got a doctor who's got a just just around about 2.5 million in his profit share account. The beauty of that is that uh we don't need to draw a massive amount out of his retirement fund. And of course, as soon as you draw just over a million, you're paying 36% tax. So we're able to leave that to provide the income because the two and a half million plus a little bit of the withdrawal on the retirement fund can fund his lifestyle goals, replacing cars, overseas trips to see the children, etc. etc. So tell us a little bit about your the retirement gap stats that you shared with us earlier.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so so our our analysis basically says, Alec, that you know, on average, uh a graduate professional, a South African graduate professional, lives about 10 years longer than the average South African. We all know in financial planning uh significant, it's significant, it's extremely it's a it's a big number.
SPEAKER_01And we know, Andrew and I, you know, to get the longevity of the graph or the plan to last beyond once you start going beyond 90, it's huge. Huge. So if you're talking normal South African to get to 90, you know, and beyond, we're talking a professional to 100 and beyond.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And the key point there, sorry, Sean, Alec, is that you spoke about a plan. The majority of people, I just yesterday sat on a call with people that are are looking to potentially partner with us from a podcast point of view, and and they're saying that on average, 60% of people out there that are in retirement have never even engaged with a financial planner before, Alec. So that's 60 people percent, sorry, and Sean, never engaged. Then the 40% that have engaged, how many actually have proper, holistic financial plans?
SPEAKER_00Less than 10% can actually comfortable retail. That's it.
SPEAKER_01Well, there's a stat out of America, David Blanchett, who's uh considered one of the doy ons in our in our industry, writes a lot of white papers and things, and he just talks about if you have a static plan versus a dynamic plan, you increase your probability of failure by four times. These are people who have a plan, but that but it's it's a one, you know, it's a plan they got at 60, they don't change it, uh, versus one that does you know change as you know things change, and that's increasing your probability of failure by four. Imagine you don't have a plan. You must be increasing your probability of failure by ten times.
SPEAKER_00100%. I think Vanguard did that research as well that says, you know, holistic planning uh delta or the the the alpha around holistic planning is about three percent. If you think about asset management, you know, it's 50 basis points, 0.5% alpha that you're getting from there. So imagine you don't have that delta over over that 40-year period. That's probably why we're sitting with uh only about a six percent of South Africans that can comfortably retire.
SPEAKER_01So,
Behavioral Finance: The True Alpha of a Financial Planner
SPEAKER_01Andrew, would you elaborate on that and just explain to our listeners and viewers what Sean means by the alpha and things for the for the for the people who perhaps wondering what is alpha?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so alpha's got quite a few meanings. So from an investment management point of view, it's got a slightly different meaning. But from a financial planning point of view, I just want to bring it back simplistically in that there's a lot of research out there in more developed markets in South Africa, Alec. You rightly mentioned the US and the UK, and also Australia, which we'll come back to in a moment or two, in that they've done a lot of research, they've run numbers from a statistical point of view in the value that a financial planner adds. In this ecosystem, Alec, we've touched on it in previous um podcasts, in that we're now financial planning's morphed over the past 20 to 30 years, it's changed. You can no longer, as a South African financial planner, know every answer to every question. That's why we've got this ecosystem. We're partnering with, for example, PPS. We've got teams from a tax point of view. But the alpha we can add as a financial planner, meaning that simply ensuring that people don't make the wrong decision or two wrong decisions or three wrong decisions. The key thing is you can make one wrong or bad decision that, as an investor, as a client, can erode an immense amount of value, Alec. And that basically means the alpha ad, making sure that a client stays committed to their financial plan. We don't, for example, use the word panel beat our clients and they can only do X and Y. It's keeping clients on the fairway, Alec. We've many a time had that conversation around the client needs to stay on the fairway, right? But there's different golf clubs. There could be a seven with a five with a we must hit a hook around the tree. You know, you could land on the fairway, Alec, but some of our beautiful golf courses in this country, you've got a tree right in the middle of the fairway. So, how do we help clients get around that tree and stay on the fairway?
SPEAKER_01Give you a very real example of that, and you'll know the individual I'm talking about. Uh sadly, has since passed. But in 2012, this client is the ex-uh owner of a business or ran a business, and they had an investment club, various uh business directors and so forth. And he came to see me uh in 2012, it was when they had the uh US uh fiscal detliff, we had uh Maricana, etc. etc. And there was a lot of noise around, a lot of negativity. And he said no, they had this meeting and they they thought it'd be a good idea to move their assets to money market for a period. Fortunately, I managed to convince him not to. And uh we toned the investment down slightly, but we remained engaged in the market. A year later, I was able to show how it added two million rand value to his 12 million rand portfolio. It's an amazing story by not allowing it to make the change to money market.
SPEAKER_00That's the bulk. I mean, the behavioral side of it is actually where I think um your industry is I mean, that's the creme de la creme of of planning. If if if you can get our investors, our members to to actually at some times just pull back um and look at the longer-term plan instead of just the noise as you mentioned in front of them at the time.
SPEAKER_01So I think what let's um
Community Impact: STEM Programs & Educational Ecosystems
SPEAKER_01move to another section now, something you're very passionate about, and something that we learnt about in this presentation you gave to our clients. Um the involvement of PPS in South Africa and also the Eastern Cape, but throughout South Africa, because we're speaking to the whole of the country. Um PPS is making a significant uh uh impact on the community. Perhaps you can elaborate.
SPEAKER_00Oh, thanks, Alec. The at 100%, it's something very close to my heart, um, specifically from you know where I come from and and where I now am, from my point of view personally, it is it is really about trying to see how we can give back. Um but but giving back doesn't have to be a corporate social investment. It can be with a view of creating impact, but at the same time creating sustainability for the mutual, for the members of this business. So from PPS's point of view, we are a business of graduate professionals. So education. Education is critical to us. And if you think about the United Nations sustainable development goals, the 17 of them, quality education, SDG 4 is really one of the leading principles of the investment business. So what we've done is we've started building ecosystems across schools, across universities, across work readiness. In some instances, we've even funded unemployed doctors to start practices, but set up an agreement with them to ultimately serve the communities we want them to serve as well, from a previously disadvantaged background. So we go into schools, our investment strategies even started looking at private uh investments, an investment into an EDU fund, which ultimately is building 40 plus schools over the next 10 years. Inside of the Eastern Cape, that investment is actually built two schools already.
SPEAKER_01One right here at uh Walmer Township.
SPEAKER_00Exactly, one in Wilmer uh and one in East London, um, Steden and St. Joseph's. Um, and and we'll build another two going forward as well. But that being said, STEMS is a big part of our community at the moment. So we also have gone into deeper, um uh not just affordable but previously disadvantaged schools, one being my alma mater, um, and I've set up STEMS programs there to help those kids to get ready for university. As we then move them through university and and we'll walk with them through university. Our foundation actually um offers bursaries. I think there's just under 30 bursaries um um over the last two years being presented to the kids, 23 million cost um over that specific space, with a view that this community of graduate professionals are building the next layer of graduate professionals. And if we do it well and they understand that it's funded by these graduate professionals, maybe they become members and the loop becomes infinite.
SPEAKER_01I think what's also important here is think of all these members of PPS, all the professionals and other others sitting and watching, and they're thinking, uh okay, are we just uh donating? You're getting a return on investment on these initiatives. Perhaps you can elaborate there as well.
SPEAKER_00So so we've started looking at these initiatives as a full ecosystem. Um and what we are busy with at the moment is we track straight through from school level to university level through to um to four-year graduate level. And what we are starting to see is that a lot of these once were kids that are now graduate professionals are joining because of the brand um equity that they see, because of the fact that they understand there's impact behind this business. Um, so from that point of view, you know, our first iteration of the last five years is um programs that become this ecosystem is actually creating members, which again funds the insurance pool for our older members, but also funds the profitability of this business going forward. It is definitely shared success, a return on investment. It is not just corporate social investment.
SPEAKER_02It's like completing the ecosystem, Alec. And like obviously, I I've engaged a lot, like we mentioned with Sean and the PPS business. So I've got this clear picture, but this ecosystem just come together and when engaging with clients, um, and we had a bit of a chuckle about this earlier. But for example, Jeremy and his wife Kelly, we've had a conversation about um your biggest asset is your earnings potential going forward, right? Now, okay, another premium like we spoke about earlier. But then when you bring PPS, it's a great product into the conversation. But what PPS are doing, return on investment, okay, they're feeding back or investing, reinvesting into the future of this country, schools, etc., future professionals, our doctors, our engineers, accountants, etc., it just resonates with people, right? It makes sense. But Alec, the point, and you hit the nail on the head, is this is not being done for free. A real a real return of 7% or a return above inflation plus seven. Inflation plus seven, yeah. It's it's phenomenal,
Expanding Mutuality: Glue & PPS Australia
SPEAKER_02right? Um, so the story just makes sense. The key thing is to be informed, and that's what we're doing on the podcast, right? It's informing people.
SPEAKER_01And also when we met with Bjorn, we spoke about a different thing, but mutuality, mutual pooling. And in this mutuality society, it's important that you have young members coming in for the whole concept to continue to work. So it's a whole massive ecosystem that's being developed here.
SPEAKER_02And Alex, just speaking to your point, and maybe just to bring Sean and put him on the spot a little bit, obviously we've spoken a bit about PPS, but in the client engagement this morning, you spoke about another offering that the PPS group have uh brought to the market plain and simply. I think the name off the top of my head is glue. I know we're speaking about professionals here, you need a four-year degree or higher or better, for example. But what is glue? What does that mean to the normal man on the street out there?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so Andrew, glue in itself, if you know, if on normal speak is an insurer. The the concept behind glue, though, is the fact that we can see mutuality is resonating in the country through through, and for that matter, resonating globally as well. Yeah, so that's a great point. Maybe drop that in there about Australia. Definitely, definitely. So, I mean, we started, and I'll come back to Glue as well, but we started an insurer 10 years ago um in Australia under the ethos of mutuality, South African individuals funding a um Australian business for Australian membership, which means we don't own the business. The Australians own the business, they have to pay South Africa royalty back. So last year our members got 50 million Rand from that Australian business um at the back of the royalties.
SPEAKER_01But also voted one of the top uh businesses.
SPEAKER_00I was gonna say exactly Alec, yeah, exactly. Well what's interesting is that over the last three years, um, through uh different studies in in Australia, our insurer was ranked number one in net promoter score amongst the intermediaries um of Australia. Uh a small insurer out of uh well, not small, uh a mutual insurer out of South Africa, ranking number one in Australia.
SPEAKER_01Um but we do beat Australia at most things.
SPEAKER_00It's gonna be sooner in Australia. Maybe back to the concept of Glue as well. So I mean, uh, really mutuality has resonated with graduate professionals. We think in the in the same spirit of Ubuntu, um, mutuality can resonate even more with South Africa. Hence, we've set up GLU so that ultimately we can have broader um initiation of mutuality across the patch. Glue will build a similar infrastructure in the context of impact um and a similar structure in the context of sharing the profitability of the membership base. In fact, last year, GLU uh this year, apologies, but at the back of last year, already um forgiving its own profit share.
SPEAKER_02So the snowball is just getting bigger and bigger, right? So, like you say, that foundation of PPS is plain and simply being rebuilt in the Glue environment, right? I don't want to go into technicalities of who qualifies, but now you can just leverage off a bigger base, plain and simply, and reinvest more, uh invest in more schools. And who knows, you mentioned the fish, etc., earlier. I don't also don't want to go into that, but it's now there's gonna be more fish in the pond, right? And we can help more people and not just professionals, doctors, engineers. We can help all walks of life going forward. And yeah, it's to me, it's a phenomenal story.
Business Risk Cover & 2023/2024 Claim Payouts
SPEAKER_01There's one last point I want to get to, but before I do, uh I just want to touch on the fact is that you know many professionals out there might be thinking, you know, wouldn't it be great if I could get my business insurance under PPS, which you can keep person cover, buy and sell cover, contingent liability, and et cetera. And PPS have a department who assists with regards to the legalities of that. But what I wanted to touch on as our closing theme, because it's a very positive one, uh, is the claims. Let's let's touch a little bit on the claims that PPS are paying out. And on as positive from a point of view is that PPS are happy to pay the claims, negative from the point of view of the person who has to claim, but rather have that insurance. But touch on the claims a little bit.
SPEAKER_00So the claims last year, as an example, was probably one of the highest years we've ever had. Um 4.2 billion Rand paid out uh to the membership base. And as you say, we are more than happy to pay it. It's it's in times of need where the collective have to cover each other, uh, which is what the ethos of mutuality is. So, I mean, and and that was across the board, whether it be short-term, life insurance, critical illness, um, and it obviously had an impact on the profitability, but but as you said, Alec, we are we are we exist to pay claims as well.
SPEAKER_01So very happy to do so. Now, Andrew, you and I have both seen um, you know, we've obviously had to you know position risk cover to clients, and it's it's very often a grudge purchase until there's a claim, and when there is a claim, the difference it makes for families is immense.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Alec, I think at the end of the day, we are wired in such a way that we understand the risks. We see the risks on a daily basis, weekly basis, yearly basis. But um, the key thing is for people to understand that the importance of number one, having a plan. Let's bring it back to holistic planning, right? The importance of having a will. We spoke about wills in the program before. So many people don't have wills, so many people are underinsured. Like we said earlier, the insurance gap is about 50 trillion rand in South Africa. That's an enormous amount of money. We, as people are very materialistic in general, we're quick to insure our cars, our watches, our laptops, our houses, etc. We don't insure ourselves. Logically, it doesn't make sense. But when you get going on the financial planning journey, it it that we act as sounding boards, right? Um, we highlight those risks. And I think the key thing is when that risk compounds is when people have young families, for example, for example, kids, etc. And you spoke about businesses. Um, just last week we had a conversation with two business owners here in town with regards to to buy and sells, for example, and and they must be structured correctly. So it's not just the product as an in PPS, it's everything that goes around it, Alec. It's it's phenomenally important, and this world is evolving and morphing very, very quickly.
SPEAKER_00It's also, I mean, you almost have to look at it from a holistic point of view inside of this ecosystem, too. It's uh 4.2 billion claims paid last year, it's a profit level of just under 7 billion, still paid back to the membership base. While we have uh created massive impact across the country in the same ecosystem with the same people, yeah.
Final Thoughts & Wrap Up
SPEAKER_01Sean, it's absolutely phenomenal. Um, you know, what what your business is doing. Um we're very proud to be associated with a company like like PPS and PPSI. And uh yeah, I just want to encourage you to you know to continue down this path. Um, you know, it's gonna branch out, it's gonna, it's gonna have a massive impact on generations to come.
SPEAKER_00Thank you, Alec and Andrew, and thank you for having me. But also, we've really um enjoyed the partnership with private wealth management from from our point of view, it's almost the golden standard of holistic planning. So, yeah, the same to you. Um, everything of the best for not just the partnership but the growth of the business. I can definitely see um amplifying that space as well.
SPEAKER_01Thank you very much, Sean. Excellent, thanks very much. Thanks all. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and comment.