2020 INTEGRATED REPORT

PROFESSIONAL PROVIDENT SOCIETY INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED (CONTINUED) ABOUT LIFE INSURANCE AT PPS PPS Life Insurance provides long-term life, accidental death, sickness, critical illness and disability insurance for graduate professionals, a niche with a distinct profile and unique needs. It is our aim to provide peace of mind, security and wealth protection for our members, both during their working lives and throughout retirement. To achieve this, PPS life products and solutions include features and benefits that many competitor products do not offer. PPS’s flagship product, our Sickness and Permanent Incapacity Cover, offers much more than other similarly positioned products available in the market. The sickness benefit is designed to support the member during an initial period of sickness for up to 728 days. The member does not have to prove loss of earnings in order to receive the benefit and any remuneration received during that period is not deducted from the amount paid out by PPS. Any claim benefits do not have a negative effect on the member’s Profit-Share Account. This was a particularly valuable benefit for members who were diagnosed with COVID-19 in 2020, offering them financial peace of mind at a time when they were ill and unable to work or earn an income. Incaseswhereamember ispermanently incapacitated due to sickness or an impairment, the permanent incapacity benefit replaces or supplements their income right through to retirement. Other differentiators offered by the PPS Life Insurance product suite include international cover and cover for hazardous pursuits that some professionals engage in recreationally, such as scuba diving or flying private aircraft. Also, unlike other offerings in the market, the PPS ethos of mutuality ensures that PPS members who have qualifying life or risk insurance products automatically participate in the Group’s Profit-Share programme. The introduction of the PPS Profit-Share Cross- Holdings Booster allows members with life insurance to boost their Profit-Share participation by taking up other PPS subsidiary and affiliate products, such as PPS Short-Term Insurance, PPSI or Profmed. PERFORMANCE In 2020, annual premium income from new life insurance business in South Africa totalled R222.6 million, a drop of 11% from the number achieved in 2019. Nearly 75% of this new business income was originated through independent financial advisers – and as they provide a primary interface with members, they are very important business partners to us. During the initial ‘hard lockdown’ new business dropped significantly. However, once it became clear that the pandemic was going to be drawn out, there was a significant shift towards working remotely by financial advisers. The trust factor between financial advisers and client is very important, and this needs to be nurtured. Remote contact is useful for routine meetings and queries, but face-to-face contact is essential to establish, build and maintain trust. We have adapted to all these challenges and new business recovered well since the lockdown restrictions started to ease. 52 | PPS INTEGRATED REPORT 2020