Our Story

With the world at war, Drs Kessel, Forsyth, Speck, Lawson, Fielding, Fraser, Pedley and Gottlich - all dentists - established a sickness benefit society they named the Professional Provident Society.

Born in the Free State in 1895, Dr Gordon Alexander Fraser served with the South African forces in World War I and played a major role in the establishment of PPS. He was accorded the honour of being registered as Member Number One.

In the 1950s, several insurance companies were approached regarding a quote for a life insurance company. A quotation from Sanlam was unanimously accepted on 26 May 1958. On 1 November that year, the Group Life Insurance Scheme was created.

PPS launched its own medical scheme on 1 November 1959. The scheme became Profmed on 1 January 1970. PPS relinquished its control over Profmed in 2002 due to the conflict with the Medical Schemes Act. PPS Healthcare Administrators now administers the scheme.

PPS had members in the former South West Africa before its independence to become Namibia. In 2002, PPS Insurance Namibia was created with its own board and local CEO.

Mike Jackson starts as Chief Executive of PPS. Under his stewardship, PPS started expanding and over the 13 years with him at the helm, the company broadened the scope of PPS’s activities to more than income protection and focussing solely on South Africa.

PPS made the brave decision at the cost of losing a big part of the Sanlam distribution channel to develop its own suite of life products.

PPS decided to re-enter the medical scheme administration business so that it could administer Profmed. PPS Healthcare Administrators started operations and soon grew from a single-scheme administrator to the fifth-largest in the industry.

During the first half of the new millennium, the realisation grew that PPS members were putting their life insurance, disability and illness cover with PPS, but not their investments. This led to the creation of PPS Investments.

In 2014 it was decided to create a division of specialists to advise members and customise solutions to their unique needs. In 2019 this division was changed to what is now known as PPS Specialist Support Services, assisting financial advisers with specialised input.

In 2011, it was proposed that a short-term insurance company be built for PPS from scratch. PPS partnered with Santam. On 16 February 2016, PPS received its licence from the Financial Services Board and launched PPS Short-Term Insurance.

The PPS Foundation was established to improve access to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields and contribute to the sustainable development of South African communities through PPS’s ethos of mutuality and shared success.

PPS realised the importance of assisting members in leaving a true legacy. It created PPS Fiduciary Services to meet this need.

PPS created Financial Solutions 4 Professionals (fs4p) in June 2018 to focus specifically on the professional client market in South Africa. fs4p aims to create an environment where exceptional financial solutions are provided to clients.

In partnership with US-based ProAssurance Corporation, PPS Health Professions Indemnity was launched in the fourth quarter of 2018 to provide healthcare professionals with a lifelong, sustainable indemnity product.

PPS Healthcare Administrators start operating in Botswana. This is the first step across South Africa’s borders, servicing medical aids on the rest of the continent.