Challenging times often bring opportunities. Our focus lately was very much to bed down some of the exciting new initiatives that we kick-started over the last few years – transforming PPS from an income protection and life-insurance focused business to a more holistic financial services provider. We continue to investigate opportunities that can fuel further future growth and value creation for our members. Our strategy of bedding down new initiatives is proving to be successful and our subsidiaries performed well in 2021. An example is PPSI, which delivered exceptional performance. In this case, the positive results were due to our investment managers recording significant outperformance relative to mandates and peers, and also due to good operating cost management. This enabled us to continue to provide a reliable financial safety net for our members, sustain Profit-Share allocations, guarantee job security for our staff, support our advisers and, just as importantly, sustain our business. As a company operating under the ethos of mutuality and with solid capital reserves, we have not been under pressure to cut costs or to preserve capital in the same manner that certain other large, listed companies have been. For the past two years, this has enabled us to act swiftly to put various relief measures into place for our members, pay claims reliably, secure and support our adviser network, and maintain our full staff complement on full salary throughout the various levels of lockdown. We have also been able to execute a comprehensive information campaign, offering both general and specific information to help members, advisers and staff to deal with the impact of the pandemic. Our response to COVID-19 PPS is always responsive to member needs and, as in 2020, our responses to the various challenges that presented themselves throughout the year were immediate, often extending beyond the parameters of our existing offerings. We were quick to develop claims protocols in the first weeks of the pandemic. Many of these remained in place throughout 2021. We continued to offer financial relief options, which meant that members across all professions could continue to benefit from critical cover such as life insurance for a period even if they were unable to pay their premiums. In certain circumstances, we even provided members with access to their Profit-Share Accounts to enable them to fund the premiums for their PPS products, an option that is obviously not available at competitors. This made it possible for them to use their regular income, which had been significantly reduced by the pandemic, to cover other essential costs. We also actively engaged with various professional associations and used their insights to develop solutions to serve our members better. These included COVID-19-specific underwriting protocols for our life products, which relaxed some of our standard underwriting requirements and allowed members to access new or additional products during the pandemic. From an operational point of view, we continued where we left off in 2020 to support remote and hybrid working in a way that was seamless to our members. Technical support for staff working from home has been ongoing, as has wellness support for all, which is provided through our Employee Assistance Programme. Sadly, we lost several staff members to the pandemic and many others experienced the loss of loved ones from COVID-19-related complications. This naturally placed a heavy emotional burden on individuals, teams and advisers. Together with our wellness partner, Reality Wellness, we continued to offer a range of interventions to help them deal with bereavement, financial challenges and rapid change in both the home and the workplace. In the area of managed healthcare, PPSHA continued to work with the schemes it administers to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. Members under financial pressure were offered assistance with option changes so that, wherever possible, they could retain their coverage. As we enter our ninth decade of operations, I am again humbled and proud that PPS has been able to navigate the challenges of the past two years, and, in particular, in the way that it has. This period of social and economic upheaval has again demonstrated the value of our mutual model, which enables us to protect our members and their families and to provide them with the means to live the lives they aspire to. While it remains difficult to make any firm predictions for 2022, I feel certain that PPS will continue to steer a steady course as we adapt to the realities of living in an uncertain and changing world. PPS Integrated Report 2021 Chairman’s statement | 40
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