PPS pays out N$206 million to members
Graduate professional insurance
PPS Namibia recorded an operating profit of N$49.3 million.
PPS Insurance Namibia, the provider of intelligent financial solutions exclusively for graduate professionals, delivered another outstanding performance in 2023 and returned exceptional value to members despite a low-growth economy.“The business had an exceptional 2023 as we continued to bolster the well-being of our members. In addition, PPS Namibia’s long-term investment focus continued to prove its mettle in 2023,” said Johan van der Westhuizen, CEO of PPS Namibia.
Gross insurance premium revenue increased year on year by 9% from N$213.3 million in 2022 to N$233.3 million. In 2023, benefits and valid claims returned to PPS Namibia members amounted to N$206.5 million.
The total net (of reinsurance) claims increased from N$73.8 million to N$83.3 million. PPS Namibia recorded an operating profit of N$49.3 million.
“Our members in Namibia also benefitted from the good investment market returns in 2023," said Van der Westhuizen.
Unique advantage
"Investment returns distributed to members’ notional PPS Profit-Share AccountsTM have increased from N$4.7 million in 2022 to N$176.9 million in 2023. We continue to adhere to the same multi-manager strategy in Namibia that our members benefit from in South Africa,” said Van der Westhuizen.
“We should just remember that it is the long-term average returns that matter. Good years like 2023 push those long-term averages up. But investment returns on growth assets, which usually deliver the best long-term returns, will always be somewhat volatile over shorter periods. Given the long-term nature of our members’ tenure with us, we have a unique competitive advantage that allows us to focus on investing in those growth assets. But we caution against over-enthusiastic future investment return expectations based on the good performance in 2023,” he added.
Profit shares
According to Van der Westhuizen, the impact of the good profit in 2023 is evidenced by the value of the PPS Profit-Share AccountsTM of some of the long-standing members.
“We are proud to have welcomed 70 new members to the ‘PPS Profit-Share millionaires club’ in Namibia, having accumulated more than N$1 million in their PPS Profit-Share AccountTM. This brings the total number of Profit-Share millionaires created to 504,” Van der Westhuizen said.
The strength of PPS’s unique mutual model ensures that premiums paid by members who hold qualifying products are ultimately returned to them through claims paid or investment growth allocations to their PPS Profit-Share AccountsTM after business running costs.
“Our strategy in Namibia continues to be the introduction of new products, services and solutions into the market shortly after they have been launched in South Africa. Namibian members can, therefore, look forward to many new innovations in 2024,” said Izak Smit, PPS Group CEO.