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| Graduate professionals opt for more comprehensive cover | 22 July 2010 | |
| PPS - | ||
| 20 July 2010: While many South African insurers have noted the significant impact that the volatile economic environment has had on the ability of mass market clients to continue paying premiums on savings and risk policies, graduate professionals do not appear to have been similarly affected. According to Mike Jackson, CEO at PPS, the specialist financial services provider to the graduate professional market, these individuals have shown remarkable resilience during the tough economic and business conditions over the past couple of years. “We have not seen a noticeable increase in unpaid premiums or terminated policies from our members at all during this period. In fact, we have actually seen many of our members increasing their level of savings and taking out additional risk cover. He says that this may be due to the fact that members have used the difficult financial conditions as an opportunity to critically review their own circumstances and to structure their affairs to ensure they have sufficient cover and that their retirement savings plans are still on track. Jackson furthermore adds that the company expected to see a rise in sickness claims during this period, given the difficult economic climate. However, this did not turn out to be the case. “Our members, in particular medical and dental professionals, said their practices remained extremely busy over this period and that they could not afford to be off work sick.” He says the skills shortage in South Africa – particularly among many professional occupations such as accountants, doctors and lawyers – is also helping this market segment to maintain their savings levels and risk cover. “Demand for such skills is continuing to outstrip supply, so there has not been as much in the way of job losses and pay cuts in the professional market segment as has been seen elsewhere. Professionals are generally busier than ever.” Jackson says that while there continues to be a strong take-up of PPS benefits by the medical profession, a proportionately larger number of finance and business professionals have also joined PPS in the past five years. “We are seeing an increase in the number of graduates entering the workforce, as well as graduates from a broader range of institutions applying to join PPS, than was the case five years ago.” “We are also seeing continued uptake by black professionals with roughly half of new professionals joining PPS comprising black graduates. We have also seen a marked increase in the proportion of female graduates joining PPS, which is currently in excess of 30% of all new clients.” | ||
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