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Investment Indicators - 12 June 2017 |
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Paul Kruger
Author/Editor |
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Hindsight is always twenty-twenty – Billy Wilder |
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Distributed to 46 925 subscribers.
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What if you could focus on doing what you love - looking after your
clients? |
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An authorised Financial Services Provider FSP no. 731. |
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| Rates Review |
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1. Secured Investment Rates |
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Please note that (G) indicates a Guaranteed and (L) a Linked product. In order to understand the difference between guaranteed and linked rates,
kindly click here for an explanation. |
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Company |
This Week |
Last Week |
| 1 |
Absa (L) |
6.481% |
6.476% |
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2 |
Assupol (G) |
6.290% |
6.290% |
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3 |
Discovery (G) |
5.756% |
5.805% |
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Company |
This Week |
Last Week |
| 1 |
Assupol (G) |
6.720% |
6.730% |
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2 |
Absa (L) |
6.481% |
6.476% |
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3 |
Old Mutual Wealth (L) |
6.400% |
6.580% |
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2. Money Market Funds |
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Please bear in mind that our figures, though based on the actual quotations that you also use, are for information purposes only,
and can never replace the official quotation from the product house. In terms of the guarantees, you are requested
to clarify the exact extent of such guarantees with the product house prior to advising clients. |
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From the Crow's Nest |
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Hindsight and Objectivity |
The recent Molate determination, in which Discovery Life was held
liable for losses incurred after the death of a life assured, again
raises the issue of objectivity with the benefit of hindsight.
Background
The complainant made an enquiry regarding life cover at one of the
Virgin Active Health Clubs. This enquiry led to the call made by
respondent's direct marketing division, Discovery Connect
Distribution Channel, to the complainant on 23 March 2015. Through
the telephonic interaction, complainant concluded a contract for
herself and her late husband, each applying for R2 million life
cover. The amount was based on advice provided by the respondent’s
call centre, and the inception date of the cover was 1 May 2015.
The complainant's husband was killed in a motor vehicle accident on
18 April 2015, 13 days before inception of the policy.
Discovery declined the claim, but did pay out R 400 000 as, what it
termed, “Immediate Cover.”
The Issue
This case centred around the insurer’s obligation to point out to
the applicant that she had the right to request an earlier date of
entry.
She was informed during the call that the commencement date would be
1 May 2015 as it was a 'little too late' in the month to begin the
policy in April. This was in fact in line with the script provided
to call centre agents to ensure sufficient time to launch debit
orders in time.
When the widow phoned Discovery to lodge the claim, she was told
that the assurer does offer immediate life cover for the full
amount, should the client request this. One of the conditions for
the payment of immediate cover was that a client should not have
requested a future entry date. She was then told that the
respondent's legal team would listen to the recording and make an
evaluation of the claim.
A subsequent letter from Discovery states:
"We are currently assessing your claim for the late Lehlogonolo
Abner Molate. It has come to my attention that the Discovery policy
was sold to you telephonically on 23/03/2015 and your application
commencement of the contract was 01/05/2015 (a date which was not
selected by yourself but rather communicated..., Thompson.). Based
on the information we received from new Business we are now
re-assessing your claim"
The Complaint
"I believe I was denied the choice to have full immediate cover due
to incorrect information at the point of sale. I was ill-advised by
the Discovery Life's Sales Consultant — as a result, I did not get
the full pay out I would have if I had been given the correct
information. In my conversations with the Sales Consultant, Claims
Administrator and Assessor, it can be observed that I was in fact
disadvantaged by the information given by the Sales Consultant".
Response
Concerning the issue at dispute, Discovery conceded that it did 'not
explicitly give the complainant an option as to the date on which
the policy would commence'. However, it submitted that it is not
necessarily standard practice for an advisor to provide a client
with such an option in the first instance. It depends on the
response from the client as to whether or not the advisor goes into
further detail regarding the selecting of a particular commencement
date.
Ombud Finding
Concerning this matter, the Ombud notes:
“The challenge for respondents in all of this is that they have
provided to this Office a record that shows objectively, that
complainant was not advised that she had the right to choose the
date of inception, nor the right to object to the date given to her.
Apart from making this claim respondent makes no case whatsoever as
to how complainant would have known of these rights.”
Special reference is made to the following:
Section 15 (3) (j) - a provider, prior to the conclusion of any
transaction, must provide the client with the following information:
`Concise details of any special terms and conditions, exclusions,
waiting periods, loadings, penalties, excesses, restrictions or
circumstances in which benefits will not be provided;'
In the light of a recent article we published on the 179 page
explanatory document Discovery provides when life cover is affected,
one can rightly question the relevance of this section in so far as
the entry date is concerned.
Hindsight
The Ombud holds that the complainant and her late husband had no
life cover whatsoever at the time of application, and had never been
covered before.
Why then, would they have insisted on immediate cover, having never
had regard or the need for this before?
One cannot help but think that hindsight in this case worked against
the respondent.
Click here to download the
Molate determination. |
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| Your Practice Made Perfect |
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FIA Annual Award Winners |
We would like to add our congratulations to the following providers who
were voted tops in terms of product, relationship and service to the
country’s financial advisors and insurance brokers.
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Short Term Insurer of the Year – Personal Lines:
Santam
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Short Term Insurer of the Year – Commercial:
Renasa
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Short Term Insurer of the Year – Corporate:
Santam
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Underwriting Manager of the Year:
Leppard Underwriting
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Long Term Insurer of the Year – Risk:
PPS
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Product Supplier of the Year – Investment Product Lump Sum:
Allan Gray
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Product Supplier of the Year – Investment Product Savings:
Allan Gray
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Product Supplier of the Year – Employee Benefits:
Sanlam EB
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Product Supplier of the Year – Healthcare:
Momentum Health
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Product Supplier of the Year – Health Insurance:
Stratum Benefits
It would be most interesting to compare these outcomes with the South
African Customer Satisfaction Index, which are probably due any time
now, to see whether adviser experience matches those of clients.
You can click here to read last year’s last year’s SAcsi results for
Short-term,
Life and
Healthcare providers. |
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CMS comment on Constitutional Court Judgement
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Thank you to all those who noted my comment on Thursday and promptly
sent me the media release the minute it was published.
The Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) has noted the Constitutional Court
judgement on the appeal matter brought by Genesis Medical Scheme against
the Registrar of Medical Schemes and the CMS. The Constitutional Court’s
ruling, in favour of Genesis Medical Scheme, that funds in medical
scheme members’ personal medical savings accounts (PMSA) can be treated
as assets of a medical scheme, has huge implications for members of
schemes who have benefit options that include a savings account.
For the CMS, the significance of this judgement lies in the fact that
members of medical schemes are not entitled to earn interest on the
portion of the money in the PMSA, which according to the judgement,
belongs to the medical scheme once such funds are deposited into the
scheme’s account. An equally noteworthy implication is the huge bearing
on what happens to members’ contributions in a situation where a scheme
is declared insolvent. The implication of the judgement is that the
members’ PMSA cannot be ring-fenced from being accessed by creditors
should a scheme become liquidated.
“We will continue to be vigilant as we exercise our regulatory
oversight. It is important for us that members of medical schemes
affected by the judgement still be protected and at this stage would
like members to be aware of the impact of the judgement on any monies
they may have in savings accounts with their particular scheme”, says
Acting Registrar for the CMS, Dr Sipho Kabane.
The Constitutional Court judgement is the culmination of a matter which
has been ongoing since 2013 when the CMS rejected the Genesis Medical
Scheme’s annual financial statements, on the basis that the accounting
treatment of these funds by Genesis was incorrect and that the financial
statements did not correctly reflect the revenue and expenditure, and
therefore, the financial position of the scheme. The CMS indicated that
the scheme had understated its liability by the exclusion of the
members’ PMSA, which in the CMS’ view, was money that did not belong to
the scheme, but to the members.
Genesis took the matter to the High Court for a review of the
Registrar’s decision. The High Court ruled in Genesis’ favour and the
CMS took the matter to the Supreme Court of Appeal, which, in a majority
judgment, ruled in the CMS’ favour, overturning the decision of the High
Court.
Genesis was granted leave to appeal and took the matter to the
Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court set aside the order of
the Supreme Court of Appeal with costs. |
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Southern Cape Disaster
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Our thoughts and prayers are with the people in the garden route who
were directly and indirectly affected by this enormous tragedy.
As normality slowly returns, devastating stories of human and animal
suffering emerge. It is difficult to understand why a child of three
died on his birthday, together with his parents, and the wife eight
months pregnant.
No doubt, many other tragedies will unfold over time.
Our staff collected whatever they could over the weekend in terms of
clothing, which we took to a local school acting as one of the local
collection and distribution points.
The Mayor of Knysna indicated that the biggest immediate need is for
sleeping bags, mattresses and small household appliances.
Please consider their plight and find a place where you can contribute
something from the heart, rather than just unwanted items. |
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Regulatory Examinations |
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2017 Schedule updated |
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Our venues are filling up fast as we approach 30 June 2017.
Candidates who are obliged to write and pass by the end of June
must please register in time.
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Self-Help Guidelines to make a
booking, download your certificate or view results |
Candidates who wrote with Moonstone can now view their results,
make a new booking or update their information on our website:
www.faisexam.co.za
Here is what you do:
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Click on the
Moonstone FAIS Exam website (www.faisexam.co.za)
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Click on the
second heading: “Update Your Booking/Personal Details/Get
results”.
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Key in your ID or
Passport Number used to register for the exam: click on Send
password.
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The system will
send a password to the e-mail address you provided at
registration.
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Use this password
to log in on the same address as above:
Type in the password – do not copy and paste.
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Click login.
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You will then be able to make a booking, download your
certificate or view results.
Frequently Asked RE Questions
Email enquiries should be addressed to
faisexam@moonstoneinfo.co.za. You can phone us on
021 883 8000 - select option 2 to speak to one of our
consultants. |
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Careers Platform
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Are you hiring? Advertise your position on Moonstone’s Career Platform
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The Moonstone website -
www.moonstone.co.za
- enjoys an average of 15 000 visits and approximately 39 000 page views per month. |
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Moonstone boasts an exclusive newsletter mailing list of over 46000
dedicated financial decision makers who receive 2 newsletters per week. |
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Our audience is relevant and industry specific: individual and corporate advisors and brokers in the following financial sectors:
iInvestment, Risk, Healthcare, Banking, Retirement, and Insurance. |
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Featured Positions |
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Financial Planners:
Risk Free Solutions, Port Elizabeth & Kimberley - We are looking for
established, well balanced Financial Planners striving for financial
freedom. If you have matric, your own transport, driver’s licence and RE
qualificaton, then
Read More
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Short Term Insurance
Underwriter:
The Insurance Centre, Westville - We require a commercial and
personal lines short term insurance underwriter / administrator.
Read More
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In Lighter Wyn |
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Daa’s mos net plekkie… |
Local is lekker
Danny Howells is ons een van ons manne oppie Weskus. Hy stuur
onlangs hierdie storie:
Baie jare terug het hier op Velddrif ‘n ou gebly met die bynaam “Klinkerballe”.
Die naam het gekom van sy gewoonte om altyd met ‘n klomp kleingeld
in sy broeksakke rond te loop en dit gereeld met sy hande te skud om
sy finansiële status te beklemtoon.
Een nag klop die polisie vir een of ander rede hom op. Hy stap deur
toe en vra met sy tipiese Weskus aksent: "Wie’s daagr?"
“Meneer dit is die Suid Afrikaanse Polisie!”
“Nou wat het dan van Vellerigf se polisie geword?"
Praktiese advies
Gappa vertel lank gelede van die dag toe hy se neef Jossie bel, maar
die stem aan die anderkant klink nie soos Jossie s’n nie.
“Waar’s ek nou?”
“Meneeg, kyk so bietjie rgond. Is daar nie iemand naby wat vig jou
kan sê waag jy is nie?”
Trials and tribulations of travel
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Tel: +27 21 883 8000 | Fax: +27 21 883 8005
info@moonstoneinfo.com
www.moonstone.co.za
P.O. Box 12662, Die Boord, Stellenbosch, 7613, Republic of South Africa
Disclaimer:
Services and products advertised by external product suppliers in
this newsletter are paid for by the respective suppliers. Moonstone
does not endorse any opinions, conclusions, data, products, services
or other information contained in this e-mail which is unrelated to
the official business of Moonstone and furthermore accepts no
liability in respect of the unauthorised use of its e-mail facility
or the sending of e-mail communications for other than strictly
business purposes.
The complete disclaimer can be accessed
here. |
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