Tuesday, 29th January 2019 – 1Life, a leading direct life insurer, is proud to have maintained its position as South Africa’s leading direct life insurer, with the largest market share (by new business sold) for the 8th year running. This is according to the 15th annual Swiss Re Individual Risk Market New Business Volume Survey, published recently. “In a market that is defined by economic pressures, we acknowledge that we are in a very fortunate position to be at the forefront of the direct life insurance market. I believe that our success can be attributed to the strong support of our customers and their commitment to our market approach and product innovation,” says Laurence Hillman, CEO at 1Life. “In fact, our entire business is underpinned by seeking to offer solutions that change people’s lives.” There are several critical considerations to make when driving business growth – one of which is grasping a better understanding of target audiences and their changing needs - and then adapting products and solutions to meet these specific demands. “Placing a focus on getting this right is a key mantra for the 1Life brand and drives everything we do. Understanding your audience and addressing their needs, both from a lifestyle, and cost perspective, is paramount,” says Hillman. “Further to this is the ability to create an easy underwriting process across product lines, which not only encourages new business acquisition but, very importantly, customer retention. In 2018, we continued to make great strides in gaining a deeper understanding of the potential customer base, how we market to them and, most importantly, how we deliver products that are of specific value to any one target segment – all of which presented new opportunities for us to examine how to maintain and drive value for customers.” The Swiss Re research indicated that digital distribution strategies, simplified underwriting processes, product design and technology (84% in total) are all . . .

One of the first entrants to the South African 12J venture capital landscape is celebrating its fourth year of profitable returns to shareholders. Anuva Investments Ltd (Anuva) reported R14.1 million in profit for its 2018 financial year and distributed R10.5 million to its Class-A shareholders – achieving an impressive 8% dividend yield. “We were incorporated in 2014 as a section 12J compliant venture capital company (VCC) making us the perfect partner for South African taxpayers looking to maximise the tax allowance on offer under section 12J of the Income Tax Act,” says Neill Hobbs, co-founder and CEO at Anuva Investments. The company has already raised more than R235 million in capital. Section 12J is South Africa’s answer to a popular business expansion scheme launched in the United Kingdom in 1994 – the Enterprise Investment Scheme. The tax incentives offered to UK investors under this scheme underpinned investments in more than 25000 small unlisted UK-based businesses over the decade ending 2015. In July 2009 the South African Revenue Services (SARS) introduced a similar tax incentive to encourage ordinary South African taxpayers to invest into qualifying small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) via an approved 12J VCC. Section 12J seeks to stimulate the local economy and create jobs by offering taxpayers a 100% tax allowance on investments into companies that meet certain qualifying requirements. Ordinary taxpayers can claim the full tax allowance provided they remain invested in the section 12J compliant opportunity for a period of five years. Although capital gains tax rules apply upon exiting such investments, financial modelling confirms greater efficiency using a 12J in a CGT scenario, together with the potential for significant returns over that period and thanks to the upfront tax allowance. Interest in section 12J investments picked up in 2014 as investors sought to alleviate their rising tax liabilities on the one hand and bolster . . .

Trade Conferences International, the preferred conference organiser for the Southern African major banks, IT and financial service providers, will be hosting the first third party risk conference in South Africa. The Third Party Risk Management 2019 Conference will be taking place on 19 – 20 March 2019 at Indaba Hotel, Fourways, Johannesburg. This two days conference will be addressed by more than 15 industry experts, tacking the following The third party risk management landscape in Southern Africa Managing risk and instituting best practice due diligence principles Setting up a third party risk management framework Impact of technology and data on third party risk For the brochure with full programme contact Portia Dhlamini, Project Manager, on portia@tci-sa.co.za or 011 803 1553 Professionals dealing with the following will highly benefit from attending this conference; sourcing * vendor management * procurement * compliance* KYS/KYC * regulation * innovation *reporting * financial crime * monitoring & control * risk management * cyber security *identity management * legal affairs* fraud * auditing *forensics * information technology * data management * financial regulation and supervision * financial surveillance * assurance * transactional monitoring * treasury * shared services * cyber security * contract management * supply chain CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za. . . .