Managing Your Boss

Companies attract many different and quirky personalities and you are bound to have a problem with some people. But when your boss is the problem, its a big problem for you.
So what do you do when you don’t get along with your boss? The best and most practical advice is just move on to a position or environment more suited to your personality. But in many cases, if you can understand your boss’ personality trait, and how to deal with that personality type, it can help. Here are some of different types of particularly difficult personality traits found in managers. 

The passive aggressive personality - Passive aggressiveness is a strategy used when a person basically isn’t able to confront issues directly so instead will use indirect means of criticizing you. It could be in the form of comments or actions that make you question yourself or cause you to make mistakes.

It is difficult to address because oftentimes it may be seen as you “taking it the wrong way” and so others may not always see the problem. Dealing with passive aggressive behavior is to recognize it and address it at the time it is happening. Do not need to be rude or aggressive back. Simply let the person know that their comment was not acceptable and that their rudeness is not necessary. The idea is to bring their behavior out into the open. You will feel good about defending yourself without resorting to back-biting or complaining and chances are that once they realize that it doesn’t work on you, they will stop.

Manipulative personality - Many managers can demonstrate qualities of manipulative behavior. This is particularly common where there is large power difference with regards to education or authority. You are anxious to make your boss happy and to prove your worthiness. You may find that you are saying yes to things without really wanting too. The problem is that this type of boss may not be looking out for your best interest but their own and so have you running off in multiple directions and not focused on your career goals.

In a way this feels like a compliment because you are taking care of so much and feel validated in your job. But it is important to know when it has gone too far and now you are not progressing in the direction you set for yourself. The most critical thing is to learn to recognize when it is happening and then to address the specific situation with your boss privately.

It may be uncomfortable if you are not used to speaking up, but you will develop great skills in managing others (managing up) and with a little skill and patience you can be sure to keep your career on track while still making the boss look good. Setting boundaries at the beginning is key.

The unfocused boss - Having a supervisor that lacks focus can be exhausting for the people reporting to him or her. This type of boss has so much energy and wants to do everything and wanted it done yesterday. They commit constantly to more projects without checking with the people who actually do the work. Their positive energy is infectious and it is great to be so productive.

The problem occurs when you start projects or experiments every day. Priorities change daily, or sometimes hourly, and you can’t finish a task before a new one is put upon you. The only way to keep up is to work very long hours and even then your head is barely above water. This type of situation will lead to burnout if not handled timely.

The best way to address this situation is to have a talk with the boss and have prepared a list of every project you have going and where it is at in terms of being finished and the deadline if there is one. Explain how you prioritized the list and what you feel are the most important projects to complete before taking on more. If the boss wants to add more to your list, give them an honest assessment as to when it can be started. When they insist it must be started earlier, ask them which project on this list should we bump off?

The idea is to bring to their reality all of the commitments so they can understand the volume of work on your plate. You need to be firm when stating that you simply cannot take on another project until projects x, y, and z get done. They want to keep you working hard for them and making them look great. You just need to restore your sanity and feel good about having a job well done instead of 20 jobs all done poorly. This type of boss often does not realize the extent of your frustration until you discuss it so it may come as a shock when you finally draw the line.

The micro-manager boss - Depending on the type of worker you are, a micro-manager can be a benefit or a nightmare. If you like to have a lot of direction and attention, you won’t mind a micro-manager at all. However, if you prefer to work independently, you will not be a good match with a micro-manager. This type of supervisor will check in with you every 5-15 minutes to see how you are progressing. You know you are in trouble when the boss positions your desk or cubicle as close to their office as possible.

To survive micro-management, you can try a couple of techniques. One is to find another place to focus on your work; whether you need to read papers or work on a powerpoint presentation, find an empty conference room where you can focus without being disturbed. If leaving your desk is not an option, try putting on headphones or listening to your ipod (even if it is off) as an indicator that you are focused and can’t be disturbed.

If the constant interruptions are occurring in the lab, set the time to go off in a 1-2 minutes. If you are being called to the boss’ office while trying to get your lab work done, bring the timer with you and let them know you only have a few minutes before you need to get back to your samples.

The put-down boss - It is difficult to handle a supervisor who rules by negative reinforcement. Most people will not last under these circumstances and who would want to?The best approach is to make sure you do not work for someone like this.

During the interview, make sure to talk to others in the group or lab and also, you may want to check references for the boss with others who worked with this person and left the group.

But if you do find yourself in a situation where you have to be subjected to verbal insults, if you are not overly intimidated, try speaking to the person about it and give specific examples of when their language was inappropriate or crossed the line. If you don’t feel comfortable confronting the situation, it would be best to leave, plain and simple. No job is worth the anxiety and stress of dealing with abuse.The workplace is a dynamic place with many differing personalities all needing to work together. It is not uncommon that two people just don’t click or that personality clashes will occur.

The answer to any uncomfortable situation with a boss or co-worker is always to be positive and to be constructive. Focus on the problem and not the person. Focus on how to work together and not how to get the other person to change – because they won’t. It is important it is to leave any job with relationships intact. Never insult the boss or management or retaliate on your way out. That is the surest way to never be hired again.

Kookmin Increased Stake - Bank Buokopin

Kookmin Bank has increased its stake in Bank Bukopin to become the largest shareholder in the medium-sized Indonesian lender. The South Korean bank has acquired new shares issued by Bank Buokopin in two tranches in July and August to boost its shareholding to 67% from 22%.

The new shares were floated to ease the liquidity problem at the listed Indonesian bank, diluting the ownership of existing shareholders, including the Indonesian government and conglomerate Bosowa Corporindo.

Since acquiring a 22% stake in Bukopin in July 2018, Kookmin has aimed to increase its holding. In total, it has spent around 400 billion won ($337 million) to buy shares in Bank Bukopin.

Kookmin has been keen to continue its foray into Indonesia, to offer retail banking, non-life insurance, credit card and personal loan services alongside its non-banking affiliates. Indonesia has higher lending margins than South Korea. With a population of 268 million, more than five times South Korea, the Southeast Asian market is believed to have more room for growth than South Korea’s saturated banking market.

Bank Bukopin, founded in 1970, is a retail lender with 412 branches and offices, as well as 835 automated teller machines across Indonesia. It specializes in pension credit and loans, and lending to small- and medium-sized companies.

The share purchases were made after Kookmin disposed of its stake in then PT Bank Internasional Indonesia to Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) in 2008. Kookmin acquired a controlling stake in PT Bank Internasional Indonesia in a consortium with Singapore’s Temasek in 2003, but sold it for a profit in five years in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Buying Term Insurance Online Albeit Covid19

During Covid-19pandemic -  interest in life insurance, especially term plans for pure protection, has grown exponentially. Industry players claimed policyholders are increasing their life cover and pure term plans (especially the online ones) are gaining traction.

Demand for unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) have dropped as consumer confidence in the stock market has been badly hit. Customers are looking for stability and assured returns. Experts say that savvy customers who believe in buying at the bottom will start new Ulips and existing customers should stay put and not try to redeem prematurely as cost averaging is going to help them.

Insurance companies have also been tweaking their product strategies and moving to digital to push sales. Heightened interest in insurance will be difficult to convert to actual sales, unless the industry moves to online "fulfilment" in a big way, with analytics-led customer segmentation and selective medical underwriting.

Buy Online Term Plans - It is recommended to opt for a pure term insurance plan to cover the life risk and protect the family. Term plans provide financial protection to one’s family as the benefit amount is paid out to the nominee in case of death of the person insured. Most people still prefer buying term insurance from agents although online policies are 20 to 30% cheaper. As the first-year commission paid to agents is high, buying a policy online saves the agent’s commission and documentation costs of the insurance company.

One can purchase an online term plan directly from the company’s website. Insurers offer customized term insurance plans according to the policyholder’s needs. Ideally, the cover or the sum insured should be 10 times of one’s annual income and should be reviewed periodically depending on the age and the liabilities.

Before you finalize on the term plan, confirm from the company whether you would need a medical test. Most companies insist on a medical test after the age of 45 years. Insurance companies bear the costs of the medical tests which have to be done at approved hospitals and the report is generally shared with the applicant. and Do fill in the details in the form accurately. Any wrong information will lead to cancellation of the policy and even rejection of claims.

Look At Costs Before Buying ULIPS - Unit-linked insurance plans which are linked with stocks come with a thin crust of life insurance. These products have a lock-in period of five years and policyholders opt for either large-, mid- or small-cap or even debt funds depending on their risk appetite. As Ulips are market-linked, they can be volatile in the short-term and the returns are not guaranteed.

You must know the cost structure of Ulips before investing. There are six types of charges—premium allocation, policy administration, mortality and fund management, switching, and discontinuation of premium. The premium allocation charge in Ulips is deducted from the premium paid by the policyholder for allocating the units. It is charged by the insurers to recover the costs incurred in processing the policy such as underwriting, medical examinations and distributor fees.

The mortality charge will depend on the age of the policyholder and health conditions and is calculated per thousand of sum at risk. Mortality rate is higher for Ulips as compared with term plans. The fund management charge is deducted towards managing the fund and is levied as a percentage of the value of assets. It is deducted by the insurer before arriving at the net asset value.

Cathay Life - Bank Mayapada Updates

Cathay Life Insurance Co said it would recognize an investment loss of NT$8.8 billion (US$298.1 million) in Indonesia’s Bank Mayapada Internasional Tbk PT due to concerns about the lender’s operations amid a corporate scandal.

The company said it would revise its earnings result for June, from a net profit of NT$6.52 billion to a net loss of NT$520 million, its first monthly loss over the past 17 months. After booking an investment loss of NT$5.2 billion in Bank Mayapada earlier this year, Cathay Life has so far recognized total investment losses of NT$14 billion in the lender.

Cathy Life has invested NT$13.3 billion in Bank Mayapada since 2015 and recognized a net profit of NT$700 million over the past five years. However, the recognized investment loss of NT$8.8 billion has completely written off its investment in the Indonesian lender.

The company conducted due diligence of Bank Mayapada at the end of last month, discovering that the lender’s non-performing loan ratio stood at 6.94 percent, higher than the industry average of below 3 percent, although it still made a profit of 143.6 billion rupiah (US$9.73 million) for the first half of this year.

Benny Tjokrosaputro, one of the lender’s debtors, was in January named a suspect in a bribery case involving PT Asuransi Jiwasraya, which had also triggered a run on the bank, he said.

Despite its losses of NT$14 billion in the lender, Cathay Life is still considering whether to raise its stake in the lender from 37.33 percent to 51 percent. Cathay Life is still talking with the Indonesian government and the bank’s controlling shareholder Tahir family about many issues, including how to handle the loans offered to Benny Tjokrosaputro.

Based on Cathay's investment in Vietnam and Cambodia, it believe that if it have controlling power over the investment entity, the returns would be solid. So it is still evaluating if it should be a controlling shareholder in Bank Mayapada. The insurer might reach a conclusion in three months.

Cathay Life yesterday reported net profit of NT$12.2 billion for last month, the highest for a single month, due to advancing payment of cash dividends, while its cumulative profit for the first seven months rose 29 percent year-on-year to NT$31.5 billion.

Returning To Toxic Workplace

A significant number of employee working from home is a welcome break from the endless commuting, offices politics, and workplace gossips. With some normality coming back to 2020 – it looks like for most of us – we will be expected to return to the workplace. 

For lovers of the workspaces, this can be a welcome relief as it means no more zoom meetings at 9am, but for people who work in a toxic environment the thought of returning may be filling you with dread. A survey conducted found that out of 1,229 professionals, 71% of them felt bullied by a boss or supervisor, and a minor 4% claim to have never felt bullied.

Toxic co-workers - We tend to think of difficult co-workers as either bullies, or toxic, but they are not mutually exclusive. They’re the same thing usually. Whether it’s a co-worker subtly digging away behind you back, or another correcting non-existent mistakes the outcome is always the same – your mental health suffers. Typically, negative people who bring the workspace down tend to do it for the same reasons a school bully does; they thrive on the power they have to manipulate others and/or they’re insecure about their position. Unfortunately, toxic environments can sometimes produce success by enforcing fear or a negative workspace, but staff tend to not stick around to see (or care) about the results.

Toxic co-workers can be your friends also, as there’s such a thing as ‘blowing off too much steam’ with a colleague. Ranting about work is an important and natural part of life (and has proven to be healthy for team moral), but it should be kept in check. Excessive complaining at work can turn an already negative and toxic workplace into a hostile one, leaving you focused on the bad qualities and blind to the good ones. If you find yourself being dragged into a situation that might be negative.

Can a toxic workplace effect my health - It is not the most helpful thing to ‘grin and bear it’ or ‘keep a stiff upper lip’, as -and who would have guessed it – ignoring the causes of stress result in more stress. ‘Obviously there are clear reasons to try and remove a toxic environment – work efficiency suffers greatly, as does team moral and respect for the company, but the effects on your mind have real ramifications. There’s a reason you dread sitting down at your desk on Monday morning, as a toxic environment keeps your mind endlessly on edge. The constant flow of cortisol, testosterone, and norepinephrine produces physical, emotional, and mental stress on the body and makes it almost impossible to maintain a healthy work rate’.

Making the change - Making a change in your social life when you have complete control can feel like a herculean task in itself, so how do you change your situation at work when aspects are totally out of your hands? ‘Because it’s common to feel down about your work, don’t think that you’re alone fighting this battle. Try to establish a network of work colleagues you trust and consider honest. It doesn’t even have to be a big network, just one or two close people will provide the guidance you need when questioning things that seem unfair. 

Life Insurance Fraud - Dubai

An Indian woman and her husband have been accused of embezzling Dh1.1 million from a life insurance company in a case of fraud. During a session at the Dubai Court, the 33-year-old Indian woman, an insurance consultant, was charged with embezzling money from 43 cheques issued to beneficiaries with help from her Indian husband.

The scam was unearthed when beneficiaries logged complaints with the company about them never receiving their life insurance cheques. Records revealed that the woman had been entrusted with cashing the cheques between January and May 2017. Instead of depositing the amounts into the clients’ bank accounts, she deposited them in her and her husband’s bank accounts.

The lawyer of the insurance company testified that the Indian woman received the cheques in cash and her husband helped her in withdrawing some cheques for her benefit.

“The cheques were issued against cash for the holders and they used this to embezzle the money for their benefit. During internal investigation, she admitted to the embezzlement and promised to return it to clients,” the Sudanese lawyer said in official records.

The woman was charged with embezzlement while her 36-year-old husband was charged with criminal abetting.

AmMetLife Unloading Its Operation

AmMetLife Insurance Bhd are exploring options for their Malaysian life insurance business, which could fetch as much as US$600 million in a sale. MetLife Inc and AMMB Holdings Bhd are working for the potential divestment of the jointly-owned business. A formal sale process could start as soon as this year.

The asset could draw interest from other insurers in Malaysia. MetLife continues to invest in its business in Asia where demand for insurance continues to be strong. Deliberations are still preliminary and the companies could decide not to proceed with a disposal.

Malaysia has seen a wave of consolidation in the insurance industry. AMMB and Insurance Australia Group Ltd are selling AmGeneral Insurance Bhd., Malaysia’s second-biggest auto insurer. AXA SA and Affin Bank Bhd have also been considering a sale of their life and general insurance businesses in Malaysia.

MetLife and AMMB set up their Malaysian insurance partnership AmMetLife back in 2014. The company offers life insurance and wealth protection services in the country. Its gross earned premium was about RM243 million for the six months ended September 2019.

MetLife sold its Hong Kong units to FWD Group Ltd this year for an undisclosed amount. The US insurer still has operations in China, Japan and Korea.

AIA China Wholly Foreign Owned

AIA Life Insurance has opened its doors in Shanghai on 18 August after obtaining its business licence, thus becoming the first wholly foreign-owned life insurance company on the Chinese mainland.

The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of AIA Group, will manage AIA's life insurance business on the mainland and is applying to set up new branches.

In June, the insurer received approval to transform its Shanghai branch into a wholly foreign-owned life insurance company, the first of its kind to obtain such approval.

The establishment of AIA Life marks another landmark moment for the new round of opening-up of China's financial industry.

AIA set up a branch in Shanghai in 1992, one of the first non-local insurance institutions to be granted life insurance business licences after China’s reform and opening-up, and it is the first insurance company to introduce the insurance agent system to China.

Covid-19 Overwhelms AIA

Hong Kong-based insurer AIA Group Ltd. on Thursday reported a 37% fall in new business for the first half of the year, as the COVID-19 pandemic dented sales of its insurance products in its main markets of Hong Kong and China.

Insurers across the world have been hit by pandemic-related claims including for travel, business interruption and event cancellation, while economic slowdown and job losses have led to reduced demand for life insurance.

In Asia, insurance firms mainly rely on their army of agents for product sales, which have been dented by lockdown and social distancing measures put in place in various countries to contain the pandemic.

AIA’s new business value, which measures expected profits from new premiums and is a key gauge for future growth, dropped to $1.41 billion in the six months ended June 30 from $2.28 billion a year earlier.

China and Hong Kong together account for about half of the new business growth globally at AIA.

The value of new business from Hong Kong plunged 68% due to mandatory quarantine requirements for all arrivals from mainland China since early February, AIA said, while new business from China fell 13%.

The company has long benefited from demand for insurance products in its two biggest markets of Hong Kong and China, but has faced a sharp slowdown in growth in recent quarters due to anti-government protests and an economic downturn in Hong Kong.

Managing Whole Life In A Changing Circumstance

Whole life insurance has several benefits. There is a guaranteed savings account (also known as cash value). Whole life also provides long-term death benefit protection. While there are many reasons to purchase a whole life policy, currently low interest rates are making it challenging for existing whole life policyowners.

If you have a whole life policy, is it still serving you well? Could you be facing additional premium payments going forward? Now may be a good time to re-evaluate your whole life policy for three reasons. 

Lower interest rates are not good for policy dividends - Lower interest rates may be good for some companies, but generally speaking they are not good for insurance carriers. Low interest rates can negatively affect whole life dividends and policy loans. Annual dividends are a return of policyowners’ premiums. They are not guaranteed, but they are important in the performance of a whole life policy over time. Dividends are reinvested in the cash value of the policy and help the savings account grow. After 15-18 years, in most cases the dividend is usually large enough to pay for the future premium. The policy owner does not need to make any more payments and has a potentially “paid-up” policy for life.

Lower interest rates can mean lower dividends for policyowners. This is because insurers invest policy premiums largely in conservative fixed income assets. If the fixed income investments are yielding less due to low interest rates, than the insurers earn less on their money and have less to credit in dividends. If dividends remain low, whole life policy owners may have to pay into their insurance contracts for longer they initially anticipated. The dividend may not be large enough to have the policy “paid-up.”

Lower interest rates are not good for policy loans - Whole life insurance policyowners can borrow from their cash value while they are alive. The insurance company charges interest on the loan. This used to be less of an issue because loan rates were low and dividends were high. However, since insurance companies are earning less on their bond portfolios, they are looking for alternative sources of income. Some insurers are raising the loan rates they charge policyowners. Recently one large insurance company boosted their loan borrowing rate from 3.5% to 5%. For policyowners with an outstanding loan on their contract, this is an additional cost that will detract from the performance of the cash value. Again, this may translate into paying for longer than initially anticipated.

Your goals may have changed - Take an example of a 60-year-old policyholder who no longer needed the whole life insurance death benefit protection. His kids were older, and the mortgage was paid off. Instead, retirement income and long-term care insurance were higher priorities. We asked the insurance company for a quote on his existing whole life policy. To no surprise, they projected he needed to contribute more premium. The dividend was not high enough to put the policy in paid-up status. The time was right to evaluate other options.

What to do instead - A good start is requesting an in-force illustration from the existing carrier. An in-force illustration projects the cash value and death benefit values. It also shows how much longer you may need to fund the policy. I usually stress test the in-force illustration by running a dividend rate lower than the current dividend. If the policy needs several more premium payments to reach the “paid-up” status, then you want to evaluate whether it still makes sense to fund. It may be time to look at other options.