Hong Kong Tighten Rules On Investment Linked Product

On 1 November 2021, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published a circular to provide additional guidance to issuers of SFC-authorized investment-linked assurance schemes (ILAS) on the application of certain existing requirements under the Guidance on Internal Product Approval Process (PD Guidance) to ILAS (Additional ILAS Guidance). The SFC has also provided further guidance to ILAS issuers in section 4 of its FAQs relating to Investment-Linked Assurance Schemes to elaborate on the requirements under the Additional ILAS Guidance.

The Additional ILAS Guidance formulates further product design and disclosure enhancements, following a recent review of ILAS products on the market by the SFC.

Existing ILAS issuers have until 30 April 2023 to ensure that their SFC-authorised ILAS comply with the enhanced requirements under the Additional ILAS Guidance.

What is required under the Additional ILAS Guidance?
The Additional ILAS Guidance is built upon the existing requirements on product design, fees and accountability throughout the product life-cycle under the PD Guidance. Key points are summarized below.

1: Product Design
When determining the product features, ILAS issuers should consider, without limitation, the following to ensure that their ILAS products are designed fairly and deliver a fair outcome to the target market:

• the level of life insurance protection (e.g. whether and the extent to which the ILAS product provides insurance protection above the premium paid or payable similar to a term life insurance product);

• the fee charging model and structure (e.g. whether policy charges are calculated based on account balance or on a transaction-by-transaction basis) and overall fees and costs borne by an investor;

• the number and variety of underlying funds and fund houses for selection

• the premium payment structure and level (e.g. whether single or regular premium payment, the premium payment amount and period); and

• product liquidity (e.g. whether any surrender charges may apply in the event of early policy surrender or partial withdrawal).

2: Fees
ILAS issuers should ensure that the fees of their ILAS are fair, proportionate and commensurate with the insurance protection offered by the ILAS (when compared with other alternative products) throughout the whole policy term. In particular:

• Cost of insurance (COI) – ILAS issuers should ensure that in general the COI rates of an ILAS product are not higher than those charged by comparable alternative products (e.g. term life insurance products).

• Platform fee – Platform fee should be comparable to corresponding alternative products over the lifetime of the ILAS policy, and upfront charge (if any) should not significantly reduce the amount of premium available for investment and therefore lowering the surrender value and the death benefit of the ILAS policy in early years.

• Early surrender or withdrawal charge (SC) – ILAS issuers should seek to lower the SC and shorten the SC period depending on the level of insurance protection offered by the ILAS. In particular:

1. An ILAS that provides low or minimal insurance protection is generally expected to charge a lower SC over a short period;
2. An ILAS with high insurance protection (comparable to other life insurance products) may charge a higher SC or with a longer SC period; and
3. Issuers should also assess whether investors will receive a comparable payout if they surrender after holding the product for a reasonable period of time as compared to holding comparable alternative products.

3: Complex Product Features
ILAS issuers should ensure that the product features are not unduly complex when designing their ILAS products. ILAS issuers should avoid (a) features or terms which are unnecessarily complicated, incomprehensible or provide no (or limited) additional value to investors; or (b) using multiple variables or complicated formulas unnecessarily to determine the return or which render the policy difficult for investors to understand.

4: Review And Monitoring
ILAS issuers should conduct regular reviews of compliance with the PD Guidance and the Additional ILAS Guidance (based on the latest comparable alternative products available in the market) and submit a written confirmation of compliance to the SFC every two years for products that are on offer to Hong Kong public.

5: Enhanced Disclosure Requirements
The SFC has also revised its illustrative template for ILAS product key facts statement to enhance the disclosure requirements relating to fees, including platform fee and SC.

When does the Additional ILAS Guidance take effect?
The Additional ILAS Guidance took effect on 1 November 2021 (Effective Date), and applies to new ILAS for which applications for authorization are submitted to the SFC on or after the Effective Date. All applicants are required to submit a written confirmation in the prescribed form to the SFC that the PD Guidance and the Additional ILAS Guidance have been and will be fully complied with.

A transition period of 18 months from the Effective Date (expiring on 30 April 2023) will be provided for existing SFC-authorized ILAS to comply with the enhanced requirements under the Additional ILAS Guidance.

Enhanced authorization process for new ILAS applications and additions of investment choices
To facilitate the processing of applications, the SFC has also published a circular on 1 November 2021 to introduce an enhanced process for applications for authorization of new ILAS (Enhanced Process). The Enhanced Process is similar to the process the SFC adopts for applications for authorization of unit trusts and mutual funds.

Under the Enhanced Process, a “two-stream” approach will be adopted, whereby new ILAS applications will be classified into a “Standard Applications” stream and a “Non-standard Applications” stream. Standard Applications will be fast-tracked with an aim that SFC authorization (if granted) will be given around two to three months from the take-up date of the applications. Non-standard Applications will be also processed under an enhanced process with more discipline in response time.

The SFC will (i) take up or refuse to take up a new ILAS application within five business days upon receipt of the application; and (ii) issue the first set of response/requisitions to the new ILAS application within 14 business days from the take-up date.

A new ILAS application will generally lapse at the expiry of six months from the take-up date.

The SFC has also provided further guidance to ILAS issuers in section 1 of its FAQs on Investment-Linked Assurance Schemes to elaborate on the requirements under the Enhanced Process. The FAQs note that the Enhanced Process will generally apply to the processing of applications for authorization of new investment options under existing SFC-authorized ILAS and that application for authorization of a new investment option solely linked to an SFC-authorized fund will be treated as a Standard Application.

Agent Is A Serial Conman

A 56-year-old insurance agent was sentenced to one year and five months’ jail on Friday (Sept 24) for cheating about S$58,000 from longtime friends he had taken on as clients. Selvarajulu Subramaniam lied to one victim, who had been his friend for 15 years, that he had lung cancer in order to get S$14,000 from the other man.

Selvarajulu had earlier pleaded guilty to four cheating charges, with another seven similar charges — including criminal breach of trust as an agent — taken into consideration for sentencing. The Singaporean worked for Great Eastern Life Assurance as a financial advisor at the time of his offences in 2019.

The court heard that among Selvarajulu’s four victims, one of them — Mr G Ravichandran, 56, — had known him for more than 20 years and was his client as well. The two men met in April 2018 to review a loan policy. During this meeting, Selvarajulu told Mr Ravichandran that he had a “refunding plan” which would let the other man reinstate the cash value of an insurance policy he held with Great Eastern.

Selvarajulu then got Mr Ravichandran to sign a form which would purportedly allow him to receive S$11,700 from the firm, and told him to transfer S$10,200 to Selvarajulu’s bank account once he received the money from Great Eastern. This meant Mr Ravichandran would get a net refund of S$1,500.

On May 3, 2018, Mr Ravichandran followed his friend’s instructions after receiving a cheque for S$11,700 from Great Eastern. But a few weeks later, Great Eastern sent him a letter saying he had successfully applied for a second and separate loan policy for that sum.

After making some checks, Mr Ravichandran realized the form Selvarajulu had given him to sign was for a second loan policy. Selvarajulu had also misappropriated the S$10,200 that Mr Ravichandran transferred to him.

Another Victim - Selvarajulu targeted his other victims in a similar fashion. He cheated S$13,700 from another friend, Madam Shahariah Yusoff, whom he had known for 30 years. He had also been the 55-year-old woman’s financial advisor since 199In September 2017, they met to review her insurance policies when he told her that Great Eastern offered this for a term of two years, and she could expect to obtain about S$16,000 as investment returns to be credited into her bank account if she put in a sum of S$13,700. Mdm Shahariah agreed and signed a form Selvarajulu gave her.

She then contacted him two years later after the two-year term was supposed to have elapsed. He had made two bank transfers totaling S$3,037 but this fell far short of what he had promised. She approached Great Eastern representatives on her own accord and was told Selvarajulu had lied to her. She then lodged a police report as well.

Another Victim - Selvarajulu also told another victim —Mr Muhammad Juffri Sayadi, 62 — that he was required to pay penalty fees to keep the policies that he and his family held with Great Eastern active, as Mr Juffri had omitted to make payments on multiple monthly payment cycles.

Over multiple occasions from April to July 2019, Mr Juffri transferred about S$8,000 to Selvarajulu’s bank account. He discovered this was wrong only after being assigned a new financial advisor, who told him to lodge a police report.

Another Victim - Selvarajulu cheated Mr Vadivelu Satchithanant Venkita Ramanan, 50, of S$14,575 by lying that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and needed money for his hospital bills.

The two men had known each other for about 15 years. Selvarajulu claimed he was unable to reach his wife, who was purportedly abroad, to pay the bills and that he could not do it himself because he had been warded. Mr Vadivelu made four bank transfers to Selvarajulu in January 2019. He subsequently filed a police report two months later.

95% Car Not Insured Due To Flood

The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (FOMCA) are asking insurance companies to consider offering 50% rebates on vehicle repair costs incurred due to floods as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative to aid victims.

FOMCA President claimed that around 95% of Malaysian vehicle owners won’t be compensated for repairs. This is because their insurance policies do not cover natural disasters like floods. Most Malaysians are not aware that their insurance providers even offered such coverage as companies failed to advise buyers about the product before proceeding with their purchases.

FOMCA said that they would be sending a request to Bank Negara and the government to get them to tell insurance companies to promote natural disaster insurance coverage to the public. FOMCA is also of the opinion that Malaysians have undermined the severity of natural disasters such as floods that are impacting the nation.

Although there are insurance policies that include natural disasters like floods as part of a comprehensive, all-in-one package, there are those that don’t and would charge extra for it to be included. Most people don’t subscribe to insurance policies that include natural disaster coverage because of these additional costs. The standard rate for natural disaster coverage for your homes and property costs an additional 0.086% (for floods) and 0.081% (for landslides) of the total coverage amount of an individual’s insurance package. While for vehicle insurance, premium holders would usually pay between 0.2% to 0.25% of the total coverage amount.

A report counted an estimated 50,000 cars were left damaged and broken down across the country due to the floods. The number of stalled vehicles were especially high in Selangor and Pahang. It would cost vehicle owners between RM1,700 to RM54,000 to repair the damage done by floods depending on the size of the vehicle and the extent of the damage.

Most owners would also need to continue on paying for their vehicle loans as it remains immobile and unusable while being repaired. This could take a period of between three to six months to complete.

General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM) and the Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA) urged policyholders to have another look at their insurance policies to ensure that they are covered against floods and advised insurance companies to expedite the payments to victims.

Flood victims are also advised to make a police report on the damages done to their properties and vehicles as soon as possible and snap as many pictures of the damages as they can.

RM3 Billion Claim From Recent Flood

The General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM) today said it estimates payout from claims as a result of the devastating floods that swept across the peninsula could total RM3 billion. 

It pledged to add RM2.4 million to its recently launched flood relief fund to cushion the losses suffered by motorists with water-damaged vehicles. It said the additional fund is part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative. It also promise to speed up the settlement of claims and ad hoc ex-gratia assistance given by individual general insurers.

This CSR assistance will initially be in the form of a subsidy towards a clean-up at workshops for vehicles directly affected by the floods (note: not repairs at this stage), capped at a one-off per vehicle subsidy of RM500 for cars/commercial vehicles and RM100 for motorbikes.

Claim Process - Claimants will need to produce requisite evidence of flood damage to their vehicles and proof of previous insurance cover. The said vehicle must be either currently insured (any type of motor policy with or without flood cover is eligible) or a vehicle that was last insured on June 1 2021. 

The association said it will announce later the details of how affected motorists can apply for claims from the CSR initiative. The group also said it welcomed contributions from any other party or industry to increase its flood relief fund.

Previously, PIAM and the Malaysian Takaful Association assured policy holders insured against flood damages that they would expedite the claims process, and that “special considerations” will be given on a case-by-case basis.

Should Bank Distribute Complicated Insurance Investment Policy

With the increasing liberalization of the economy, banks have started aggressively selling a number of financial products to their customers as mutual funds (MFs) and insurance policies. We are witnessing an increasing practice of banks selling complex life insurance products to their customers, particularly those unwary ones who have some money and are looking to keep it in a low-risk instrument.

A fixed deposit (FD) placed with a big-name bank is probably the safest investment next to government bonds. The foundation of the bank-customer relationship is trust. Now, there is a serious issue with the way some of these banks misuse the trust placed in them by their customers. It is more obvious in a nation where financial literacy of an average bank depositor is very basic, if any, and there is an implicit belief that the bank will do what is best for the customer.

Diverting Customers Towards Better Returns - Several instances of banks ‘diverting’ funds of their unwary customers have come to light over the past years. This diversion follows a set pattern. An unwary bank customer comes into some funds, possibly a few lakh rupees, as retirement money or on sale of an asset. The customer then goes to her high street bank and says that she would like to place this in a FD. The ‘relationship manager’ swoops in. This ‘banker’ informs the customer that interest rates on the FDs being what they are, they have a better product that will give them a higher return and provide other attractive benefits.

The relationship manager then offers the customer an investment product, which also combines life insurance. The aspect that is played up is that the customer has to pay a lump sum as premium now and at the end of five or 10 years, the customer will receive a guaranteed multiple of this amount as maturity proceeds. This guaranteed amount seemingly provides a far higher rate of return over a conventional FD, ranging between 10% and 12% per annum as against 6% or thereabouts on a five-year FD in the current environment. The icing offered on the cake is the life insurance benefit attached to the product, which incidentally helps this product qualify as ‘insurance’. The maturity amount is also the sum insured in case of death of the insured during the policy period.

This icing on the cake is actually a poisoned chalice. Sometimes multiple policies are sold, taking away the entire funds of the customer as premiums. After eleven months, when the customer receives a premium payment notice, she realizes that she has no more funds left to pay the renewal premium. The bank thereupon very politely points out that the customer had agreed to pay the annual premium and that the policy can lapse if premium is not paid.

The bank may also explain that in certain circumstances, the policy can be cancelled, but the refund amount is far less than the premium actually paid, that too at the insurer’s discretion.

The customer panics and her first reaction is that “I was not told all this at the beginning”. The bank then points out to the customer that the proposal forms the said customer had signed at the inception of the policy and the 30-odd page policy document subsequently issued to her, cover all of this in black and white and the customer has agreed to it.

Moreover, the customer had a 15 or 30-day free look period during. which she could have cancelled the policy and received a full refund, but the customer has not done so.

All protestations of the customer are met with anodyne responses. It may also happen that the ‘relationship manager’ has moved on. While the unfortunate customer has no access to the relationship manager, the bank manager may also have moved on and the higher authorities in the bank stonewall all enquiries behind the smokescreen of terms and conditions.

Insurance Company Taichi The Blame - Of course, the insurance company in question is even more numb, claiming that the distributor, the bank, is responsible for selling the product. In other words, the miss-selling, if any, is on the part of the distributor, not the insurance company.

Why does this happen? The answer lies in the fact that most of the banks are corporate agents of insurance companies, often several companies, both life and general. The commission can be as large as 30% to 35% on a high-premium, investment-linked life insurance product. Thus, if the annual premium is a couple of lakh rupees, the bank ends up netting sixty to seventy thousand rupees as commission on each policy sold. No wonder the banks use high-pressure selling tactics. This is also the reason why the surrender value of the policy in the first few years is so low.

Probable Mis-selling Tactics Of Bank:

1. The customer is not told that there is a minimum payment period. Therefore, the customer does not realize that she is entering into a long-term commitment to pay a hefty amount regularly for a few years.

2. The customer is not explained clearly that if premium payment is not kept up, she will end up losing her entire money, or under certain circumstances, the customer will get back only a small portion of the premium paid by her, entirely at the discretion of the insurance company.

3. The customer is also not informed clearly of her options in case of her inability to keep up the annual premiums. Policy becoming ‘paid up’ is too complex for a customer to understand.

Cancellation Policy - The feature common to these products is that in the event of cancellation for reasons acceptable to the insurance company, the return of premium during the first five years of the policy ranges from 30% to 70% of the premia paid, depending on the period the policy was in force.

The main issue is that unless the policyholder keeps up the premium payment for the stipulated period, her invested amount is at risk. How does it compare with the standard FD, where the principal amount is not at risk unless the bank fails?

Moreover, in an emergency, the customer has no access to the funds for the first few years of the policy. Unless the policyholder dies early enough during the policy period, the ‘survival benefit’ is actually a survival rip-off!

The most insidious feature is that such products are generally sold to older customers who are retired or close to retirement and trust their bank implicitly. Banks are better equipped to play in this space since there is no single individual answerable for any mis-selling. This readiness of the bank officials to refund the large sum involved from their own pockets clearly shows that a racket was flourishing across the bank at multiple levels!

Regulators, both banking and insurance, need to acknowledge that banks selling investment products in the guise of life insurance entail an inevitable conflict of interest. In reality, their methods are tantamount to miss-selling, which can be defined as selling a product which the customer hasn’t understood, doesn’t need, and can’t afford to pay for in the long run. As a result, many first-time buyers fail to keep up premium payments, thus foregoing their already paid money.

Recommendations - Sadly, private sector life insurance companies have been leaders in mis-selling during the first few years of insurance liberalization. It is an established fact that quite a few private sector life insurance companies made ‘profits’ in the initial years of their operations from lapsed insurance policies until the regulations governing lapsation and appropriation of funds were further tightened.

What the banking and insurance regulators can jointly do is this: firstly, and most importantly, banks should not be allowed to sell investment-linked insurance policies. Banks should only be allowed to sell term life policies, if at all.

Secondly, life insurance companies should be required to show clearly the risk premium charged for death benefit under such policies, separately from the investment part of the premium.

Thirdly, the bank being directly instrumental in selling the product, should be mandated to disclose the commission income to the customer.

Fourthly, there should be a short, easy to understand summary of the downsides in plain English (for example “your investment is at risk if you fail to keep up premium payments”) or the regional language.

Judge Jail Former Agent Of Tokio Marine

A district court judge has ordered a woman to serve four weeks of jail time, after she repeatedly refused to comply with two court orders to take down offensive social media posts that she had made against Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore.

Tay Tiang Choo, who was herself a former insurance agent, reposted her false statements on her Facebook account after the first order.

Tay accused Tokio Marine of committing “scam and fraud” in 2018. She thought the company had discontinued her retirement policy when an internal warning to her agent was mistakenly triggered. She then sent a letter to the firm’s headquarters in Japan demanding compensation and forwarded it to multiple parties, including the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Soon after, she agreed to a settlement with Tokio Marine when it agreed to apologize for its service lapse and offered S$890 of shopping vouchers. However, in June 2019, Tay learnt that a second life policy that she bought with Tokio Marine had lapsed. She claimed that her bank account had enough money in March and April that year when attempts were made to deduct the policy premiums, and that she was not notified of the lapse. Tokio Marine arranged a meeting to explain the reason and offered to reinstate her policy upon payment of the unpaid premiums.

From late 2019 to August last year, Tay sent complaint letters and email messages to several high-profile parties again, demanded S$1 million in compensation from Tokio Marine, and threatened to go to the press and publicize the matter on social media.

She then uploaded various posts and a video on her Facebook and TikTok accounts, alleging that the firm had cheated and defrauded her. The TikTok video showed her protesting in front of Tokio Marine’s office with a board listing the allegations.

In October last year, Tokio Marine filed a court summons to stop Tay from publishing the allegations until a court decided if they were false. The company also sought an order for her to post a notification on her social media accounts that she had made false statements and to forward them to the parties she contacted.

Tay’s allegations included Tokio Marine being “unprofessional and disrespectful” to her, actively lying to and misleading its customers about its policies, and “bleeding out” Tay’s policy until she could no longer pay premiums.

The court granted an interim order the next month, but she did not comply. Instead, she reposted the allegations on her Facebook page three times and encouraged others to like and share the posts.

Under the orders, Tay had to immediately remove her posts, stop publishing such allegations and publish a correction notice on her social media accounts by March 3 this year. It was only after these orders were served on her in late February that she considered complying with them, District Judge Kaur noted in her judgement.

Tay took the Facebook posts down in March. Tokio Marine was then granted leave to begin committal proceedings — that is, to penalise her for non-compliance with a court order. By June, Tay had completely removed the posts from her accounts but refused to publish the correction notice, telling District Judge Kaur: “Like what I have said many times, Ma’am, even if you kill me, I will not do this correction order or correction notice.”

As of the date of the judgement, Tay had not served her jail sentence because of Covid-19 public health concerns.

Insurers To Speed Up Claim For Flood Victims

Insurers providers in Malaysia are ready to help speed up the process for flood victims with flood insurance to claim payment for losses suffered, and also reminded others unaffected by floods to make sure their properties are insured against floods.

In a joint statement released today, Persatuan Insurans Am Malaysia (PIAM) and Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA) both gave an assurance that insurance and takaful companies will expedite the claims process for policy holders who are insured against flood damages.

Policy / certificate holders are advised to contact their insurers or takaful operators for further advice as the scope of cover, terms and conditions including relief measures accorded by one insurer or takaful operator may differ with another.

PIAM and MTA also provided a guide for customers to help enable a quicker claims process.
In the unfortunate incident of suffering a flood loss, kindly refer to the checklist below to ensure that your insurer / takaful operator could assist to provide for an expedited claims process:

“Step 1: Check to ensure that your policy / certificate is extended to cover flood;

Step 2: Notify your agent /intermediary with details of the loss;

Step 3: Provide complete information including all relevant supporting documentation to your insurer takaful operator including photograph if any;

Step 4: Depending on the severity of loss, your insurer / takaful operator may appoint an independent loss adjuster to assist you in filing your claim,” the statement said.

Urging the public to be extra careful amid the current rainy season, the two associations also advised the public to “remain vigilant, avoid taking unnecessary risks and to protect lives, assets and properties”.

As flood coverage is optional under standard insurance policies against fire and for motor vehicles, the two associations advised all their customers to review their policy coverage to ensure their properties are insured against flood, and to contact their agent or insurers or takaful operators for further advice if necessary.

PIAM and MTA would like to remind policy/ certificate holders who are not impacted by these unfortunate flood events to take time to review their coverage to ensure that their interests are adequately protected for natural calamities like flood which is occurring on more frequent basis due to the effects and fallout from the global climate crisis.

The two associations also provided a list of hotlines that insurance and takaful customers can call, including some that were specified as 24-hour hotlines. 

OraGate - Chinese Car Marketing Disaster

Chinese electric vehicle company Ora is facing mounting consumer backlash and potential legal action after it installed an old computer chip in one of its car models — despite telling buyers it came with a cutting-edge one worth around twice the price.

Buyers of the Ora Good Cat, which has a starting price of around 100,000 yuan (US$15,700), say when they complained they were offered a package of store credit including subsidized charging, free software updates and app memberships.

For many owners, that didn’t cut it. Now, some are demanding new chips for their cars or full refunds and compensation, saying the inferior processors have had a significant impact on their user experience, with some functions not working properly.

In a statement issued by a WeChat group of aggrieved Good Cat-owners, which was shared with Caixin, they accused the company of being “evasive” in its response and demanded it explains how the situation occurred. One lawyer who has been interacting with buyers in preparation for possible legal action says Ora’s actions could constitute “consumer fraud”. Ora, which initially responded to questions from Caixin, did not respond to that allegation.

Fishy chips - Claims emerged online last month from owners of the Ora Good Cat that the chip installed in the digital cockpits of their vehicles was an Intel processor released in 2016, and not the more advanced Qualcomm octa-core processor advertised by the carmaker. As a result, some said, the electric hatchback’s entertainment system’s third-party app options were seriously limited.

In a statement published on its mobile app on Nov 22, Ora conceded that the Good Cat models which hit the market a year earlier were not equipped with Qualcomm chips. Those were meant for future models, the firm said, adding that it had advertised the new chips “prematurely”.

Great Wall Motor, Ora’s parent company, later apologized for what it said was a marketing issue.

Older processors - In a since-removed ad for the Good Cat seen by Caixin, Ora had touted a “Qualcomm-powered in-car smart service platform” within its Ora Smart-cafe OS, referring to a platform launched in July 2020 that incorporates three systems — an intelligent cockpit, intelligent driving and intelligent services such as cross-device connectivity.

The Qualcomm processor advertised referred to the Snapdragon SA8155P, a cockpit chip described by the US chipmaker as “an integrated, next-generation automotive cockpit platform”, and used in the in-car systems of models such as the Weltmeister W6, Geely Auto’s Xingyue L and Xpeng’s P5, Caixin understands, while the chip installed in the Ora Good Cats was the Intel A3940, released in 2016.

Qualcomm’s 7-nanometer chip was released in 2018 and had begun launching in mass-produced vehicle models in 2020. The chip is currently the first choice for smart cockpit chips among mainstream new-energy vehicle companies.

By comparison, the Intel A3940 is a quad-core chip that adopts a 14-nanometer process, and its performance lags behind its newer competitor and has weaker compatibility in terms of application ecosystem. Qualcomm’s chips cost around twice as much as Intel’s.

Thailand Insurance Disrupted By Covid

The Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC) plans to enhance the size of the General Insurance Fund (GIF) to help insurance companies handle liquidity issues amid the pandemic as well as set up a new assessment unit to prepare the industry for emerging diseases.

OIC said insurance companies continue to be battered by the surge in claims from Covid policies, with lump-sum payments causing huge losses as these claims are depleting companies' capital reserves and liquidity.

Since the third wave of the pandemic erupted in the second quarter, two companies -- Asia Insurance and The One Insurance -- have been forced to shut down due to such issues.

Learning from Covid-19's impact on the industry, he said the OIC is considering setting up a new work unit to evaluate future emerging diseases to assess insurance risks. The unit would assist in designing insurance products, conditions, coverage and premium rates to lessen the effects new diseases would have on the stability of the insurance sector as a whole.

If the risks can be assessed correctly, insurance companies will not sell more policies than they can afford. Sixteen insurance companies offered Covid policies with lump-sum payments, but only two have had to close because the rest recognized the risks and their limits.

Several companies knew when to stop accepting new customers because they conducted effective risk analysis and put a cap on their sales. Hence, when claims from such policies surged, these companies were able to retain their capital funds and financial positions.

Two other non-life insurance companies with severe liquidity issues -- Syn Mun Kong Insurance (SMK) and Thai Insurance (TIC) -- also recently showed signs of recovery. 
SMK informed the commission there is a group of investors interested in funding the company, while TIC successfully increased its capital reserves and is likely able to pay outstanding claims.

SOCSO Paid RM630 Million - Employment Insurance

The Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) has channeled financial assistance amounting to RM629.2 million through the Employment Insurance System (EIS) since March 18 last year until Nov 5 this year.

The financial assistance was for job search allowances amounting to RM588.5 million, reduced income allowances (RM6.9 million) and early re-employment allowances (RM33.8 million). The number of applications for the benefits from March 18, 2020 to Nov 5, 2021 was 148,926 and, out of that, 119,500 applications were approved. 

55,742 people lost their job since January to Nov 5 this year and a total of RM324.6 million had been approved for the payment of benefits to the individuals involved. Almost 90% of individuals who applied for jobs through the MYFutureJobs portal were able to get a job.

Indonesia - Death Sentence For Corruption

Indonesian prosecutors made history on Monday by recommending a death sentence for a key defendant in a major corruption case at military insurer Asabri. Businessman Heru Hidayat is accused of misguiding the state-run insurer to bad investments for his personal gains and of laundering the ill-gotten money by re-investing in other assets.

Prosecutors told the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court that Heru alone has inflicted a loss of Rp 12.6 trillion to Asabri. Asabri collects premiums by deducting 8 percent of the salary of soldiers, policemen, and civilian staffers at the Defense Ministry.

While the amended 1999 anti-corruption law carries capital punishment, such a demand has never been presented in the court before due to the vaguely prescribed prerequisites. Article 2 of the law stipulates that graft conviction can be punishable by death if the crime is committed when the country is under an emergency situation due to natural disaster or economic crisis, and/or it is a repeat crime.

Prosecutors argued that Heru is a repeat offender, saying that he was earlier found guilty in a separate corruption case related to another state-owned insurance company, Jiwasraya.

Jiwasraya - The Jiwasraya case already saw the country’s toughest anti-corruption trial in which six defendants were sentenced to life in prison last October. It was for the first time in Indonesian history that multiple defendants were sentenced to life in the same corruption case.

Heru, the chief commissioner of shipping company Trada Alam Minera, is also accused of enriching his company using the money he illegally obtained from Asabri. In their attempts to recover state losses, prosecutors seized the company’s assets such as its 51 percent share in subsidiary Hanochem Shipping and an LNG tanker. According to prosecutors’ documents, they only managed to collect Rp 2.4 trillion from the defendant’s assets.

The alleged corruption and money laundering against Heru took place in 2012-19 -- before he was convicted in the Jiwasraya trial -- dismissing prosecutors’ description that the defendant is a repeat offender. The indictment makes no mention about the specific death sentence article and accordingly the demand must not go that path.

There are eight defendants in the Asabri trial -- two of them were already sentenced to life in the Jiwasraya corruption scandal including Heru and renowned stockbroker Beny Tjokrosaputro. The Supreme Court has recently upheld the sentence.

The six others include two former Asabri president directors Sonny Widjaja and Adam Rachmat Damiri; two former Asabri finance directors Hari Setianto and Bacjtiar Effendi; consultant firm Jakarta Emiten Investor director Jimmy Sutopo; and real estate developer Eureka Prima Jakarta president director Lukman Purnomosidi.

Sonny was the first to appear in the hearing earlier in the day and heard a demand of 10 years’ imprisonment from prosecutors.

Graft convicts rarely got the maximum jail sentence in the Indonesian courts. Before the Jiwasraya trial, only two convicts were sentenced to life, including Adrian Waworuntu during the 2003 trial of a major embezzlement case in a state bank and former Constitutional Court Chief Justice Akil Mochtar who was found guilty in 2014 of taking bribes when handling regional election disputes.

Fuse Secured US$25 million Of Series B

Indonesia-based insurtech startup Fuse -  announced today it has secured $25 million of Series B extension round as it plans to enter more countries including Thailand and Vietnam in Southeast Asia. The startup has closed three funding rounds of Series B within the past six months, bringing the company’s total raised to over $70 million.

The fresh capital was led by an undisclosed global fintech fund with participation from existing investors East Ventures, GGV Capital, eWTP and Emtek.

Launched in 2017, Fuse connects insurance companies with multiple distribution channels and partners to make insurance services accessible and affordable through its technology. Fuse uses mobile applications to offer an agent-focused service, B2A (Business to Agent/ Broker). Fuse Pro app enables agents and broker partners to maximize choices for their customers. The startup also has B2C and B2B2C (micro insurance and financial institute), which provides digital small-ticket size insurance products, distributing insurance products cost-effectively to end customers by partnerships with e-commerce channels like Tokopedia.

Southeast Asia’s rapidly growing digitally savvy middle class that is expected to grow to 350 million consumers with $300 billion in disposable income makes the region an attractive market for insurtech companies. The pandemic accelerated the digital transformation in the insurance industry, one of the most conservative sectors. Fuse plans to tap into the huge and underpenetrated insurance industry in other countries in Southeast Asia, where more than 70 percent of Southeast Asia's population is connected to the internet.

Fuse claims it currently has more than 60,000 marketers or agent partners using the Fuse Pro mobile app. More than 40 insurance companies, including general and life insurance companies, use Fuse’s platform to offer over 300 insurance products for partners or end customers. The company has exceeded $70 million in gross written premium (GWP) for the first three quarters of 2021. The company said it has the largest GWP in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

The company has over 460 employees, with branch offices in Indonesia, Vietnam, and China.

Life Insurance Record Payout and Purchase

Covid-19 didn’t have quite the impact on the life insurance industry that some were fearing, but it still has resulted in the highest-ever number of payments to beneficiaries. Life insurance policies paid out over US$90 billion in 2020, a 15.4% increase over 2019. That’s the largest year-over-year increase since the 1918 influenza pandemic.

While insurers paid out more than ever before, they were also busy with new business. Spurred by fears of the pandemic, people bought a record US$3.3 trillion in life insurance coverage last year—some 43.1 million policies. That brought total life insurance coverage last year to US$20.4 trillion in the U.S.

Things could have been considerably worse for life insurance companies. Many of the victims of COVID-19 have been older people who generally have smaller policies. The COVID-19 pandemic caused approximately 377,883 deaths in the United States during 2020. Some 81% of those deaths were of people age 65 and older. It’s unknown, though, how many of those seniors had life insurance policies.

The Delta variant changed the demographics. Since the arrival of that mutation, the number of deaths of those above age 65 has declined to 69% of the total, with a big increase in fatalities among people ages 45 to 64. And we’re still determining the impact of Omicron, which is 4 times as transmissible in its early stage as Delta.

COVID deaths in 2021, meanwhile, have topped 2020 as of last month, which could put the insurance industry on track for another record year of payouts.

Malaysian Court Orders Insurer To Honor Claim

An insurance company was today ordered to pay RM85,000 in damages to a widow who won the final appeal over the loss of her husband’s car that was reported missing soon after his death three years ago.

A three-member Court of Appeal bench held that Loh Swee Liang had proved her case on the balance of probabilities that the car had been stolen. The Court ordered AM General Insurance to pay interest of 5% per annum from July 3, 2018 until the settlement of the judgment sum. She was also awarded RM30,000 in costs.

A magistrates’ court in July 2020 dismissed her claim as no proof was furnished that the missing car had been stolen. The High Court, which affirmed the ruling last year, further held that the police had not arrested any thief to recover the car.

In her statement of claim, Loh said that on July 3, 2018, her husband, Tay Guan Song drove his car from their residential Prima Duta Condominium to Changkat View Condominium to clean up the place as the tenant had left.

Loh said Tay, 37, did not respond over the mobile despite repeated calls that day. She went to look for him at the Changkat View condominium, only to find him dead. She said a post mortem report revealed he had died of a heart attack.

After the mourning ceremony, she realized Tay’s car was missing and lodged a police report.
She made a third police report on Sept 1, 2018 and later made a claim with the insurance company but the claim was rejected as she could not prove the missing car had been stolen.

Loh, in her statement, said she inquired with Tay’s relatives and friends to determine if anyone had borrowed the car. She had also checked with Kuala Lumpur City Hall and the Shah Alam City Council to ask if Tay’s car had been towed away before making her insurance claim.

Detecting Cancer From Blood Test

Every year, thousands of Americans undergo routine screening to catch cancer in its early stages, while it’s still treatable. But these routine tests can be painful and invasive, and doctors only regularly screen for five of some of the most common types of cancer.

So for decades, scientists have been working on ways to screen for cancers using a simple blood draw rather than a painful biopsy or invasive test. These so-called "blood biopsy" tests are closer than ever to dramatically improving the way doctors screen for cancer.

Galleri, a new blood test by health care company GRAIL, is one of the most advanced blood biopsy tests. It works by looking for fragments of DNA in a person’s blood that indicate the presence of more than 50 types of cancer.

Less than two thirds of Americans get screened for colon cancer, which often involves an invasive procedure called a colonoscopy. A simple blood biopsy such as Galleri may improve current cancer screening due to ease of use. But despite the recent advancements, many doctors say there’s a long way to go -- and some say there are reasons to wait for more research to be done.

The Galleri test, though promising, is not yet FDA approved. It still needs to undergo more testing to show it can produce reliable results every time. A common refrain in cancer treatment is "earlier is better": that the earlier a cancer can be found, the treatment is often more successful. However, sometimes it can be difficult to tell the difference between an early cancer and a non-cancerous growth.

A final diagnosis often involves an invasive procedure, such as a needle biopsy or surgery in order to remove tissue. These procedures are not without risk, and any screening tool, such as the Galleri test, should reduce the number of unnecessary procedures by not flagging non-cancers as cancers.

That’s why some in the medical community have hesitation about the utility of a blood biopsy capable of detecting only a few cancer cells, as it may accidentally detect a non-cancer as a cancer.

But at the very least, Galleri could provide an early warning system, so doctors could monitor patients and treat them if it becomes necessary. Although Galleri is still not FDA approved, the test can be prescribed by any physician in the United States. Because it’s not covered by insurance, it costs $949 out of pocket.

Motor Insurance - Interest Free Installments

About 1.7 million civil servants especially those from the B40 group can now purchase or renew their vehicle insurance with interest-free instalments through MyezyCover scheme. The Syariah-compliant scheme was implemented with a RM100 million funding by the Social Security Organisation (Socso), MyAngkasa Amanah Bhd (MAAB) and A Tech Insure Sdn Bhd (ATECH).

The Scheme is targeted at civil servants especially the B40 before being extended to government and private sector retirees to enable them to buy motor insurance via monthly instalments, or four-month payments or in one payment. However those who make a one-payment purchase would receive a 10 per cent discount with payment via salary deduction by Angkasa.

DBKL Officers Cooperative Belly-up

The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) officers’ cooperative is facing a liquidity crisis. Unproductive investments made by the board management has left its coffers empty, leaving retired members who want to withdraw their funds in the lurch.

The matter only came to light after several senior DBKL employees, who retired last year, went to the cooperative office in Cheras to apply to withdraw their funds, only to be told that it was not possible as there was no money. Upon further checks, officers who had retired in 2018 were also yet to get their monies.

Cooperative members have since set up a group to find more details about the missing funds because of a lack of information from the management board. The cooperative had not held its annual general meeting for several years, ostensibly because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Failed investments - Former cooperative chairman who helmed KPPDBKL from 2008 to 2009, claimed there was RM5mil in the cooperative coffers when he was in charge. Business was good then but later, the cooperative invested in housing projects in Kajang, and purchased land in Selangor and shoplots in Kuala Lumpur.

Several members intended to lodge a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). Reports have already been lodged with the Cooperative Commission of Malaysia (SKM). Members want the authorities to investigate the committee members responsible for managing the cooperative funds.

Liquidity crisis - The ooperative which has 1,015 members, was facing liquidity constraints that made it difficult for it to meet financial obligations. Due to several past investments that did not bring in any profit or revenue, it has been difficult for the cooperative to meet its running costs. Due diligence was carried out to evaluate the assets and liabilities and certain activities sustaining on bank loans were not viable. Payments have to be delayed until we settle cash flow issues.

Snake Bite Insurance Fraud

Five men in India’s Maharashtra state were arrested for allegedly killing a mentally unstable man using a snake bite in order to fake the mastermind’s death and claim US$5 million (SG$6.7 million) in insurance money.

Prabhakar Waghchoure, 54, and his four accomplices were arrested for allegedly conspiring to kill the 50-year-old mentally ill victim and pass off the corpse as Waghchoure’s. The accomplices were identified as Sandip Talekar, Harshad Lahamage, Harish Kulal and Prashant Choudhary.

According to Manoj Patil, police superintendent of Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra, Waghchoure lived with his family in the US for 20 years and held a life insurance policy worth $5 million from an American insurer.

After returning to India in January, Waghchoure allegedly hatched the conspiracy with the accomplices, promising them a cut of the money. The group then allegedly acquired a venomous snake and had it bite the victim. After the victim died, the suspects posed as his relatives and registered the body as Waghchoure’s. They even performed funeral rites for the victim as proof of death.

They sent the death certificate and other documents to the US, where Waghchoure’s son filed the claim. However, the insurer grew suspicious, as Waghchoure had already tried to commit fraud in the past.

The insurer’s investigators contacted Indian police, which then launched in investigation and uncovered the conspiracy, leading to the arrest of the five suspects.

Travel Insurance Fraud SIngapore

A Singaporean woman was found guilty of defrauding 12 insurers of SG$30,900 through numerous false travel insurance claims for delayed baggage, despite not going on holidays.
Wendy Tan Phaik Sim, 46, filed the claims under the names of her daughter and husband. To fool the insurers, she forged letters confirming baggage delay.

Tan was sentenced to one year and two months of imprisonment after pleading guilty to five out of 20 counts of cheating, with the remaining charges taken into consideration in sentencing.

The fraudulent claims, the report said, were filed between April 25 and Dec. 2, 2018. In November 2017, Tan took a trip to South Korea via Cathay Pacific Airways and encountered a delay in her baggage. Using the genuine letter and itinerary from the airline as templates, Tan created fictitious flight details and baggage tag numbers and submitted them with claims to various insurers, even though she, her husband and her daughter did not make any trips. In some instances where the family did go abroad, Tan submitted false claims even though no baggage delay happened.

The husband and the daughter were not aware that their names were being used in the scheme.

The 12 insurers were MSIG Insurance Singapore, United Overseas Insurance, AXA Singapore, FWD Singapore, AIG Asia Pacific Insurance, Great Eastern General Insurance, Aviva, Direct Asia Insurance Singapore, ERGO Insurance, NTUC Income, Chubb Singapore and Sompo Singapore.

An employee from Sompo was the first to notice something amiss in Tan’s claim, which used her husband’s name. The employee checked the company’s records and found several claims under the same name. Upon consulting with other insurers, it was discovered that least 12 travel insurance claims were filed under Tan’s or her husband’s name since 2017. Upon confirmation with airlines that no such baggage delays occurred, the representative reported Tan to the police and the scheme unravelled.

Tan and her sister eventually returned the full sum to the 12 insurers.

80% Insurance Buyers Prefer Physical Policy Document

Over 80 per cent of insurance buyers still prefer a physical copy of their insurance document despite rapid digitization. With the contribution of insurance to GDP having risen sharply in the last one year, it is important to also make buyers feel safe about their investment. 

Most companies still ask for the original paper document while processing the claim. The insurance regulator must consider restoring section 4 and mandating issuing physical copies of the policy document at the earliest in the interest of buyers. As an insurance policy is a contract between the insurance company and the insured individual, nearly 82 per cent of the buyers preferred a physical copy over the digital.

About 56 per cent of the respondents were in the age-group of 18-40 years, 28 per cent in the 41-60 years, and 14 per cent of the respondents were 60 years and above. The policy certificate contains critical details of the insurance cover laying out the benefits, terms and conditions, the procedure to file for a claim if needed, and the contact details of the insurer. 

Close to 80 per cent of the survey participants feel that during the time of claim or an emergency, a hard copy of the policy issued by the insurance company would be preferable. Incidentally, while several insurance companies decided to 'Go Green' by either discarding the physical copies of insurance policies completely or making it optional, even before the pandemic, many insurers believe that the same insurance companies ask them for a physical copy while claiming for the policy amount. 

The companies not only ask for the physical copy of the insurance policy but also other necessary documents, it added. As per regulation 4 of IRDAI (issuance of e-insurance policies) Regulations, 2016, an insurer has to issue both physical and electronic insurance certificates to policyholders. However, as an interim measure in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, IRDAI had allowed insurers to issue only electronic.

Life Premium Expected To Increase

Several insurers have applied to IRDAI seeking permission to raise premiums while others are negotiating with reinsurers to limit the increase. Getting a life insurance cover will be dearer by 20-30% in 2022 as large insurance companies are expected to raise premium charges. While smaller insurance companies have less bargaining power, larger insurers are still negotiating with reinsurers to keep price hikes minimum.

Increase Premiums - will translate into higher profitability or insurers but are also expected to impact the demand for such financial products. It is expected that reinsurers will look to cover increased losses due to higher claims which is likely to raise premiums by 20-40%.

The insurance hikes will be affected across offline and online policies and it will be the first time in over six years that online market will witness a change. The price rise has been talked about for six months but now looks unavoidable. Higher Covid claims hit reinsurers as a result of which prices have increased.

Some insurers are still negotiating with reinsurers as the surge in claims due to Covid is now over and companies have made profits despite high number of claims. People are buying term plans more now due to increased awareness but increasing prices could hurt this demand.

Increase of 20% to 30 % Expected - Getting a life insurance cover will be dearer by 20-30% in 2022 as large insurance companies are expected to raise premium charges. Increased premiums will translate into higher profitability or insurers but are also expected to impact the demand for such financial products. It is expected that reinsurers will look to cover increased losses due to higher claims which is likely to raise premiums by 20-40%.

The insurance hikes will be affected across offline and online policies and it will be the first time in over six years that online market will witness a change. 

Group Insurance - Premiums have already risen by 300% to 1000% for corporate group policies mainly due to pandemic claims. This is owing to the current pandemic scenario where there has been an increased incidence of claims experiences for various insurance and insurance support has been minimal on the group side of the business. The reinsurance rates are high leading to insurance term life rates being high.

Terminal Illness Life Insurance

Certain life insurance policies will pay out the amount of cover provided by your policy immediately if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness. A terminal illness is one from which, according to a doctor, the sufferer will never recover and that is likely to cause their death within 12 months of diagnosis.

Terminal illness benefit payouts are meant to make it easier for a policyholder to make plans for their families and loved ones, as well as provide funds for use in their remaining months of life. Once paid, a life insurance policy with terminal illness benefit will make no further payouts after the policyholder’s death - it merely brings forward the payout that would have been made after their death.

Terminal illness benefit is not the same as critical illness cover. The latter is meant to support a policyholder diagnosed with a serious illness that will affect their quality of life, but which won’t directly result in their death.

Making claims - Examples of the kind of conditions that might qualify for a terminal illness benefit payout include Parkinson’s disease, dementia and advanced cancers. However, each life insurer has different criteria for payouts.

Making a terminal illness benefit claim requires providing proof of your diagnosis to your insurer’s chief medical officer. The insurer needs to be satisfied that your death will occur within a given period following your claim - typically 12 months.

If a policyholder doesn’t die within the agreed timeframe after successfully making a claim, they won’t owe anything back to the insurer - but neither will they receive any payouts from the policy after their eventual death.

Some terminal illness benefit claims are turned down if they’re made in the final months of a life insurance policy’s term, that is, the policy is scheduled to end before the policyholder is expected to die.

If you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness and your life insurance cover does provide terminal illness benefit, you’re not obliged to make a claim. You can wait, if you prefer, for the policy to pay out as normal after your death.

However, terminal illness benefit can make things easier in your final months - particularly if you’re unable to work and need your income to pay your mortgage, rent or other commitments. Any money spent during this time will of course mean there’s less to leave behind after you’re gone.

If your life insurance policy is arranged on a ‘decreasing’ basis - that is, it is scheduled to pay out less with each passing year - then your terminal illness benefit will decrease at the same rate. With joint life insurance policies arranged for a couple, insurers will usually only pay terminal illness benefit once, usually as and when the first diagnosis is made.

Bullying Agents In Life Insurance

Agents in life insurance industry suffers the worst bullying in a toxic environment. While not everyone believes micromanaging is a form of bullying, it undoubtedly has a negative impact on one’s mental health, work performance, and confidence. Several experts believes micromanaging is a form of bullying because it’s about seeking control. As such, agents feel disenfranchised, humiliated, belittled and their mental health deteriorates.

Both bullying and micromanaging take a mental toll on the target. Here are some of the ways victims suffer:

• Health issues such as depression, anxiety, sleep problems and fatigue
• Increased stress that affects all areas of their lives
• Deteriorating self-esteem and confidence
• Lack of motivation
• Fear of losing their job, being demoted or retaliated against

Regardless if micromanaging is intentional or not, it’s defeating, disempowering and frustrating. Unfortunately, micromanaging is common in the workplace as a result of poor leadership and it wreaks havoc on everyone involved. 

Micromanagers often resort to bullying tactics with the belief that it makes workers more productive, but it’s because they don’t know how to manage their team effectively. Oftentimes, these bosses view burnout as the price for productivity. A survey conducted revealed

• 79% of agents had experienced micromanagement
• 71% said micromanagement interfered with their job performance
• 85% reported their morale was negatively impacted
• 69% considered changing jobs due to micromanagement
• 36% actually changed jobs

Diminishes Agent Confidence And Motivation - Micromanagers focus on mistakes and weaknesses rather than highlighting achievements and efforts. No matter how hard an agent works, they never feel like their work is good enough. This makes agents feel humiliated, destroys their confidence and motivation, and leads them to become disconnected. Micromanaging is abusive because it negatively impacts the mental health of those on the receiving end. Some experts describe micromanagement as “a result of agents being stripped of their duties and indirectly told that they’re not good enough and can’t be trusted.

A consequence of micromanaging is that employees believe they’re not competent and their skills aren’t valuable. Micromanaging leads to a decline in performance, self-confidence or physical health for the person being controlled, it’s not healthy. Furthermore, it disrupts productivity by preventing people from working independently as well as collaboratively.

It Creates An Unhealthy And Toxic Environment - Too often, micromanaging is justified as perfectionism when really it’s a form of manipulation to control others. It creates a codependent relationship where the agent is fearful to do anything without their boss’s approval. Intentional or not, it produces an intimidating environment within the workplace causing agents to become incompetent.

Micromanagement is a form of dictatorship where you don’t get to question ways and methods, but instead have to comply with everything the manager wants without question. Similar to bullying, micromanagement is due to an imbalance of power. Micromanagers believe over-controlling is an effective way to produce a desired result when really it’s a form of intimidation. This is undoubtedly a symptom of a toxic workplace.

The Micromanagement Survival Guide, defines the six typical behaviors of a micromanager:

• Dictates, controls and manipulates others’ time. While micromanagers guard their own time, they’re notorious for disrespecting others by perpetuating crises, mismanaging meetings and trying to manage others calendars
• Controls the process of how work gets done by dismissing others’ knowledge, experiences and ideas
• Uses their power of authority to control others
• Requires frequent and unnecessary status updates and reports
• Bottlenecks processes due to making everyone seek their approval before moving forward
• Unable to delegate; when they do, they hover or pull it back at the first sign of trouble

Devalues Agents Skills, Abilities And Expertise - The key to hiring is to hire people you trust and giving them the freedom to utilize their skills and abilities to carry out tasks and make decisions. The worst thing a manager can do is waste time peering over the shoulder of others, telling them what to do or waiting for something to go wrong. 

Not only does this jeopardize growth, but it prevents people from taking risks, asking questions and thinking creatively which decreases innovation and leads to burnout. It’s only a matter of time before even the most talented and driven employees begin looking elsewhere.

1 Million Malaysian Owes RM9 billion PTPTN Loan

Almost a million borrowers under the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) owe a cumulative total of RM9bil in study loans. 

As of Sept 30 this year, about 2.4mil borrowers have completed their studies and should have begun repaying their loans amounting to RM24.6bil. Of this, some 77.5% have started repaying their loans with 800,000 borrowers having completed their loan repayments.

About 400,000 are consistently repaying their loans according to the repayment schedule while 400,000 are repaying but not consistent in their repayments. A total of RM15.5bil has been repaid.

PTPTN was offering a 12% discount for borrowers who repay at least 50% of their loan amount. There is also a 10% discount for borrowers who agreed to repay their loans by way of monthly salary deductions. PTPTN has made it easier for borrowers to repay their loans online and not only through counters.

Legal action against errant borrowers will only be instituted as a last resort after exhausting all other avenues to recoup outstanding loans.

69% Patient on Kidney Dialysis Are Diabetes

Approximately 69 per cent of new patients on dialysis suffer from Type 2 diabetes. This is a worrying trend as more Malaysians are being diagnosed with this chronic disease. In Malaysia, according to the 2019 National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS), conducted by the Ministry of Health (MOH), the prevalence of diabetes in adults has increased from 13.4 per cent in 2015 to 18.3 per cent in 2019.

High blood sugar (blood glucose) can damage blood vessels in the kidneys. When damaged, the kidneys will not work as well. Many patients with diabetes will also develop high blood pressure which can also damage the kidneys. However, with care, the progression to Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in diabetes patients can be delayed.

As the kidney is one of the most affected organs in diabetics, it is advisable for them to go for regular scheduled blood and urine tests to monitor the kidney function. With regular monitoring of kidneys in patients with diabetes, the progression to CKD can be managed or delayed.

A percentage of those with CKD will eventually progress to kidney failure or End Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD), and require either a kidney transplant or dialysis. Dialysis treatments and management of kidney failure have improved greatly over the years. Kidney failure patients these days having a much better quality of life compared to years before. Dialysis patients can enjoy more independence and flexibility with home dialysis or peritoneal dialysis, which allows the patient to take charge of their lives and plan their dialysis treatment routine.

What is important now is creating awareness among Malaysians, so that necessary lifestyle changes can be adopted, as early interventions can promote better outcomes. All Malaysians should go for regular check-ups with their GP to be up to date on their health status.

Diabetes and Hypertension Linked To Covid Mortality

Most people who died from Covid-19 in Malaysia suffered from diabetes and hypertension, said the health ministry. As at Oct 28, 37.3 per cent of Covid-19 fatalities this year had a background of diabetes - about four in 10 deaths. It was a small drop from last year, when 38.8 per cent of deaths involved diabetics. 

Globally, we know that people living with non-communicable diseases are at higher risk of more serious infections and Covid-19 deaths. This is especially more so for people living with diabetes, particularly if their condition is poorly controlled. 

When a diabetes patient was infected with Covid-19, there were potentially more severe effects including inflammation. Nearly one in five adults or an estimated 3.9 million individuals are living with diabetes in Malaysia. About half of them were unaware that they had this disease.

The prevalence of diabetes among younger individuals aged between 18 and 40 has doubled over the past 15 years. Increase in diabetes in the younger age groups, mainly due to childhood obesity. The rising number of diabetics mean a heavier burden of the disease and its complications: heart disease, stroke, blindness, chronic kidney disease and lower limb amputation, among others.

As for hypertension, it is one of the main non-communicable diseases in Malaysia, affecting three in 10 adults in the country. This is an estimated 6.4 million people, according to the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019.

Insurable Interest Life Insurance

If you want to buy life insurance for another person, you must first prove you have an insurable interest in their life. Insurable interest means you will face a significant emotional, financial or other type of loss that will negatively impact you upon the insured’s death. The insured also has to consent to the purchase, which is usually done by signing a form attesting to the life insurance company they are aware someone is purchasing the policy on their life.

What is insurable interest in life insurance - Even if you can afford to, you cannot take out a life insurance policy on anyone you choose. When it comes to taking out a life insurance contract on someone other than yourself, life insurers require you to first prove you have an insurable interest in the insured person. To have insurable interest most typically means you are financially dependent or would have financial hardship if the insured person were to pass away.

For example, a married couple have two children. Both spouses work, but the wife only works part-time, so she can also take care of the children. Husband takes out a life insurance policy on wife’s life because he can prove that losing wife would cause him financial hardship. He would either have to quit his job, take on different hours or hire someone to care for the children while he worked. The same would be true if wife took out a life insurance contract on husband’s life. The death benefit would help wife and the children maintain their lifestyle up to the policy’s limits without husband’s financial assistance, while allowing wife time to adjust to depending on just her income alone.

Insurable interest & relationship - is most common in immediate family relationships, though other relationships can qualify as insurable interest:

• Spouse
• Children (adopted or natural)
• Grandparents and grandchildren
• Siblings
• Corporations and business partnerships

What is proof of insurable interest - proof of insurable interest is part of the initial life insurance application. Insurable interest and consent of the insured person (if different from the policyholder) is a requirement before a life insurance company can approve and issue a life insurance contract. This can be done in person by verifying the identity and relationship of the policyholder and insured person. A phone interview may also be conducted between the life insurance company and the person buying insurance or the person listed as the life insurance beneficiary. 

If you purchase a life insurance policy, the policyholder and insured, insurable interest automatically exists for you and your beneficiaries. In a direct relationship, either through blood, marriage or adoption decree, insurable interest is generally easy to prove based on the relationship status. In a business partnership, such as a corporation purchasing a life insurance policy on a key officer, a business contract or other form of proof that the company will experience financial hardship and loss upon the insured’s death is needed.

What if you do not have insurable interest - If you do not have an insurable interest in the insured person, you cannot buy a life insurance policy. Proving insurable interest also requires consent and acknowledgement from the insured person that the policy owner wants to take out a life insurance contract on their behalf. This prevents someone from taking out a life insurance policy on someone without their knowledge.

When you are both the policy owner and insured, insurable interest is absolute for both the insured person and the chosen beneficiary. If the insured does not designate a beneficiary, anyone seeking the insured’s death benefit will also have to prove insurable interest when the insured person passes away. These safeguards are in place to prevent life insurance company insolvency from death benefit payouts and increases in the cost of the life insurance. 

Sometimes, insurable interest cannot be proven. For instance, you would not be able to take out a life insurance policy on your elderly neighbor just because they are sick and may die soon if you cannot prove you would face financial hardship after they pass. Similarly, while your spouse has an insurable interest in your life and can take out a life insurance policy with your consent, they cannot name their best friend as the beneficiary, since they will not face financial loss upon your death.

Can you buy life insurance on a parent without their consent - You can buy life insurance on a parent, but not without their consent. Life insurance on a parent is worth considering if you will incur costs — whether for medical bills, funeral expenses or other costs — you cannot afford when they pass. You can use the life insurance death benefit to pay for various expenses.

Can you buy life insurance on your child’s mother or father - If you can prove insurable interest and have consent from your child’s parent, you can buy life insurance on your child’s mother or father. If your co-parent provides alimony or child support payments, that could prove insurable interest for an ex-spouse. If you or your child would experience financial hardship because their other parent passes away, this also demonstrates insurable interest.

When must insurable interest exist in life insurance - When buying life insurance, insurable interest must exist at the time the life insurance policy is purchased. If the policyholder and insured person are different, both the policyholder and named beneficiary must have an insurable interest and prove financial loss and hardship if the insured were to pass away.