Bankruptcy Affects Your Insurance Policy

If you are declared a bankrupt - your insurance policies may be affected. Bankruptcy may cancel some insurance policies, leaving you without cover. This is more likely to happen if you pay for your insurance in monthly instalments.It’s important to check what impact it’ll have before you go bankrupt to make sure you’re still safely covered.

Default On Premium - If you do not pay your premium on the due date, you will have have 30 days grace period to pay up or the policy lapsed. .

What to do if your insurance is cancelled - If going bankrupt means you’ll have to pay off the rest of the year’s insurance instalments, there are a couple of options:

a: Request a third party (wife, children etc) to pay your premium.

b:  Utilize the Advance Policy Loan (APL uses cash value under ordinary life insurance) or funds (under unit-linked policy) to pay your outstanding premium. Once the cash value/funds are exhausted, the policy will lapsed.

c: Convert your policy to a term policy by utilizing the cash value/funds. The number of months covered will depend on your available cash value/funds.

Can you get a new insurance policy during bankruptcy - It is critical that you retain your existing policy (whenever possible) because it is difficult for a bankrupt to revive lapsed policy or purchase new policy. A bankrupt would need the approval from DGI to revive or buy new policy. In the event the insurers become aware of your bankruptcy - this may make it harder for you to get a policy. You may be refused or you may have to pay a higher premium.

Covid Disrupt Insurers

While overall sales of life insurance were stymied in the first half of 2020 due to the pandemic and accompanying shut-down, both term life and whole life products are expected to rebound in 2021 and onward. That trend will be aided by Covid-19 vaccine uptake and technological advancements that enable a smoother and more efficient application process. Here is what some industry experts expect to see in the coming year.

A Continued Growth in Demand - Since the onset of the pandemic, life insurer continued to see an increase in interest in life insurance across the industry as Covid-19 has put the question of mortality front and center for many. As economic conditions slowly improve post-vaccine and consumers “become more confident in their financial outlook, life insurance sales will begin to rebound in 2021 and return to pre-pandemic growth levels in 2022. More than a third of consumers said they think life insurance “is more important to own now due to the pandemic, while a third also said they have or are planning to purchase new or additional life insurance as a result of the pandemic.

Less In-Person Interaction - The pandemic has also had a major impact on how insurance is being sold. Less than a third of people buying life insurance policies since the pandemic have done so solely in person. This compares with 44% who were buying life insurance policies in person before the pandemic. Most of the sales that were previously made in person are now made as part of a hybrid purchase process, usually partly online and partly with a financial professional. These hybrid experiences are more popular among younger and middle-aged consumers as compared with older Baby Boomers. 98% of respondents from financial services companies say their customers increasingly want to shop online and use video engagement tools.

A Need for Speed - In keeping with the move online, applicants also expect faster turnaround times now. 50% of consumers say they are more likely to buy life insurance through automated or simplified underwriting than through the more time-consuming traditional underwriting.2

Where Rates Are Headed Remains Unclear - Some wonder if the arrival of the Covid-19 vaccine will mean lower policy rates, but, like many things with the virus, it is too early to say. However, if an applicant has an active infection, the underwriting process will be postponed until they recover. Covid has required nearly all life insurers to implement temporary changes to their underwriting guidelines and processes. However, just having the virus does not necessarily impact an applicant’s rates. Insurer will postpone underwriting for someone who has or recently had Covid-19. If they suffer longer-term effects from the disease, that would be factored into the underwriting process, just like other medical conditions. Some insurers are continuing to monitor ongoing developments related to the pandemic, including broad availability of the vaccine. While premiums shot up early in the pandemic, by late fall they were rising at close to pre-pandemic levels.

Telsa Launching Full-fledged Insurance Product

Tesla is eyeing a full-fledged insurance product using data collected from its vehicles to offer cheaper premiums than traditional insurers.

"We're building a great — like a major insurance company. Ultimately, where we want to get to with Tesla Insurance is to be able to use the data that's captured in the car, in the driving profile of the person in the car, to be able to assess correlations and probabilities of crash and be able then to assess a premium on a monthly basis for that customer," CEO Elon Musk said.

Cheaper Insurance - Musk's interest in offering a cheaper insurance product to Tesla owners isn't new. For years, drivers have complained of higher costs, mostly because of more expensive fixes on the cars. The company first talked about insurance in April 2019, before launching a product in California a few months later. 

Just hours after it went live, the site was taken down for an "algorithm update." Some customers who were able to get quotes before the pause said they were quoted rates that were higher than their third-party insurance plans, despite Tesla's pitch of 20% lower rates. That product was "version 0.9," Musk said.

Connected cars aren't a new trend in insurance, though Tesla could likely have even more insight into driver behavior and safety habits.

"At the heart of being competitive with insurance is what is the accuracy of your information," Musk said. "Like are you dealing with — are you forced to assess people statistically looking in the rear-view mirror? Or can you assess people individually, looking ahead with smart projections, and inform the driver that — of how they may reduce their, what actions they can take to reduce their insurance."

By the end of the year, Musk said, Tesla hopes to launch insurance in a handful of US states with plans to eventually offer plans nationwide.

"I would love to have some high-energy actuaries, especially," he said. "I have great respect for the actuarial profession. Your guys are great at math. Please join Tesla, especially if you want to change things, and you're annoyed by how slow the industry is. Tesla is the place to be. We want revolutionary actuaries."

Group Insurance

The best life insurance companies offer policies that can provide your family with a crucial income source after you pass away. However, before you move forward with the purchase of a life insurance policy, you should first check for any group life insurance coverage you might be able to qualify for, either through your employer or another organization.

Why? Because group life insurance comes with serious benefits for those who can qualify, and it may be cheap or even free depending on how you receive it. Let’s take a look at exactly what group life insurance entails and if it might make sense for you.

What Is Group Life Insurance - Group life insurance is a term used to describe any life insurance policy that covers an entire group of people. Commonly, this type of life insurance is offered within an employee or labor organization’s benefits package, so the coverage can cost far less than the market rate. In some cases, it may even be offered for free, or there may be both free and paid options.

Most importantly, group life insurance policies are offered to a group within a single contract, so there are no medical questions or medical exams required. The life insurance company assesses risk based on the entire group instead of the individual, so it doesn’t need to know your personal medical history.

This means you can qualify for group life insurance coverage (if you’re offered it) regardless of your medical history. You can even get group life insurance when you can’t get life insurance coverage separately on your own.

But remember that group life insurance coverage may not be sufficient to cover all your life insurance needs. If the group life insurance plan you’re offered has a death benefit that comes up short of what you think you need, you should consider supplementing it with a separate life insurance plan you buy on your own.

Invest In Multiple Insurance - You can have more than one life insurance policy at the same time. Many people who receive group life insurance through work also purchase a separate term life insurance policy.

And another reason to buy your own life insurance policy is that group life insurance is tied to your employer or the organization that offers it. This means that if you leave your job, you’ll lose your group life insurance coverage from that employer. Your employer can also decide to stop offering group life insurance as an employee benefit.

Like other types of life insurance, group life insurance can come in many different forms. The details of the coverage offered will depend on the life insurance company, the employer or organization’s budget and other factors.

Group Term Life Insurance - Most employer-offered life insurance coverage comes in the form of yearly renewal term life insurance. This type of life insurance is offered for a preset of a year. Some employers will provide a basic group life insurance policy to all of its employees for free as part of the benefits of employment. Group life insurance can be a nice perk of your job, especially if it’s free. However, in most cases, employer-provided policies are relatively small compared to what you’re likely to need overall in terms of life insurance, so you probably won’t want to rely solely on it to cover you in case the worst happens.

Supplemental Group Life Insurance - Often, employees who are part of a group life insurance plan can pay to add additional coverage. This type of additional coverage, known as supplemental group life insurance, lets employees pay the difference in premiums to achieve a higher death benefit and additional perks. Depending on your situation, getting supplemental group life insurance can make sense if the cost is lower than you’d otherwise pay for a similar individual policy. Again, though, your coverage is tied to your employer, so if you leave your job, you’ll lose your coverage.

Dependent Group insurance - Some employers that offer group insurance might also extend supplemental coverage to spouses and dependents on the condition that the employee pays additional premiums. Often the premiums are reasonable. However, like all group life insurance, this supplemental coverage is still tied to an employer or organization, so you can lose it if you switch jobs or if your employer decides to cut the benefit.

Accident Policy - Many employers and labor organizations also offer accidental death and disablement as part of their group life insurance plan. This type of coverage provides an additional cash benefit if the plan participant dies as the result of a covered accident or if they are dismembered during a covered event.

What To Consider - For those who can qualify for group life insurance, signing up for the basic policy offered by your employer almost always makes sense. After all, group life insurance offers financial protection for yourself and your family, and it can be very cost efficient based on the amount of coverage you receive.

Just make sure you’re not relying on group life insurance as the sole coverage to protect your family. While group life insurance can be an important part of your financial planning, you should make sure you have enough life insurance to replace your income and cover your family’s needs if you unexpectedly pass away.

MEF Urged Insurer To Cover Covid

The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) has called on insurance providers to extend coverage for COVID-19 to their existing policyholders. According to the MEF, this is part of insurers’ “national duty” in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

MEF president Datuk Syed Hussain Syed Husman said that the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia means insurers should work harder in their role to support the government and their policyholders.

“Employers cannot absorb additional costs passed on to them without insurance coverage. With increasing cases and limited space in government hospitals, the private sector employees infected with COVID-19 have no choice but to utilise the services of private hospitals if so required,” he said.

Syed Hussain expressed concern over reports that insurance companies were not providing coverage for COVID-19 treatment to their existing policyholders. He also suggested that employers who take out insurance policies for their employees should also be covered by said insurance.

Covid Vaccination Complication - Not Covered Under Insurance

Malaysian insurers have yet to decide whether to extend medical coverage to treatment of complications arising from Covid-19 vaccinations. General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM) notes that most medical and health insurance policies do not cover pandemics like Covid-19. PIAM is awaiting more data and information before an update or general comments can be made.

PIAM, which has 26 member companies, said such decisions could be made only by individual companies and would be based on consumer demand, business strategies, risk exposure profiles and underwriting considerations, all of which would be unique to each company.

Media reports this week said Singapore’s seven major insurance companies had extended their medical coverage to include the cost of hospital stays to treat complications arising from Covid-19 vaccinations.

Among the common side effects of Covid-19 vaccines are pain, redness and swelling at the injection site and fever, chills, headache, muscle and joint pains, tiredness and swollen lymph nodes.

Malaysia will receive its first batch of vaccines from Pfizer next month. More than 80% of the country’s population are expected to be vaccinated by the first quarter of next year.

Healty Food Reduces Medical Care Cost

When COVID-19 first swarmed the United States, one health insurer called some customers with a question: Do you have enough to eat? Oscar Health wanted to know if people had adequate food for the next couple weeks and how they planned to stay stocked up while hunkering down at home. The lack of good and nutritional food causes members to get readmitted” to hospitals.

Treating Food As Medicine - Food has become a bigger focus for health insurers as they look to expand their coverage beyond just the care that happens in a doctor’s office. More plans are paying for temporary meal deliveries and some are teaching people how to cook and eat healthier foods. Benefits experts say insurers and policymakers are growing used to treating food as a form of medicine that can help patients reduce blood sugar or blood pressure levels and stay out of expensive hospitals.

People are finally getting comfortable with the idea that everybody saves money when you prevent certain things from happening or somebody’s condition from worsening. This push is still relatively small and happening mostly with government-funded programs like Medicaid or Medicare Advantage, the privately run versions of the government’s health program for people who are 65 or older or have disabilities. But some employers that offer coverage to their workers also are growing interested.

Medicaid Programs - in several states are testing or developing food coverage. Next year, Medicare will start testing meal program vouchers for patients with malnutrition as part of a broader look at improving care and reducing costs. Nearly 7 million people were enrolled last year in a Medicare Advantage plan that offered some sort of meal benefit, according to research from the consulting firm Avalere Health. That’s more than double the total from 2018.

Insurers commonly cover temporary meal deliveries so patients have something to eat when they return from the hospital. And for several years now, many also have paid for meals tailored to patients with conditions such as diabetes. But now insurers and other bill payers are taking a more nuanced approach. This comes as the coronavirus pandemic sends millions of Americans to seek help from food banks or neighborhood food pantries.

Oscar Health - for instance, found that nearly 3 out of 10 of its Medicare Advantage customers had food supply problems at the start of the pandemic, so it arranged temporary grocery deliveries from a local store at no cost to the recipient.

The Medicare Advantage specialist Humana started giving some customers with low incomes debit cards with either a $25 or $50 on them to help buy healthy food. The insurer also is testing meal deliveries in the second half of the month.

Target Group - These programs typically last a few weeks or months and often focus on customers with a medical condition or low incomes who have a hard time getting nutritious food. But they aren’t limited to those groups.

Indianapolis-based Preventia Group is starting food deliveries for some employers that want to improve the eating habits of people covered under their health plans. People who sign up start working with a health coach to learn about nutrition.

Then they can either begin short-term deliveries of meals or bulk boxes of food and recipes to try. The employer picks up the cost.

Future Possibility - Researchers expect coverage of food as a form of medicine to grow as insurers and employers learn more about which programs work best. Patients with low incomes may need help first with getting access to nutritional food. People with employer-sponsored coverage might need to focus more on how to use their diet to manage diabetes or improve their overall health.

Massachusetts residents with similar medical conditions found that those who received meals tailored to their condition had fewer hospital admissions and generated less health care spending than those who did not.

Avoiding Failures - Life Insurance Agent

Most insurance agents fail for all the same reasons that other people in business fail. As we look back on the three aspects of the business, sales, marketing (generating leads) and running the business, it becomes easier to see where the potential failure lies.

Unrealistic Expectations - Probably the most common reason insurance agents fail is that they expected too much too soon. These unrealistic expectations result from a need to be successful quickly. Successful agents have a base of renewals. New agents don’t. It is this lack of renewals that is a significant difference in the income streams. So, a new agent, even who sells a similar amount to an experienced agent, will still earn far less. Expecting that it takes time to create a book of business big enough to support you is likely the most important element to succeed. After that, we can look at the three aspects of the business.

Sales - You’ll need to do lots of hard work to make the number of sales presentations needed to be successful as an insurance agent. And new insurance agents seldom have the same closing rates as more experienced agents. Early on, it may take you twice or even three times the number of visits with a potential client to sign up a policy. That takes time and more work.
Plus, many new agents lack specific sales training. Not industry training. Generic, “how to sell” information. Although your personality may get you in the door, you will need to know how to present benefits, answer objections and ask closing questions in order to get new customers. Read books. Take courses. Consider this a major priority.

Generating Leads - To be successful, someone has to generate leads for you. As a captive agent, most of the work is done for you by your organization. But don’t leave everything to them! Ask for referrals. Network. Find your own leads, too. Leads you find yourself are more likely to close. As an independent agent, internet marketing can get expensive. Don’t let up. Insurance is a competitive industry, and you won’t get immediate, overwhelming results. SEO marketing is like networking. You have to be in both for the long haul.

Running the Business - If you don’t return calls, can’t manage your paperwork or forget to pay the lease, you’ll find failure is right around the corner. If these are not your strengths, consider remaining a captive agent or hiring an exceptional office manager to stay on top of this for you. Your business depends on it.

Focusing on Your Commissions Instead of Customer Needs - The whole basis of being a successful agent is to have positive, ongoing relationships with customers. If you are too focused on your commissions or quotas, your customers can see right through you. Chances are you’ll offer policies that don’t cover what they need and end up selling nothing. It is far more effective to offer real solutions to your customers’ needs and accept the commissions as rewards for having done a good job. Commissions are important but remember it is renewals that are more important. Outstanding service is the secret ingredient for success as an insurance agent.

Employee To Entrepreneur Mindset

A large part of businesses that fail do so because the entrepreneur is not qualified enough to become a boss. Despite having the necessary knowledge, a good idea and even financial support, the company cannot be stabilized because its leader does not change his attitude ... and continues to think like an employee . What can you do to get rid of this mindset and become, once and for all, a true entrepreneur, both internally and externally? We tell you what are the attitudes you must develop to achieve it. 

Stop thinking that the company owes you something - Employees always believe that the company owes them for the number of years they have worked or the time they have invested in it. However, the reality is that these facts are seldom taken into account, and decisions to lay off or raise pay often have more to do with tangible merit than seniority. Better think: what can you do for the company that helps its growth, and that, therefore, makes you deserve some kind of special recognition.

Be creative - If you are going to work on your own, the more creative you are, the more income and opportunities you will get. On the contrary, most of the time employees rely only on obeying and following company instructions or regulations. Without a doubt, you should make an effort to find that creativity that we all have. Anyway, being in charge of a company you do not need to demand your skills more than necessary, because you can surround yourself with people with good ideas or who tend to think differently to add information to your strategies.

Get away from the comforts - There is an inverse relationship between a person's comfort level and their creative ability; good ideas occur in discomfort, when you see yourself limited and in the lack of things. Therefore, challenges and difficult situations are ideal to encourage creativity to solve problems.Employees, on the other hand, seek the opposite: they want to grow on the comfort scale, which will not be possible at all as an entrepreneur.

Forget concepts such as severance and retirement - Many employees choose not to start their own entrepreneurship project for fear of losing their severance pay or the contributions they make monthly for their retirement. If you want to become a true entrepreneur, you must choose to lose some benefits, to obtain, in the long run, a greater one.

Venture out - The most important key to leaving the employee mindset is to venture out, risk the unknown in search of new opportunities that can lead to success. The winners always end up being the risk takers and maintaining your financial stability as an employee will not lead you down that path.

AXA Singapore - Up For Sale

HSBC Holdings Plc and Malayan Banking Bhd’s insurance venture, Etiqa, are among shortlisted bidders for Axa SA’s business in Singapore, which could raise about US$700 million in a sale, according to people familiar with the matter.

The British bank and Etiqa, majority owned by a Maybank joint venture, have proceeded into the next round with a few weeks to go before a deadline for submitting binding bids. At least one Chinese firm also among those invited to lodge offers.

Axa has been considering a sale of its Singapore business as it seeks to raise funds divesting peripheral operations. Chief Executive Officer Thomas Buberl is trying to shift Axa’s focus on property and casualty insurance following its $15.3 billion purchase of XL Group Ltd. in 2018. Since then, the CEO has been reviewing options for smaller businesses across the world, including in the Middle East, to help pay for the XL deal.

The Singapore unit, which offers life and property and casualty insurance, generated 615 million euros (US$745 million) of revenue in 2019, according to Axa’s annual report. It also provides services in savings and investments.

Who Is Big Boss Moganasundram

Owner of Big Boss Banana Leaf Restaurant, M. Moganasundram, 37, said he is offering 100 packs of rice and side dishes for free to the public until January 26, which is the last day of the movement control order (MCO).

“(But), For me if the MCO is extended, we will continue to do it (give free free food). In fact, we have been doing this when MCO was first implemented, for, and only, to alleviate some of the burden of those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, especially those whose income are affected,” he said.

He said his restaurant would prepare the food side from 3pm until 5pm and then will pack the food for distribution from 6pm. Moganasundram, who employs 12 workers at his restaurant, said he set aside 10 kilogrammes of rice, 100 fish, 100 chicken eggs, 100 pieces of chicken and vegetable every day for the free food.

“For me, money is not a priority, instead doing good to fellow human beings, regardless of race and religion, is, because there are still among us who are not as fortunate as us and living in poverty. So, we have to help,” he added.

Average Joe & Jane - Needs Life Insurance

Do you have enough life insurance to provide for your family if something were to happen to you? This is a question I often receive and unfortunately, many people have no idea. After all, death and pushy life insurance agents are two things most people would probably rather not deal with.

It's an important question though. If you don't have enough, you could leave your family in a difficult financial predicament. If you buy too much, you could end up wasting thousands of dollars on something you don't really need. When determining how much life insurance to buy, here are some common myths to steer clear of:

Everyone needs to have life insurance - Life insurance has two main functions. The most common is to provide for people who are financially dependent on you like children and perhaps a spouse. The second is to pay estate taxes so that your heirs won't have to sell property or a business to do so. 

You need life insurance to pay off your debts - This is a common myth. Many people are concerned about their heirs inheriting their credit card or other debt they may have accumulated. While debts can reduce the inheritance that you leave your heirs, excess debt generally dies with you unless the debt was joint, community property or had a co-signer/guarantor.

Everyone needs life insurance to pay for your funeral and other final expenses - Purchasing a life insurance policy for this purpose can be the most expensive way to fund it. If your heirs will be inheriting any savings or other liquid assets, they can always use them to pay these costs. But if your debts wipe out your estate, a small final expense policy may make sense to avoid leaving your heirs with this burden.

Everyone needs enough life insurance to fully replace their lifetime income - Life insurance agents tend to love using this method of calculating life insurance needs because it's quick and generates large amounts of insurance needs.

You don't need to worry about your life insurance policy after you purchase it - People tend to buy life insurance and then forget about it, but a change in your financial situation or a birth, death, marriage, or divorce in your family could require you to update your beneficiaries or the amount of insurance you need. Since rates have been coming down for years due to longer life expectancies, it may also be a good idea to see if you can purchase the same amount of insurance for a lower cost, especially if your health status or lifestyle has improved. 

Protecting your family is important but so is making sure you're not wasting money on insurance that could be used for other financial needs. The key is to find the right balance for you. Don't let these common myths throw you off.

Private Hospitals - Treating Covid19

Private hospitals urged insurance companies to revise their policies and cover the cost of treatment for Covid-19 patients. Currently - most insurance companies do not provide cover for pandemics. 

The government has said that the private healthcare system might be roped in for the fight against Covid-19 as a recent surge of infections has left government facilities at breaking point. New laws under the state of emergency allow the government to direct private hospitals to take in Covid-19 cases, on pain of fines of up to RM5 million or even jail sentences if they refuse.

Private hospitals had no qualms about taking in Covid-19 patients to help reduce the burden on government hospitals. However, they could not treat Covid-19 patients for free.

Lately, private hospitals were having discussions with the health minister and finance ministry about the rate of fees to be charged for treating Covid-19 patients transferred to private hospitals from government facilities.

NTUC Sales Management Associate

NTUC Income has launched its Sales Management Associate (SMA) programme, which seeks to recruit up to 1,200 new financial advisors. The programme targets individuals with little to no financial advisory experience, such as fresh graduates and mid-career job seekers, and introduces them to the insurance industry.

According to NTUC Income, SMA is the only programme in the industry that offers integrated career tracks in financial advisory that range from tied advisors, to retail and financial advisors. This, it said, gives participants holistic exposure to the insurance industry and financial advisory before they decide on a career track to pursue.

The 18-month programme has a starting monthly base remuneration of SG$2,900, providing participants with income as they take their exams to obtain relevant licences.

After obtaining their licences, participants will receive on-the-job training at Income’s Retail Financial Service (RFS) branches as well as one-on-one mentorship from Income’s senior managers. The programme also offers “job sampling” to participants, allowing them to gain more understanding in the areas of insurance design, claims, product development, underwriting and more before embarking on a full-time financial advisory career.

“Income believes in creating shared value for the company and the community that we serve,” said Fabian Ng, Income’s general manager for consumer business. “The launch of the SMA programme is extremely timely as it helps to create meaningful job opportunities for Singaporeans in the current economic climate.

“This specially curated programme is the only one that provides three career tracks, remuneration from the day you start which includes attractive bonuses, and not to mention well-rounded learning opportunities, including mentoring, across the different facets of insurance to hone strong financial advisory skills.”

Growing Preference Buying Insurance Online

Supportive government policies and a covid-enforced spike in digital activity are pushing consumers, and their insurance needs. A survey results underline Indian consumers’ extensive use of digital platforms and their preference to purchase insurance through them.

However, traditional channels, such as agents, brokers or insurance aggregators are still the primary channels for insurance-related information searches in India.

Around 65% of Indian respondents are likely to use digital channels such as e-wallets, bank or insurance websites and e-commerce platforms to purchase insurance in the future, indicating there is potential for primary insurers to move their offerings online and engage new digital consumers. 

Digital Disruption - The growing presence of e-commerce and digital wallet apps presents opportunities for innovative partnerships between insurers and digital platforms to bridge the $369 billion health protection gap in India.

Health and safety measures intended for curbing the spread of covid-19 have now driven a clear paradigm shift towards digitalization in the post-virus era. With an increasing number of digital platforms extending their business reach into financial services, insurers need to adapt their business models to become more relevant and responsive to the latest customer needs.

Digital Preference - 1,800 consumers surveyed in India, Indonesia, and Malaysia in June 2020 to understand their attitudes toward digital platforms and perceptions of buying insurance online. Respondents were household decision-makers aged between 18 and 65 and had used digital platforms at least once within three to six months prior to being surveyed.

The survey results indicate that digital platforms have a high penetration rate in India, with an average of 90% using these channels at least once a week.

Among the different types of digital platforms, consumers in India indicated a stronger preference for purchasing insurance through payment or digital wallet and e-commerce platforms.

However, respondents also expressed various concerns when buying insurance online. Around 45% of Indian respondents found it hard to decide on the best product while 37% said there is no agent to help explain the terms.

Digital Popularity - The results reveal that while digital insurance is becoming more popular, offline support is still necessary due to the need for guidance and assistance for certain products. It is important for insurers to adopt an omni-channel approach to complement online customer journey with personal assistance to address consumer concerns.

The survey illustrates that insurers should personalize their digital offerings to drive uptake. According to the survey, the majority of the respondents (69%) are willing to share some form of personal data for a more relevant experience. Around 20% are willing to share such information only when there is a premium discount.

Jho Low 2

An enigmatic Malaysian businessman with links to the rich and famous disappears, apparently fleeing the country and leaving in his wake hundreds of millions of missing ringgit, a string of angry investors and a host of questions about how this could have been allowed to happen.

Jho Low 2 - Tedy Teow Wooi Huat is wanted in connection with a 336 million ringgit (US$83 million) money-laundering scam in Macau. The comparisons with Jho Low and the allegations against Teow are colourful to say the least. Like Low, Teow hails from Penang and appears to have had a penchant for the silver screen. While Low invested US$100 million in the Hollywood movie The Wolf of Wall Street, a Hong Kong movie database gives Teow a presenting credit for All My Goddess, a Cantonese-language film starring Maggie Cheung Ho-yee.

Police believe Teow, 55, was the mastermind behind a syndicate that tricked people in the Chinese Special Administrative Region into investing their money in bogus companies, the “directors” of which were apparently drug users paid 15,000 ringgit (US$3,700) a month by Teow.

The investments would then be filtered through a series of “mule” accounts, to make them harder to track, before eventually being used to purchase high-end property in Malaysia and neighbouring Thailand and to invest in cryptocurrency.

Malaysian police on January 3 announced they had arrested 12 of the bogus directors in December and tracked down 91 of the mule bank accounts. Johor state police chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the investigation had revealed one Malaysian property developer had been paid 25 million ringgit from these accounts as part of a purchase of 100 luxury condominiums and commercial units in George Town, Penang.

As with Jho Low, who remains at large, the police believe that Teow, founder of MBI Group International which describes itself as having “diversified interests in resources and management developments”, is now hiding out abroad. Officers believe Teow has fled to Thailand along with his two children, who have also been accused of involvement in the scam.

MBI Group International - the scandal is likely to prompt searching questions for the authorities, given this is not the first time Teow has been in trouble with the law. His company MBI Group International made headlines in October 2019 when about 100 Chinese nationals staged a demonstration outside the embassy in Malaysia claiming they had lost their life savings to the firm.

The embassy said the people had complained of being “cheated” by an online pyramid scheme run by MBI Group International.

That demonstration came only a year after Teow, MBI Group International and its subsidiary Mface International, were in 2018 charged with various offences including issuing electronic payments unrecognised by Malaysia’s central bank, promoting pyramid schemes, and involvement in money laundering.

The offences related to a scam in which investors were encouraged to purchase MBI’s unlicensed and unrecognised cryptocurrency with real money and spend it at MBI-linked establishments, including a shopping centre called M Mall in Penang that was popular among Chinese tourists.

On that occasion, Teow was fined 3 million ringgit, Mface 7 million ringgit, and MBI 2.5 million ringgit.

A History Of Controversy - however, the 2018 incident was not Teow’s first brush with the law either. In 2011 he was fined 160,000 ringgit for misleading investors. That fine appears to have done little to harm Teow’s ability to schmooze or attract investment. Following the 2011 case, Teow went to China to seek a “second chance”.

Another video, uploaded in 2014 and titled “MBI International 5th Anniversary Gala Dinner Highlights”, shows him taking photos with hundreds of attendees dressed to the nines as they enjoy a banquet dinner and watch live performances.

A third video, uploaded in 2019, shows Teow speaking in Mandarin and calling for support for a cryptocurrency project which he claims has brought in more than 600 million ringgit in its first few days. The video shows Teow claiming the project will profit its three million members only if they hold on to or use their cryptocurrency. “Only by utilising our cryptocurrencies can we realise their worth, and that would mean wealth for all three million of us. As owners of the cryptocurrency, the key to wealth is in your hands,” he says in the video.

Prior to his fine in 2011, little had been publicly reported about Teow. However, the biographical video from 2013 suggests he started his business life at an early age, selling combs and pencils to schoolmates.

Thrown Under The Bus

Have you ever wonder what dishonesty looks like? Do you find yourself replaying 2020 USA Presidential election rallies/press conferences, so you can study Trump's facial expressions? I found myself doing this  after being surprised by the extent of someone’s dishonesty--someone that I had dealt with for years. In hindsight, though, there were plenty of little clues along the way. Over time, they should have added up. But I ignored them.

It’s not just that people lie (although they do). Some people are so wrapped up in a delusion, and tell themselves a story so many times, that it becomes reality in their mind. Someone who is also a smooth talker can be a master of generating excitement and momentum. If that person has a title or position with some prestige, or perhaps has been a media magnet, the pull to jump into their opportunity can be even more compelling. “It’s got to be a winner,” you might say.

No, it doesn’t. And all that excitement can cause you to discount the little red flags that pop up along the way. Don’t make my mistake – pay attention to those red flags. Dishonest people are banking on the fact that you won’t want to dig into their story, for fear of ruining the opportunity or being left out in the cold. You need to dig.

Here are four red flags you cannot ignore:

Unwillingness to answer questions directly - Honest people answer questions directly. If you ask about customer interest in a product, and the answer starts with, "We are talking to...," that means there are no committed customers. A company needs to be honest about where they are in their sales process, because it is key to revenue generation. 

Any roadblocks to due diligence, especially the phrase, “We need to stay stealth.” - Anything that hinders your due diligence is a problem for your decision-making process and for your potential partner’s ability to raise capital down the road. You want to know that your would-be partner has clean financials and truly owns any intellectual property he or she claims to have. Any savvy investor would want the same assurances. I've seen the "we need to stay stealth" excuse used to obfuscate patent assignment issues that later became a nightmare. Don't fall for it.

An opportunity that is so 'hot' that other people aren’t asking the right questions. - It's easy to be taken in by people who manipulate details to create the illusion of massive momentum. Their ultimate goal is to get others to come to rash decisions, without asking too many questions or negotiating. Only later will you discover that the reality doesn’t match the pitch: the funding hasn’t actually closed, the other team members haven’t actually committed, and what was billed as product development is really a science project with titanic levels of technical risk.

A would-be partner who acts as if their title or status as a media darling should put all your concerns to rest. - Just because someone has a prestigious chair at a top university or is frequently featured in the media does not mean you can trust them, unfortunately. Only some people get to the top because of their own brilliance. Enough said.

Integrity (or lack thereof) travels with people: deal to deal, institution to institution, company to company. Stick with good people, and save yourself a lot of grief.

Collaborative Leadership

Two eminent leadership paradigms during the 20th century -- the power paradigm and the people paradigm. The power paradigm (hierarchy) was created in the early 1900s as part of the industrial revolution and is based on power and control and the belief people needed to be incented or punished to get them to work hard.

The people paradigm, formulated by Dough McGregor of MIT in 1960, recognized people want to work hard, are social beings, work best in teams, and are responsible. With the emergence of the digital age, these paradigms paved the way for the fourth evolution of leadership: collaboration.

Collaborative leadership is not about power and control, telling people what to do and then finding them doing something wrong. Collaborative leadership is about building trust-based relationships, ensuring psychological safety, and giving people ownership over the organization's values, vision, mission, and strategy, as well as their own jobs. It is about facilitating, engaging, and empowering them; forming and developing collaborative teams; and building workplace cultures that honor the human spirit.

In the face of Covid-19, the use of collaborative leadership skills is essential to ensure organizational success. Attached below are several strategies to help you thrive collaboratively in the pandemic.

1. Gain perspective - Take a step back from daily activities to see the big picture. Use your reflection time to describe what is going on in your workplace and how it is affecting you and others, and brainstorm how you want to use collaboration to make a difference. This is transcending the current reality.

2. Be true to yourself - You know who you are, your values, vision, and mission. You are grounded, and as long as you come from that place and apply your collaborative leadership skills, you will be fine. Often rejection or criticism is coming from people who are less sure of themselves or feel threatened. Use empathy, kindness, and your genuine desire to connect and listen, and you may find that they make a shift in their attitudes.

3. Let go: What you resist persists - Be willing to let go. Sometimes it is not possible to find a solution. What you resist often persists. Sometimes dialogue is not the language others understand. You can use the power of your letting go to engage your colleague and, at the proper time, come back to have a productive conversation.

4. Learn to dance - Operating in a power-based organization often requires you to know how to "dance" with that culture. This means being flexible, agile, and patient. Behavioral change does not happen in a straight line. Remember the parable of the tortoise and the hare -- slow and steady wins the race.

5. Respond, don't react - Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, we feel we have to react to what the other is saying. We don't. Remember your grounding. Be reflective. Consider what the other is saying, where it may be coming from, and then respond with empathy.

6. When in doubt, give them ownership - You will find yourself in situations where you are not sure what approach to take. In collaboration, your fail-safe is to give your colleagues or team ownership over the issue. What would they like to do? What do they think the options might be? Remember that people take care of what they own. Giving others ownership means you're not advocating for a position; you are facilitating the team, and trusting them to come up with the answer.

7. Become a master - Your ultimate goal as a collaborative leader is mastery. First, learn the skills, and then practice them so much that you become a master. Once you are a master, you train others, and they in turn will empower and train those they work with. Think of yourself as a pebble in the pond, and that your work has a ripple effect across your organization and in all of your relationships, both inside and outside of work.

8. Depart - Sometimes, the culture of the organization is so toxic or unhealthy that the only option is to leave the situation or job. You first need to honor yourself and your values, well-being, physical health, and family. You tried to make it work. You did your best, but the culture of this organization is simply not ready for collaboration.

Marriage Between Grab & Gojek

An US$18 billion (S$23.7 billion) merger between Indonesia's transportation king Gojek and e-commerce giant Tokopedia would create the kind of champion South-east Asia's largest nation deserves. The real synergies may be hidden below the surface, just like the landmines they face.

Both are ready for a possible deal, with a view towards an initial public offering, A Jakarta listing is a near certainty to show patriotism, while an overseas sale - perhaps in New York - is also likely. With one side selling products online and the other delivering goods and people, the natural symbiosis would appear to be through logistics in a sprawling country that spans 5,100km across about 18,000 islands. That's the kind of end-to-end infrastructure that companies like Amazon.com dream about.

Fintech Goal - Yet the killer combo comes on the back end, in the fintech realm. Both firms, along with Gojek rival Grab Holdings, are keen to expand beyond their founding business models into services such as payments, banking, insurance and loans. Ride-hailing provider Gojek has over 190 million app downloads across the region, with its core market among Indonesia's 267 million people. Fintech will be the next growth driver. More than half the nation's adults don't even have a bank account, Gojek said.

When consumers and businesses are using your apps to buy and sell products, as well as book and deliver transport, you've suddenly got access to millions of customers at multiple touch points. This boosts sales and marketing opportunities exponentially, and provides a depth of data that few rivals can compete with. Throw in the required regulatory licences, and the possibility of creating a financial powerhouse is right there. But so, too, is the potential to mess it up.

Merger & Danger - Mergers rarely go smoothly, and unicorn marriages are even more unusual. While now may be the perfect time to hook up, since the growth of their core businesses was already set to slow even before Covid-19 hit the broader economy, the mechanics and internal friction from a deal could threaten their momentum. Any shakeup of management, job losses, systems integration, or clashes over direction could distract from the larger challenges of transitioning into a giant company that's really ready for public scrutiny.

That's not to say they shouldn't try. Indonesia, as the world's fourth-most-populous nation, deserves a glorious unicorn wedding. But don't be surprised if the couple discovers that married life isn't always blissful.

Managing Your Policy In Covid19

More than 50% of Malaysian don't have life insurance. More than two-thirds of Malaysians are thinking about their own mortality due to the coronavirus pandemic, and only a small percentage believes that they have enough life insurance or other assets to protect their family in the event of their own death. Covid pandemic is a stark reminder to have protection should something occur. Insurers are experiencing applications on the rise due to pandemic. COVID-19 has not been an exclusion for coverage to those with existing life insurance coverage, but it could impact new applications depending on the life insurance provider. 

Review your current life insurance - Policyholders are recommended to evaluate their life insurance policies to see if they should make any changes. If you have insurance, maintain it because it might be harder to get due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many insurers are asking whether an applicant tested positive or was exposed to someone with COVID-19 within 30 days. If so, your application may be postponed, especially if pre-existing conditions put you at greater risk for COVID-19. Some insurers conditional coverage while an application is in the underwriting stage. Other insurance carriers may offer conditional coverage as well, though some have suspended it due to the pandemic.

Decide if you need more coverage - Most Malaysians who have life insurance are underinsured. Being underinsured is when your death benefit does not cover expenses like mortgage, college, food, debts, and clothing for your dependents in the event of your death.
If you've evaluated your current life insurance and you need more death coverage, you will have to go through the insurance underwriting process, which includes a health questionnaire. However, you must not cancel your current coverage until you know you're approved for the higher death benefit. 

Combining term and permanent life insurance - If your goal is increase death coverage, then combine term insurance to complement your existing permanent life insurance. term insurance is the most reasonable cost-wise. Permanent plan offers more flexibility for changes due to life events like birth or marriage. If it's important for you to have coverage that never expires, then permanent life insurance is best as it doesn't expire and has an accumulated cash value that you can take a loan on or use as collateral. Permanent life insurance policies have riders for long-term care insurance along with a death benefit. There are different add-on riders for permanent insurance that are not available for term life insurance policies. 

Converting your term life policy to whole life - Term life insurance lasts for a specified period of time —five, 10, 20, or 30 years. Once your term expires, you have to reapply for insurance again. If you bought a 20-year term life policy at 25, when you are 45 years old your policy will end and you will need to get coverage. Even if you are in good health, life insurance becomes more expensive as you age. Converting term life insurance to permanent takes a portion of term insurance or all and changes the coverage to permanent. You do not need to submit to additional medical underwriting because your policy would convert at the health rating under the original term policy. Your health insurability is locked from the time your term life insurance became effective. When you make the conversion from term life to permanent, understand that there are different types of permanent life insurance policies, such as whole, universal, and variable life. It is important to talk to your insurance agent or financial planner about the differences between the various permanent life insurance policies to understand what works best for your situation.

Talk to a financial planner - If 2020 has stressed your finances, start 2021 by talking to a financial planner to see what you can do to rebuild your finances and develop a plan for a more stable financial future. A financial planner is not just for the wealthy. The job of a financial planner is to evaluate your current financial situation and help you develop a plan to achieve your financial goals. Everyone's circumstances varies and that is the benefit of a good planner — meeting you at your level and planning according to your budget and needs.
Life insurance, particularly permanent life insurance, can be a tool to build wealth. Start with your bank to see if it offers financial counseling. Contact your life insurance agent to see if they have financial planning that goes beyond term life insurance.

I-Sinar - Friend Or Foe??

I-Sinar is an immediate respite at the expense of future financial stability. There is no doubt that giving people the opportunity to dip into their retirement funds has some economic plus points. It is meant to boost consumer spending, which is a first step towards economic recovery.

On the other hand, the average Malaysian has very low financial literacy, running the risk of him making poor decisions that lead to disastrous situations.

i-Sinar - is a scheme that enables contributors to withdraw up to RM10,000 from Account 1 of their EPF savings. EPF contributors can now check for updates on their i-Sinar applications on its website. 

Under normal circumstances, the Account 1 is a “no-go” zone. The contributor is not allowed to touch a sen of the money until he clocks out for the last time. The i-Sinar programme is therefore a violation of that principle.

The rationale is that with that additional cash in hand, it can help a family tide over a lean period caused by pay cuts or job losses. This could benefit the almost 90,000 people who have already lost their jobs as a result of the economic fallout caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, a majority of Malaysians find it difficult to grasp the principles of financial planning. A survey conducted in October last year showed that 70% of the 3,333 respondents are in need of financial literacy support.

The overall picture is ugly. Data from the Insolvency Department shows that 84,805 Malaysians were declared bankruptcy from 2015 to 2019, and 26% are aged 34 and below.

High Debts Ratio - In 2018, Bank Negara Malaysia revealed that 47% of Malaysian youth have high credit card debts. The average EPF contributor spends his entire savings within three years after retirement. Many individuals struggle with money management because they lack the know-how to manage their finances. This is compounded by the fact that they are more vulnerable to scams. Given that more individuals are out of a job, criminal activities such as financial scams have become more rampant.”

The less financially-literate have found it difficult to identify financial products and services that are appropriate for their needs, leading them to make poor monetary decisions.

Nonetheless, the i-Sinar programme is not all bad. Those who do not actually need the money to meet immediate financial obligations can invest the cash in private retirement schemes.

Tax Relief - An investor can benefit from the long-term tax exemption of up to RM3,000 until 2025, enabling him to not only boost his retirement fund but also benefit from the yearly tax deduction.

An investor can benefit from the long-term tax exemption of up to RM3,000 until 2025, enabling him to not only boost his retirement fund but also benefit from the yearly tax deduction.

All said, whether the i-Sinar will have the desired effect or bring financial ruin will be known soon enough.

Jiwasraya Insurance Is Not Investment

Indonesian overnment decision to restructure the policies of Jiwasraya is a win-win solution for customers, the company and the state. People need to be more aware of the risks of investment. Policy restructuring is the best option for customers and the state. Everybody, including customers, will have to share the losses resulting from this corporate crime. But through this scheme, these losses will be the minimum possible.

Indonesia Finance Group (IFG) - The ministry of finance and the ministry of state-owned enterprises have worked hard to recover the money belonging to 2.59 million Jiwasraya customers by establishing the Indonesia Finance Group (IFG), a new company under Bahana Pembinaan Usaha Indonesia, a state-owned underwriter and insurance holding firm.

IFG Life, a subsidiary of IFG, will take over the policies resulting from the restructuring of Jiwasraya. Since it began to default on payments two years ago, the state-owned insurance company has missed payments totaling Rp16.8 trillion to the 17,452 participants in its bancassurance program. There is also Rp1.5 trillion in outstanding payments from traditional policies. Like a sinking ship, the passengers are transferring to a lifeboat.

Policyholder Penalised - Problems appeared when a group of customers rejected the plan because of the losses they would have to bear. They are participants in the JS Saving Plan bancassurance program, an investment plan dressed as insurance that was marketed jointly with a partner bank. They objected because they will have to wait 15 years to get their money back. If they want to withdraw it in only five years, they will pay a penalty of between 29 and 31 percent of the policy value.

This rescue scheme is a bail-in, a payment of Rp22 trillion in the form of a state capital injection to Bahana. IFG Life will use this capital to operate in the same way as other companies from the start of next year. A significant period of time will be needed before it can make enough of a profit to pay out claims and return the government capital. This method is different from a bailout, which would make it possible for Jiwasraya to immediately use the cash injection to pay customers’ claims. However, of course, we do not want these trillions of rupiah simply to disappear from state coffers.

Insurance Is Not Investment - Bancassurance policyholders should have realized from the start that the money they paid was for an investment plan. Marketed since 2013, the JS Savings Plan offered tempting returns of nine to 13 percent. This was far higher than the interest on bank deposits, which at the time was only between five and seven percent.

Any form of financial investment has the potential to result in losses, especially offers that seem too tempting. The JS Saving Plan managers invested in low-quality stocks. As a result, the company lost Rp16.8 trillion and caused losses to the state. Six senior managers of Jiwasraya and the company that manipulated the stocks were jailed for life as a result of this corporate crime.

The JS Saving Plan - makes up 92 percent of the claims owed by Jiwasraya. Although it was offered through a bank, bancassurance is not a banking product and therefore is not covered by the Deposit Insurance Agency. Therefore, demands for the state to return all of the customers' investments within a short period of time are sorely misplaced.

The Jiwasraya restructuring team should go ahead with their scheme to solve this mess. After all, those who refuse to move to IFG Life will remain Jiwasraya customers. Their policies, worth up to billions of rupiah, will be paid out when the 161-year-old company manages to sell its assets, including the Cilandak Town Square shopping center in South Jakarta. However, given that some of its assets are not liquid, it is not clear when these funds will be available.

More Turning To Insurance, Wills & Trusts

More Americans turned their attention to life insurance, wills and trusts last year as the coronavirus pandemic made the reality of death unavoidable. The number of life insurance applications from people under age 44 increased by more than 7 percent in 2020. Life insurance applications for the age group had been mostly down over the last several years. 

While several factors contributed to the spike, many reports pointed to the pandemic and the insurance awareness it brought on. People are looking at mortality like they've never looked at it before, especially that younger age group. 

More than 22 million jobs disappeared during the early stages of the pandemic, and only 12 million were recovered, forcing many workers to leave behind their employer-paid life insurance through their employee health benefits packages.

About 54 percent of Americans had life insurance earlier this year, most of them through their employers. If you leave your job, that life insurance goes away. People who were losing their jobs or being furloughed were losing their insurance coverage and looking for ways to replace it.

The exact number of applicants filing for life insurance isn't known, as some have applied more than once and others have been denied. 

Estate planning industry estimate that the number of people drafting wills and trusts is also on the rise because of the pandemic. 32 percent of people ages 18 to 34 drafted wills because of Covid-19, 21% of that group drew up the paperwork because they knew someone who had contracted the virus. The pandemic "was an event that made people face their mortality," Kirchick said. "It's making people think about getting their affairs in order."

Life insurance applicants typically fall into three categories: those 44 years old and younger, those ages 45 to 59 and those over 60. The percentage of applications in the youngest group skyrocketed by 18.9 percent in July and by 12.4 percent in August as the pandemic worsened. Overall, insurance applications for all three groups are up by 4 percent this year.