Mothercare Closes All British Stores

Mothercare is set to close all its British stores with the loss of at least 2,500 jobs after its domestic operations buckled under the weight of the pressures plaguing the retail sector.

The company, a baby products retailer that operates 1,010 overseas franchise stores, has fallen victim to extremely difficult conditions in Britain on the back of stiff competition from online retailers and rising costs.

“The UK high street is facing a near existential problem with intensifying and compounding pressures across numerous fronts,” Mothercare Chairman Clive Whiley said.

Most significant among those were high levels of rent and business rates as well as continuing shifts in consumer behaviour from high street to online, he added.

That, and the nearly 60-year-old brand’s failure to attract takeover offers that would preserve the business as a going concern, led to Mothercare appointing PricewaterhouseCoopers to take charge of the units’ administration process.

Mothercare is the latest in a list of brands considered a mainstay of the British shopping scene to go under. House of Fraser and department store chain Debenhams have also been placed in administration.

PwC said in a separate statement that Mothercare’s UK store portfolio will be wound down over the coming weeks and months, adding that the entities in administration employ 2,485 retail staff and 384 head office and distribution staff.

Mothercare operates 79 retail stores in Britain, with the segment having been loss-making for a number of years, PwC said.

The retailer, which had traded from nearly 400 British stores a decade ago, has been cutting its store count in the region deliberately amid ballooning losses.

“This is a sad moment for a well-known high street name. No-one is immune from the challenging conditions faced by the UK retail sector” joint administrator and PwC partner Zelf Hussain said.

Mothercare will now focus abroad as it sets out to return the rest of the group to profitability by fiscal year 2021.

The company said it had raised 3.2 million pounds through a 10 pence a share placing and that it was in talks for up to 50 million pounds more in funding from third parties including a standby underwritten equity issue and a new term loan facility.

Mothercare added that the existing bank debt facilities amounting to 24 million pounds would be paid down by the administration process.

The restructuring also includes an agreement that has been reached with the Mothercare pension trustees to a reduction in the planned contributions over the next 18 months, the company said.

“The action announced today has been carefully thought through and without it, the existence of the wider Group would be threatened,” Whiley said

Supplementary Life Insurance Coverage

Supplemental life insurance is coverage that goes beyond the standard life insurance coverage that may be offered by your employer via their employee benefits package. 

What is Supplemental Life Insurance?  Supplemental life insurance is just what the name implies, its life insurance coverage that supplements other life insurance coverage that is offered by your employer. Many companies offer life insurance coverage as part of their employee benefits package. A certain amount of coverage may be offered as part of your employer's benefit package at a low cost, or even free in some cases. The latter might include a multiple of your annual compensation up to some limit. 

The amount of life insurance available from your employer may or may not be sufficient for your coverage needs. If you need more coverage, a supplemental life insurance policy might be the solution.

How Does Supplemental Life Insurance Work? - Supplemental life insurance refers to any life insurance that you might purchase on a group basis over and above what your employer offers. There is also supplemental life insurance policies that are available privately. 

Group supplemental life insurance is often available as optional coverage by employers at an additional cost. It is typically term insurance coverage. These policies may be portable if you leave the employer, you may be able to continue the coverage. The cost may be more than you were paying while employed by the employer through whom you purchased the coverage.

Unlike the basic group life insurance coverage offered by the employer, you may have to provide evidence of insurability in the form of health and medical information. With the basic coverage offered by employers, everyone qualifies and no evidence of insurability is needed. The insurance company may not be willing to provide the additional coverage unless they are comfortable with you as a risk.

Types of Supplemental Life Insurance

Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) - These policies pay out only if the employee is involved in an accident that causes their death, causes the employee to become paralyzed or results in the loss of a limb, eyesight, hearing or other similar debilitating result as specified in the policy. 

Accidental Death and Personal Loss Insurance - This coverage pays the beneficiaries a set monthly amount for the time specified by the policy in the event that you are in a coma for more than 30 days as the result of an accident at work. Suffer from paralysis as a result of a workplace accident. Lose your speech or hearing as a result of an accident.

Health Specific Insurance - This type of coverage pays a benefit if you die from a specific medical condition like heart disease, cancer or other types of terminal illness. You might add this coverage to other life insurance if this type of illness runs in your family. The heirs often use the proceeds to cover any medical expenses not fully covered by the insured's health insurance, allowing them to avoid dipping into the death benefit from other life insurance coverage. 

Spousal/Domestic Partner Insurance - This type of coverage covers the life of your spouse or domestic partner, if offered by your employer. The amount available will often be some percentage of the amount of the coverage you select on yourself. There may be other policy limits in terms of the coverage and the portability of the policy if you leave your employer.

Dependent Child Insurance - These policies cover the life of your dependent children. The amounts may often be lower than those available to employees or spouses and domestic partners. 

Burial Insurance - These policies are designed to cover the cost of burial for the policy holder. They will typically have a set amount, perhaps $5,000-$10,000 as a death benefit.
How to Buy Supplemental Life Insurance

Supplemental life insurance is usually purchased via your employer. Many employers' group plans include an option to purchase additional coverage. There may be a limit to the amount of coverage that can be purchased.

Premium may vary based on the amount of coverage selected, and perhaps based on your age and other factors. You may also pay the full cost of the coverage, versus an amount that is subsidized by your employer as is often the case with the base amount of life insurance offered under your employee benefit package.

Another option is to look for supplemental life insurance privately through an insurance company not affiliated with your employee benefit plan offerings. You can shop around to see which company offers the best deal on the type of supplemental policy you are considering.

For example, if you are considering AD&D Coverage or a burial policy, you can shop around different insurers who offer this coverage in the private market and compare the costs to what is offered though your employer. If you already have a term policy via a private insurer you may be able to add some types of supplement coverage onto your existing policy as a rider. Another potential advantage of buying supplemental life policies privately is that there are no potential portability issues when you leave your employer.

Is Supplemental Life Insurance Worth It? - Whether or not supplemental life insurance is worth the cost will depend upon several factors.

How much life insurance coverage do you need? This will vary based upon your circumstances and your situation. Factors might include whether you are married or single, whether or not you have dependents such as minor children, your income and other factors.

Your current life insurance coverage. Beyond the basic insurance offered by your employer, do you have other life insurance coverage in force? Perhaps a private insurance policy beyond any group benefits.

Does the supplemental policy have features and benefits compared to purchasing a term policy or some other form of life insurance privately on your own from an insurance company?

Everyone's situation is different, but you should look carefully and consider the pros and cons of various types of supplement policies versus just buying regular life insurance outside of your employer's benefit package.

Taiyo Life Insurance Plans To Knock On Your Door

Japan's Taiyo Life Insurance says it aims to have thousands of salespeople knocking on the doors of potential customers in Myanmar once it gets full approval in a country where the concept of insurance is new to most people.

The midsize insurer seeks to increase its sales force in Myanmar to 5,000 from 100 "in three years after launching operations," President Naoki Soejima said in a recent interview with Nikkei in the country's commercial capital, Yangon.

Myanmar's government now allows foreign insurers to enter the market through joint ventures with local businesses and is set to give formal approval as early as this month.

Taiyo Life, which has taken a 35% stake in local player Capital Life Insurance, is expected to receive the green light to run a joint venture, as are 10 other foreign companies granted provisional approval.

"The importance of having a life insurance policy is not well known in Myanmar, so we need to explain this thoroughly to customers face-to-face," Soejima said.

The unit of Tokyo-based T&D Holdings plans to focus on door-to-door sales in a country that is home to about 53 million people.

Myanmar's life insurance market is forecast to undergo a rapid expansion, with one estimate projecting growth from around $40 million in fiscal 2018 to roughly $1.4 billion in 10 years.

The current Myanmar insurance market "resembles how Japan's was after World War II," when life insurance took off, Soejima said.

Policies with a savings component that also feature medical coverage were popular at the time in Japan, he noted, and his company plans to develop similar products in Myanmar as well.

MBI International Gets Scam Scheme

Monday night’s bomb scare at a double-storey terrace house in Penang is the latest trouble to hit money game operator MBI, which was once dubbed the darling of investment scheme in the country.

Just last month, over 100 Chinese nationals who claimed to have lost their savings staged a peaceful protest near China’s Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Armed with banners, they urged the Chinese government to help them recover the hundreds of million ringgit they had invested in MBI International Holdings, a Penang-based company blacklisted by Bank Negara Malaysia.

The protesters also demanded that the Malaysian authorities assist in the investigations and allow them to meet the relevant parties to settle the dispute. And on Monday, three Chinese nationals went to MBI founder Tedy Teow’s house to seek the money they had invested in the “failed” scheme. When Tedy’s son Adrian told them that his father was not at home and that the family was not involved in the money game, they responded by dropping fake bombs.

It is also understood that a group of Chinese nationals had also waited for Tedy at the Jerejak Island Resort when they heard he was attending a launch there a few months ago, but he did not turn up for the event.

Last year, MBI and Tedy were fined RM2.5mil and RM3mil respectively for issuing a payment instrument without the approval of Bank Negara. The authorities also froze 91 bank accounts with RM177mil linked to MBI Group International then.Bank Negara had flagged the company for allegedly operating a dubious financial scheme.

At the height of its glory, MBI had several projects in Penang, including a mall for members to convert their virtual coins to loyalty points to purchase goods such as groceries, household appliances and even cars. The company also has several housing projects in Bayan Lepas near the Penang International Airport, hotels, e-hailing services and Taman MBI Desaku in Kulim, Kedah.

According to a driver of an e-hailing service company, the number of Chinese MBI investors coming to Penang for holidays has dropped significantly since last year.

“They would come to Penang to stay and engage our services to go to Kulim for the MBI investors’ meeting. Over the past 12 months, the number has dropped by more than 90%. Previously, the founder was looked upon like a celebrity. Now investors cursed him whenever the topic of money game pops up,” he said.

Attempts to contact MBI for comments were unsuccessful.

E-Cigarette - Increase Premium

While the long-term effects of vaping are still unknown, there’s little doubt that vaping won’t go in your favor when it comes to life insurance. The vaping-related illness outbreak reached more 1.888 probable cases with 37 fatalities as of Oct. 29, according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. 

It’s still unclear what is making people sick. Nearly 9 of 10 patients with lung problems said they vaped products containing THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, according to the CDC’s analysis of 867 people with lung problems associated with e-cigarette use.

Life insurance companies have long used smoking as a factor to determine coverage. It is not surprising that the use of any product with nicotine would raise a red flag for a life insurance company. But exactly how an individual company will treat an application for a person who uses e-cigarettes can vary from company to company.”

Companies typically put customers in various classes when determining premiums, each of which have different rates: preferred plus, preferred standard, plus standard, and substandard. These are ranked from most to least healthy.

Although terms may vary slightly, the average monthly premium for a 35-year-old male classified as “preferred tobacco” — healthy, but a smoker— with a $500,000, 20-year term life insurance policy is $108.72. If that applicant had a preferred non-tobacco classification — a healthy nonsmoker, that is — he would pay just $31.72 per month.

In October,nPrudential Financial increased its life insurance rate for e-cigarette users to match those of smokers. People who vape will be classified as smokers, who are usually charged higher rates than nonsmokers, the company said.

“Increased attention on vaping over the past few months and linkages to a few deaths and multiple illnesses, have resulted in warnings from the FDA, federal government and some states banning the use of flavored e-cigarettes,” the Prudential statement said. 

Nearly every major life insurance company classifies vapers as smokers when determining rates because its long-term effects are still undetermined.That’s not likely to change anytime soon. Companies started to distinguish between smokers and nonsmokers when they had hard data on how much mortality there is for smokers versus nonsmokers.

Disclosing nicotine use - If you smoke or vape, it’s important to disclose this to your insurance broker. Some carriers are more favorable than others to smokers, and a broker can steer you in the right direction.

It’s important to get the right amount of coverage to protect yourself and your family. During the one to two years after your policy goes into effect, there is a so-called contestability period during which the company can review your application to make sure there are no misrepresentations. 

Being honest when you apply will help ensure you get the coverage you need. Premiums could go up and could be price prohibitive — it doesn’t lessen the need for the amount of insurance you have to get.

Made In Indonesia, By Indonesian And For Indonesian

Today’s technology is the foundation for future technologies, and every emerging technology creates new business opportunities. Oftentimes, technologies become more useful when combined. For example, see what happened when we put together the connectivity of the internet, the power of PCs and the mobility of smartphones.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the latest technologies to emerge for the past few years. The recent breakthroughs in AI follow patterns similar to the PC, the internet and smartphone evolution, which all started as niche areas and eventually became general-purpose technologies.

Some experts have said that AI is as important as the discovery of fire and electricity. Although that may seem like an exaggeration, the point is that AI is going to be one of the most important technologies humanity will ever invent, leaving a deep impact on society and business in a profound way. It will likely be in a class by itself. It is going to be part of our personal lives, across virtually all industries.

AI has the potential to deliver additional global economic activity of around US$13 trillion by 2030. Yes, that’s $13 trillion with a capital T. There have been accumulated investments of over $300 billion in AI; the largest exit was $15 billion as of July 2019.

The Group of 20 and other countries have shared publicly that AI is one of their major initiatives because it is a strategic tool for advanced civilian and military applications. Indonesian Government has declared AI as one of the strategic technologies of its "Making Indonesia 4.0" roadmap, as part of the fourth industrial revolution.

Moreover, many global companies have successfully demonstrated how AI has helped their business thrive by reinventing their existing products, creating new products and entering new markets. AI accelerates the growth and exponentially amplifies their technological expertise in PCs, the internet and smartphones.

AI represents a golden opportunity for Indonesia, with a relatively young and vibrant population of over 260 million people. The country boasts a median age of 30 and a literacy rate of 95 percent. Indonesian AI start-ups are primed and ready to follow in the footsteps of their counterparts from other Asian countries like Japan, India, Taiwan, Korea and China, which have been successfully transforming their countries through technology. They have significantly improved people’s skills, standard of living and productivity and have been recognized as key global players in the world.

An interesting attribute to AI software relative to other recent technologies is that it requires a significant amount of internationalization and localization in order to attain optimum results for each country. The internationalization technique enables the software to be adapted to various languages and regions easily. Localization enables the internationalized software to be adapted in a specific language and convention for each country. For example, Indonesia and United States display dates in different languages and formats and an AI model trained to recognize dates in the US may not immediately understand dates in Indonesian documents.

Unlike traditional software, AI depends heavily on data – especially local data. For example, politicians, celebrities, laws, accents, streets, language, dialects, spelling, abbreviations, slang, pictures, license plates and street signs will all differ from country to country. Such differences require a bespoke solution in each country; what works for the US and China won’t work at all for Indonesia.

There has been a growing number of Indonesian AI start-up companies that focus on developing AI-powered products and services based on AI technology. They develop products that touch all facets of everyday life, allowing you to unlock your account using your voice; convert images of receipts into digital text; recommendation systems to recommend products you may like; sentiment analysis for social media; chatbots for customer support and more. Many of these technologies are highly localized and specific to Indonesian customs and culture. They work across a wide swath of industries such as banking, insurance, health care, e-commerce, agriculture and manufacturing.

They are helping Indonesian companies improve their customer experience, reduce cost, drive growth, meet customer demand and stay competitive with international competitors. They contribute to building up Indonesia’s natural resources, services and the digital economy.

These local AI start-ups are funded by Indonesian investors. They are based in Indonesia, all employees are Indonesians, and everyone works in Indonesia.

In summary, AI start-ups made in Indonesia by Indonesians for Indonesians have a special role in helping "Make Indonesia 4.0". Indonesians should be proud to be able to create AI start-up companies based on one of the most advanced emerging technologies in the world.

We have risen to the occasion. AI will help accelerate the Indonesian economy’s growth and position us well for the future of a new world before us. (kes)