Michael Pillemer

Walk along almost any inland river in Australia and you’ll find river red gums that have stood for centuries. They’ve outlasted droughts, floods and fires and endure because of how deeply they’re established in their habitat, not the size of their canopy.

It’s an image worth keeping in mind amid the advice industry’s pursuit of growth. Much of the conversation centres on scale: who’s consolidating, who’s acquiring, who’s growing fastest. Scale has its place, but some of the longest-standing institutions in financial services built their strength through a different approach. They went deep with one community instead of broad across everyone.

Research from Oxford University’s Kellogg College^[1], People, Place and the Economy: The Social Value of Mutuals, helps explain why those roots matter. A mutual is owned by its members, who are also its customers. That means the people it serves are the people it ultimately answers to. The research argues that this ownership structure creates value through the way mutuals do business: profits are reinvested in member benefits and better services rather than paid out to outside shareholders, and decisions are made with members’ long-term interests in mind. Over time, that builds a level of trust and loyalty that’s hard to replicate.

Advice businesses don’t need to be mutuals to apply those principles. Before PPS Mutual, most of my working life was spent on the advice side. In 2002, I co-founded and led Centric Wealth, growing it into one of Australia’s largest private wealth companies, with $5 billion under advice.

Around that time, banks were acquiring many of the medium to large financial planning businesses. This created a gap in the market for a substantial, privately owned wealth advice business serving high-net-worth clients who wanted independent advice. Centric Wealth’s growth showed me the value of recognising an underserved group and building a business around its needs.

At Centric, advisers would regularly tell me that their South African doctor and accountant clients were asking: “Haven’t you got the equivalent of PPS?”

When I took my eldest son to the Soccer World Cup in South Africa in 2010, I met with PPS and came to understand what those clients meant. Their experience of an insurer that understood the needs of professionals had made such an impression that, when seeking advice on another continent, they wanted to find its equivalent. That was a powerful illustration of the trust and loyalty a business can build by understanding and consistently serving a particular community.

Those experiences were a big part of why, a decade ago, we launched PPS Mutual in Australia, a member-owned life insurance company for professionals, drawing on the same model that has served professionals in South Africa for 85 years.

From running advice firms to now partnering with them, I’ve seen five habits stand out for turning a deep understanding of clients into a business that lasts.

1. They think in generations, not quarters

Quarterly targets are easy to set and easy to measure, which is why so much business planning revolves around them. But the institutions still standing make decisions for the business they want to be 20 years from now, and the clients they’ll still be serving then.

In an advice business, that horizon shows up in three places:

1. Reinvestment: is the business funding systems, training and people whose benefits may take years to show, or drawing out profit while the numbers look good?
2. Service: is the client experience designed around the next review, or around decades of changing circumstances, from building a career to retirement and passing on wealth?

• Succession: would the business keep serving clients well if its founder stepped away tomorrow? Nearly half of the advice businesses surveyed in CFS 10x’s Hidden Value Report^[2] said they couldn’t operate effectively without their owner. Planning for that early gives clients confidence their relationship will outlast any one person.

It’s a useful lens for any big decision: which time horizon is it really being made for?

2. They treat loyalty as the measure of value

New client numbers are the figure most practices celebrate. Retention tells you more. Every year a client chooses to stay, they’re confirming the advice is worth paying for.

When I was running advice firms, the clients who stayed longest were rarely the ones paying the lowest fee. They were the ones who felt known. Their adviser remembered the daughter starting university, the business they were thinking of selling, the parent who’d just moved into care, and the advice shifted with them.

You can’t buy that familiarity at onboarding. It builds up review by review. It’s also why the strongest practices tend to pay as much attention to the clients who leave, and why, as to the ones who arrive.

3. They know reputation builds slowly and disappears fast

A lifetime spent building trust can evaporate in an instant. We saw this during the 2018 Hayne Royal Commission. Institutions that had become household names over generations watched their standing unravel in a matter of months. For licensees, much of the damage came from fees charged for services that were never delivered. Many of those brands are still rebuilding.

Risk psychologist Paul Slovic^[3] calls this the asymmetry principle: trust is far easier to destroy than to create, because negative events stand out more and weigh more heavily than positive ones.

That’s why the moments that shape a reputation are rarely the easy ones. They’re the market fall when a client wants to sell everything, the strategy that didn’t play out as planned, the insurance claim a client is relying on. Clients and referrers remember how a business behaved when it counted.

4. They grow through referral, not reach

For most advice practices, personal referral is the main way new clients are introduced. In Adviser Ratings’ 2025 Australian Financial Advice Landscape^[4], 81% of practices named existing clients as a source of referrals, up from 71% the year before, with accountants next at 45%.

The referral links hold strongest in close professional networks. A doctor mentions their adviser to a colleague on the same ward. An engineer brings them up at a project meeting. Each new client arrives with a recommendation from someone they respect, and the circle widens from there.

Referrals are also an honest measure. People only put their name to a recommendation when they’re confident it will reflect well on them.

5. They exist for something specific, and never forget what it is

A dentist who has treated the same family for 30 years knows which familial jaw patterns will emerge in the grandkids and who is likely to need orthodontics as they mature. That depth of understanding comes from sustained attention and familiarity. In other words, specialisation builds a depth of expertise that’s hard to replicate.

A clear client niche does the same for an advice practice, and more practices are heading that way. In the same Adviser Ratings report^[5], 80% of practices with five or more advisers said they target specific client types, compared with 54% of solo practices. Serving one group, whether medical professionals, business owners or retirees in a particular region, reveals patterns others miss: the typical career path, the common tax traps, the moments when advice matters most. Expertise sharpens, the service becomes harder to replace, and the business grows more resilient because it isn’t competing for every client against every competitor.

The harder part is the second half of the habit. A broader market always looks tempting, especially when growth is the goal. The institutions that endure hold their focus anyway.

Deep roots keep a business standing

The next few years will bring more demand for quality advice. They will also bring new cycles of consolidation, technology intervention and pressure on margins. Some businesses will chase scale, and some will succeed at it. Whatever shape the industry takes, the ones still standing will have attributes in common with the river red gum.

They are likely to survive because of what’s beneath the surface: community roots, standing strong in one place, sheltering families and clients over multiple cycles and for the long term.

By Michael Pillemer, Founding CEO

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Notes:
[1] https://www.kellogg.ox.ac.uk/news/new-research-co-operatives-and-mutuals-generate-structural-social-value/
[2] https://www.cfs.com.au/content/dam/cfs-winged/documents/adviser/resources/cfs10x-hidden-value-report.pdf
[3] https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/items/d50d56e1-a110-40c6-81bc-a1178c97bd31
[4] https://pro.adviserratings.com.au/docs/2025-Australian-Financial-Advice-Landscape.pdf
[5] Ibid.

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Michael Pillemer

Specialist insurance company PPS Mutual has announced its tenth consecutive annual Profit-Share allocation, with its Profit-Share pool reaching A$19.6 million at the end of the 2025-26 financial year, up 30% on the previous year.

A further A$4.7 million was assigned to Members’ Profit-Share Accounts during the year, a 24% increase in the annual allocation. The milestone closes out a landmark anniversary year for PPS Mutual, which marked a decade in the Australian market in June and has now shared profits with Members every year since inception.

Since launching in Australia in 2016, PPS Mutual has built the only Profit-Share model of its kind in the Australian life insurance market. Under the model, Members may receive a share of the profits generated by their policies, based on factors including operating margins, claims experience and investment returns. For 2025-26, PPS Mutual declared Profit-Share rates of 3.15% of premiums and 6.5% of opening balances. PPS Mutual’s membership has now grown to more than 18,000 professionals.

PPS Mutual Chief Executive Officer Michael Pillemer said the tenth annual assignment represented an important milestone for the business and its Members: “A decade ago, we set out to prove that mutuality is not a nostalgic alternative to modern insurance, but a durable one – an ownership model where the interests of the life insurance company and the insured are directly aligned. Ten consecutive annual Profit-Share assignments and a pool now approaching A$20 million provide the empirical case for that thesis. When those interests are aligned, value can build over time and be shared with the Members who helped create it.”

Individual Member balances continue to build meaningfully. The highest Profit-Share Account balance held by a Member now stands at A$54,000, with 131 Members holding balances above A$10,000 and 489 Members above A$5,000.

“Behind each of those balances is a professional receiving additional long-term value alongside the life insurance protection they hold,” Pillemer added. “That is the power of the model – the life insurance protecting Members and their families can also build additional value for them over time. Seeing those balances become meaningful for a growing number of Members is one of the outcomes we are proudest of.”

As the earliest Members reach the ten-year access threshold, funds are increasingly flowing back to them directly. To date, 54 Members have withdrawn more than A$239,000 collectively, including five Members who have accessed more than A$10,000, 17 who have accessed between A$5,000 and A$10,000, and 32 who have accessed up to A$5,000.

The growth in Profit-Share Account balances is also creating an increasingly meaningful source of value across PPS Mutual’s accredited adviser network. Thirty-eight advisers now have more than A$100,000 in combined client Profit-Share Account balances, while eight advice firms have combined client balances exceeding A$500,000 and three have balances exceeding A$1 million.

“Risk advisers are central to everything we have built,” Pillemer said. “The fact that 38 advisers now have more than A$100,000 in combined Profit-Share Account balances across their clients is a strong indication of the trust they have placed in the model, and trust is not given lightly in this industry. Advisers support the model because they can see it delivering value for their clients over the life of a policy. When an insurer’s interests are aligned with the people it serves, advisers have a proposition they can confidently stand behind for the long term.”

This engagement is also reflected in PPS Mutual’s standing among advisers. The company has recorded the leading Net Promoter Score in the Australian life insurance industry for four consecutive years, most recently achieving an NPS of 54.8 against an industry average of 9.5.

PPS Mutual has also been named Best Retail Life Insurer of the Year in successive Adviser Ratings surveys. Its annual lapse rate of 6.4% compares favourably with the industry average of 14.3%.* The company is a member of both the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals and the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation, reflecting its position within the Australian and global mutual and cooperative movement.

“Our first decade was about proving the model,” Pillemer continued. “Our next is about scaling it – deepening the value we return to Members and extending the affinity dividend that comes from building around a defined group of professionals. Ultimately, our ambition is to deliver better long-term outcomes by ensuring the success of the business is shared with the Members who make it possible.”

PPS Mutual’s life insurance products are available exclusively through accredited independent financial advisers. Members must retain their policies for ten years to gain partial access to their Profit-Share funds, with withdrawals of up to 5% of the balance permitted each year. Full access is granted after 20 years, when Members reach age 65, or in the event of death, terminal illness or certain other qualifying circumstances.

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*Source: NMG Retail Advice Channel Risk Distribution Monitor as of 30 June 2026

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Maria Repac

Specialist risk insurance company PPS Mutual has announced the appointment of Maria Repac as Business Development Manager for New South Wales. She will report to Sabrina Sequeira-Walmsley, State Manager for New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory.

The appointment builds on PPS Mutual’s growth in NSW and reinforces its commitment to working closely with its accredited advisers and supporting quality protection advice for professional clients. In her new role, Repac will help drive the expansion of PPS Mutual’s accredited adviser network across the state, deepening existing partnerships and building relationships with new advisers.

Sequeira-Walmsley said the appointment reflects growing adviser demand in NSW and PPS Mutual’s focus on strengthening relationships on the ground.

“Advisers in NSW are seeing more demand from professional clients whose needs are becoming more complex, and they want a partner who understands that market. Strengthening our adviser relationships on the ground is a key focus for PPS Mutual, and Maria will play an important part in that.

“Maria brings a skill set that is particularly valuable in a life insurance BDM role. She has built strong relationships with financial advisers, and her experience across underwriting, claims and operations gives her a practical understanding on how to support advisers. I’m delighted to welcome her to the NSW team at PPS Mutual”

Repac brings more than two decades of experience across life insurance and financial services, spanning business development, operations and support roles in underwriting and claims. She joins from MetLife Australia, where she began in the underwriting team before moving into business development in 2022. As a Business Development Consultant, she worked with advisers to grow their risk businesses, establish new relationships and reconnect with previously engaged advisers. Before MetLife, she was Operations Manager at claims management software business ANCIS and an HR Advisor at Munich Re. She also spent almost 14 years with Commonwealth Bank and CommInsure, including as a Specialist Claims Support Analyst supporting the management of complex and long-term claims. Repac holds a Diploma of Financial Planning.

Commenting on her appointment, Repac said: “I’m really excited to be joining PPS Mutual and being part of a business that puts its members first. I’m looking forward to building strong relationships with advisers and helping protect what matters most to their clients.”

Repac joins PPS Mutual at a time of strong performance in the Australian market: PPS Mutual has been named Best Retail Life Insurer by Adviser Ratings for three consecutive years, and its annual lapse rate of 6.4% compares favourably with the industry average of 14.3%.*

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*Source: NMG Retail Advice Channel Risk Distribution Monitor as of 30 June 2026

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Avanti Patki

Specialist risk insurance business PPS Mutual has announced the appointment of Matthew Pilcher to the newly created role of Director of Strategy, as the mutual enters the next phase of its growth following its tenth anniversary in the Australian market.

Avanti Patki, currently Senior Product Actuary (Member Strategy & Engagement Manager), has been appointed Head of Product, reporting to Pilcher. Both appointments take effect from 1 October 2026.

The creation of the Director of Strategy role reflects the scale PPS Mutual has reached since launching in Australia in 2016. In the role, Pilcher will lead PPS Mutual’s long-term strategy, identifying opportunities to deliver ongoing value to its Members, and will take responsibility for new initiatives across the business.

Pilcher joined PPS Mutual in 2014, ahead of its Australian launch, and has served as Director of Proposition for more than a decade. In that role he was instrumental in designing Professionals Choice, PPS Mutual’s specialist life insurance offering, to be the top-rated product for its professional Member base. He was also key in launching the PPS Mutual Super Fund in 2019, allowing eligible professionals to fund their premiums through superannuation. Prior to PPS Mutual, Pilcher spent 14 years at Munich Re of Australasia, most recently as Manager, Client Solutions.

Commenting on his appointment, Pilcher said: “I’ve been part of this journey since before we launched, and seeing PPS Mutual grow to more than 18,000 Members and approaching A$150 million of in-force premiums has been remarkable.

“But scale isn’t the goal in itself. What it gives us is the capacity to do more for the professionals who own this business, and for the advisers who look after them. As a mutual, every opportunity we pursue has to pass a simple test: does it deliver value and peace of mind to our Members and their families? That’s the lens I’ll bring to this role as we look at where we go next.”

As Head of Product, Patki will lead the development, pricing and ongoing evolution of PPS Mutual’s specialist product suite, including its Professionals Choice offering, as well as responsibility for PPS Mutual’s Member eligibility.

Patki brings more than a decade of specialised actuarial, strategy and financial modelling experience across the life insurance and wealth management sectors. Since joining PPS Mutual in 2021, she has been integral to expanding the mutual’s professional eligibility frameworks and has been a strong advocate for sustainable, long-term value within member-owned insurance models. Before PPS Mutual, she held actuarial roles at Macquarie Group and AMP, spanning insurance pricing and profitability, asset liability management, strategy and valuations. She is a member of the Actuaries Institute, where she has been a member of the Life Insurance Professional Practice Sub-Committee and hosted major networking initiatives.

Commenting on her appointment, Patki said: “Our Professionals Choice suite was built on a clear premise: that cover should be designed around how professionals’ careers and lives actually unfold. My focus will be on keeping it that way.

“That means making sure the product evolves as our Members’ needs change, is priced sustainably for the long term, and is accessible to more of the professionals who can benefit from it. Because the value we create stays with our Members, we have a real responsibility to get the product right. I’m grateful for the opportunity, and excited to lead a team that shares that commitment.”

PPS Mutual Chief Executive Officer Michael Pillemer congratulated both on their appointments: “I’m delighted to see Matt and Avanti step into these roles. Matt has helped shape PPS Mutual from the outset, and Avanti has brought wide-ranging expertise to our product work and helped expand the range of professionals we can serve.

“We have always said that being a mutual should shape the decisions we make, not simply describe our ownership structure. As we enter our second decade, we have the opportunity to do more for the professionals who have placed their trust in us. I know Matt and Avanti will keep our Members at the centre of what comes next, and I’m excited to see what they achieve with the wider PPS Mutual team,” Pillemer concluded.

The appointments build on a strong track record in the Australian market: PPS Mutual has been named Best Retail Life Insurer by Adviser Ratings for three consecutive years, and its annual lapse rate of 6.4% compares favourably with the industry average of 14.3%.*

As a mutual, PPS Mutual is owned by its Australian Members, who share in the profits of the products they buy. The company is a member of both the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals and the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation, reflecting its position within the Australian and global mutual and cooperative movement.

PPS Mutual is supported by PPS South Africa, which serves the largest multi-disciplinary group of professionals in the world and is South Africa’s largest mutual company. Dating back to the 1940s, over the last 10 years PPS South Africa has shared more than $3 billion in profits with its Members.. PPS Mutual’s life insurance products are available exclusively through accredited independent financial advisers.

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Notes:
*Source: NMG Retail Advice Channel Risk Distribution Monitor as of 30 June 2026

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Voula Makris

Specialist risk insurance business PPS Mutual has appointed Voula Makris as Senior Business Development Manager for Victoria, effective 14 September 2026. She will report to Shadia Kouzma, State Manager for Victoria.

The appointment strengthens PPS Mutual’s presence in Victoria at a time when the complexity and cost of Australia’s financial advice framework continues to influence how advisers operate and clients access quality advice – a trend that has seen adviser numbers tighten across the industry, even as demand for specialist protection advice grows.

In her new role, Voula will drive growth across Victoria, working with PPS Mutual’s accredited adviser network to strengthen risk insurance capability, support sustainable practice development and help advisers deliver high-quality protection outcomes for professional clients.

Shadia Kouzma, State Manager for Victoria, said the appointment was about more than expanding PPS Mutual’s distribution capability; it reflected the insurer’s commitment to supporting a strong and sustainable risk advice profession.

“The long-term health of Australia’s life insurance sector depends on a strong and sustainable advice profession. Insurers have a role to play beyond designing and distributing products. “Advisers need business development partners who can help them address the practical, technical and commercial challenges they encounter every day. Voula brings extensive market knowledge, deep relationships across the advice channel and a thoughtful, solutions-focused approach to supporting advisers and helping them strengthen their businesses and deliver better client outcomes.

“I’m thrilled to have someone of Voula’s calibre and experience joining PPS Mutual. She’s a fantastic addition to our growing team, and I’m really looking forward to having her on board.”

The appointment builds on PPS Mutual’s broader investment in the risk advice profession, alongside initiatives such as their Risk Practice of the Year Awards, which recognises specialist practices demonstrating excellence in life insurance and provides practical insights to strengthen their operations.

Voula brings more than three decades of financial services experience spanning business development, adviser relationships, distribution and client service. She joins PPS Mutual from Acenda, where she served as Business Development Manager.

She previously held senior distribution roles at iExtend and Integrity Life, following almost 12 years as a Business Development Manager at CommInsure. Earlier in her career, she worked at Colonial First State and AMP.

Her commitment to supporting advisers and delivering strong client outcomes has also earned her industry recognition, including the Money Management BDM of the Year award for Victoria and Tasmania.

Commenting on her appointment, Voula said: “Business development is often discussed in terms of growth, but for me it starts with being useful to advisers. That means understanding how their practice operates, getting across the technical detail and being a reliable partner as they support their clients and grow their business.

“Ultimately, there is a client behind every policy. The better the support we give advisers, the better placed they are to recommend protection that reflects each client’s circumstances and gives them confidence in the protection they have in place, should they need to rely on it.

“PPS Mutual’s specialist focus, accredited adviser network and member-owned model provide a strong foundation for that partnership. That combination really appealed to me, and I’m looking forward to getting out and working with advisers across Victoria,” Makris concluded.

PPS Mutual offers life insurance products exclusively to professionals through a select network of accredited advisers. Since launching in Australia in 2016, the company has earned a reputation for disciplined underwriting, high-quality service, and strong member retention – with a lapse rate of just 5.1%, well below the industry average of 14.1%.

PPS Mutual is supported by PPS South Africa, the largest multi-disciplinary group of professionals in the world and the largest mutual company in South Africa since the 1940s – sharing over $3 billion in profits with Members over the last 10 years. PPS Mutual is owned by its Australian Members who share in the profits of the products that they buy.

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Daniel Waller

As the pool of insurer partners shrinks, a more deliberate approach to panel construction, one that prioritises resilience alongside product fit, is becoming critical to protecting client outcomes and business stability.

Think of your insurer panel like an investment portfolio. A client who puts everything into a single stock might be fine, until they’re not. The same logic applies to how advisers structure their insurer relationships. And with consolidation accelerating across Australia’s life insurance market, that logic has never mattered more.

Insurers are merging, acquiring and restructuring in pursuit of scale and efficiency. MLC Life Insurance and Resolution Life Australasia merged late last year to form Acenda^[1], creating one of Australia’s largest life insurers. Zurich announced a $415 million acquisition of ClearView^[2], expected to complete later this year. And AIA absorbed the Integrity Life portfolio^[3] – a business that had already exited new advice clients – completing that transfer in early 2025. Three significant moves in the space of 18 months.

None of this is inherently problematic. Bigger players can mean stronger capital bases, broader product ranges and more invested distribution infrastructure. But for advisers, fewer players means something else entirely: concentration risk is becoming one of the most underappreciated business risks in the industry.

When fewer insurers account for a greater share of adviser business, the impact of any change, whether it’s repricing, underwriting adjustments, service disruptions or strategic shifts, becomes amplified across client portfolios. In a more concentrated market, the question is no longer just which insurer you choose. It’s how exposed your clients are to that insurer’s decisions when conditions change.

Concentration risk isn’t just a business risk – it’s a client risk

Over-reliance on a single insurer can quickly become a client experience issue at scale. This becomes particularly important during periods of merger integration or structural change. Even when the long-term rationale for a merger is sound, systems need to be combined, teams restructured and service models reset^[4]. During that period, advisers may see delays in underwriting decisions, inconsistent service experiences or longer claims processing times.

These issues rarely stay operational. A delayed underwriting outcome can feel like uncertainty. A slower claims process can feel like a lack of support at the very moment clients need it most. A sudden pricing change can raise questions about whether the original recommendation still holds. Over time, those experiences affect trust, retention and the perceived value of advice.

The challenge compounds when a large proportion of clients sit with the same provider. A repricing decision, a change to the service proposition, or a shift in underwriting appetite can trigger a wave of client reviews and conversations simultaneously. What might otherwise be a manageable insurer adjustment becomes a business-wide event, affecting large segments of the client base at once and increasing the operational burden on advisers.

The issue isn’t insurer quality. Even the strongest insurers experience periods of change. The issue is concentration, and how exposed your clients are to any one provider’s decisions over time. An adviser who has placed the majority of their book with a single insurer doesn’t just face a service issue when that insurer hits turbulence. They face a client trust issue, a relationship management issue and an operational issue, often simultaneously and at scale.

What matters when assessing insurer partnerships today

Adviser panels have traditionally been built around client fit, product competitiveness and operational efficiency. In a consolidating market, those criteria aren’t sufficient on their own. The question to add is a forward-looking one: how will this insurer behave over the next three to five years, and how will my clients experience that?

That means looking beyond the usual product analysis to factors such as:

• Consistency of underwriting philosophy over time, not just current appetite but how stable it has been through previous periods of ownership change or market pressure.
• Claims reputation, particularly during disruption. Claims performance in a steady state tells you something. During an integration period, it tells you much more.
• Service capacity and responsiveness during change. How has this insurer managed continuity through previous system transitions? The answer is usually visible if you ask peers who lived through it.
• Clarity of long-term strategic intent in the advised channel. Is advice central to this insurer’s growth strategy, or a distribution priority that could be deprioritised when capital allocation decisions are made?

Ownership structure is one of the most underused lenses in panel assessment. An insurer that answers to shareholders operates under different incentives to one that answers to policyholders, and those differences show up in decisions around repricing, service investment and long-term product design. Understanding those dynamics, whether the insurer is listed, privately owned or member-owned, gives advisers a more complete picture of how a partner is likely to behave when conditions change.

A three-step lens for reviewing insurer relationships

1. Look beneath the surface. Go beyond product and pricing to assess factors such as financial stability, ownership structure and long-term strategic intent. Consider how these elements shape decision-making over time, particularly in areas such as pricing, service investment and underwriting philosophy, and how aligned those decisions are with member or customer outcomes.
2. Consider how change may play out. Think through how events such as mergers, acquisitions or shifts in capital priorities could affect service, underwriting and client outcomes. Focus on how those changes are likely to be experienced in practice, not just how they are communicated.
3. Sense-check against real-world experience. Draw on peer insights to understand how insurers are performing through periods of change. Pay close attention to consistency across service, underwriting and claims, particularly when conditions are less stable.

Diversification enables better client outcomes, not just risk mitigation

Diversification is often treated as a defensive move – a hedge against things going wrong. But that framing undersells it.

A well-constructed panel improves the quality of advice itself, giving advisers the flexibility to match clients more precisely to the provider best suited to their needs and risk profile, adapt as insurer settings change, and avoid forced compromises when one provider shifts position.

Different insurers bring different strengths. Larger players offer scale, capital depth and product breadth. Specialist providers bring flexibility, niche expertise and responsiveness. And member focused insurers can introduce a longer-term perspective, less influenced by shareholder return dynamics and more oriented toward pricing stability and reinvestment in service^[5]. A thoughtful mix of capabilities, models and incentives, rather than simply more providers, is what creates genuine resilience.

Panels can’t be static in a market that isn’t

Consolidation will continue. So will the integration periods, product resets and strategic pivots that follow. That’s not a reason for alarm, it’s a reason for intentionality.

The advisers who stand out aren’t necessarily those with the largest panels or the most provider relationships. They’re the ones who have thought carefully about what their panel is actually exposed to, and why, who stay curious about how the market is shifting, ask harder questions of their insurer partners, and treat panel construction as a living part of their practice.

A diversified investment portfolio doesn’t just protect against loss. It creates the conditions for better outcomes. A well-constructed insurer panel works the same way.

By Daniel Waller, Head of Distribution

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Notes:
[1] https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/au/news/life-insurance/acenda-group-formed-after-resolution-life-global-acquisition-closes-555138.aspx
[2] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/zurich-australia-acquire-clearview-wealth-113928138.html
[3] https://www.insurancewatch.com.au/life-insurance-companies.html
[4] https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/mergers-acquisitions/bigger-isnt-better-why-scaledriven-insurance-manda-is-falling-out-of-favor-571998.aspx
[5] https://www.insuranceandestates.com/mutual-insurance-company-vs-stock-insurance-company/

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Michael Pillemer

PPS Mutual, Australia’s only retail life insurance mutual exclusively serving qualified professionals, this week marks its tenth anniversary – and with it, what a decade of putting Members before shareholders actually looks like: nine consecutive Profit-Shares, $76 million in claims paid, and lapse rates a third of the industry average.^[1]

What began as a niche, purpose-built offering for Australian professionals – doctors, lawyers, engineers, dentists and others – entering a retail life insurance market long dominated by large institutional and shareholder-owned insurers, has grown into a recognised, multi-award-winning business with 17,336 Members^[2] and $131 million^[2] in-force premiums. Every one of those Members has a stake in the business that protects them and, every year since inception, they have shared in its profits.

A Profit-Share that has grown sixfold

The hallmark of PPS Mutual’s mutual model is its annual Profit-Share – a feature unique in the Australian retail life insurance market. From the very first year of operation, profits have been assigned to Members rather than distributed to external shareholders. Over the decade, the Profit-Share pool has grown almost sixfold, reaching $15 million in FY2024–25 – with the most recent assignment allocating approximately $4 million to Members.

The compounding effect is becoming tangible. More than 100 Members have accrued Profit-Share Account balances exceeding $10,000, with 17 surpassing $20,000 and nearly 400 holding balances above $5,000. Three advice firms now manage more than $1 million in client Profit-Share Account balances – a figure that would have seemed ambitious a decade ago.^[3]

As of 11 May 2026, PPS Mutual has authorised $256,037 worth of Profit-Share releases to Members – funds that Members would not have received had they been insured with any other provider in Australia.

Michael Pillemer, Chief Executive of PPS Mutual, said the anniversary was a moment to reflect on what a decade of consistent execution had built.

“When we launched in Australia in 2016, the mutual model was largely unknown in the local life insurance market. We had to earn trust – from advisers, from Members, and from the broader industry. What the last ten years have shown is that when you build a business entirely around the interests of the people it serves, and back that with a product that genuinely delivers, people stay. They refer their colleagues. They see their Profit-Share Accounts grow. Through market volatility, a global pandemic, and significant regulatory change, we have shared our profits with Members every year since inception. That consistency is the clearest signal that the model works.

“As we enter our second decade, our job is simply to keep doing what we said we would do – and to do it for more Australian professionals. The number I’m most proud of is the $76 million we’ve paid in claims.^[4] Everything else – the Profit-Share, the retention, the awards – is only meaningful if we deliver when a Member needs us most. That is what this model exists to do,” Pillemer noted.

Delivering when it matters most

Over its first decade, PPS Mutual has paid claims to Members across Life, Trauma, Income Protection, Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) and Business Expenses (BEX) insurance. The 100% claims paid rate on Life and TPD^[13] – with average payments of $762,000 and $933,000 respectively^[13] – reflects the precision of a product built exclusively for professionals. Income Protection claims total over $29 million at a 94% paid rate, with Trauma at the same rate, and Business Expenses at 97%.^[13]

The industry’s most loyal members

Perhaps no measure better reflects PPS Mutual’s first decade than retention. The company has maintained the lowest lapse rate in the Australian retail life insurance industry over ten consecutive years – a distinction that is both a commercial outcome and a statement of Member trust.

For the rolling 12 months to December 2025, PPS Mutual’s annual lapse rate stands at just 5.4% against an industry average of 14.3%^[5] – Members are only about a third as likely to let their cover lapse than the Australian average.^[6] The alignment is by design: Members who stay benefit from growing Profit-Share Account balances, while the business benefits from the premium stability that only a committed, long-term Membership base can deliver.

An adviser community built on exclusivity and trust

PPS Mutual’s products are distributed exclusively through a carefully accredited network of over 2,000^[7] independent financial advisers. This deliberate approach to limited distribution means the company can invest more deeply in each adviser relationship, and ensures Members receive advice from professionals who genuinely understand the mutual model and the clients it serves. That investment has been recognised. PPS Mutual has been named Best Retail Life Insurer by Adviser Ratings for three consecutive years – 2023, 2024 and 2025 – with an NPS of 54.8 against an industry average of 9.5, drawn from more than 3,000 adviser responses.^[8]

The 2025 Adviser Ratings Financial Advice Landscape Report placed PPS Mutual first across six adviser satisfaction measures including product range, business development support, understanding of client needs, trust and overall quality.^[9]

The feeling among advisers, a decade in, speaks for itself.

“Congratulations to the ever-growing team of professionals at PPS Mutual. You have now been helping Australians for a decade. Having worked with PPS Mutual from Day 1, I am grateful for the care on all levels of the business. I appreciate how you view your members and team and the impact this has had on premiums, claims and cover offered to people that need it. I look forward to seeing many more years where PPS Mutual grows and helps more Australians in protecting what is precious to them.”

Serena West, Partner WA / Principal Adviser – MBS Insurance

“The PPS Mutual proposition is highly unique in the market place.  But a product, that is designed specifically for professionals means they are able to design for the nuances of that market.  This sets the key aspects of the product apart! And in a world where all businesses are shareholder value driven, PPS Mutual have our clients best interest at heart with their mutual model.  It helps us feel very comfortable that the three of us (ourselves, the client and the insurer) are in this together for a long term relationship. We’ve loved working with the team at PPS, the service levels, like the product are always premium!”

Paul Milbourne – Business & Personal Insurance Specialist, Milbourne Insurance Solutions

Invested in the industry and beyond

PPS Mutual’s commitment to the professional community extends well beyond its own membership. The company is a longstanding sponsor of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), Engineers Australia, and the RiskInfocus Risk Advice CPD Tour – the life insurance industry’s premier professional development series – reflecting its focus on strengthening the advice profession.

In 2025, PPS Mutual launched the inaugural Risk Practice of the Year Award, attracting more than 30 applications in its first year and recognising advice practices that are helping build a stronger, more sustainable future for life insurance in Australia. Personal Risk Professionals (Brisbane) was named the inaugural winner.

Beyond the industry, PPS Mutual has nominated Pankind – the Australian Pancreatic Cancer Foundation, as its corporate charity – engaging staff and Members in support of one of Australia’s most underfunded cancers.^[10]

Stable leadership and a foundation built to last

One of the most equally important contributors to PPS Mutual’s decade of consistency has been the stability of its leadership. Michael Pillemer has served as Chief Executive since the company’s Australian launch in 2016, and aside from the retirement of Brian Pillemer (who still serves on the board), the senior management team has remained the same across the organisation’s first ten years. In a market that has seen significant change over the past decade, PPS Mutual’s continuity of leadership has meant continuity of purpose – the same people who made commitments to advisers and Members in 2016 are still here to honour them in 2026. This consistence also applies across the PPS Mutual team. In an industry which has seen a large amount of staff turnover, PPS Mutual has had less than 5% per annum staff turnover over the past decade – something the leadership team are very proud of.

Behind the Australian operation sits PPS South Africa – the world’s largest multi-disciplinary group of graduate professionals, with over 80 years of mutual insurance experience and more than $3 billion in profit share assigned to its own Members over the last decade. It is a proven foundation from which the Australian business has drawn both confidence and credibility – and a reminder that the model PPS Mutual brought to Australia has been delivering for professionals around the world for generations.

PPS Mutual’s life insurance products are available only through accredited independent financial advisers. Members must retain some cover for 10 years to gain partial access to their Profit-Share Account, with withdrawals of up to 5% of the balance permitted each year. Full access is granted after 20 years, at age 65, or in the event of death, terminal illness or certain other qualifying conditions.

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Notes:
[1] Lapse rates referenced reflect PPS Mutual’s performance over the 10-year period to March 2026, with the most recent rolling 12-month rate of 5.4% compared to an industry average of 14.3% (Source: NMG Report, rolling 12-month rate to December 2025). Profit-Share history available at: ppsmutual.com.au/9th-profit-share/
[2] As of 30 April 2026
[3] PPS Mutual Reaches $15m Profit-Share Milestone – PPS Mutual Australia
[4] 9th Profit Share – PPS Mutual Australia
[5] NMG Report on Rolling 12-month rate to Dec 2025
[6] PPS Mutual recognised in adviser ratings report – PPS Mutual Australia
[7] As of 30 April 2026
[8] Life Insurance Adviser | Insurance Quotes | PPS Mutual
[9] Life Insurance Adviser | Insurance Quotes | PPS Mutual
[10] Partner with Pankind
[13] As of 1 July 2025
[14]  As of 14 May 2026

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Marcello Bertasso

Many insurance claims begin with a defining event. A diagnosis. A surgery. An accident. From there, there’s often a predictable path to recovery – a roadmap clients can follow with some certainty. Mental health claims often unfold very differently.

Conditions tend to develop gradually, sometimes over months or years, before a formal diagnosis is made. There’s rarely a single moment when a client moves from “well” to “unwell.” The terrain is often ambiguous, and each client’s journey is deeply individual.

Mental health has become one of the most discussed topics in life insurance – and for good reason. Billions of dollars are paid annually in mental health-related claims^[1] linked to psychological conditions, and the industry continues to see their growing role in protection portfolios.

Yet “mental health” encompasses a broad spectrum, from mood disorders and trauma-related conditions to behavioural disorders and neurodevelopmental conditions with complex comorbidities. Understanding this range provides valuable context for the experiences clients may face during a claim.

The winding road of mental health claims

If physical injury claims are like straight highways leading from diagnosis to recovery, mental health claims may resemble a winding mountain road.

Progress can be slow, unpredictable, and occasionally backtracking. Capacity can fluctuate week to week, and sometimes day to day. A client may show improvement for a period, then experience setbacks as treatment evolves or circumstances change.

Unlike a broken bone, psychological conditions cannot be seen on an X-ray or confirmed with a scan. Recovery is often assessed through a more nuanced lens: how someone manages the everyday demands of work and life.

This difference also influences claim duration.

Data from Safe Work Australia^[2] shows psychological injury claims generally involve longer periods away from work than many physical injuries. Reviews may happen in stages, with each new piece of evidence shaping the journey. Appreciating this rhythm helps explain why timelines aren’t linear and why each client’s journey can look very different.

For advisers, recognising this rhythm helps set realistic expectations for clients. Acknowledging that progress often comes in small, unexpected steps allows advisers to guide conversations empathetically, reassuring clients throughout the claims process.

How mental health claims are assessed

When assessing a mental health claim, the diagnosis is only one part of the story.

What insurers are really trying to understand is functional impact – how a client’s condition affects their ability to perform the specific duties of their role.

Think of it as the difference between knowing the weather forecast and seeing how it actually changes the commute. Diagnosis explains the condition; functional capacity explains what it means in practice.

Medical reports play a central role here. The level of detail can strongly influence how clearly a claim is assessed.

A note that a client is “not coping well” can be difficult to interpret. A report describing challenges with concentration, decision making, workload management, or client interaction provides a much clearer view of functional capacity.

Reports that link symptoms to specific tasks – handling a heavy workload, making high-stakes decisions, or engaging with clients – provide a far stronger basis for assessment than broad descriptions of distress. Insurers may also consider workplace adjustments or rehabilitation notes to build a fuller picture. The richer the detail, the easier it is for advisers to anticipate how a claim might evolve.

This is particularly important because mental health conditions often fluctuate.

Some clients respond quickly to treatment and support. Others experience periods of improvement followed by setbacks. Assessments are often conducted at multiple points in time to capture how capacity evolves.

For advisers, understanding this approach helps explain why timelines differ, and why patience is essential in supporting clients through mental health claims.

Why occupation matters more than many realise

One of the most interesting aspects of mental health claims is how strongly occupation shapes the claims journey.

Two clients can share the same diagnosis yet experience very different impacts depending on the nature of their work.

A portfolio manager making continuous investment decisions may face very different functional challenges compared with someone in a role with more structured or routine tasks.

Roles that involve sustained concentration, complex decision making, frequent client interaction, or long hours can place unique pressures on someone experiencing psychological strain.

That is why insurers assess not only the condition itself but also how it affects the duties of a client’s role.

For advisers, this perspective helps frame discussions with clients about what a claim might involve and which aspects of work may need support.

Questions such as:

• Which parts of your role currently feel most difficult to perform?
• Are there tasks that feel manageable and others that feel overwhelming?
• Has your doctor discussed what returning to work might look like for you?

help build a clearer understanding of how the condition affects day-to-day occupational demands and how advisers can support clients through the claim alongside the insurer.

Helping clients approach claims with confidence

For many clients, the claims process can feel unfamiliar and daunting. This is particularly true when mental health is involved, as the condition itself may already be affecting focus, confidence, or decision making.

In these moments, advisers play an important role in providing perspective.

Not by giving medical advice or directing the claims process, but by helping clients understand how claims are assessed and what the journey might involve.

When advisers understand the role of functional capacity, occupational demands, and the non-linear nature of recovery, they can frame conversations in ways that feel both informed and empathetic.

Even before a claim arises, this knowledge is valuable.

Mental health claims will likely continue to be an important part of the protection landscape. They are complex. Highly individual. And rarely predictable.

But when advisers understand how these claims are assessed, they are better positioned to guide conversations with clients early, helping them feel prepared, and reducing uncertainty.

Those early discussions can demystify the process, reduce uncertainty, and give clients a clearer sense of what to expect.

In many cases, that understanding alone can make the claims journey feel far less overwhelming.

And ultimately, that is what good advice aims to do: help clients navigate life’s uncertainties with greater confidence when it matters most.

By Marcello Bertasso, Head of Underwriting & Claims Management, PPS Mutual

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Notes:
[1] https://content.actuaries.asn.au/resources/resource-ce6yyqn64sx3-2093352434-60314?
[2] https://data.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/insights/key-whs-statistics-australia/latest-release

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Launched by sponsor and specialist risk insurer PPS Mutual, who distribute solely through financial advisers, the Risk Practice of the Year Award was established to celebrate the vital role advisers play in achieving quality outcomes for Australians and to recognise advice practices where life insurance sits at the core of the business model, culture and client proposition. Open to firms generating more than 50 per cent of annual new business revenue from life insurance-related business, the award assessed performance across customer excellence, commercial strategy, continuous improvement, cultural strength and industry contribution.

Michael Pillemer, CEO of PPS Mutual, said Personal Risk Professionals exemplified the intent and purpose of the award.

“Risk advice has never been more complex or more important. The profession is operating under intense regulatory and operational pressure, yet advisers continue to play a critical role in protecting Australians at their most vulnerable moments.

“In that context, we congratulate Personal Risk Professionals on being named the 2026 PPS Mutual Risk Practice of the Year. While the other finalists showed notable excellence across particular dimensions – namely client and claims advocacy, adviser development and community contribution – the independent panel judged that PRP was the most complete and robust example when assessed against all criteria as a whole. The panel also placed strong weight on PRP’s active involvement in industry association committees, regulator forums, and insurer advisory boards, as well as their participation in parliamentary engagement in Canberra to explain the impact of reforms on advisers and advocate for the strengthening of the profession,” Pillemer continued.

“The judging panel also noted the high calibre of finalists, reflecting the depth of capability and commitment across the specialist risk advice profession and the high standard of advice being delivered nationally,” Pillemer noted.

Mark Everingham, Managing Director and Partner of Personal Risk Professionals, said the award was a reflection of the firm’s values and the trust placed in the team by clients and professional partners.

“Being named PPS Mutual Risk Practice of the Year is an incredibly humbling moment for our entire team. This award represents far more than professional recognition – it reflects the trust our professional partners and clients place in us, particularly at the most vulnerable moments of their lives, and the values that have guided Personal Risk Professionals since day one: hope, kindness, bravery and honesty.

“The advice industry has faced profound change over the past decade – regulatory reform, rising complexity and a growing shortage of specialist risk advisers. To be recognised in this environment reinforces our belief that high-quality life insurance advice, delivered with genuine care and strong claims advocacy, remains critical to protecting Australian families and businesses,” Everingham said.

“We’re deeply proud of our people, our culture and our contribution to strengthening the profession, and we’re excited about the future as we continue to invest in the next generation of specialist risk advisers and raise the standard of advice across our industry,” Everingham concluded.

As part of the award, PRP will participate in Q&A sessions at each event on the Riskinfocus 26 Risk Advice CPD Tour, Australia’s premier life insurance professional development program, sharing insights with advisers nationwide.

PPS Mutual is supported by PPS South Africa, the largest multi-disciplinary group of professionals in the world and the largest mutual company in South Africa since the 1940s – sharing over $3 billion in profits with Members over the last 10 years. PPS Mutual is owned by its Australian Members who share in the profits of the products that they buy.

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Daniel Waller

Specialist insurer PPS Mutual has announced the appointment of Daniel Waller as Head of Distribution, marking the next phase in its national growth and adviser engagement strategy. Mr Waller succeeds Brian Pillemer, who is retiring after playing a key role in establishing and growing PPS Mutual in Australia.

In his new role, Mr Waller will lead PPS Mutual’s distribution strategy, strengthening adviser relationships and expanding the reach of its professional insurance offering. He will play a central role in driving growth through collaboration, engagement, and service excellence across the adviser network.

Mr Waller brings more than 30 years of financial services experience, with deep expertise in distribution leadership, adviser engagement, and strategic business development. He has held senior roles at leading financial institutions including Resolution Life, Asteron Life, OnePath, and ING, where he led initiatives that strengthened partnerships and supported advisers in delivering exceptional client outcomes.

He joins PPS Mutual amid a period of sustained growth and recognition. The business has now surpassed 15,000 Members, reached $106 million in total in-force premiums, and achieved a $15 million Profit-Share Pool milestone for FY2024–25. For the third consecutive year, PPS Mutual was recognised as Australia’s highest-rated insurer in the Adviser Ratings Australian Financial Advice Landscape 2025 report, achieving a Net Promoter Score of 54.8 – nearly six times higher than the average of 9.5 among insurers in the report.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Waller said: “After taking the past three years to focus on my young family, I’m really looking forward to returning to the industry with PPS Mutual. I’ve always admired how it operates as a true mutual, where Members share directly in the success of the business. Joining at a time of record membership and Profit-Share Pool is a great opportunity to strengthen adviser partnerships and help deliver even more value to Members.”

Chief Executive Michael Pillemer said the appointment marks an important next step in the firm’s growth story: “Daniel’s depth of experience across distribution, partnerships, and business integration makes him an outstanding addition to our leadership team. As PPS Mutual continues to expand its national presence and deepen adviser engagement, Daniel’s strategic insight and leadership will be instrumental in shaping our next phase of growth. He brings a strong understanding of what drives success in this industry: trust, collaboration, and long-term value for Members.”

Reflecting on his tenure, outgoing Director of Distribution Brian Pillemer said: “Having been part of PPS Mutual from its inception, it has been incredibly rewarding to see the mutual model thrive and make a tangible difference to our Members and the advice community. I am proud to pass the baton to Daniel, who brings the right mix of experience, energy, and alignment with our values.”

PPS Mutual is supported by PPS South Africa, the largest multi-disciplinary group of professionals in the world and the largest mutual company in South Africa since the 1940s – sharing over $3 billion in profits with Members over the last decade. In Australia, PPS Mutual is owned by its Members, who share in the profits of the products they hold.

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