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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The company has also extended the citizenship requirements to include New Zealanders working in Australia.

PPS Mutual’s initial strict eligibility requirements meant that several professionals could not become Members, specifically those engineers who were not members of Engineers Australia, and also certain Allied Health Professionals.

This wider eligibility now includes engineering professionals with other bodies plus Town Planners and Surveyors. In the medical space they have added eight new professions such as Medical Radiation Practitioners and Occupational Therapists. Whilst, in the commercial sector they have added Public Accountants and now also accept accountants and lawyers who are no longer practising. 

“We are thrilled to announce our eligibility update and look forward to welcoming more Members to PPS Mutual,” said Matthew Pilcher, director of proposition for PPS Mutual.

“We made the decision to widen the eligibility due to a high amount of interest from professionals who were not originally eligible. Whilst the criteria has been widened it was important for our Members that we maintain the exclusivity and the benefits of being in a pool with others with a similar profile, especially as they share in the profits of the products they buy.” 

PPS Mutual is supported by PPS South Africa, the largest multi-disciplinary group of graduate professionals in the world and the largest mutual company in South Africa.  PPS Mutual is based on the proven PPS business model that has been hugely successful in South Africa since the 1940s – sharing over $2.5 billion in profits with Members in the last 10 years.  

PPS Mutual is owned by its Australian professional members who will share in the profits of the products that they buy.

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The PPS Mutual Super Fund will facilitate Members to fund their insurance premiums via rollover from their standard accumulation super fund. 

The Super Fund approach has been especially requested for younger graduate medical, legal, accounting and engineering professionals and the extra flexibility has become increasingly important for advisers wanting to offer clients the option to pay insurance premiums through super.

“We are thrilled to announce the launch of our highly anticipated Super Fund as it now allows us to offer a complete life insurance solution for eligible professionals,” said Matthew Pilcher, director of proposition for PPS Mutual.

“The launch of the fund is an important step in allowing us to bring the mutual model to a wider selection of adviser clients and offer Australian professionals a radical reappraisal of how life insurance can work.”

PPS Mutual has appointed financial technology and infrastructure company, Sargon, as trustee.

“Sargon is helping PPS Mutual navigate the complex and changing regulatory environment so we’re able to offer the best possible solution to our clients. We’ve chosen to partner with Sargon because of their strong compliance culture. Through the services they provide, we have more time to focus on our advisers and their clients,” said Matthew Pilcher.

 “When you purchase PPS Mutual insurance you’re not just a customer, you’re a member. This means you have a real stake in the business and the profits generated by the products which is a differentiated proposition in the Australian market.”

PPS Mutual is supported by PPS South Africa, the largest multi-disciplinary group of graduate professionals in the world and the largest mutual company in South Africa.  PPS Mutual is based on the proven PPS business model that has been hugely successful in South Africa since the 1940s – sharing over $2.2 billion in profits with Members in the last 10 years.  

PPS Mutual is owned by its Australian professional members who will share in the profits of the products that they buy. 

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Key changes, applying to all existing and new policies, include moving from a 12-month to a 24-month terminal illness definition within its life cover, and enhancing a range of trauma definitions including prostate cancer, stroke and coronary artery bypass surgery.

Additionally, PPS Mutual will now extend Business Expenses benefit payments within its Professionals Choice range, meaning members will be able to access additional Business Expenses payments beyond the first 12 months of their initial claim if they have not yet reached their full benefit entitlement. Business Expenses have also been widened to cover both interest and capital on loans.

“PPS Mutual’s products are designed to be top-quality and tailored for the needs of professionals. The suite of enhancements have been passed back to all our Members so that everyone is on the same product series,” PPS Mutual director of proposition Matthew Pilcher said.

“Additionally as a mutual insurer, our Members benefit directly from sharing in the profit of the insurance that they buy.”

Following industry speculation around the deductability of insurance premiums, a product ruling (the Ruling) was also issued by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in 2016 in respect ofPPS Mutual’s Professionals Choice product range (PR 2016/6:Income tax: PPS Mutual Professionals Choice[1]).

Pursuant to the Ruling, premiums incurred by a member in relation to PPS Mutual’s Professionals Choice Income Protection Insurance that do not contain an Extras Package Benefit (relating to specific injuries benefit or the trauma benefit) are 100% income tax deductible in the hands of the member. Where a member has selected an Extras Package Benefit, the total premiums incurred are 95% income tax deductible in the hands of the member.[2]

PPS Mutual recommends that members obtain their own independent taxation advice as to how the Ruling may apply to them.[3]

PPS Mutual products are offered exclusively through accredited financial advisers.

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[1] Please refer to http://law.ato.gov.au/pdf/pbr/pr2016-006.pdf for a copy of the Ruling
[2] For completeness, the Ruling is only a ruling by the ATO on the application of taxation law and is only binding on the ATO where the scheme (as defined in the Ruling) is implemented by PPS Mutual in the specific manner outlined in the Ruling
[3] Refer to paragraphs 5 to 7 of the Ruling that confirms which members can or cannot rely on the Ruling

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