Polis Smous

I started my career in Finance in South Africa and the United Kingdom during two watershed moments. Just after the bursting of the Internet Bubble, and during the cracking of the walls around endowment policies and remuneration of Insurance Sales. Endowment Policies pay a lump sum after a specific term or on death. They combine investment and risk cover. The sales people often were not professional financial advisors giving appropriate advice. They were remunerated up front, in commission. If the client stopped paying their premiums, or another “Polis Smous” (Policy Hawker) convinced them to churn/swap, there were big, indefensible, clawback penalties. The scandal made the environment ripe pickings for “Pure” investment or risk products, and saw a massive professionalisation of the advice industry. Allow time to pass, and even the pure grow and get legacy skeletons in their closet. The constant trade off between starting from scratch, and keeping the good bits of the old way of doing things. As the environment changes, we need to change. The question is whether we are brave enough to be transparent and honest.