Collective Protest - Settlement

I met with Mr. Lim Boon Heng and Mr. Matthias Yao today. Mr. Lim is the former secretary general of NTUC and the current chairman of the NTUC Social Enterprise Development Committee. Mr. Yao is the deputy chairman of the board of Income.

Mr. Lim assured me that Income will continue to observe its social purpose and cooperative principles and that his committee will ensure that Income continues to give good value to its policyholders.

I briefed them about the two concerns on the bonus restructure, namely:

1. To have adequate assurance on the payment of the special bonus (as it is not guaranteed)
2. To ensure that policyholders get bonuses and cash values that closely reflect the contribution to the life fund by each policy, based on the actual experience.

Both of them shared the general sentiment. They said that Income will look into ways of implementing these two objectives. This will require some time to be implemented fully.

I asked that Income give an option to the policyholder. Mr. Yao said that this has been considered, and the board has decided against it.

At the annual general meeting of Income, chairman Ng Kee Choe reaffirmed that Income will continue to look after the best interest of its policyholders. He announced three measures to deal with the concerns expressed by policyholders on the restructure of the bonus. His speech will be posted in Income's website.

I believe that these assurances are the best that can be achieved at this stage. We will not be able to achieve more by taking this collective protest to the next stage.

Hence, I have decided to withdraw the Collective Protest and will continue to monitor the developments to ensure that the policyholders interests are protected. I hope that the policyholders who submitted signatures to me will support my decision.

If any policyholder still does not accept these assurances, they can lodge the protest directly with Income.