Have you covered your shares?

When Investing, certain events may occur that you may not be able to predict or take control of. On EasyEquites, InvestSure helps from being a victim of such circumstances. Companies eligible for insurance have an umbrella icon you’d see at the top left corner next to the logo; here’s an article that will help you understand what it is and how to use it.

As South Africans, we are all aware of the toll greedy public officials- though corruption can have on our finances and ability to build wealth. By now most people who can afford it rely on the private sector to keep safe, healthy, educated and even to maintain public infrastructure, leaving less and less money available to save and invest. If you are reading this though, you are most likely a member of a resilient group of South Africans who are finding ways to invest for their futures despite everything happening around us.

Investing in shares is a proven and important driver of wealth creation, but unfortunately corruption and dishonesty are not limited to only the politicians, we just can’t seem to catch a break! Credible allegations of management fraud, dishonesty and wrongdoing can cause severe and sudden shock losses to innocent investors who are totally blindsided. We have unfortunately seen this over and over again, in fact many of us have either lost money due to allegations of fraud or know someone who has, from Steinhoff to EOH to Tongaat Hulett, the list goes on!

So why not insure your shares?

First off, I would like to reiterate the importance of investing in shares for long-term wealth creation. Despite the risks, it still an extremely important way to build wealth. As the well-known economist (also known as the father of value investing) Benjamin Graham once said, “Successful Investing is about managing risk, not avoiding it.”

This is why we developed a simple and cost effecting insurance product, which enables retail investors to protect themselves from the risk of suffering significant financial losses due to allegations of management misbehaving. InvestSure’s insurance product is a very simple way to give yourself a safety net from an important hidden risk, enabling you to invest with confidence, freedom and conviction. Since we launched this world first product with EasyEquities, thousands of investors have used the insurance product to reduce their exposure to risk. In fact, we have now sold over 81,000 policies covering 120 of the most popular stocks on the JSE and 300 NASDAQ and NYSE listed shares. Oh and did I mention that we pay claims in less than a minute without you needing to even notify us!

What type of events does InvestSure’s Investment Insurance Cover?

The insurance policy responds to allegations (doesn’t not need to proven) made against management of: 

• Accounting fraud and any other types of fraud
• Deceptive, dishonest or misleading statements
• Regulatory breaches or non-compliance and fines
• Breaches of laws including tax laws
• Breaches of company policies

How can I insure my shares?

The power is completely in your hands, literally! You can insure you shares directly on your EasyEquities account in two places.

• As you invest in new shares, just click on the option to add insurance to your investment or,
• You can insure you existing shares, by clicking on the “Review Insurance” button on your portfolio overview screen.

It is really as easy as a few clicks! You can go through the entire insurance process from getting a quote, reviewing the wording, buying insurance, amending your policy, cancelling and claiming directly on EasyEquities on your own. No applications, questions, forms and no calls.

Recent Management Fraud and Dishonesty news

Eight insurers raided for suspected collusion on fees and premiums- via Business Day.

Biogen Agrees to Pay $900 Million Over Alleged Improper Physician Payments- via Wall Street Journal 

Wall Street firms fined $1.8bn over staff messages- via BBC. 

Glencore faces flood of UK litigation following bribery charges- via Moneyweb.

Google’s not-so-private Incognito mode under fire in class-action lawsuit- via Bloomberg.