Pre-need companies with seal of good housekeeping from SEC

wala ang Insular Life!

Alex, Insular Life is regulated by the Insurance Commission, not by the SEC. From the IC website, you will find that it is the third-biggest in the industry in terms of assets. :)

What's the status of Platinum Plans? Do they have office in Cebu? thanks

INUTIL itong list of companies in good standing from SEC. Aba, years back they warned of firms with OPEN-ENDED educational plans. They made promises of 4-yr DLSU education now worth P 500,000 from only P 15,000 total investments, insolvent na sila sa sobrang laki ng pagkakautang nila!

http://blogs.inquirer.net/moneysmarts/2007/10/17/a-guide-to-buying-pre-need-plans-wo-the-sales-pitch/comment-page-1/#comments

We'll guess what - insolvent nga! Eto ang listahan natin noon:
- CAP
- Pacific Plans
- TPG Professional Plans
- Platinum Plans
- PET Plans

O ngayon:
- Legacy Consolidated Plans
- Eduplans

Kaya kung plan holder kayo dito, ay naku, alam nyo na.
- ETERNAL PLANS
- PRUDENTIALIFE PLANS (ang #2 issuer ng open-ended educ plans. Just behind CAP).
- TRUSTEESHIP PLANS

Kaya bakit pa sila binigyan ng license to sell ng SEC? Para may pera from new plan holders na pambayad sa kanilang obligations! Legalized pyramiding, ika nga. At ang mga coddlers: SEC Chair Fe Barin at SEC Commissioner Jesus Martinez.

Kaya por Diyos, huwag na kayong mag-abala pang bumili ng pre-need! At sa mga pro-pre-need pa diyan na SEC officials at mga tonggressman: dapat ang sweldo at pork barrel nyo, in CAP pre-need certificates! BIR will accept taxes in CAP certificates, para kay Barin, Martinez at sa Pork Barrel 2009! Agree ba kayo mga kapatid?

Eto pala mga posts ko noon. Paumanhin po.

http://blogs.inquirer.net/moneysmarts/2007/05/29/are-all-pre-need-products-worthless/comment-page-5/#comments

http://blogs.inquirer.net/moneysmarts/2007/05/29/are-all-pre-need-products-worthless/comment-page-4/#comments

Kaya muli, our horror roll. It's Caveatemptor's word vs Fe Barin's good housekeeping seal:

- ETERNAL PLANS
- PRUDENTIALIFE PLANS
- TRUSTEESHIP PLANS

Ms. Salve please give us update about CAP and Platinum Plans....

Any word on Pryce? In the news yesterday it said that Pryce is now giving out gas and rice instead of money to its planholders. Any advice for a Pyrce planholder?

I see Danvil Plans, Inc. on your list above. Oh what a relief for the meantime. I still have to wait one (1) more year to cash in on my plan. I received a letter from them on January 18, 2009 announcing that "DANVIL PLANS, INC. NOT TO PROCEED WITH TRANSFER OF PRE-NEED PORTFOLIO TO LEGACY CONSOLIDATED PLAN, INC." Could you confirm this?

Also, I see a lot of memorial parks in your listing. Is a memorial park considered as a pre-need company. I think so but I would like to have your expert opinion.

Thanks and God bless.

i hope the remaining pre-need companies as listed above will stay afloat. In particular, The PhilAm Plans as i have 2 fully-paid plans (high school to college for my 2 kids) with them. Just crossing my fingers for another 3 yrs when my son will first avail of the plan.

how about TPG, any news? they sent me a notice last year saying they're restructuring & had SEC blessing to extend plan maturities. kaya di ko magagamit next school year the plan i bought for my daughter. fully paid na 'to nun 2001 pa. they gave the option to stick it out 'til 2013 when it can be availed of, or opt-out. yun opt out option talo kasi i only get around 14k a year yata. totally unfair after shelling out cash to pay for it in full tapos i only get barya.

thanks ...

What happened to Insular life? PLease tell me Insular is okay. If the pre-need plan is not in your list, is it adviseable to stop the payments....get what you have to and transfer to these plans on your list? I am worried. Any thoughts on Insular, anyone?

Wow...I am very happy with your publication on these Pre-Need Plan Companies which are S.E.C. compliants and in sound financial standings. Your publication will provide better appreciation of the latest updates in the pre-need plan industry. Keep us posted whenever new developments come.

Thanks for your timely info.

My children are all prudential life scholars. I have no complains against Prudential Edu Plans, in fact, I am very satisfied with the way they handle my children's education.

Again, many thanks and more power.

I am a scholar of Eternal Plans and we never had any trouble when enrollment time comes. They have always been on time in releasing the checks, sometimes even earlier.

Hi Maia, Alex,

I am Cherrie from Insular Life and I would like to clarify that Insular Life is NOT a pre-need company that is why we are not in the list of Salve. We are a life insurance company under the regulation of the Insurance Commission. I would just like to reiterate Salve’s statement that Insular Life is the 3rd biggest in the industry in terms of assets and we are the first and largest Filipino life insurance company in the country. We have P60 billion in assets and P2.2. billion in profits. All our life insurance, investment, pension and education plans are safe so you need not worry about the safety of your plans with us. You can visit our website for our new products/additional info:

http://www.insularlife.com.ph/main.php

Hi Salve,

Thanks for clarifying the stand of Insular Life. I'm a regular reader.

I've seen the view of the head of the pre-need organization regarding the way the declining interest rate trend has affected the returns on their investments. This is 'bad math' for such a top man of his company and the organization. It reflects the lack of financial capital market acumen of this person. Declining interest rates are good for pre-need companies that are in the business for the long term as this would mean that the long term investments placed by their fund holders are matched with long term investment outlets, such as AAA corporate bonds/papers and also long term government securities as values of these securities go up if interest rates go down - an astute 2nd year high school student would know this (part of algebra lessons). Pre-need companies afraid of lower returns on their investment outlets either have invested in short term securities (meaning maturing in less than a year - hence a mismatch with the long term investment horizon of the plan holders) or worst, kept the pre-need money in cash hoping that when interest rates go up, they could invest at much higher returns (ala Legacy investment approach)... Thus for those in the hunt for pre-need plans, this article is very helpful in pointing out the companies who have committed to increase their investments in the pre-need companies they respectively manage, as this would show their commitment to their mandates to the plan holders.

wala akong tiwala sa mga yan!

marketing gimick lng yan kunwari BILLIONS
assets nila

pero in reality hangin lng laman nyan!

lahat ng myembro ng pre need industry na yan u might as well alll go to HELL!

me tanong lang ako, di ba yung danvil yung dating family first?

yan yung mga nanghaharass ng tao sa mga malls, nagtatanong kung may credit card ka, at pag umoo ka..hay long story..

nabasa ko to sa peyups:
http://www.peyups.com/posts.khtml?mode=viewtopic&topic=36488&forum=4&start=15

Is Insular still the 3rd ranking life company? Hasnt Insular been overtaken by PruLife of the UK who is now recognized as the 3rd biggest life company? Let's be careful about the facts, please.

Persona is right. Noon nga #2 ang insular until its marketing group was run by the head of the 7 Witches' cabal. That too is a fact.

Is there a glitch here somewhere? The reaction to my comment was ascribed to me as well. Doesnt compute. And who are the so-called 7 Witches of Insular? Not that I care. - Persona non grata by choice

Hi Salve,

How about PruLife? It's not in the list? In the red na ba sila? Interesting since I asked my agent to downgrade 2 of my investment plans with them and she readily said yes. No questions asked. Bad sign na ba ito? Do you think I should just downgrade or cancel the plans na lang? Sayang na man if the latter since I've been paying one plan quarterly since 2006 and the other monthly since 2007. Would appreciate very much your advice and our good readers here.

Dear Eliza, Rey: Ang binayad ng Eternal at Prudentialife sa inyo ay kinuha sa policy holder nila ngayon. Sa totoo lang matagal na silang bankarote sa sobrang taas ng tuition, binigyan lang ni Fe Barin ng dealers' license para magpatuloy itong PRE-NEED PYRAMID SCAM. But it will all collapse one day, tiyak yan!

Satisfied at nagbabayad? Aba, ganyan din po ang sabi ng CAP policy holders noon! At diyoskoday may jingle pa ni Jolina Magdangal! Well napigilan ba ni Jolens ang pagtalbog ng cheque ng CAP?

Kaya eto uli ang ating horror roll. Basta open-ended educational plan, tiyak na pre-need pyramid scam siya!

- CAP
- Pacific Plans
- TPG Professional Plans
- Platinum Plans
- PET Plans
- Legacy Consolidated Plans
- Eduplans

- ETERNAL PLANS
- PRUDENTIALIFE PLANS (ang #2 issuer ng open-ended educ plans. Just behind CAP).
- TRUSTEESHIP PLANS

Whatever happened to College Assurance Plan? What happens with our plans now? And, most important, are CAP perpetrators going to jail?

i hope everyone will have a chance to get back their funds or benefit from their pre-need plans.

For potential pre-need customers, pls note that pre-needs are here for people who doesn't have the discipline to save (forced savings ito) and/or who don't know how to invest.

My point is, if you are a disciplined saver and you know how to grow your money, better stay away from these plans.

suggestion lang to, walang pikunan ah. =D

Thank you very much ,Miss Cherrie. I am assured already.

How about Prulife UK? Does the company make it to the list?

Any news w/ Pryce Plans Inc? I bougth plans for my kids and completed the payment on 2007. Any thoughts or advice pls?

never invest with a yuchengco company.
remember Pacific Plans

Caveat emptor :Why dont you ask SEC Non traditional securities dept about the 2 companies na sinisiraan niya? Parehong matatag ang mga companies na iyan (note from editor: **rest of message edited. please focus on the topic at hand.)

Hi Salve,

Any update please on the status of Platinum Plans. I have fully paid fixed value educational plan for my two kids, and we have'nt heard anything from them, no notices or whatsoever.

Thanks....

hi! i am one of the millions of CAP's educational plan subscriber who got scammed. my question is, what is the status of this company now? i fully paid an open-ended educational plan in 2002 and my son is only 9 years old at the moment. wepaid a lot of money on this plan but we are in the dark as to outcome 7 years from now. we do not get an update on the company's status and when ever i visited their offices, their response had always been vague.
can you please give us an idea what exactly is happening? thanks.

It is useless to buy a pre-need plan until The Pre-Need Code of 2008 is put into law. Planholders has no protection at present and the regulators like SEC and CB are helpless in preventing the pre-need companies from cheating the public.
I lost a lot of money on CAP and it is shameful that the rehabilitation court in Makati who handles CAP did not even bother to report back what happened to it's alleged 'viable rehabilitation'. I just hope that the Honorable Judge is not in cohorts with CAP in finally draining the company of the last liquid assets: the MRT bonds worth billions. The last time I heard about it was that the Senate even approved the money for the early payment of the bonds. Are they also in complicity with CAP. Looks like, because not even a word is said about CAP even though they are talking about pre-need companies in trouble as aid in legislation.

My advice to all plan holders who lost money. Forget it so your blood pressure will not go up. Just invest in real estate and sell it when your children go to college. At least TCT is a paper with worth not like the Scholarship Certificates from this pre-need companies.

In relations to these pre-need companies who keep on claiming that they have a viable business and that they just need fresh investments, why not convince GSIS, SSS and OWWA to invest in your companies? The presidents of these institutions are boasting that they have so much investible money that W. Garcia claimed he can buy Meralco while Neri said SSS can afford to lend 12.5 billion pesos to the government.
My question is : Is the future of the Filipino youth not worth investing for?

What about TPG Corporation? Any idea? Im still paying a educational plan and a pension plan in this company till now.

how about LIFETIME (its is Pacific Plans also) they told us they changed the name coz they want Pre need educational to be separated from the troubled educational plan. so i am asking you if LIFETIME is still on the safe side...I am totally confused as of this writing coz my quarterly payment would be finished by May of 2009. This FEB i have to pay again another PH 33k. I have been paying this for the last 5 years. it would mature pa in 15 years. Will I be one of the lucky preneed plan holder? Pls. search for the LIFETIME plans, by the way, they are always on time and even earlier when they are sending the bill notice....hopefully they would do the same when it is time to pay us of our own money....hindi ito utang, ito ay sariling pera namin na pinapatago namin and in return na ginagamit nilang puhunan sa kung saan saan. Please, please, do reply to me....even in my email. klarlisa@yahoo.com.thank you so much!

This is really disappointing for our government agencies such as SEC. It is clearly "legalized robbery". Just to think of it, investing in these pre-need sh.ts, having your money taken from you for a period of time and it is ok for them to ask the government to establish some kind of restructuring or rehabilitation kuno! para i-extend ung maturity nila samantalang ung mga planholders got less rights for their hard-earned money. Isang miss mo lang ng premium, TY na plano mo!
Kung c Erap nakulong dahil sa pandarambong, bakit cla nkakalusot.
Sa mga senador at opisyal ng gobyerno na gumagawa ng batas, magpa-hasa naman kayo ng ipin.

How about Phil Axa, where does it categorized since it has also educational plan. Considering that it's a venture between Metrobank and AXA group of France, it should be on the list.

Please response to the email address attached

Seal of good housekeeping from the SEC?
Read this:

According to the SEC , Pryce plans is "liquid and solvent ". Pryce is paying LPG and medicine to the planholders. I guess its ok for SEC and BIR to be paid in LPG and medicine also.

All pre-need firms are ponzi schemes. For a firm to pay off their obligations, they must at least have a 12% annual return on investment. That is impossible given the fact the economy is not always growing.

Add to the fact that goverment and courts can't protect the planholders once a pre-need company files for bankruptcy. It is not like your investment is insured like the PDIC.

Arcie, would you be able to scan that letter and send to me via email? I haven't heard of that before and its very interesting to me. Regarding memorial parks, yes they are pre-need company. The idea is that you are paying now, supposedly at lesser cost, for a particular financial need in the future. It seems though, that the promised service is blowing up in our faces, huh?

bernard, sorry I don't have any update so far on TPG but I will post a new entry once I have any information. On the opt-out option of 14k a year, what was the original payout supposed to be?

Jen, yes that's Danvil Plans :-). Naharang ka rin ba? hehe.

chayienne and lightworker88, Prulife UK is an insurance company. Based on the Insurance Commission website, it is seventh on the list, based on assets as of Dec. 2007.

Donn, Ken and Rodel, please check out my previous post, which has updates on Pryce Plans and a contact number and name to call. Here's the link: http://blogs.inquirer.net/moneysmarts/2009/01/22/guide-through-the-maze-of-pre-need-plan-failures/

Hope this helps.

Rollie, no update yet on Platinum Plans. Will let you know when I have something from SEC.

PinoyPower and Emmie, I heard that some CAP "scholars" who went to school last year were paid by the company. I still have to find out how much the payout was, but I'm sure its only a fraction of what was in the original contract. I agree with you that the rehabilitation court or the SEC should at least give a notice to the public regarding updates for CAP plan holders.

Would you know the status of metrobank's axalife?

Vicente Dizon and arnell, AXA is an insurance company. It is regulated by the Insurance Commission (www.insurance.gov.ph). Based on end-2007 figures, it is the fourth in the industry based on assets. Hope this helps.

thanks salve. i'd really appreciate that. unfortunately that's the only notice i got and i'm still thinking if i'll just avail of that or what. i don't know who to consult at this point.

hi. magtatanong lang po ako kung may nakakaalam. wala po kasing masyadong nagdi-discuss tungkol sa PET PLANS. Pet plans pension plan holder po ako at almost 12 yrs ago pa po akong nag umpisang magbayad ng premiums. fully paid na po ako ng 2006 at ang maturity ay sa 2020. nang pumunta po ako sa pet plans ay nalaman ko na may inapprove na rehabilitation plan ang makati regional trial court para sa pet plans (BPI na po ang humahawak ng pera ng mga plan holders) pero di ko po alam kung ano ang mga nandon. at the same time, nakuha ko po ang "statement of account" ko na galing ng BPI, na ang NAKAPASOK LANG na amount ay almost 25% ng GCP ko (wala nang interest whatsoever for almost 12 years, at ang ibabalik pa nila sakin ay almost 25% lang ng binayad ko!) kasi daw po di pa maturity ng pension plan ko kaya ganon. nabasa ko din po na null/void na yung contract ko sa kanila. di na po ako nakipag-argue, pero yung ginawa nilang computation ay based sa pretermination table sa contract na sinasabi naman nilang void!

may mali po diba? ano po kaya ang dapat kong gawin? may nakakaalam po kaya kung magkano ang dapat na ibalik man lang nila sakin? sana po matulungan nyo ako. thank you. God bless.