Article from Zamboanga Times
Thursday, January 26. 2012
MANILA — The President of Sun Life Grepa Financial, Inc. remains positive in their operations as well as the whole insurance industry this year amid the challenging developments overseas, thus, the company will focus more on its distribution channel to increase premiums.
In a briefing Wednesday, Sun Life Grepa Financial president and chief executive Naresh Krishnan noted that “clearly, the Philippines has been in a blessed position despite the crisis so the outlook is positive.”
"Given what is going on with the world, everybody is being cautious but the Philippines is in a comfortable position to manage uncertainties that the world is facing," he said.
Krishnan said interest rates remain low and inflation is manageable “so the focus is on growth.”
He explained that the low interest rate environment discourages people to save in banks and instead put their money in investment-linked insurance products, like the ones being offered by Sun Life Grepa Financial, which is a joint venture firm of Yuchengco Group of Companies (YGC) and Sun Life Financial Philippines.
He also said that the public has realized the necessity to have life insurance due to recent natural calamities.
He, on the other hand, said that amid the growing number of people who understand the need to have insurance policies the growth of policies in the country is not really expanding from around 2.8-2.9 million in 2009-10.
"Basically, people are buying new policy and replacing old policies but we are not seeing growth," he lamented.
"There is a lot of untapped potential available and we need to capitalize on that," he stressed.
Krishnan said insurance penetration rate in the country is among the lowest in Asia at around one to two percent of gross domestic product (GDP) compared to the 60-80 percent in Japan and Korea.
"The key (to grow the life insurance industry) is growing the distribution channel and educate them (the public),” he said.
Krishnan said they plan to introduce a product in each quarter this year to end the year with about 10-12 products.
For the first quarter this year, Sun Life Grepa Financial will start to offer its first investment-linked product named Sun Grepa Power Builder, which has three payment terms namely one-time, five-year and 10-year.
“This new investment-linked product is designed for clients who are willing to invest long term and absorb a certain level of risk in exchange for potential gains. Sun Grepa Power Builder answers the market’s clamor for financial security, thus, it is expected to boost the company’s sales and revenues,” he said.
Krishnan said Sun Life Philippines’ partnership with YGC will enable Sun Life Grepa Financial to have wider reach through bancassurance since the insurance products will be exclusively sold through the 300 branches of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC).
He added that the company’s insurance agents, which numbers to about 1,500 in more than 40-50 cities in the country, is also a big help along with the group life and health business. (PNA)
DCT/JS
Article from Zamboanga Times
