Generali Pilipinas sells P2.2-billion premiums in 7 months

MANILA, Philippines - Generali Pilipinas, the life insurance subsidiary of top lender Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. (BDO), has registered individual life insurance premiums worth P2.2 billion as of July this year.

Generali Pilipinas is selling its life insurance products through the branch network of BDO and through its agency force.

Estimates indicate that Generali Pilipinas may have breached the P3-billion mark in total premiums, surpassing its 2008 results with P3.05 billion year-to-date premiums as of July this year.

“We have a great venture with BDO. Through BDO’s support, the Generali-BDO venture has posted P2.2 billion year-to-date individual life premiums, a 226 percent growth over July last year. This shows that the partnership has sustained its record-breaking performance since March 2009,” said Melvin Esteban, chief marketing and training officer of Generali Pilipinas.

Esteban likewise revealed that the life insurer will introduce 16 new products this year to sustain this growth momentum in bancassurance. Bancassurance is the practice of selling through the branch network of its banking partner.

“We look forward to introducing four products monthly to complete the availability of the 16 products before the year ends,” he added.

Life insurance products, sold through a bank’s branch network are generally single pay products aside from variable or investment-laced insurance products. Single pay products may be a variable or traditional insurance products with a simplified payment scheme.

“Generali Pilipinas gains a stronger footing in the bancassurance business, since this will allow greater intelligent cross-selling of Generali’s products to a wider BDO client base,” Derek Chan, Generali Pilipinas president and chief executive officer, said.

Cross selling is a term applied when a subsidiary, in this case Generali Pilipinas, is allowed to sell its products through the network of its principal, in this case, BDO.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has ruled that to practice cross-selling (also known as bancassurance), the bank or principal must own at least five percent equity in the subsidiary. BDO controls 40-percent equity in Generali Pilipinas.

By the end of 2009, the life insurer will field a total of 100 financial advisors (FAs) operating within BDO’s branch network. FAs are employed, trained and fielded by Generali Pilipinas to the bank’s branches to sell its products.

Generali Pilipinas is a partnership among Assicurazioni Generali of Italy, Jerneh Asia Berhad of Malaysia, a specialist insurer in the marine, industrial and engineering fields, and BDO.