Manulife to expand Phl unit

MANILA, Philippines - Manulife Philippines said it plans to build its agency sales force to 4,000 and expand to a total of 30 branches nationwide by the end of this year.

The life insurance company, which ranked among the top 10 insurers in terms of premium income last year, added it would have a total of 40 branches and 6,000 agents by the end of 2014.

In fact, the Canada-based insurer is urging the Insurance Commission (IC) and the life insurance industry to double up efforts to increase the 32,000-industry wide agency force by nearly 10-fold to 300,000 by 2020.

“People do not wake up one morning thinking of buying an insurance policy. People should be made aware of the need of an insurance policy either by an agent or other distribution channels,” Manulife Philippines president and chief executive officer Indren Naidoo said during ceremonies at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) marking its 125th anniversary. Manulife Financial is listed in the PSE, as well as in Toronto and New York.

There are only three million policies-in-force in the Philippines with a population of over 90 million. Its penetration rate is a mere 3.5 to four percent from private placements, and 12 percent if the state pension funds are included.

Earlier this year, the insurance giant revived its pre-need company Manulife Plans to complement its long-term insurance products as well as its group insurance.

The agency and branch expansion will be complemented by its bancassurance joint venture with China Banking Corp. The bancassurance distribution channel accounted for a little over 30 percent of premiums sold last year.

Naidoo said that the present crop of financial executives (FEs) numbers 250. FEs are financial advisers of Manulife positioned within the 293-branch network of China Bank.

Manulife Philippines will likewise expand its wealth management business, including introducing more unit linked business.

“The market is becoming a lot more choosy in the type of investments they’re looking for, and we can see an increasing expansion of the middle class in the Philippines,” the Manulife official said.

Manulife Philippines has likewise introduced its microinsurance policies last year.

It already sold a thousand microinsurance policies held by individuals in Davao.

The holder of its micro product could get a protection coverage of between P10,000 to P20,000, with double the amount if due to accidental death. The P10,000 coverage is for one month, while the P20,000 package is for a three-month product.

Another micro-insurance product costs just P15 per day with a protection coverage of P65,000, and again double in case of accidental death. Also, 50 percent of the premium will be returned after 10 years, if nothing happens to the policyholder.