New York Life eyes P100M in gross premiums this year

Despite being in operation for a mere eight months, New York Life Insurance (Philippines) Inc. (New York Life) is confident it can register P100-million in gross premiums by end 2002.

And key to achieving the modest target, according to a top New York Life top executive, is the accelerated development and training of its 400-strong sales force, and eventual expansion to 700 by yearend.

That would be complimented by initiation bancassurance, innovative products. And forging alliances with other bank and non-banking institutions. Bancassurance is a business arrangenment, which allows the insurer to tap the client base and branch network of the bank to sell its various insurance products. These are marketed as a consumer product by the bank to its clientele and prospective customers as an added incentive to deposit with the bank.

Also forming part of its information and marketing campaign is call center 818 Help and its local website by the end of the second quarter. However, the insurer prefers not to sell policies through the Internet.

"We will not attempt the same route as others have tried by looking for acquisitions to increase premiums," Thomas F. Flournoy, New York Life International chief of international agency operations said.

Flournoy instead emphasized New York Life’s preference for tapping the potentials of a professional and trained sales force to look for business. But the US-based insurer does not discount venturing into other marketing or sales tack to expand its reach.

In fact, it is in the process of forging a banking alliance with a domestic commercial bank for bancassurance. Earlier, it had already worked out a business arrangement with CAP Life (a subsidiary of the CAP Group of Companies, which specializes in memorial plans).

It filed with the Insurance Commission (IC) for the launching of several innovative and attractive insurance products including the so-called universal premium. It has also launched group insurance policies.

It has also gone directly to the work place to sell individual policies. The operation is called work-site marketing which calls for their sales personnel to establish a center right in the companies to introduce their insurance products. "New York Life wants to sell individual policies to protect the potential policy holders even after he has left the company."

That is differentiate to group policies with is an arrangement with the insurer and company management to offer an insurance package for its employees lump sum. The employee losses his right over the group policy upon separation from the said firm.

New York Life got its working license from the IC in August last year with a starting capital of P300 million. For good measure, this was increased to P450-million to keep it competitive knowing that the gestation period for a newcomer was about five years.

"We are prepared to loss money in our initial years of operation. We are here for the long-term, we have confidence in the potential of the Philippine market," the insurance executive emphasized. "Our decision to enter the Philippine market is based on our belief in the industrious Filipino people and the viability of the Filipino economy."

Based on date from IC, only 20 percent of the entire Philippine population are insured.

Flournoy boosted that its global operations had registered a premium growth of 30 percent while its operations in the United States resulted in an overall growth of 48 percent.

Aside the Philippines, New York Life through its parent company New York Life International has a presence in Argentina, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. It is reportedly receiving its operating license to Shanghai while it has representative offices in Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu.