PhilAxa Life gets lift from bancassurance

Key executives of the Philippine Axa Life Insurance Corp. (PhilAxa Life) has admitted that the life insurer has hardly tapped the full potentials of the Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank) last year.

Metrobank is a strategic partner and equity holder of PhilAxa Life. Conclusively, it is the key to bancassurance, or cross-selling of insurance products through the Metrobank network.

Yet premium income last year grew by a whopping 52 percent, or from P2.9 billion in 2004 to P4.5 billion last year. That solidified its hold in fourth spot among the 36 life insurance companies in the Philippines.

Premium income in 2003 was placed at P2.6 billion.

From a market share of seven percent in 2004, it surged to 10 percent thus unwittingly putting pressure on the third leading insurer and expanding the gap from the fifth leading insurer.

In terms of first-year premiums, PhilAxa Life sold roughly P364 million while single-pay premiums reached P3.1 billion, and renewals was slightly over P1 billion. Needless to say, the bulk of its sales came via the bancassurance channel.

Bancassurance accounts for roughly two-thirds of its premium business. The remaining businesses come from its agency force and alternative distribution channels.

Thus, net income grew from P62 million in 2004 to P87 million last year, based on the PFRS or the new Philippine Financial Reporting Standards. The 2003 income was placed at P19.7 million.

Key to its earnings growth is the resurgence of its investment income which expanded to P1.3 billion last year from P582 million in 2004.

"As of end July this year, we are peforming better than our original plans or targets for 2006," Andrew D. Alcid, PhilAxa Life president and chief executive officer, said.

PhilAxa Life is looking to barge into the exclusive club of the first three leading insurers "sooner or later." And to do that, it must fully maximize the potentials of the Metrobank group, expand its agency force, introduce more products, and even acquire an existing insurer.

"We also want to develop alternative forms of distribution. Axa is, after all, a multi-network insurer," Alcid added. Majority stakeholder Axa of France is the leading insurer in Europe, and it has no qualms about acquiring other players.

"But acquisition is done to improve quality and growth, not merely for the sake of numbers," the former Citibanker added.

Earlier interviews indicate that PhilAXA Life is poised to increase its premium income to P8.5 billion by 2007 buoyed by a bigger and stronger sales force growing by a 100 percent in the same timeframe.

Meaning the contribution of the sales or agency force must account for almost 50 percent of total sales while its bancassurance though accounting for the other 50 percent, must in essence grow by leaps and bounds.

Bancassurance contributions tapped its banking resources (roughly 500 branches) by merely 25 percent of real potentials in the past two years.