Sun Life aims to boost financial literacy in RP

CEBU, Philippines – Not giving up on its attempt to make majority of Filipinos "financially literate", Sun Life Financial has introduced another breakthrough in the insurance industry in the Philippines, via its "Start Up" program.

The Sun Life "Start Up" is an affordable, value-for-money product that targets young Filipinos need for financial protection.

For less than P500 per month, payable for a period of only 10 years, one can already secure the future of his loved ones.

"We are presently in the process of modifying of our products and services to make them cater to the needs of the broad C market segments," said Sun Life Financial (Philippines) president and chief executive officer (CEO) Riza Mantaring.

For this reason, the company announced that it will expand the number of financial advisers in the provincial areas, including Cebu to reach out to the mainstream mar-ket and to convince the market to improve their financial preparedness.

After the success of its financial literacy education program called "It's Time" Mylene Lopa the company's head for marketing services said the broad C market has now started to embrace in considering "financial preparedness" especially in the younger generation.

Sun Life, through its extensive survey, found out that despite the industry's strong stance to promote "financial literacy" to Filipinos, there culture-change still has to under a long process of changes, through constant educational promotion.

Lopa said "there is still 'stigma' attached to life insurance products," when offered to the mainstream Filipino market.

However, despite this reality, Lopa said the company is determined to to make majority of Filipinos achieve higher financial literacy by making "financial prepared-ness" part of their daily budget.

Despite the availability of information and proliferation of life insurance and wealth management products, many Filipinos remain uninformed and passive about the idea of sound financial planning.

Based on 2008, Insurance Commission (IC) annual report, insurance penetration in the Philippines remains low at 13.11 percent to 13.92 percent. And study shows that 90 percent of Filipinos have little or nothing to leave their families when they pass away.

Based on the study, there are three basic reasons why insurance penetration remains low, and could hardly move to higher level of acceptance, because (1) Filipinos are aware of the need and importance of financial protection but are paralyzed by fear or lack of information to go about financial planning; (2) Filipinos do not fully embrace the concept of life insurance and wealth management, and (3) there is a general notion that life insurance is complicated or "only for the rich."

"Through Sun Start-Up, we are able to extend our products and services to a greater number of Filipinos who have wanted to secure their family's future with a life insurance product they can easily afford," Mantaring said.

In order to make the life insurance product more attractive, Sun Start-Up comes with a "money-back-feature" which enables the policy-holder to receive a portion of the premiums paid after 10 years if he or she outlives the plan.

Furthermore, the 10-year life insurance coverage can be enhanced with the inclusion of an accident benefit.

According to Lopa, the company is now tapping the corporate institutions to offer this product to the employees.

Sun Life Financial-Philippines introduced life insurance in the Philippines in 1895 and is a member of the Sun Life Financial group of companies. As of December 31, 2009, the group had total assets under management of CDN$430 billion. (FREEMAN)