The Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. (Philamlife), the country’s leading life insurer, said yesterday it remains very profitable and continues to generate significant new business despite a difficult business environment.
Commenting on business conditions this year, Philamlife president and CEO Jose L. Cuisia Jr. said: “These have been very challenging times, but we have worked hard to sustain our ability to remain profitable which demonstrates the company’s resiliency and strength.”
“We owe this success to the loyalty of our customers. A great majority of our customers have stood by us. Our records show that 99.5 percent are still insured and kept their policies with us since the global crisis happened. This is a strong vote of confidence and trust from our customers, and an affirmation of our reliable track record and market leadership.”
Cuisia added: “We remain focused on customer needs. We recently completed our transition to a line of new generation products that offer attractive solutions to education, investment, life protection and retirement insurance needs.”
In response to consumer demand for higher-yielding investment instruments, Philamlife and its bancassurance subsidiary Pelac pioneered this year a limited-offer, single premium, index-linked variable life insurance product that provides investors with access to global equity indices and their potential upside returns while keeping the principal investment intact. The AIG Winning Edge, offered in three tranches starting in May 2008, generated premiums amounting to $46.3 million.
Philamlife and its subsidiaries paid out P6.6 billion in insurance benefits and claims in 2007, 25 percent higher than previous year. Beneficiaries included more than 45,000 scholars who received over P3 billion in educational benefits over the past four years.
The latest official industry figures (2007) show Philamlife leading in terms of premium income, assets, and investments. Philamlife is the top life insurer in the Philippines with a market share of 22 percent based on premium income, 30 percent based on assets, and 32 percent based on investments.