Malayan marks 80th year, continues dominant run

MANILA, Philippines - Malayan Insurance, the country’s no. 1 non-life insurance company, celebrates 80 years of service this year and expresses its confidence of retaining its dominant position in the industry.

The latest figures by the Insurance Commission reported that Malayan continued to lead the rankings with over P6.2 billion gross premiums written and over P2.8 billion premiums earned, more than double the figures of its nearest competitor for 2008.

Established in 1930, Malayan reached the no. 1 spot in 1970 – and stayed consistently up to the present. Under a culture characterized by a strong sense of competitiveness and service commitment, its employees remain vigilant of opportunities to maintain this unique streak of excellence.

“Malayan Insurance has a rich legacy of providing policyholders the best non-life insurance protection and prompt settlement of claims at all times. We painstakingly built its name to become synonymous with non-life insurance, and everyone in the company are constantly working to maintain that,” said company president Yvonne S. Yuchengco.

This level of commitment, she continued, was displayed during last year’s most challenging times. “From working through economic difficulties that affected the entire industry to meeting the enormous claims brought about by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, we were able to show how strong and determined we are to meet our obligations to our policyholders,” Yuchengco said.

The company continues to gain favorable outlook as well from respected ratings agencies such as Standard and Poor’s. After giving Malayan a positive financial strength rating outlook, S&P gave a new rating of “axBBB” indicating the insurer’s strong capital base and its capability of meeting its financial obligations.

A.M. Best, the world’s oldest, full service credit rating organization, also affirmed Malayan’s financial strength rating of B++ (Good) and the issuer credit rating of “bbb,” both with a stable outlook. In addition, the company gained an ISO 9001:2000 certificate from Certification International UK Ltd. as testament to its globally accepted quality management standard.

Malayan enjoys the lion’s share in the Philippine non-life insurance industry, having achieved 20 percent market share in a market of 87 insurance companies. Together with the Bankers Assurance Corp. (BAC) and the First Nationwide Insurance Corp. (FNAC), it forms the Malayan Group of Insurance companies, the largest non-life insurance group in the country. For more information, visit www.malayan.com.