Sun Life expects premium income hike

MANILA, Philippines - Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc. said it is optimistic that premium income growth this year would outperform, if not equal, that of previous years.

In the past two years, Sun Life’s premium, income grew an average 37.8 percent, outpacing the entire industry’s average of over 20 percent.

Last year, its weighted premium income registered at P20.1 billion, 44.6 percent better than the P13.9 billion in 2011. It recorded a 31-percent increase in growth in the 2010-2011 period.

First-year premiums (new business), or premiums earned in a single or given year, grew 59.4 percent in 2012 to P3.2 billion from the 2011 first-year premiums of P2 billion.

Sun Life Financial Philippines president and chief executive officer Rizalina Mantaring said they are looking at introducing more foreign-currency denominated insurance products.

She said there is a lot of liquidity in the market, and retail and institutional investors remain in the lookout for new opportunities. Outside of bank products, retail investors craved for both protection and savings, which usually comes in the form of variable or life insurance, laced with investment products.

Mantaring admitted that over 80 percent of its first-year premiums came from investment – insurance products. Its joint venture bancassurance company, Sun Life Grepa, sold first-year premiums worth P850 million.

These resulted in a total premium income last year of P5.8 billion or nearly doubled from P3.04 billion in 2011.

Sun Life will strengthen its distribution channel this year through the expansion of its agency force, bancassurance sales officer and branch network.

Its present sales force of 4,500 is targeted to hit 5,000 by year end while its branch network would reach 40 in the same period.