Sun Life sees premiums further growing in H2

MANILA, Philippines - Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc. sees sustained strong growth in premiums in the second half despite recent uncertainties in global financial markets.

Riza Mantaring, president and chief executive officer of the insurance giant’s Philippine unit, said yesterday preliminary third quarter figures already show continued strong performance for Sunlife and Sun Life Grepa Financial Inc.

“So far, the third quarter has still been very strong even though markets were volatile,” Mantaring said.

“Sunlife Grepa, being more prone and sensitive to market conditions, it still up but not as strong as last year, but Sunlife itself is very strong so far in the third quarter so we’re keeping our fingers cross that it will continue until the end of the year,” she said.

According to the Insurance Commission, Sunlife’s total premium income expanded 47 percent to P16.3 billion in the first half from P11.1 billion in the same period in 2014.

Mantaring noted recent investor sentiment has been driven largely by external events such as China’s devaluation of its currency and stock market crash, and the pending interest rate hike in the US.

“Typically, when unexpected situations occur, the reaction is knee-jerk but overtime, you see this starting to stabilize as fundamentals take over,” Mantaring said.

“And if you look at the Philippines, it has strong fundamentals despite the slower-than-expected GDP (gross domestic product) growth for example… so it will be important for government to get back on track in terms of growth so that the positive sentiment on the Philippines continue,” she said.

Sunlife’s total premiums stood at P30.7 billion in 2014, up three percent from P29.7 billion in 2013. The insurance giant expects to sustain this momentum this year.

Mantaring said there remains a big room for growth as insurance penetration in the Philippines stood at only 1.2 percent last year, very low when compared with its regional peers.