ATR KimEng insurance units boost premiums

MANILA, Philippines - The insurance units of ATR KimEng Financial Group generated P500 million worth of premiums in the first three months of 2010, with new policies expanding 16 percent.

These units are AsianLife and General Assurance Corp., which focuses mainly on corporate or group accounts insured under a medical plan, and AsianLife Financial Assurance Corp. which zeroes in on the retail market and is a major player in Department of Education (DepEd) market offering life insurance and salary loan.

The combined total premiums of the two insurers reached P1.2 billion in 2009, ranking it 10th overall among the 35 life insurers licensed by the Insurance Commission (IC).

AsianLife General president and chief executive officer Eulogio A. Mendoza said they are extremely optimistic of doing better than last year.

“We got a huge partner in the Ayala Group of Companies in the first quarter of the year,” Mendoza said. “That means huge group insurance accounts for each of the firms allied with one of the country’s major conglomerates, and the potentials are limitless.”

He said it was the so-called differentiators that may have convinced the Ayala Group to choose them.

These differentiators are marked by financial stability, and best practices on customer satisfactions including service level agreements, voice of the customer coordination meetings, and web-based claim utilization reports.

AsianLife General has a wide scope and excellent quality of medical networking, including an accredited network of 15,000 physicians, 400 hospitals and 300 clinics.

“In fact, we will reimburse our policyholder even if he goes to a non-accredited medical professional or establishment,” Mendoza said, adding that as long as it is subject to the benefit limit and exclusion provisions of the plan.

Another differentiator is its comprehensive wellness program, which focuses on prevention rather than cure, and a self-managed 24/7 call centre.

Ninety percent of AsianLife General premiums come from group insurance from its more than 50 brokers. AsianLife Financial, meanwhile, has 23 branches and 300 agents.

AsianLife General has a portfolio composed of over 500 domestic and multinational corporations, covering around 300,000 employees and their dependents.

The two insurance firms are under the wings of ATR Kim Eng Financial Corp., one of the leading non-bank financial institutions in the country. Its three main businesses are in the capital markets, real estate and insurance.

Last year, the insurance segment of ATR KimEng Financial accounted for more than 50 percent of its bottom line.

During its stockholders meeting last week, ATRKE Financial president Manuel Tordesillas revealed that AsianLife Financial accounted for P1 billion in salary loans last year.

“Net income grew by 50 percent and total revenues by 87 percent,” Tordesillas added.