UK-based insurer bullish on PH

Prudential Corporation Asia, a business unit of UK-based insurance giant Prudential Plc, is “enormously bullish” on the Philippines, due mainly to expectations that it will post economic growth of at least 5 percent this year and that the political landscape will remain stable.

According to Barry Stowe, chief executive of PCA, which operates in 13 markets in Asia, there is a lot of action and diversity in the Philippines and there are many reasons why the insurance firm is optimistic about the country’s prospects.

“At the highest level, there is political stability and good quality of governance, and there is also the manner in which the government is guiding the economy. The Philippines also has a strong national balance sheet in terms of debt ratios, foreign exchange, buildup of foreign currency. There are lots of good things happening,” said Stowe.

Stowe, who was in the country last week to announce Prudence Foundation’s three-year commitment worth P100 million for corporate social responsibility programs in the Philippines, said the Philippines’ expected gross domestic product growth of about 5 percent this year was a rate that “the rest of the world will kill for.”

He said these favorable indicators meant the Philippines’ middle class would expand and that the purchasing power would be strengthened. That spells good news for the local insurance industry, in which PCA intends to stay for the long haul.

“With less than 1 percent insurance penetration, (the Philippines) is an open field. Relative to the opportunity, we are very small but we are hugely optimistic,” said Stowe.

To get a bigger share of the insurance market in the Philippines, Pru Life UK president and CEO Antonio Manuel G. De Rosas said the local unit of Prudential Plc would expand its agency force to reach more Filipinos.