Sun Life group expects to keep lead in local market

Global insurance giant Sun Life of Canada is upbeat on its life insurance and mutual fund business in the Philippines, with its growth trajectory seen to keep a leading market share and outperform peers in the region.

For the second straight year, Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) claimed the top spot in the local insurance industry based on premium income in 2012. Based on the official rankings released by the Insurance Commission on premium income, Sun Life capped last year with net premium income of P20.1 billion, up by 44 percent from a year ago.

Sun Life also led the industry in new business, with P3.2 billion in weighted first year premiums posted in 2012, 36 percent higher than the previous year’s level.

This week, Sun Life’s top boardroom officials are visiting the country in recognition of the local unit, which was the best performing in Asia in terms of growth, said Sun Life PH presidential Riza Mantaring.

But 2013 is turning out to be an even better year for the company for both the insurance and mutual fund businesses. The combined new business in the first quarter of Sun Life and its bancassurance venture with the Yuchengco group grew by 96 percent year-on-year, Mantaring said.

For the month of May, gross sales of mutual fund hit P4.88 billion while net inflows amounted to P3.38 billion.

“May was a record for mutual funds in both gross and net sales,” she said.

In the recent financial market volatility, Mantaring said it was a pleasant surprise that mutual fund investors were not panicking to redeem their funds. “They were waiting for the market (to correct downwards) to come in. We were expecting redemptions. There were some but the inflow was still bigger,” she said.

The same upbeat trend was seen in the life insurance business, with the performance this month even turning out better than in previous months.

Combining its 2012 results with that of bancassurance venture Sun Life Grepa Financial which posted P5.8 billion in premiums last year, the Sun Life group in the Philippines made P26 billion in premium income, 86 percent higher than the level in the previous year.

Mantaring said: “2012 was again another stellar year for Sun Life. Not only did we break records in our life business, we also posted robust gains in mutual funds where our balanced and equity funds were among the best performing funds in the industry.”

Assets under management of Sun Life’s mutual funds business stood at P28.7 billion as of the end of 2012.

Sun Life Financial Asia president Kevin Strain said: “Sun Life’s Philippine operations continues to be a shining star for our business, not only in Asia, but across the enterprise.”

“We have an incredible team working in the Philippines and their hard work and dedication to customers shines through in everything they do. With such a dedicated team—from our management to the field staff to our incredible sales force, it is no surprise that we were again able to claim the top spot amongst insurers in the country,” Strain added.

Sun Life of Canada introduced life insurance in the Philippines in 1895 and is a member of the Sun Life Financial group of companies, a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of wealth accumulation and protection products and services to individuals and corporate customers.