Corporate warrior gears up for the battle of his life

Rex Ma. Mendoza is right back where he started, and there is nowhere else he would rather be.

Though Mendoza’s schedule has become more hectic after taking over the reins of Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. in July 2011, he says the challenge to give Philam Life a much needed shot in the arm to recapture the dominant lead position in the insurance industry makes every waking moment worthwhile.

 

Added motivation

That it was Philam Life, a member of pan-Asian insurance giant AIA Capital, that took a chance on the new graduate, giving him his first job as a group marketing officer in 1983, gives him an added motivation to do a great job.

Mendoza started his career at Philam Life after graduating from the University of the Philippines with a degree in Business Administration major in marketing and finance. So far, he believes he will end his corporate life here, too.

The time and effort he has so far put into inspiring people to produce more, aggressively building the agency force, expanding the reach to more areas in the Philippines and convincing more Filipinos to invest in life insurance, are showing up on the bottom line.

Over the last two years, Philam Life has been able to grow its revenue by almost 50 percent on the back of increasing purchasing power of Filipinos, their growing awareness of the need for insurance, as well as the increased ability of Philam Life to reach out to Filipinos on the lookout for investment products.

Last year, Philam Life posted a 13-percent increase in gross premium to P15.4 billion while its bancassurance arm, BPI-Philam, recorded a 78-percent rise in gross premiums for 2012 to P11.5 billion.

Unit Linked Products, or insurance products tied to investments, are also bringing in revenues to the company, thanks in part to increasing investor confidence and desire for higher yielding investment products.

Philam Life recorded a 43.9-percent increase in first year premiums, while BPI-Philam almost doubled the growth in FYP compared with 2011. This translates to a combined 75 percent growth from 2011. ULPs comprise over 90 percent of the company’s total new premiums.

Stellar numbers

Mendoza admits that, despite the stellar numbers, Philam Life remains on catchup mode after seeing its market share chipped away by competing insurance companies, particularly the multinational firms.

But the president and CEO is confident that Philam Life is on the right track and will soon be the undisputed leader in the growing insurance sector, as it once was.

The daunting challenge to bring Philam Life back to its glory days proved irresistible to Mendoza, who was actually happy at Ayala Land Inc., where he stayed for five years after his first 22-year stint at Philam Life. At the property firm, he was responsible for building the marketing arm of the real estate giant to reach out to more customers.

It also helped that he was close friends with Gordon Watson, the new regional chief executive of AIA Capital who handles five countries including the Philippines. He trained with Watson when he was still new with the insurance giant.

But what really clinched it for Mendoza was the fact that AIA thought it important enough to convince his wife, Anna, that moving back to Philam, and into a more hectic lifestyle, would be in their best interest.

 

Family-oriented activities

“They did not really need to convince me, but they needed to convince her because it was going to be a different lifestyle than what we had when I was still with the Ayala group,” explains Mendoza.

As soon as Anna, who was flown to Hong Kong to talk with the AIA officials, gave her blessing, Mendoza said his goodbye to Ayala and went right ahead to find ways to breathe new life into Philam Life, where he climbed the ranks to executive vice president and head of sales, marketing and training, as well as vice chair and CEO of Philam Asset Management before he moved to Ayala Land.

One of the first steps that the 51-year-old Mendoza took toward this goal was to spearhead family-oriented activities in Philam Life. He believes that involving the family goes a long way in motivating employees.

This will consequently lead to higher sales and wider reach in the growing Philippine insurance market.

“We watched Harry Potter in July 2011, then we watched Spiderman and then Ironman 3. We booked the movie house and the activity center so that all the employees can watch the movie together with their spouse and children,” says Mendoza. “I really made family activities a priority because, when we work, we do sacrifice family time. The company does not thank the family enough, so we have to appreciate them for the sacrifices they go through.”

On his birthday, instead of a stuffy formal event, Mendoza organized a beer and barbecue party where he sang folk classic Bikining Itim to the delight of the staff members who were only too happy to see a leader with whom they can relate.

Insight

Mendoza cannot emphasize enough the importance of engaging the employees, as well as the growing agency force, because the insurance industry thrives on relationships.

Insurance policies, after all, are not products that can just be displayed on a shelf and catch the attention of buyers. Rather, they are financial instruments that are normally bought from people as well as companies that customers can trust with their hard-earned money.

It is this insight that prompted Mendoza to roll out a marketing campaign to build up relationships. It hinges on the slogan “Anong plano mo? Usap tayo” (What’s your plan? Let’s talk).

“I fought hard for that campaign with AIA Capital. Before that, they wanted an advertising campaign that they can roll out to 15 countries, but I said that each market is different. I really fought for it and good thing it was approved,” says Mendoza. “I am really making a lot of bold changes because I am ready to walk away anytime. But the good thing there is complete trust in what I intend to do.”

Mendoza stresses that, in the end, it will be performance that will prove his worth and the numbers have so far been encouraging.

In 2012, Philam Life, which celebrated its 65th year of operations in the Philippines, posted close to P27 billion in consolidated gross premiums, a 33-percent increase over that of the previous year. He expects to grow even further this year as the company steps up its sales and recruitment program.

At the same time, Mendoza will improve the look and feel of the Philam Life branches as part of the transformation and renewal of Philam Life operations.

Philam Life just recently moved to its new headquarters at the bustling Bonifacio Global City after selling its old building in Manila.

The Net Lima building, where Philam Life moved, is considered a landmark structure—it is the first BERDE-certified structure in the Philippines.

BERDE is the local version of LEED, which promotes environment-friendly architecture.

 

Greener environment

Mendoza says in a statement that the move to Net Lima is yet another expression of how Philam Life cares for its people.

“We believe in maximizing efficiency while spending on the right things. With our transfer here, we wanted to show our people how important they are to us. Here in Net Lima, the staff enjoy state-of-the art office facilities, better security and a healthier and greener environment,” Mendoza says.

Philam Life is likewise transferring branch offices to key locations nationwide as part of an overall real estate plan.

“Philam Life is a growing, expanding and dynamic company. We want our corporate offices and working environment to reflect the same attitude and spirit,” Mendoza says.

He likes to believe that a sense of optimism and enthusiasm has permeated all levels of the Philam organization. It is now ready to seize opportunities emerging in the Philippines where more Filipinos are realizing the need to have life insurance as part of their portfolio.

He says the industry is growing at levels never before seen in the country due to a combination of factors. He cites the overall growth of the economy, which has increased the spending power of Filipinos. Also, the interest rate on traditional bank deposits has gone down to a point where Filipinos now want to try other financial instruments that promise a higher return on their investment.

“There is also our own campaign to reach out to buyers and the introduction of new products. We are also rebuilding the agency force and strengthening our distribution channels,” says Mendoza. “We have to work hard to recover lost momentum.”

The numbers show that Mendoza is well on his way to achieving his mandate, which means constant engagement with the growing agency force that encourages Filipinos to acquire life insurance and other financial products.

Go for gold

Philam Life still has its work cut out for it considering that less than 5 percent of Filipinos have any form of life insurance.

“I tell the people to make insurance relevant to every segment. Our work is not just about product launches and product development. It is about understanding the different segments and understanding their needs. Different people appreciate different products differently. An entrepreneur for example will have different needs from the OFW,” Mendoza explains. “The work is all about finding the right product for the right people and providing them with the right service.”

As further proof that Philam Life is on the right track, it was awarded a bronze medal last year by AIA Capital because of the significant growth in its operations in the Philippines.

Mendoza, however, is not happy.

“I am not yet happy because it is bronze. Why not gold? I believe we can go for gold. Yes, we can,” says Mendoza.

If his track record is any indication of things to come, then that coveted gold medal will come to Philippine shores sooner rather than later.