BDO insurance JV posts H1 growth

MANILA, Philippines–Generali Philippines, the bancassurance venture between global insurer Generali Group and local banking giant BDO Unibank Inc., posted a double-digit year-on-year growth across individual and group insurance businesses in the first semester.

In a press statement on Wednesday, Generali announced a 41-percent growth in individual premiums collected in the first semester over the same period last year.

New individual sales revenue had expanded by 30 percent while individual renewal premium income had risen by 49 percent year on year in the first semester.

New group insurance sales also improved by 34 percent from the level last year, the company added.

“Our unrelenting focus on recurring-premium products enabled the company to post double-digit growth, at a time when the local industry’s sales performance was significantly affected by the cyclical movements of the market. In so doing, we are actively managing our portfolio mix to reflect the right balance between traditional and unit-linked plans,” said Generali Philippines president and chief executive officer Renato Vergel de Dios.

Variable unit-linked (VUL) insurance, a hybrid between a mutual fund and life insurance, becomes variable as investment returns depend on the market performance of the fund where the premium is invested.

During the first quarter, Generali introduced two additional VUL variants in the first quarter, ValueMax Secure and WealthFlex Secure, to complement its suite of recurring-premium VUL life insurance solutions. The funds are managed by BDO Trust and Investments Group.