Manulife sees bump in sales of insurance

MANILA, Philippines–Rising average incomes as a result of the country’s expanding middle class means more people will get insurance, in various forms, in the coming years, Canadian insurer Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. (Manulife) said.

Eager to increase its slice of the pie, Manulife Philippines said it planned to double its level of investments in 2015 over last year to grow its branch network and sales force.

By expanding its footprint, Manulife, in its 108th year in the Philippines, expects to grow at a record pace.

“Double the investment and double the growth? I think we can do it,” Manulife Philippines president and CEO Ryan Charland said Tuesday.

At a press conference, Charland said the prospects for the local insurance industry had brightened due to the country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals.

More people are getting better jobs, he said, improving their propensity to spend on insurance plans.

Last year, Manulife grew its salesforce of financial advisers—industry speak for agents—by 38 percent, driving sales growth to 44 percent.

In the coming year, the company intends to accelerate this expansion.

Over 6,000 financial advisers were selling Manulife products to the public at the end of 2014.

Despite having been in the Philippines for over a century, Manulife said the company had maintained a low profile, Charland said.

“My sense was we weren’t that visible at all,” said Charland, who took over as Manulife Philippines president at the start of last year.

In 2015, Manulife, which has over $2 billion worth of assets under management locally, will open 10 new branches, more than it ever has in the Philippines in its history.

The year after, eight more will be put up, with particular focus on new cities in Visayas and Mindanao, to end 2016 with at least 50 branches.

About a third of Manulife’s business in the Philippines comes from its joint venture with China Banking Corp., which helps sell Manulife insurance products to clients.

Within the year, Manulife said its insurance products would be made available to clients of China Bank’s thrift subsidiary, China Bank Savings, which has a more retail-oriented customer base.