THE COUNTRY’S leading lender BDO Unibank has obtained the regulatory green light to take full control of insurance holding firm Generali Pilipinas Holdings Company Inc. (GPHC), erstwhile a joint venture with Generali Group of Italy.
In a press statement on Friday, BDO said it’s re-focusing its insurance strategy to align with its thrust to solidify its presence in the broad-based middle income market.
By assuming full control of the GPHC insurance operations, BDO expects to be able to adapt more readily to the demands of its target markets.
BDO president Nestor Tan noted that while the partnership with Generali had been integral to the success of the companies to date, the bank wished to embark on a new journey of diversifying into the life insurance sector via this new wholly owned unit to maximize cross selling of products to its extensive retail customer base.
GPHC, initially created out of the insurance partnership forged between BDO and Generali in 1999, is the parent firm of life insurer Generali Pilipinas Life Assurance Company (GPLAC) and Generali Pilipinas Insurance Co. (GPIC), which is engaged in non-life insurance.
GPLAC will be renamed BDO Life Assurance Co. Inc.
On the other hand, Generali Group has acquired GPIC and relaunched the company as life insurer, Generali Life Assurance Philippines Inc. (GLAPI).
“Over the past 15 years, Generali has built up a solid track record working in partnership with BDO. Generali has an extensive network of quality service providers and strong local relationships in the country. It intends to leverage these strengths and grow its group and retail businesses for the long term,” the Generali group said in a statement.
GLAPI said it intended to provide employee benefit solutions via group life and medical insurance to multinational corporations, as well as small and medium enterprises. It also plans to expand its product offerings to include individual life products.
“With Generali’s international experience and product and service innovation, Generali Life Philippines aims to become a significant player and cater to the insurance and financial needs of the Filipinos,” the company said.
The parties said this transaction between BDO and Generali would have no impact whatsoever on the terms and conditions of all existing GPLAC individual and group policies. These policies will remain in their present form and will be fully honored notwithstanding the change in ownership.
GPLAC will continue to support and service all existing policyholders as provided for under their in force policies./rga