Philam Life new business up 89%

The country’s leading insurer, Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co., posted robust volume growth in the first nine months of 2011 on the back of a three-digit growth in single-pay investment-linked protection products.

In a statement, Philam Life said it grew new business by 89 percent from January to September this year from a year ago, fueled by a 212-percent expansion in single premium business in the period.

Philam Life’s single-pay business produced nearly P2 billion in new business for the period, more than double the P624 million worth of single premiums it produced a year ago. This was attributed by the company to the strong sales of two special single-premium investment-linked products: “Asia’s Best” and “Growth Invest.”

Asia’s Best is a single-pay, six-year term, US-dollar investment-and-life-insurance plan-in-one that allows investors to invest and participate in the stock markets of China and India, two of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Growth Invest is a single-pay, peso-denominated, six-year term, investment-and-life-insurance-plan-in-one that capitalizes on the performance of high-growth global sectors: China equities, agribusiness, energy and gold mining.

Due to popular demand, a second tranche of Growth Invest was recently launched and will be available until December 15. “The response to this investment-linked product was quite overwhelming that we had to give in,” said Philam Life president Rex Mendoza. “We wanted to give Filipino investors the opportunity to invest in these high-growth sectors, which experts forecast to increase in consumption and value in the next few years. Performance-wise, our first tranche has performed so well and we have to give those who missed it another chance to take a position.”

Philam Life said its regular premium business also increased during the period in review, with strong sales coming from its protection (Vanguard 100), education (Bright Future Plus), investment-linked (Abundance Plus) and retirement (Leisure) products.

The company believes it has also positioned itself for an “aggressive” fourth quarter, with month-on-month improvements in new business amounting to P276 million, P318 million, and P837 million in July, August and September, respectively.

With these results, Philamlife said it had kept its dominance in the market, which it had been enjoying for the last 60 years.—Doris C. Dumlao