There is lucrative career in insurance

Multinational life insurer Pru Life UK intends to grow its business in the Philippines and plans to do so by attracting more people to serve as insurance agents.

Antonio de Rosas, president of Pru Life’s office in the Philippines, says the company sees a huge potential for income growth in the Philippines. Such potential, he says, may be maximized if there will be more people selling its products and making the public understand the benefits of having insurance policies.

Currently, Pru Life has about 3,000 sales agents, 1,000 of whom were hired last year. De Rosas says the company intends to continue its aggressive recruitment program over the next three to five years.

“Our growth strategy for this year, and the next three to five years is to increase our sales force,” De Rosas tells the Inquirer.

The company’s plan of expanding its workforce, however, may be tough given the perception that selling insurance is difficult and income is measly.

But De Rosas stresses that such a perception no longer holds today. He says that in recruitment seminars of Pru Life, participants realize that selling insurance has become much easier and more lucrative.

“What people realize when they attend our seminars is that insurance is a rewarding career. It can actually make sales agents millionaires,” says De Rosas.

The company executive explains that the insurance industry has evolved over the years from selling merely traditional insurance products to offering policies that have investment features. Investment-linked insurance policies are much easier to sell because potential customers are generally more interested in spending for investments rather than insurance alone, he says.

Investment-linked insurance is one that provides coverage to the policyholder, at the same time it gives him an opportunity to earn from various portfolio investments.

De Rosas says the most successful agents of Pru Life earn an annual income of as much as P2 million. More people can do the same if they join Pru Life and if they are aggressive enough in selling policies, he adds.

“Commissions earned from selling insurance range from 30 to 40 percent of the first year premiums. Our successful agents earn as much as P2 million a year,” says De Rosas.

Although per capital income in the country has improved, the penetration rate of insurance in the Philippines has not changed over the past decade, De Rosas notes. Total insurance premiums collected annually in the country remain at nearly one percent of gross domestic product.

“From about $1,000 ten years ago, per capital income in the country is now about $3,000,” says De Rosas, adding that more Filipinos can now afford insurance policies.

There is such a low rate of penetration in the country because insurance firms fail to actively promote and aggressively sell insurance products. Pru Life intends to address this failure, De Rosas says.

“We intend to sell more insurance and further penetrate the Philippine market. We will do so by hiring more agents,” he says.