BDO-Generali joint venture to focus on life insurance

Banco de Oro said its insurance partnership with global insurer Generali Philippines will continue its life insurance concern after the latter decided to “wind down its non-life insurance business due to an overly competitive market and costs.” In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, BDO on Thursday clarified a news item in a business daily and said that “the joint venture involves life and non-life insurance.” “Generali Philippines issued a press statement on its business re-focus on its life insurance business, particularly in bancassurance distributed through BDO channels. The life insurance business of Generali Philippines is healthy and has shown promise for growth,” BDO stated. In its press statement, Generali Philippines said, “The strategic move to focus on life insurance marketed through its bancassurance channel has created a steady stream of recurring premium income and a more profitable in‐force individual life portfolio.” The joint venture has posted an impressive 38-percent increase in premiums from January to September 2012 compared to the same period the previous year, the statement said. According to GP, new individual insurance sales, arising solely from regular premium products, were up 30 percent for the same period, while individual renewal premiums grew at a hefty rate of 59 percent. Group Life and Health premiums on the other hand were up 25 percent, the statement added. GP revealed that a key driver to this growth is the company's sustained efforts to beef up its primary bancassurance distribution channel. Beyond the sheer growth in sales, manpower shows a nearly threefold improvement in regular sales productivity since 2009. — BM, GMA News