Pru Life UK to launch asset management firm before end-2019

British life insurer Pru Life UK, a subsidiary of international financial services group Prudential plc, is on-track to establish an asset management and trust unit before the end of the year.

Regulatory approvals have been secured from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to establish a new and wholly-owned unit offering asset management services and trust products, Pru Life UK president and CEO Antonio de Rosas said in a media briefing in Pasay City on Monday.

The new company will be named Pru Life UK Asset Management and Trust Corp.

“We are on-track to open an asset management company before the year ends,” De Rosas said.

“We already got the license from the BSP already … It’s more on getting ourselves ready in time for our target launch which is before the end of the year,” he said

“There’s a lot of things to do in terms of processes, governance, etc. to satisfy the requirements not only of the regulators, the BSP, but also our own internal governance requirements before we can launch,” he added.

With the regulatory requirements in place, Pru Life UK is now ironing out mostly internal stuff.

“We want to do this right. We want to protect investors also ... but we are so far on-track to launch this company before the end of this year,” De Rosas noted.

The stand-alone trust and asset management company will offer customers diversity in terms of risk management.

Asked what type of products will be offered by the new company, De Rosas said
The company will offer products similar to what Pru Life UK is selling, minus life insurance.

“It’s just pure funds ... Our distinct advantage is that we already have a big menu of funds offered. These are offshore funds, retail funds we can feed into, subject to approval from BSP,” De Rosas said.

In terms of premium income of P22.03 billion as of end-2018, Pru Life UK is the fourth largest life insurer in the Philippines, the company said citing data from the Insurance Commission. —VDS, GMA News