MANILA – The local unit of Pru Life of UK and the Gokongwei-led Robinsons Bank have formed their first bancassurance venture, seeing much potential in the country’s insurance space.
The three-year bancassurance partnership enables Pru Life to sell its insurance products via Robinsons Banks’s 134 branches.
The strategic bancassurance partnership was forged in a distribution agreement signed at Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila.
Both parties said they expect substantial returns from the joint venture, with Robinsons Bank expecting 40-50 million pesos in revenues for the first year alone.
“The entry into bancassurance business has been integral to Robinson’s Bank’s strategic plan which we term Roadmap 2020,” said Lance Gokongwei, Robinsons Bank chair at the signing of the partnership on Tuesday.
This partnership, he said, would “further accelerate the bank to greater heights as we continue to boost our recurring and core income.”
Gokongwei said the bank sees a lot of potential in the bancassurance business. “Bancassurance will enable us to roll out more products and investment instruments for financial security that will benefit our clients.”
Through the partnership, Robinsons Bank hoped to further serve its extensive network of customers by providing them life insurance products that will complement access to comprehensive financial protection, subject to regulatory approval.
Having insurance products forms part of their long-term strategy and would help them sustain last year’s growth performance, according to Robinsons Bank.
Elfren Sarte, Robinsons Bank president and CEO, said their “Roadmap 2020” is a five-year plan launched in 2015, and bancassurance is a fit in that roadmap. “Bancassurance is one of our major products that we really intend to offer so we can complete our product offering to our customers.”
Sarte said they expect it to contribute to the growth of the bank, “Last year the bank grew more than 30% and we expext to grow at that same level this year, and hopefully bancassurance will help us grow in fee income.”
Pru Life, which is fifth largest in the country in terms of premium income, declined to specify how much they stood to gain from the partnership, but said they see a huge upside considering how underpenetrated the country is for insurance products.
Antonio de Rosas, Pru Life UK president and CEO, explained they are positive about the growth, “but as a listed company in the UK we can’t disclose forecasts.”
De Rosas said, “We are very pleased to kick off 2018 by having Robinsons Bank as our new partner. By combining our quality product offering with Robinsons Bank’s strong distribution platform, we are confident this alliance will benefit Robinson Bank’s customers by providing them with easy access to Pru Life UK’s solutions that suit their growing protection needs. We look forward to building a strong relationship with Robinsons Bank as we continue to fulfil our goal of making life better for Filipinos through our life insurance products and solutions.”
The partnership will initially offer traditional insurance policy, before possibly adding investment-linked products.
Demand for life insurance products has been rising in the Philippines, buoyed by continued economic growth, growing affluence on the back of an expanding middle class, and a low insurance penetration rate.
