We will continue our recruitment drive and seek the best talents in the industry

ZURICH INSURANCE MALAYSIA CEO CHEE CHEONG

KUALA LUMPUR: Switzerland-based insurance giant Zurich Insurance Group is planning to have a presence in bancassurance operations here as part of its strategic move to command a stronger position in the competitive insurance landscape.

After acquiring MAA Group Bhd’s composite insurance arm, Malaysian Assurance Alliance Bhd (now rebranded and renamed Zurich Insurance Malaysia Bhd) via Zurich Insurance Co Ltd last year for RM344mil. the group is now looking at building a strong distributorship base of which bancassurance would be one of the core distribution chan- nels.

Zurich Insurance Malaysia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zurich Insurance, which in turn is a subsidiary of the Zurich Insurance Group.

Zurich Insurance Group chief executive officer for global life Kevin Hogan said the group have plans to forge bancassurance partnerships with leading banks in Malaysia.

For example, Zurich’s collaboration with Deutsche Bank in Germany over the years has resulted in the bank garnering a larger market share in the insurance market compared with its retail banking business.

“In Asia, one of the areas we intend to expand in terms of distribution is

We have the financial strength and want to find the right partners that we can work with over the long term. — KEVIN HOGAN

through bancassurance. We have the financial strength and want to find the right partners that we can work with over the long term. Life insurance is a long term business,” he told StarBiz.

Bancassurance currently contribute about 15% to the group’s business.

The group’s operating profit for the first three months ended March 31, 2012, stood at US$1.4bil, more thant a 50% jump, compared with the similars period last year.

Hogan pointed out that on the whole,w Asia was an important investment destination for Zurich as currently it accounted for about 15% of its global life insurance new business.n

He felt the local insurance market had great potential as the penetration level was relatively low compared with other countries in the region.

In terms of insurance penetration as a percentage of gross domestic product, he said it was 3.2% in Malaysia unlike many other markets in the region which had more than twice this figure.

Meanwhile, Zurich Insurance Malaysia CEO Chee Cheong said the company was looking for top notch talents in the industry to drive the business.

“We have recruited four people at the moment.

“They are in the areas of risk management, legal and compliance, human resources and operations. We will continue our recruitment drive and seek the best talents in the industry,” he noted.

On its agency strength, Chee added the company currently has more than 4,600 life insurance agents and 3,000 general insurance agents.