The retirement market is quite big in the country
ALLIANZ MALAYSIA BHD CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER JENS REISCH
KUALA LUMPUR: Allianz Malaysia Bhd (AMB) has embarked on a twopronged growth strategy which will see its agency force market share in the life insurance segment rising to 9% in 2015 from the 6.3% currently and its reach being extended to the retirement planning arena.
Chief executive officer Jens Reisch said he was confident the company would be able to hit the 9% mark in the next three years with proper measures in place.
At present, AMB unit Allianz Life Insurance Malaysia Bhd’s market share in terms of new business from the agency channel in the life insurance business is 6.3%, securing the company a fifth spot in the industry.
“We will be expanding our channels, namely in the agency and bancassurance side, to strengthen our business. The company has allocated substantial investments and manpower in these areas.
“Where life insurance is concerned, the company plans to have about 10,000 agents by 2015 from some 6,500 currently. We now have 13,000-plus agents, inclusive of our general insurance agents,’’ he told StarBiz in an interview.
Reisch, who is also CEO of Allianz Life Insurance, said AMB was not only keen on increasing its agency headcount but also expand its geographical
The company plans to have about 10,000 agents by 2015 from some 6,500 currently.
— JENS REISCH
reach and diversity in terms of the communities buying its insurance products.
Allianz Life was strong in the Klang Valley, Johor Baru and Malacca, he said, addingthat ithopedto strengthen its presence in the east coast and in Sabah and Sarawak.
According to him, the company would also target the different communities in the country to beef up its business, going forward.
In the bancassurance segment, it recently tied-up with HSBC to distribute its products, and is intensifying efforts to gain a stronger foothold in the segment.
At present, agency accounts for close to90% of Allianz Life Insurance’s business in terms of new business premiums, with the balance coming from bancassurance and employee benefits businesses.
He added that in the next five years, the company expected bancassurance to account for close to 25% of business, while agency and employee benefits to account for 65% and 10%, respectively.
Where retirement planning is concerned, Reisch said the company planned to position itself strongly in 2013, despite the fact that there were now eight private retirement scheme (PRS) providers in the country.
Towards this end, AMB hopes to roll out its retirement products by the second quarter of this year, with a value add in the form of coverage on areas like critical illillness andd didisability, besides the usual accumulation of funds feature.
“The retirement products, for example, will incorporate health insurance as well, as many Malaysians are losing out on health insurance upon retirement. The retirement market is quite big in the country.
“We don’t see ourselves as a competitor to the PRS providers, as our research has shown that there are many who want both retirement and protection products for their well-being,’’ he noted.
On AMB’s plans to enter the takaful business, he said it was definitely an area of focus, moving forward. Reisch said that at the moment, however, it was not in urgent need to do so, as the company’s business was doing well.
He reiterated that AMB would only venture into takaful if the right opportunity came along and it made business sense to do so for all its stakeholders, including customers, shareholders and agents.
On the general insurance front, he explained that the company’s aspiration was to grow faster than the country’s gross domestic product. To date, its general insurance arm, Allianz General Insurance Co (M) Bhd, has managed to achieve double-digit growth in terms of gross premiums.
He said for this year, the company was upbeat its general insurance business would still grow by doubledigit figures.
He expected the same for its life insurance segment, noting that he foresees a growth of between 7% and 9% this year for regular premiums. AMB’s market share in terms of gross premiums for life and general insurance currently stood at 6% and 10%, respectively.
AMB achieved RM2.27bil in gross written premiums for the first nine months of last year compared with RM1.99bil in the same period in 2011, registering a jump of 14.1%. Pre-tax profit for the period rose by 17.6% to RM232.9mil from RM198mil, while the group’s total assets grew by 15.8% to RM8.89bil against RM7.68bil previously.