Falcon taps injured sportsmen

Falcon Insurance aims to differentiate its products from rivals by focusing on sports accident insurance, which is also a highmargin business in the fiercely competitive insurance market.

The company launched its sports insurance policy, iSport, late last year, targeting athletes and new generation customers who pay more interest to sport, president Sopa Kanjanarintr said.

iSport covers four insurance products: football, golf, extreme sports and cycling. The insurance products are expected to contribute 100 million baht in premiums by 2016.

The company’s total premiums amount to 1.48 billion baht and there are around 5,000 to 6,000 policyholders.

Currently, iSport is available only via the online channel and the company is negotiating with several insurance brokers to expand its sales channels. The talks are expected to be completed within the first quarter of the year.

DirectAsia, an online insurance broker, is the exclusive broker for Falcon’s products.

The company needs more time to build up a portfolio of unique insurance products, which have high growth potential from the current small base.

“Sports insurance is one of our unique products aimed at differentiation among our competitors, and it contributes a better margin compared with other mass products. We aim to keep our lead position in the business segment, despite the increasing number of rivals,” Ms Sopa said.

The company yesterday launched a new sports insurance policy for cyclists, iBike, to cash in on the cycling boom and the rising demand for sports accident protection.

There are 2.25 million bicycles in Thailand, of which 260,000 are used for travel. Falcon projects selling 30,000 iBike policies with total premiums of 75 million baht by 2016.

Falcon aims to raise the premium ratio contributed by personal line insurance products to 40% of total premiums in the next two years from the current 30%.

Commercial line products now account for 70% of the company’s total premiums.

Under its three-year business plan, it targets total premium growth of 15% per year.

The advent of the Asean Economic Community, which will take place at the end of the year, will be a growth driver for the regional economy, while public investment in infrastructure projects will be the driving force for the Thai economy.

The improving economic prospects will be a boon to the company.

Falcon has operated in Thailand for eight years. During 2007-2013, it generated total premium growth rate of 47.8% per annum on average.