Tuesday, November 25, 2008 Insurance company keeps optimism for ’09
DESPITE a possible slowdown in the insurance industry in the country as a result of the global financial crisis that is dampening investor confidence, the Philippine AXA Life Insurance Corp. (AXA Philippines) remains upbeat about 2009.
This optimism will eventually be channeled through the launching of more products in the future to address client needs,
AXA Philippines said.
The company is contemplating about developing term insurance and other products that involve retirement and education benefits.
“We will be aggressive. We are not going to shy away from what is happening in the (global) economy,” AXA Philippines head for branding and communications Dandee Adapon told Sun.Star Cebu last Friday.
He noted that the Philippines, together with the United States in some ways, is also affected by the global economic turmoil
that was sparked by the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US.
Core business
But, Global AXA Group chairman of the management board Henri de Castries said, AXA remains strong because, apart from having a good management team, it never went out of its core businesses—insurance and asset management—and it has a strong balance sheet characterized by above-minimum solvency margin, hedged equity portfolio and daily earnings.
Adapon said the good thing about investing in insurance is that it requires policy holders to take a long-term outlook.
He cited company products, such as Locked & Loaded, which are designed for investments that last for at least five years because “historically, the market can even out in one way or another, given that enough time to recover.”
During AXA Philippines’ symposium last Friday, the company introduced “Locked & Loaded” as its response to the global financial crisis.
The limited offer, with a minimum single investment of P200,000 and a holding period of at least five years, protects the capital investment 100 percent, regardless of how difficult market conditions can get.
Bonds
Investors will also have the chance to grow their money through high-grade government bonds, mo-ney-market instruments and blue-chip stocks.
Locked & Loaded was launched early last month. At the end of October, Adapon said there were already “over a thousand” investors from various parts of the country like Manila, Pampanga, Da-vao and Cebu.
AXA Philippines will continue to accommodate applicants for the product until Wednesday.
“This is a rare investment opportunity. If the public demand is still high, we will probably extend it again until (early) December. (We) can’t deny that this is the kind of investment the people are looking for right now,” Adapon said.
He added that AXA has no plans of making “Locked & Loaded” a permanent product because “it is putting AXA at risk of default” since the company will shoulder all the risks of the investment.
AXA is now in its ninth year of operations in the country. Out of the total P34 billion premium for variable life insurance products in 2007, AXA Philippines accounts for 44 percent or P15.1 billion.
The company, a member of the Metrobank Group, reported a total premium income of P16.3 billion last year. (NRC)
