Manulife seeks a banking partner
Manulife Insurance (Thailand) is looking for a banking partner to expand its distribution channels through bancassurance.
President and CEO Bruce Hodges said it had held initial talks with several banks and expected to conclude a deal this year.Manulife will also concentrate on training its sales representatives, review and launch new products and improve its administration. Hodges, who took the post in the Thai office three months ago, said he was not happy with the company's performance in the first four months of this year, even though there had been some progress. He didn't reveal the growth target for 2007 but said it was aggressive. The company was renamed from Interlife John Hancock Assurance in June 2005 following the completion of a large-scale global merger between Manulife Financial Corp and US-based John Hancock Financial Services Inc. In March last year, Manulife planned to double the size of its premium take every year in its quest to become one of the country's top five life insurers by 2016. According to data from the Thai Life Assurance Association, the insurer received Bt29.3 million in premiums in the first two months of this year, accounting for 2 per cent of the market of Bt13.26 billion. The insurer, ranked 19th of 22 life insurers, took Bt563.6 million in premiums last year while the industry generated Bt173.29 billion. Piyarat Setthasiriphaiboon The Nation
|
