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Published on January 28, 2008

Ron van Oijen, president and CEO of ING Life Korea, said last week that besides the three new ING Group board members and new heads of retail banking and risk management, more regional appointments were soon to follow to catapult ING's insurance business into the top five in the industry here.

Oijen, who becomes regional chief executive on May 1, believes in pooling human resources within the group, one of the largest financial-services conglomerates in the world. He said the model had worked in Korea, where he took the firm to No 4 in gross premiums.

The group's strategy in the past has always been to acquire key assets in new markets. ING Group last year bought out Landmark Investment Management in Korea and merged it with its ING fund-management arm, creating a top-10 company with assets under management of ¤10 billion (Bt466 billion).

Rajesh Sethi, ING Life Thailand's new chief executive, aims to grow total premiums by 20 per cent to Bt6 billion this year.

Last year ING Life saw total premiums increase by Bt1.5 billion, or 44 per cent, to Bt5.1 billion, Bt1.7 billion of which was first-year premiums, Sethi said.

He took over from Jim Brown, who retired last year.

While the emphasis is on the new bancassurance business, the agency channel still accounts for about 75 per cent of total sales, he said.

Oijen wants to step up recruitment, training and agent- and customer-support services at its Thai operation.

In Korea, agents need to have at least an undergraduate degree, he said, adding that they clinched six new customers a month, compared to 0.6 in Thailand.

Somphot Kietkraival, chief agency officer, said this figure should increase to 1.5 this year.

Although Ayudhya Allianz CP Life recently scalped three key agents from ING Life, the insurer is unfazed, he said.

"[This year] will be fun," he said, as he builds up his agent force by 1,000 to 8,500.

ING is focusing on increasing its product portfolio with more endowment and savings products under development in addition to improving its pension-product offers.

Ki Nan Tsui

The Nation