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Published on March 4, 2008

The company recorded Bt6.3 billion worth of first-year premiums, up 67 per cent from 2006, said AACP president Wilf Blackburn.

AACP predicts its first-year premium this year will reach Bt12 billion, almost double that of last year, he said.

"We aim to achieve our goal of being the country's No-1 insurer [for first-year premiums) in 2008," said Blackburn.

The company ranked second last year for new business or first-year premiums, up from third place in 2006.

Blackburn said innovative products over the past two years had contributed to high growth in its business last year. He also said his company was successful in designing products and services that responded to customer need.

The company will continue to promote the "AACP My Plan", which is popular among policyholders, he said.

To increase sales, AACP will recruit more than 15,000 new agents this year, he said.

Agents play a critical role in the company's growth, because their sales accounted for about 90 per cent of all transactions last year, Blackburn said.

AACP is a joint venture between Allianz, the Ayudhya Group and the Charoen Pokphand Group.

Blackburn added that the company also created new sales channels, taking advantage of media shopping and online shopping outlets.

Meanwhile, Allianz Global Investors Asia Pacific CEO Douglas Eu said today's global financial turmoil presented opportunities for investors.

Eu said he was keen on investing in fixed-income products as well as Thai stocks.

Historically, frequent changes in governments in Thailand do not affect the direction of the Kingdom's economic development, Eu said recently.

Speaking with Thai reporters, Eu said the latest developments in Thai politics took a positive turn with an elected government taking office, and the return of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra to the country helped restore investor confidence.

Wichit Chaitrong

The Nation