What's New in the Market

| 12 Oct 2018

Here's the low down on everything that's happening within the insurance industry. Whether it's a new product launch, talent movements, new initiatives or collaborations with the most likely/unlikely partnerships - this is where you stay updated and relevant.

So, what’s new in the market?  We kick it off with a partnership between the International Olympic Committee and Allianz.

Worldwide Olympic Insurance Partner

Photo by IOCmedia

 

Allianz will provide integrated insurance solutions to support the Olympic Movement through 2021 to 2028. The support includes existing products, such as fleet and property & casualty insurance, as well as future products and services. Organising committees, National Olympic Committees around the world with their Olympic teams and athletes will be covered under this partnership agreement.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said: “This new partnership demonstrates the global appeal and strength of the Olympic Movement, and we are delighted to be working together in the long term with Allianz to support sport around the world. Allianz has built a global business founded on trust. With this partnership, together we are building a foundation based on mutual trust. Allianz also has a strong sporting heritage and, in line with the Olympic Agenda 2020, we share a digital ambition of connecting with young people around the world to promote the Olympic values and the power of sport.”

The sponsorship period will cover the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, the Olympic Games Paris 2024, the Olympic Winter Games 2026 and the Olympic Games LA 2028. In China, France and Spain, Allianz will already have marketing rights from 2019 onwards.

 

Singapore: Pilot for AXA@POST Virtual Assist

In Singapore, AXA Insurance partners Singapore Post Limited (SingPost) to launch a pilot for AXA@POST Virtual Assist.

The AXA@POST Virtual Assist is the first advisory service in Singapore that provides financial advice remotely to customers. It virtually connects SingPost customers with AXA Financial Consultants through a live, interactive feed.

Customers may approach SingPost Financial Services Ambassadors at the booth if they would like to start a discussion with an AXA Financial Consultant regarding general and life insurance and investment needs.

Photo by AXA

The three pilot locations are: Jurong East Post Office in Westgate mall, Orchard Post Office in ION Orchard mall, and Pasir Ris Post Office in White Sands mall.

Sean Goh, Managing Director, Life, AXA Insurance said, “AXA believes in leveraging technology to better serve our customers. With AXA@POST Virtual Assist, we’re delivering on that promise by taking a step forward to provide a seamless end-to-end service digitally and ensuring high quality personalised financial advice is readily accessible.”

 

First financial advisory retail shop in Singapore

Photo by LiveLife

Consumers may now walk into a retail shop at Westgate in Singapore for financial advice.

Sony Life Financial Advisers (SLFA) has officially opened a retail shop that allows anyone to walk in and discuss their insurance needs with SLFA’s relationship managers. The retail shop “LiveLife” is built on the distribution model concept that is highly popular in Japan.

Different insurance plans that are tailored to customers will be shown to them by the relationship managers. This allows consumers to make educated comparisons of a wide variety of insurer’s products.

Consultations are non-obligatory and LiveLife’s relationship managers will provide holistic life planning, financial simulation and advice on consumers’ insurance needs and review their existing policies.

 

Singapore: Acceleration in digital transformation for insurance companies

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) of Singapore has signed a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) with four leading insurance companies – Great Eastern, NTUC Income (“Income”), Prudential Singapore (“Prudential”) and Lumenlab-MetLife’s Innovation centre in Asia.

This partnership will help accelerate the insurance sector with digital transformation as IMDA is Singapore’s main platform when it comes to digital transformation with infocomm media.

With the MOI in place, companies certified under IMDA’s Accreditation@SG Digital programme will be partnered with insurance companies to co-develop innovative technology for insurance.

Not only do these certified companies get to work with global insurance brands, the insurance companies also get to leverage on new innovative developments in technology to boost their products and services.

This partnership is said to be “an exciting effort to identify problem statements in the insurance industry and co-develop innovative InsurTech solutions,” by Mr Tan Kiat How, Chief Executive, IMDA. “We hope that this will help to accelerate the adoption of digital technology in the insurance sector, and at the same time help our accredited companies grow,” he added.

 

Talent movement

 

China Taiping Insurance Singapore appoints Lance Tay as General Manager for Life Insurance

China Taiping Insurance Singapore has appointed Lance Tay as General Manager for its life insurance business. Mr Tay is responsible for the overall establishment and development of the life insurance business of China Taiping Insurance Singapore. The company's life insurance business is expected to be fully operational by January 2019.

Lance has extensive experience spanning over three decades in the insurance sector across a number of markets. He has held various senior roles in Singapore and the region. Lance was previously the Chief Executive Officer of Tokio Marine Life Insurance where under his leadership, the company grew rapidly to become a tier 1 significant insurer with total assets exceeding S$5 billion.

 

Yvonne Sin joins Board of Manulife Asset Management (Hong Kong)

Effective Sep 2018, Yvonne Sin joined the Board of Directors of Manulife Asset Management (Hong Kong) Limited as an Independent Director. She also joins the Board’s Audit and Risk Committee and the Conduct Review Committee.

She has over 40 years of experience working with governments, non-governmental organisations, supranational entities, international financial institutions, and multinational corporations. Ms Sin’s credentials include being a global investment consultant and social security expert from years of providing advice on policy, regulatory as well as risk management issues applicable to a wide variety of pension systems, social security schemes and insurance programs operative in many countries.

 

Do you have a new product or programme to share? Or perhaps you are keen to explore any collaborations with us or our partners?  Reach out to us at Connect@AsiaAdvisersNetwork.com