Manulife Malaysia yesterday launched two new products, Manulife Universal Saver and Manulife Easy 5, focused on flexibility and affordability respectively, against five leading critical illnesses in the country.
Manulife Universal Saver is a universal life endowment plan to build and optimise wealth, with insurance protection against death, accidental death and total and permanent disability, with added bereavement benefit.
The long-term savings plan comes with limited premium payment options of five and 10 years and a pre-defined coverage term of 20 years, and clients will be able to manage future cash flow better close to the policy’s maturity. No medical and financial underwriting is required for up to MYR500,000 ($119,546) face amount per life when signing up.
Critical illness plan Manulife Easy 5 offers protection against five common critical illnesses – cancer, stroke, heart attack, kidney failure and coronary artery surgery, with financial protection from early to advanced stages of the covered critical illnesses, as well as coverage for intensive care unit admission due to critical events.
The affordable premium with guaranteed survival benefit of 50% of annualised premium, is payable at the end of every five policy years. Additionally, MYR20,000 financial assistance will be payable towards bereavement costs in the event of death of the insured.
The new products appear timely given the findings of a recent Manulife Asia Care Survey which found that nearly 78% of Malaysians, aged between 25 and 34 years, are planning to buy insurance. The strong insurance appetite among millennials in the country, however, lies against the backdrop of 46% of respondents facing a decline in their monthly incomes as a result of COVID-19. So, while the demand is there, cost is a concern.
“Our Manulife Universal Saver and Manulife Easy 5 plans have been sensibly crafted based on customer needs to provide flexibility and affordability respectively. Manulife Universal Saver supports younger working adults and newly-weds, allowing them to customise the plan according to their life goals, while Manulife Easy 5 are for those who are looking for their first Critical Illness plan or would like additional coverage to supplement their current Critical Illness plan, with its affordable premiums,” said Manulife Malaysia group CEO Vibha Coburn.