ALLIANZ PNB Life Insurance, Inc. targets to continue growing its premiums this year and next as it wants to post strong performances across all its product segments.
The insurer is targeting “double-digit” premium growth this year, Allianz PNB Life Officer-in-Charge Chief Financial Officer Lukas Immanuel M. Cacayan told reporters on the sidelines of an event on Friday.
“We have ambitious targets for this year and next year on all fronts, all products,” Mr. Cacayan said.
The insurer booked a gross premium income of P19.01 billion in the first half, rising by 14% year on year from P16.64 billion in the same period last year.
Its net premium income, which is net of reinsurance, likewise rose by 14% to P18.91 billion in the period from P16.55 billion.
These came on the back of high single premium insurance sales from Philippine National Bank (PNB) and an increase in renewal premiums earned following the growth in real premiums posted by its agency and bancassurance channels in 2023.
“Drivers were due to the push from the product side, service side, and operational side as well as distribution overall,” Mr. Cacayan added.
He added the bank’s bancassurance segment is performing better than its agency business.
Allianz PNB Life has distribution partnership agreement with HSBC Investment and Insurance Brokerage Philippines, Inc. (HSBC Wealth) that focuses on serving high-net-worth clients. The Allianz Group also has a regional bancassurance partnership with The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd.
Meanwhile, the insurer’s new business annual premium equivalent increased by 9% to P2.31 billion in the first semester from P2.13 billion in the same period last year, driven by high single premium sales from PNB, both from back-end and front-end load single premiums.
Its net income dropped by 29% year on year to P412.91 million in the first half from P578.03 million a year ago due to higher operating expenses to support business growth and increased income tax costs.
Invested assets grew by 11% to P18.75 billion at end-June from P16.86 billion a year ago amid higher investments in available-for-sale bonds.
Allianz PNB Life Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Sustainability Gino Riola told reporters on Friday that the company wants to grow its financial advisor force to have one available specialist per PNB branch.
“We are shifting in terms of our sales force with the Philippine National Bank channel where we are moving them towards financial expertise. And the numbers there, specific to PNB, our intention is to have one financial advisor or financial service specialist per branch. And the number of branches PNB has is around 625,” he said.
Mr. Riola said the company currently has about 400 financial specialists.
It is fully integrating its sales force into the bank instead of working on commission, he added. “We enhanced the role of a financial service specialist, where previously they were fully on commission. Previously, they were not integrated into the bank ecosystem.”
The company is also aiming to grow its agency force to 2,000, 50 of which should have Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) status, Mr. Riola said.
MDRT is an association that promotes internationally recognized standards of practices for life insurance agents and financial advisors.
“What we would rather focus on as a metric is percentage of overall sales force. So, if we would have achieved the highest percentage of sales force who have MDRT status, that would be our focus. So, [it’s the] quality of recruits.”
Allianz PNB Life is a joint venture between the Allianz Group and PNB. Allianz acquired 51% of PNB Life Insurance, Inc., the life insurance arm of the Tan-led bank, in June 2016. — Aaron Michael C. Sy
