By Ted P. Torres (The Philippine Star) Updated September 12, 2011 12:00
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MACTAN, Cebu, Philippines — Manulife Philippines will be launching
microinsurance products in Southern Philippines in the fourth quarter of
the year.
"We are just waiting for the approval of the Insurance Commission (IC)
to start selling microinsurance," Indren Naidoo, Manulife Philippines
president and chief executive officer, said.
The initial target will be Cebu and Davao, and subsequently move into
areas outside of the cities of Davao and Cebu.
Naidoo said that they have already tied up with one microfinance
institution (MFI) in Cebu and another two MFI in Davao.
The chief executive pointed out that coming out with microinsurance
products was the easy part. The challenge is to get the right
distribution system in place.
"MFIs are natural partners in the business of microfinance and
microinsurance," he added.
Offhand, the micro product could get a protection coverage of between
P10,000 to P20,000, with double the amount if due to accidental death.
The P10,000 coverage is for a one-month micro product, while the P20,000
is for a three-month product.
Most likely, it will be the first time they will get hold of such
protection, the insurer added.
It also has a broad market insurance product that may cost just P15 per
day with a protection coverage of P65,000, and again double in case of
accidental death.
"Also, 50 percent of the premium will be returned after 10 years," Naido
said.
Microinsurance is not new to Manulife.
Manulife Financial senior vice president and regional executive for
Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam David T. W. Wong said that
they have been successful in selling microinsurance in Vietnam.
"We have already sold 100,000 microinsurance policies in Vietnam," Wong
said.
Overall, they manage over 10,000 agents in Vietnam selling all types of
insurance products including microinsurance. Manulife Financial is
ranked third overall in a playing field of 14, and controlling 12
percent market share.
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