Muang Thai Life to join Belgian firm in Vietnam JV

MB Ageas Life will commence operations next year.

Ageas will hold 29 per cent in the new company, Muang Thai Life 10 per cent and Military Bank 61 per cent.

Military Bank and MB Ageas Life will enter a 15-year exclusive bancassurance agreement. The investment for the three partners will be 46 million euros (Bt1.8 billion).

MB Ageas Life’s ambition is to become a premier bancassurance company in Vietnam, setting up a high-quality agency distribution network. It will benefit from Military Bank’s network of 217 branches with more than 2 million customers while leveraging the insurance expertise of Ageas and Muang Thai Life.

Luu Trung Thai, vice chairman of Military Bank, said yesterday that as a top-three private-sector bank by assets in Vietnam and one of the most effective banks in the country, it had become a trusted partner of major financial institutions worldwide.

According to its strategy, the company is committed to developing life-insurance services as part of its comprehensive financial-service portfolio.

"The company is pleased to select Ageas and Muang Thai Life as our strategic partners with a demonstrated track record in bancassurance.

"Given its established and stable customer network nationwide and our partners’ extensive expertise in life insurance, the company does look forward to the sustainable success of this joint venture in Vietnam," he said.

Gary Crist, chief executive of Ageas Asia, said Asia had been, and would continue to be, a key strategic region for Ageas.

"The company is firmly committed to Asia, especially to growth-market opportunities like Vietnam where the life-insurance market is attractive thanks to a low penetration rate of 0.6 per cent of GDP and increasing acceptance of insurance among the population of 90 million," he said.

"Military Bank is a highly professionally managed financial institution. We are very excited about this new partnership in Vietnam.

"And to do this alongside Muang Thai Life, our life-insurance partner in Thailand for over 10 years, marks another impressive milestone with unparalleled precedent in the market.

"We are committed to delivering another market-leading life-insurance joint venture in Asia," he said.

Sara Lamsam, president and CEO of Muang Thai Life, said the insurer had always been keen to unlock the insurance potential in Asean markets and this was a big step forward.

"With the value-adding contributions from Ageas, Muang Thai Life has been a solid No 1 in bancassurance in Thailand since January 2013.

"The company looks forward to sharing and transferring its expertise in the field to make this joint venture with Military Bank a leading and successful life-insurance company in Vietnam."