Generali expects premium boost from its partnership with KKP

The Italian-based life assurance company signed an exclusive deal with KKP in December last year to distribute the company’s life-insurance products for the next 15 years.

Generali Life Assurance (Thailand) is part of Assicurazioni Generali, an Italian life insurer that has a leading position in Europe and was the third biggest globally by revenue last year. It serves 65 million customers in more than 60 countries.

Based on total premiums of Bt3.23 billion in the first nine months of this year, premiums from bancassurance account for 29.3 per cent, with direct channel and agency channel as its major means of luring premium.

Bundit Jiamanukoonkit, chief executive officer of the company, said its bancassurance business commenced at 66 KKP branches in January this year, and the feedback from this channel has so far been impressive.

Bundit said new premiums through the bancassurance channel in 2016 is expected to represent 60 per cent of all new premiums, up from 40 per cent this year

In its first year, the company focused on KKP’s general and affluent customers, who are both auto loans customers and deposit clients.

It has introduced personal accident and endowment policies to its general customers, while affluent customers have been offered health insurance and endowments.

In 2016, the company plans to expand its life insurance policies to KKP’s high-net worth customers, as they have higher purchasing power and understand life insurance as an investment instrument. This customer segment will also help accelerate new premiums from the bancassurance business.

The company will offer protection and unit-linked policies to high net-worth clients.

“We will design product features to comply with the needs of each client segment. Under our exclusive contract with the bank, this channel will be our main contributor,” Bundit said.

However, telemarketing remains another key channel for the company, he said.

Telemarketing is regarded as a direct channel and, when combined with the agency channel that was set up in the past two years, premiums are 42.3 per cent of the total premiums.

The company plans to add 200 new agents in 2016 to its existing 200 agents.

It earned Bt1.39 billion in new business premiums in the first nine months, up from Bt372.52 million year on year.

It has a total of 110,422 policyholders with 138,140 policies.

Currently, the company ranks 11th in terms of new premiums, up from seventeenth in the past two years.

The company aims to be in the top 10 over the next three years, he said, and it will look at mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as a way to help the company achieve the target.

“In my opinion, M&A in the insurance industry closed its doors two years ago because many companies have conducted M&A during the period. Therefore, if we look at M&A to help accelerate our ranking, those firms will be a potential for the company to support business synergy,” he said.

Generali has established a presence in Asia through its Asia Regional Office in Hong Kong.

Premiums from the region represent 2 per cent, which accounts for 1.15 million euros for the group.

In Thailand, it operates life and non-life insurance, with Generali Insurance (Thailand) focusing on non-life insurance.