Robinsons Bank, Pru Life UK tie up on bancassurance

MANILA — An official of the Gokongwei-led Robinsons Bank expects an additional income of PHP40 million to PHP50 million this year from the bank’s three-year bancassurance partnership with British life insurer, Pru Life UK.

In a briefing after the signing of the agreement Tuesday, Robinsons Bank President and CEO Elfren Antonio Sarte said they expect premium income from the bancassurance business to contribute significantly to the bank’s fee-based earnings this year.

“Last year, the bank grew 30 percent and we expect to grow at that same level this year. And hopefully, bancassurance will help us grow in terms of our fee income,” he said.

Sarte said Pru Life UK products would be offered in all 134 Robinsons Bank nationwide.

He said the bank targets to open another 19 branches this year, which would boost not only the bank’s core business but also the newly-launched bancassurance operations.
The bancassurance is part of the bank’s “Roadmap to 2020” plan launched in 2015, hence the optimism for the sustained improvement of the business as more of its plans materialize.

During the same briefing, Pru Life UK President and CEO Antonio de Rosas declined to give figures on how much the company would gain from the partnership, citing regulatory restrictions.
He, however, said he was optimistic about their first bancassurance deal and its contribution to their overall business.

On the other hand, he also said that Pru Life UK still relied primarily on its agents, who number about 20,000 at the end of 2016.
In an interview on the sidelines of the launch, de Rosas said Pru Life UK officials want bancassurance “to be a channel that contributes significantly to our total business because ultimately one of the objectives of partnering with the banks is to diversify your distribution.”
He said Prudential plc. subsidiaries in other countries also had bancassurance tie-up in their respective country of operations although there was no definite volume on how much the partnership should be vis-a-vis the life insurance company’s total business.

“Each country has its own way to diversify. This depends on the existing situation…This depends on the market conditions of the particular country,” he said.

De Rosas said Pru Life UK and Robinsons Bank had received regulatory approval to sell traditional insurance products but were still awaiting the go signal to sell investment-linked products.

He said he had no idea when both companies could receive the latter, noting that “the approval timeline for each bank is different”.