Friday, June 26, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Finance
CANADA-BASED insurer Manulife Financial will set up a fund management company in the Philippines to pave its entry into the mutual funds business.
Philip H. Smith, executive vice-president and general manager for Manulife's Southeast Asia operations, said the company will enable it to offer mutual funds to its Philippine clients.
The Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. (Philippines), Inc., Manulife's local unit, currently offers life insurance and investment-linked insurance products, the latter allowing policyholders to earn dividends from investments in stocks or bonds.
The company is also into the pre-need business through its subsidiary, Manulife Financial Plans, Inc.
"We feel that our customers need them [mutual funds]. [This will enable us] to offer more financial solutions to our customers," Mr. Smith told a briefing yesterday.
Mutual funds are pools of funds that allow small-scale or retail investors to have access to investments such as stocks or bonds, which are normally reserved for high net worth investors.
Minimum investments in mutual funds can go to as low as P5,000.
Manulife has already established asset management units in other Asian markets such as in Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, among others.
Mr. Smith said the relatively small market for mutual funds in the Philippines provides Manulife space for growth.
Manulife, however, has not yet filed for an application at the Securities and Exchange Commission as the plan is still being finalized.
The planned fund management firm is expected to commence operations in the first quarter of 2010.
"We want to make sure that we do this properly. We do this not out of whim," Mr. Smith said.
"We are not expecting great things to happen overnight but we feel we have that opportunity right now."
He said the planned fund management company is part of Manulife's efforts to expand its business in the country.
Other moves the company is taking to expand its presence is the Philippines is venturing into the provincial market as well as strengthening its bancassurance partnership with China Banking Corp. for the sale of its products at the bank's branches.
About 80-85% of the company's sales can be attributed to its 1,200-strong agency force and 10-15% to bancassurance. A small portion of its sales is generated from direct sales.
Manulife is the fifth largest insurer in the country with assets amounting to P19.87 billion as of end-2007. Officials did not provide performance results for 2008, but said the combined sales of its units grew by 3-4% last year. — Gerard S. dela Peña
No comments:
Post a Comment