Hong Kong-based FWD Life Insurance Corp. (FWD Life) reported a 50-percent increase in premium income from P3.04 billion in 2016 to P4.55 billion in 2017 on the back of expanding distribution channels and stronger sales force.
The increase in FWD Life’s total premium income outpaced the local life industry’s 2017 growth of 11 percent by more than four times. This makes the company one of the fastest-growing insurance companies in the Philippines.
In March the Insurance Commission (IC) reported record highs for the insurance industry in 2017, with premiums increasing by 11.97 percent to P259.8 billion, from P231.8 billion in 2016, with life-insurance premiums accounting for 77.94 percent of the total.
Apart from the increase in total premiums, FWD Life also posted total weighted new business premiums of P1.65 billion for the same period, expanding 42 percent year-on-year, enabling the company to move up in market rank to 10th in the Philippines. Total assets grew to P9.79 billion for the same period, a 59-percent increase from P6.14 billion in 2016.
Meanwhile, total investments grew to P8.83 billion, up 73 percent from 2016’s P5.09 billion.
As of year-end 2017, FWD Life was already financially protecting the lives of more than 100,000 Filipino customers, from just 20,000 in 2016.
“FWD made significant progress in 2017 in our mission to become a leading life-insurance player in the Philippines. We achieved substantial growth across most operating metrics but specifically in terms of customer numbers, total premium income and weighted premium income,” FWD Life Philippines President and CEO Peter Grimes said.
FWD Life ended 2017 with 2,200 agents, and almost 200 Bancassurance Financial Solutions Consultants (FSCs), the company’s Security Bank-based insurance advisors.
Currently, FWD Life has presence in more than 300 Security Bank branches nationwide, providing a wider geographic footprint to service the bank’s clients and support advisors.