Allianz To Boost Taiwan Agents; Eyes Traditional Policies
April 21 2009 - 3:49AM
Dow Jones News
Allianz SE (AZ) plans to nearly double its agency force in
Taiwan this year to sell more traditional policies as clients have
become conservative, Chris James, president and chief executive of
the German insurer's operation in Taiwan, said Tuesday.
Customers are "getting back to the basics" when it comes to
insurance needs, James told reporters.
Allianz's plan to increase its sales force to 3,000, from 1,600
at the end of last year, comes as many of its European rivals are
either selling or scaling back their operations on the island, one
of the most saturated in the world, to reduce their capital
burden.
Andreas Rosenthal, an executive vice president with Allianz
Taiwan, said he expects the company will attract some customers
previously with rivals ING Groep N.V. and Prudential PLC. But he
said it is still too early to give an estimate of how many
customers will move to Allianz.
Prudential is selling its Taiwan agency distribution operations
and agency force to Taiwan's China Life Insurance Co., while ING
sold its Taiwan life-insurance unit to Fubon Financial Holding Co.
in February.
In the quarter ended March 31, Allianz sold NT$7.8 billion worth
of insurance policies on the island, more than three times the
NT$2.4 billion it sold in the preceding quarter.
Bancassurance accounted for 77% of Allianz Taiwan's first-year
premiums in 2008, while the agency business accounted for 16%. The
remainder was split between the company's telemarketing and
insurance brokerage channels, according to Rosenthal.
Allianz sells policies through 33 banks in Taiwan.
-By Perris Lee Choon Siong, Dow Jones Newswires;
+8862-2502-2557; perris.lee@dowjones.com