Insurers look at Asian expansion

Life insurers looking to expand into Asia need to understand the different demographic drivers that create different insurance needs in the region, according to Chris Wei, AIA chief marketing officer and head of bancassurance and direct marketing.

Speaking at the Financial Services Council annual conference in Melbourne, Wei said that Asia was made up of very different regions with different demographic drivers, leading to different product needs that needed to be addressed by Australian life insurers.

“Different markets really have fundamentally different demographics. Hong Kong, Singapore, and Korea have Asian populations and low birth rates, in direct contrast to markets like Indonesia and the Philippines, which have much younger populations and much higher birth rates. That leads to fairly different needs,” Wei said.

Child education was the highest concern in the Philippines, so education-savings plans were critical in that region, whereas Hong Kong and Singapore were investment savvy and accepting of risk, needing investment linked products, Wei said.

Religious demographics also needed to be taken into account, Wei said.

Offering Sharia products in countries with Muslim populations can dramatically affect insurance product growth rates, Wei said.

Wei also warned the audience to be wary of social and business styles in different countries and to understand how Asian partners wanted to do business with Australian companies.