Bijak @ NIAM

The National Insurance Association of Malaysia’s (NIAM) strategy to shift its focus and push on higher plans have begun to yield results, said chairman C. Kumaran.

Efforts to penetrate the mass affluent market had been successful and the trend indicated that life insurance and medical protection products were still the smart choice for a wide segment of Malaysians, he told Bernama.

“We launched Bijak Malaysia, a wholelife insurance plan, in 2007 and today it remains the premier product marketed by local banks,” Kumaran said. “In the first six months of the year, a gross premium of RM45mil was registered and the target is to cross RM50mil (this year) and to surpass RM60mil next year,” he said.

Kumaran was upbeat about the outlook for Bijak Malaysia, given the increasing awareness for a comprehensive protection and saving plans as well as consistent sales performance.

He said the local life insurance industry was still lucrative as only around 41% of the Malaysian population were currently insured. According to NIAM, Bijak Malaysia is the leading bancassurance product among local banks. It was designed and developed by NIAM members for the local market.

“NIAM expects to see an average growth of up to 30% for Bijak Malaysia annually,” said Kumaran earlier at the launch of the third Bijak Malaysia Convention here.
The product recorded RM27.5mil in sales during its promotional campaign from November 2010 until June 2011.

Bijak Malaysia standing committee chairman and NIAM exco member Raymond Lew said since the launch of the product four years ago, it had attracted about 98,000 policyholders with sales of RM169mil.

“Looking at the consistency of the sales performance, we are confident that Bijak Malaysia will easily break the benchmark of 100,000 policyholders by year-end,” he said. Raymond also said that the association would launch at least two new plans, including Cergas Malaysia and Ceria Malaysia, by next year