Thailand Insurance Digital Growth

Covid19 pandemic has forced businesses across sectors to rapidly digitize as consumers are kept indoors because of government-mandated lockdowns or out of fear of contracting the coronavirus.

The trend has been keenly felt by the insurance industry, where the once-marginal digital sales channel has seen a boom in premiums, with firms holding the best online positioning reaping the greatest rewards from the new revenue stream.

New premium sales from digital channels totalled 52.1 million baht in March. Digital sales alone contributed 0.3% to total new life insurance premiums between March and June.

First-year premium payments, whereby customers pay insurance premiums annually for long-term protection, totalled 10.1 million baht each in March and April, growing to 13.3 million baht in May and 15.4 million baht in June.

In the first half of 2020, FWD Life Insurance and Allianz Ayudhya Assurance played an aggressive role in digital retail sales, sharing 45.9% and 30.6% of first-year premiums payment from digital channels, while Ocean Life Insurance held third place at 7.6%.

Another three companies, Southeast Life Insurance, Manulife Insurance Thailand (MIT) and Muang Thai Life Assurance (MTL), controlled market share of 3.1% to 3.3% each. MTL offered digital sales for both first-year premiums and single premiums, tallying 5.4% of total premiums, or second in the industry, for the first six months of the year.

Prudential Life Assurance Thailand topped the category for digital single premium sales with 126 million baht in the first half, a 91.3% market share.

Digital sales include non-complex products on company websites, social media channels (such as Line and Facebook) without insurance agents, and digital "face-to-face" sales in which agents connect to customers directly online via teleconferencing, as well as any electronic channels/devices.

PasarPolis Series B Net US$54 Million

PasarPolis - Indonesian-based startup focused on making insurance policies more accessible in Southeast Asia, has closed a Series B round totaling $54 million. Investors include LeapFrog Investments and SBI Investment, both firms that focus on financial services; AlphaJWC; Intudo Ventures; and Xiaomi.

Gojek’s venture capital arm, Go-Ventures, which participated in PasarPolis's Series A two years ago, returned for this round.

Founded in 2015 by chief executive officer Cleosent Randing, PasarPoli operates in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Insurance penetration rate in the ASEAN region is currently just 3.6%, and the startup’s goal is to reach people who have never purchased insurance before with products like inexpensive “micro-policies” that cover broken device screens.

The company now partners with more than 30 insurance providers, and sells most of its products through its mobile apps. In 2019, PasarPolis says it issued more than 650 million policies to people buying insurance for the first time, including ride-hailing drivers, delivery couriers, and online merchants.

Sales continued to grow during the COVID-19 pandemic because of increased demand for insurance and online services. In June alone, the company claims it served more than four million new customers, and has now sold policies to more than 35 million customers in total.

It also plans to invest in PasarPolis Mitra, an onboarding platform for agents. Soft-launched in May 2020, PasarPolis allows people to apply to become Mitra, or insurance agents, for the company. PasarPolis currently has a network of about 10,000 agents in Indonesia, who help customers pick policies and process claims.

Two of PasarPolis’ main competitors in Southeast Asia include Qoala, another Indonesia-based insurtech startup that recently raised funding, and Grab Financial Group, which launched a new portfolio of consumer financial services last month, including expanded insurance offerings.

PasarPolis’ competitive advantage is its “ability to offer highly customized and modular insurance products that are integrated with partners’ systems.These include health and accident coverage for Gojek’s drivers and passengers; insurance for small- to medium-sized businesses that cover damaged products and missing items; and policies that protect e-commerce customers.

An example of the type of customized insurance products PasarPolis can create is a policy for Gojek ride-share drivers that covers stolen vehicles and costs less than USD $4 a year.

The company is also a licensed insurance broker, which is why it is able to operate PasarPolis Mitra. “The platform is so unique to Indonesians, that it enables anyone, from professional insurance Mitra, Gojek drivers, stay-at-home moms, and furloughed employees, to earn additional income, especially during the new normal.

Kresna Life - Insolvent

Embattled Asuransi Kresna or Kresna Life, struggling under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, has started paying claims and benefits due to 1,722 policyholders with a cover of up to IDR50m ($3,423) each.

The company is currently preparing a payment plan for insurance policies of other coverage amounts, reported CNBC Indonesia.

The head of the K-LITA and PIK settlement team, Mr Supriyadi, said that in total there are 12,000 K-LITA and PIK policy claims worth IDR6.4tn that Kresna Life has to settle.

He said that for other policy values, the company has set a target for settlement to be completed within the next five years. This has been communicated to the Financial Services Authority (OJK).

He said, “We don't know how long this COVID-19 pandemic will last. If we recover quickly, we will also complete settlement quickly," he explained.

A Kresna customer previously revealed that the company had postponed the payment of claims due since February 2020. This was conveyed to the customer through an official letter, which said that the payment delay could take up to six months from February. The insurer asked the customer to extend the maturity of the policy for six months. Apart from not being able to receive the maturity proceeds on time, this insurance customer has failed to receive investment benefits from his policy since May 2020.

But the life insurer announced on 14 May that it would postpone insurance claim and benefit payments to Kresna Link Investa (K-LITA) and Protecto Investa Kresna (PIK) policyholders till February 2021. The reason given was that the insurer was facing liquidity problems, so it was unable to settle the liabilities.

On 3 August, the OJK prohibited Kresna Life from accepting new business in all lines until recommendations are made relating to the company by an ongoing OJK examination. In addition, OJK has ordered Kresna Life to prepare a financial restructuring plan as well as a detailed claim payment plan.

Future Group Existing Future Generali

Navi Technologies, an investment firm with a focus on the financial services sector, is in talks to acquire Future Generali India Life Insurance. The deal is reported to value the insurer at around INR15bn ($204m).

Future Generali Life is a three-way joint venture, in which Future Group holds a total of 57.62%, Industrial Investment Trust owns 16.88% and Generali holds 25.5%. The embedded value of Future Generali Life is at around INR8bn and a multiple of 1.5-2 times the embedded value is a decent valuation for the company as per the industry standards.

It was reported in June that Biyani-promoted debt-laden Future Group is planning to exit both its general and life insurance businesses by selling off its controlling stakes in the two JVs with Generali Participations Netherlands.

The proposed deal will help to build Navi into a full-fledged financial services group with interests in the insurance, digital banking and FinTech sectors.

Managing Your Boss

Companies attract many different and quirky personalities and you are bound to have a problem with some people. But when your boss is the problem, its a big problem for you.
So what do you do when you don’t get along with your boss? The best and most practical advice is just move on to a position or environment more suited to your personality. But in many cases, if you can understand your boss’ personality trait, and how to deal with that personality type, it can help. Here are some of different types of particularly difficult personality traits found in managers. 

The passive aggressive personality - Passive aggressiveness is a strategy used when a person basically isn’t able to confront issues directly so instead will use indirect means of criticizing you. It could be in the form of comments or actions that make you question yourself or cause you to make mistakes.

It is difficult to address because oftentimes it may be seen as you “taking it the wrong way” and so others may not always see the problem. Dealing with passive aggressive behavior is to recognize it and address it at the time it is happening. Do not need to be rude or aggressive back. Simply let the person know that their comment was not acceptable and that their rudeness is not necessary. The idea is to bring their behavior out into the open. You will feel good about defending yourself without resorting to back-biting or complaining and chances are that once they realize that it doesn’t work on you, they will stop.

Manipulative personality - Many managers can demonstrate qualities of manipulative behavior. This is particularly common where there is large power difference with regards to education or authority. You are anxious to make your boss happy and to prove your worthiness. You may find that you are saying yes to things without really wanting too. The problem is that this type of boss may not be looking out for your best interest but their own and so have you running off in multiple directions and not focused on your career goals.

In a way this feels like a compliment because you are taking care of so much and feel validated in your job. But it is important to know when it has gone too far and now you are not progressing in the direction you set for yourself. The most critical thing is to learn to recognize when it is happening and then to address the specific situation with your boss privately.

It may be uncomfortable if you are not used to speaking up, but you will develop great skills in managing others (managing up) and with a little skill and patience you can be sure to keep your career on track while still making the boss look good. Setting boundaries at the beginning is key.

The unfocused boss - Having a supervisor that lacks focus can be exhausting for the people reporting to him or her. This type of boss has so much energy and wants to do everything and wanted it done yesterday. They commit constantly to more projects without checking with the people who actually do the work. Their positive energy is infectious and it is great to be so productive.

The problem occurs when you start projects or experiments every day. Priorities change daily, or sometimes hourly, and you can’t finish a task before a new one is put upon you. The only way to keep up is to work very long hours and even then your head is barely above water. This type of situation will lead to burnout if not handled timely.

The best way to address this situation is to have a talk with the boss and have prepared a list of every project you have going and where it is at in terms of being finished and the deadline if there is one. Explain how you prioritized the list and what you feel are the most important projects to complete before taking on more. If the boss wants to add more to your list, give them an honest assessment as to when it can be started. When they insist it must be started earlier, ask them which project on this list should we bump off?

The idea is to bring to their reality all of the commitments so they can understand the volume of work on your plate. You need to be firm when stating that you simply cannot take on another project until projects x, y, and z get done. They want to keep you working hard for them and making them look great. You just need to restore your sanity and feel good about having a job well done instead of 20 jobs all done poorly. This type of boss often does not realize the extent of your frustration until you discuss it so it may come as a shock when you finally draw the line.

The micro-manager boss - Depending on the type of worker you are, a micro-manager can be a benefit or a nightmare. If you like to have a lot of direction and attention, you won’t mind a micro-manager at all. However, if you prefer to work independently, you will not be a good match with a micro-manager. This type of supervisor will check in with you every 5-15 minutes to see how you are progressing. You know you are in trouble when the boss positions your desk or cubicle as close to their office as possible.

To survive micro-management, you can try a couple of techniques. One is to find another place to focus on your work; whether you need to read papers or work on a powerpoint presentation, find an empty conference room where you can focus without being disturbed. If leaving your desk is not an option, try putting on headphones or listening to your ipod (even if it is off) as an indicator that you are focused and can’t be disturbed.

If the constant interruptions are occurring in the lab, set the time to go off in a 1-2 minutes. If you are being called to the boss’ office while trying to get your lab work done, bring the timer with you and let them know you only have a few minutes before you need to get back to your samples.

The put-down boss - It is difficult to handle a supervisor who rules by negative reinforcement. Most people will not last under these circumstances and who would want to?The best approach is to make sure you do not work for someone like this.

During the interview, make sure to talk to others in the group or lab and also, you may want to check references for the boss with others who worked with this person and left the group.

But if you do find yourself in a situation where you have to be subjected to verbal insults, if you are not overly intimidated, try speaking to the person about it and give specific examples of when their language was inappropriate or crossed the line. If you don’t feel comfortable confronting the situation, it would be best to leave, plain and simple. No job is worth the anxiety and stress of dealing with abuse.The workplace is a dynamic place with many differing personalities all needing to work together. It is not uncommon that two people just don’t click or that personality clashes will occur.

The answer to any uncomfortable situation with a boss or co-worker is always to be positive and to be constructive. Focus on the problem and not the person. Focus on how to work together and not how to get the other person to change – because they won’t. It is important it is to leave any job with relationships intact. Never insult the boss or management or retaliate on your way out. That is the surest way to never be hired again.

Kookmin Increased Stake - Bank Buokopin

Kookmin Bank has increased its stake in Bank Bukopin to become the largest shareholder in the medium-sized Indonesian lender. The South Korean bank has acquired new shares issued by Bank Buokopin in two tranches in July and August to boost its shareholding to 67% from 22%.

The new shares were floated to ease the liquidity problem at the listed Indonesian bank, diluting the ownership of existing shareholders, including the Indonesian government and conglomerate Bosowa Corporindo.

Since acquiring a 22% stake in Bukopin in July 2018, Kookmin has aimed to increase its holding. In total, it has spent around 400 billion won ($337 million) to buy shares in Bank Bukopin.

Kookmin has been keen to continue its foray into Indonesia, to offer retail banking, non-life insurance, credit card and personal loan services alongside its non-banking affiliates. Indonesia has higher lending margins than South Korea. With a population of 268 million, more than five times South Korea, the Southeast Asian market is believed to have more room for growth than South Korea’s saturated banking market.

Bank Bukopin, founded in 1970, is a retail lender with 412 branches and offices, as well as 835 automated teller machines across Indonesia. It specializes in pension credit and loans, and lending to small- and medium-sized companies.

The share purchases were made after Kookmin disposed of its stake in then PT Bank Internasional Indonesia to Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) in 2008. Kookmin acquired a controlling stake in PT Bank Internasional Indonesia in a consortium with Singapore’s Temasek in 2003, but sold it for a profit in five years in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Buying Term Insurance Online Albeit Covid19

During Covid-19pandemic -  interest in life insurance, especially term plans for pure protection, has grown exponentially. Industry players claimed policyholders are increasing their life cover and pure term plans (especially the online ones) are gaining traction.

Demand for unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) have dropped as consumer confidence in the stock market has been badly hit. Customers are looking for stability and assured returns. Experts say that savvy customers who believe in buying at the bottom will start new Ulips and existing customers should stay put and not try to redeem prematurely as cost averaging is going to help them.

Insurance companies have also been tweaking their product strategies and moving to digital to push sales. Heightened interest in insurance will be difficult to convert to actual sales, unless the industry moves to online "fulfilment" in a big way, with analytics-led customer segmentation and selective medical underwriting.

Buy Online Term Plans - It is recommended to opt for a pure term insurance plan to cover the life risk and protect the family. Term plans provide financial protection to one’s family as the benefit amount is paid out to the nominee in case of death of the person insured. Most people still prefer buying term insurance from agents although online policies are 20 to 30% cheaper. As the first-year commission paid to agents is high, buying a policy online saves the agent’s commission and documentation costs of the insurance company.

One can purchase an online term plan directly from the company’s website. Insurers offer customized term insurance plans according to the policyholder’s needs. Ideally, the cover or the sum insured should be 10 times of one’s annual income and should be reviewed periodically depending on the age and the liabilities.

Before you finalize on the term plan, confirm from the company whether you would need a medical test. Most companies insist on a medical test after the age of 45 years. Insurance companies bear the costs of the medical tests which have to be done at approved hospitals and the report is generally shared with the applicant. and Do fill in the details in the form accurately. Any wrong information will lead to cancellation of the policy and even rejection of claims.

Look At Costs Before Buying ULIPS - Unit-linked insurance plans which are linked with stocks come with a thin crust of life insurance. These products have a lock-in period of five years and policyholders opt for either large-, mid- or small-cap or even debt funds depending on their risk appetite. As Ulips are market-linked, they can be volatile in the short-term and the returns are not guaranteed.

You must know the cost structure of Ulips before investing. There are six types of charges—premium allocation, policy administration, mortality and fund management, switching, and discontinuation of premium. The premium allocation charge in Ulips is deducted from the premium paid by the policyholder for allocating the units. It is charged by the insurers to recover the costs incurred in processing the policy such as underwriting, medical examinations and distributor fees.

The mortality charge will depend on the age of the policyholder and health conditions and is calculated per thousand of sum at risk. Mortality rate is higher for Ulips as compared with term plans. The fund management charge is deducted towards managing the fund and is levied as a percentage of the value of assets. It is deducted by the insurer before arriving at the net asset value.