FWD Life among fastest growing insurers

MANILA, Philippines -  FWD Life Insurance Corp. recorded a 35 percent increase in premium income to P3.04 billion last year from P2.26 billion in 2015, its president and chief executive officer Peter Grimes said.

“Despite the overall industry downturn, FWD continued to grow by focusing on our vision and core operating strengths, leveraging technology, and business and product innovation as our primary drivers,” Grimes said.

He said the strong performance of FWD last year put it into the 12th spot in the local insurance industry after just two years of operations in the Philippines.

According to the company official, FWD grew its customer base to more than 20,000 as of end-2016, driving its new business annual premium equivalent (APE) to grow by 53 percent.

Its overall market share last year rose to 1.7 percent from 1.1 percent in 2015.

The company’s total assets increased 67 percent to P6.14 billion, while total investments more than doubled to P5.09 billion as compared to the previous year’s levels.

According to FWD chief distribution officer John Johnson, the company in 2016 expanded its two main distribution channels agency and bancassurance.

The insurer beefed up its agency sales force to almost 1,900 agents during the period, and increased its financial solutions consultants based in Security Bank branches to 150.

It also launched its e-commerce and corporate care channels in late 2016.

“In addition to continuing to enhance its end-to-end digital sales process, FWD also launched its first customer engagement platform and pioneered the introduction of an e-commerce platform and digital retail channel,” the company said.

Going forward, Johnson said the company is eyeing to continue its expansion into other key locations in the country, particularly Tacloban and Cebu.