Philam Life keen on infrastructure programs

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. (Philam Life) has committed to play a role in the government’s massive infrastructure program.

Ariel Cantos, CEO of Philam Life, said in a roundtable discussion with reporters that the unit of AIA Group Ltd. is looking at investing in the government’s infrastructure program.

Cantos said the country’s premier life insurer has been in talks with the Insurance Commission (IC) on its possible participation as the Duterte administration has earmarked P8.4 trillion for various infrastructure projects until 2022.

“We have been collaborating with the IC to find a way in which we can participate. We are exploring, we have discussions with the possible project proponents like banks,” he said.

Cantos said Philam Life is not new to the infrastructure space having been involved in major projects including the Skyway, the Manila-Cavite expressway (Cavitex), and the South Luzon expressway (SLEX).

“In other words, we are in the market to support infra projects of the government. We’re looking at opportunities how to exactly do that. In the past, we’ve been into roads,” Cantos said.

Philam Life has P251.4 billion in total assets as of end-December and has served almost 600,000 individual policyholders and over 2,200,000 insured group members.

Philam Life chief financial officer Gary Ogilvie said the company has solidified its leadership in the local insurance industry at the close of 2017 and intends to maintain this position by keeping its focus on customers.

Based on data released by the Insurance Commission (IC), Philam Life remained the strongest and most stable life insurance company after its net worth jumped by 53 percent to P69.5 billion last year from P45.5 billion in 2016.

The company’s net income grew by 23 percent to P5.6 billion last year.

The combined premium income of Philam Life and its bancassurance partnership with the Bank of the Philippine Islands, BPI-Philam Life Assurance Company (BPLAC), keeps the Philam Group at number one with P40.2 billion.

“Our results for 2017 reinforces the company’s financial strength and strong performance in the industry,” Ogilvie said.

Leo Tan, chief marketing officer of Philam Life, said the company would continue to put the needs of its customers at the center of its business.

Following its entry into the wellness space last year, Philam Life is set to launch a protection-oriented product integrated with its market-leading science-backed wellness program Vitality to help address the country’s protection gap.

“Most Filipinos are not aware of the protection coverage they need in case something unfortunate happens to their families. As the market leader, it is our responsibility to create products that customers need, and there is an obvious need to address the concern on protection gap,” Tan said.