Pru Life UK opens fourth branch in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines —  Pru Life UK has opened its fourth branch in Cebu to take advantage of the market’s improving financial literacy.

Located at the Oakridge IT Center 2 in Oakridge Business Park, Mandaue City, the new office aims to get closer to its clients and potential customers in the northern part of Cebu, said branch manager Jill Carbonilla-Valenzuela.

Together with her partner manager Gilbert Chua, the branch is operated by Mica Lepidolite team, which handles over 200 agents.

“This is our first tied branch in Mandaue and this came at a time when we are setting a new goal of growing the business exponentially. Aside from bringing our comprehensive portfolio of protection and investment-linked products closer to our customers in northern Metro Cebu, this office will also serve as breeding ground for new agents and company leaders,” Valenzuela said.

An important feature of the Pru Life UK Oakridge is the business center where customers can transact business or pay their insurance policy over the counter.

“Even though majority of our customers have adapted well to digital technology, there are still people who prefer to walk in, pay onsite and discuss their concerns in person. We  are glad to offer them the business center,” Chua said.

According to Valenzuela, the lessons of the pandemic have pushed people to appreciate the value of life insurance or financial protection.

This realization has led to a heightened market interest albeit via digital consultations and financial mentoring.

Chua explained that while digital transactions have proven its effectiveness, there is still a need to provide agents and clients a physical office, not just to establish trust, but to support the growing agents for needed administrative support, and office facilities.

Both Valenzuela and Chua affirmed that the life insurance market growth in the Philippines, particularly in Cebu is led by young bunch of earners, such as millennials who are working at Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and other industries.

According to the 2020 Industry Performance Report released to the public on April 30 by the Insurance Commission, the net income of the insurance sector as a whole declined 8.6 percent to P41.24 billion in 2020 from P45.12 billion in 2019 due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic

However, the contraction in total net income was offset by other positive results. Overall income from insurance premiums for the industry in 2020 climbed by a modest 1.18 percent to P308.25 billion from the previous year’s P304.65 billion.

According to IC diclosure, Pru Life UK is ranked number one among life insurers in the Philippines in terms of New Business Annual Premium Equivalent (NBAPE) for the year 2020.

Pru Life UK recorded a total NBAPE of Php 7.95 billion in 2020, which represents a 3.7 percent increase from the company’s NBAPE in 2019.