Local insurance firm EastWest Ageas Insurance President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sjoerd Smeets said that with the lower level of financial literacy in the country compared to advanced economies, Filipinos are not keen on getting insurance coverage. However, this low insurance penetration rate in the Philippines, especially among the poor, along with the recovery of the economy, are among the opportunities that Mr. Smeets consider that will propel the business in the long run.
This is the reason EastWest Ageas has started its agency force to widen its reach in the country. Since starting the agency force in the second half of 2022, Mr. Smeets said they now have around 120 insurance agents and the aim is to increase the figure to close to 1,000 by end-2023. Filipinos in general still prefer to talk to insurance agents to explain to them the value of life insurance, as proven by the below 3% insurance penetration in the country.
EastWest Ageas aims to double its sales in two to three years from the current 257,000 clients, which are a combination of individual and group memberships. EastWest Ageas is a joint venture between local bank EastWest Bank and Belgium-headquartered multinational insurance company Ageas.
(Source: Philippine News Agency)