Friends Provident International (FPI) intends to strengthen its life offerings this year and sees opportunities in the areas of critical illness as well as short-term savings products, Managing Director for Singapore Andrew Waddell told Asia Insurance Review.
The firm which operates in Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong caters largely to affluent domestic customers as well as a highly mobile international workforce. And the changing profile of the expatriate family in Singapore is prompting FPI to further refine its customer proposition.
For one, today’s expatriate couple tends to be dual-income with both members working, and they may also not return to their country at the end of their terms but rather move somewhere else to work, said Mr Waddell.
“We see it as an opportunity to help the couple save more aggressively for the period they’re working here, so we will start building propositions which are more short-term in nature, more digitally transactable and more remotely advisable,” he said.
Mr Waddell added FPI will be launching products to serve this need in the middle of this year.
Another opportunity which the company intends to capture is in critical illness cover for the more affluent customers.
“The typical customer profile we’ll be targeting are those with sum insured of S$1million (US$716,000) and above and within the age range of 35-55,” he said.
Enhancing distribution
Moving ahead, Mr Waddell also hopes to develop new distribution partnerships in Singapore mainly through FA firms and private banks.
“We currently work with two private banks and we want to expand on that, and I see huge opportunities to meet the latent needs of these banking customers which we can provide.”
FPI, which is part of the Aviva Group, is domiciled in the Isle of Man and will mark the 10th anniversary of its presence in Singapore this year. A