Insular Life Assurance Co. Ltd., the largest Filipino-owned life insurance company, said Wednesday consolidated net income in 2016 jumped 179 percent to P4.9 billion from a year ago, lifted by gains from shares of stocks and properties, investment income and earnings of associates.
“2016 was our best year so far in terms of reinforcing our stability and financial strength. We are number two among 30 life insurance companies in terms of net income and net worth. And in terms of assets, we are number three,” Insular Life chief executive Nina Aguas said in a statement.
Consolidated revenues rose 25 percent last year to P25 billion, while consolidated total assets went up 22 percent to P129 billion from P106 billion in 2015.
Consolidated member’s equity or net worth surged 70 percent in 2016 to P40.3 billion from P23.7 billion in 2015. The increase in member’s equity was attributed to the gains in the market value of equity holdings and higher net income.
The insurer’s premium income, however, was slightly lower than the previous year.
“While we posted monthly increases in new business premium production for eight consecutive months and also increased its renewal premiums, we were not shielded from the volatile market conditions that caused a sharp drop in single premiums,” Aguas said.
“As a result, our total premium income was slightly down by 3 percent to P12.3 billion, reflective of the industry decline of 3 percent. We were able to defend our number seven position based on total premium. Notwithstanding this, Insular Life’s equity funds that support our investment-linked insurance products were the best-performing funds in 2016 and have consistently outperformed the Philippine Stock Exchange Index,” Aguas said.
Insular Life and Union Bank of the Philippines received the approval of the Insurance Commission and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in the first quarter of 2017 to engage in a bancassurance partnership.
The partnership allows UnionBank and wholly-owned subsidiary City Savings Bank to distribute and sell the insurance products of Insular Life to over six million bank clients spread across Union Bank’s group network of over 300 branches and offices.
Insular Life will provide a differentiated model for Union Bank – tailored to fit the bank’s customer segmentation.
Omar Cruz, former national treasurer, was appointed senior executive vice president and head of Insular Life’s bancassurance operations.