Aboitiz Equity in joint venture with Singlife

Conglomerate Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. formed a joint venture with Singapore Life Private Limited (Singlife) to establish a new digital life insurance company in the Philippines.

AEV said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Friday the joint venture company to be called Singlife Philippines would be 65 percent owned by Singlife. Parent Di-Firm will own 20 percent while AEV will hold 15 percent.

With Singlife’s fintech expertise in digitalizing life insurance offers and with AEV’s strategic position across industries in the local market, Singlife Philippines is set to make insurance and financial products more accessible to Filipinos nationwide.

Citing data from the Philippine Insurance Commission, AEV said the life insurance market had shown significant growth over the past five years with total premium income growing nine percent a year and sales of new policies increasing approximately 15 percent. 

The penetration of individual life insurance, however, is still low at around six of the insurable market. This is expected to increase to 12 percent to 18 percent in the medium-term, fueled by an emerging segment of people purchasing policies for the first time.

A substantial part of the segment consists of people between 25 years and 50 years old, with net income of between P25,000 and P50,000 a month and a preference for online and mobile services. 

“For this new generation of mobile-first consumers already booking rides and purchasing everyday goods online, Singlife Philippines believes it can also fulfill their financial planning needs through a mobile app,” AEV said.

Singlife is the first independent life insurance company that is fully licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore since 1970. Valued at US$360 million, the company has been recognized for its deep expertise in technology to provide a superior experience to customers, attracting investments from major life insurers such as Aflac, Aberdeen Standard Investments and Sumitomo Life Insurance. 

AEV, meanwhile, is one of the country’s biggest conglomerates with major investments in power, banking and financial services, food, infrastructure, and land.