Allianz expects $3.6m income from new clients

JAKARTA (JP): Life insurance company PT Asuransi Allianz Life Indonesia expects premium income of Rp 24 billion (about US$3.6 million) from new policyholders this year.

Marketing director Jens Reisch said on Wednesday the additional premium income would bring the company's gross premium income to Rp 44 billion this year.

It predicts 15,000 new life insurance policyholders this year for a total of 65,000 customers by the end of the year, he added.

"By the first half of this year, the number of new life insurance customers increased by 8,500 policyholders and the new premium income volume rose by Rp 8.7 billion for life insurance alone."

In the corresponding period last year, the number of new policyholders reached 6,000 customers, with additional premium income reaching Rp 5 billion.

In the health insurance business, the company's growth was much higher, following a sharp increase in demand, he said.

"We started introducing health insurance in the middle of last year. The number of health policyholders reached over 25,300 at the end of June, from only 2,000 policyholders in December."

Additional premium income in the health business for the first six months of the year reached Rp 9.6 billion, he added.

Reisch said the company also would expand its sales network for life insurance and launch new products targeted for specific market segments early next year.

Asuransi Allianz Life, established in 1996, is a joint venture between giant German insurer Allianz AG and local company PT Kresna Karya.

Allianz Life's 29 branches throughout the country serve about 58,500 life insurance policyholders and 25,300 health plan customers.

Allianz Life, previously named PT Asuransi Allianz Aken Life, provides a wide range of life and health insurance products as well as pension funds. The company's name was officially changed to PT Asuransi Allianz Life Indonesia in April.

Reisch said the company planned to open several new branches outside Java this year, including one in Kalimantan.

Reisch said Allianz Life expected to become one of the top five life insurers in Indonesia and the leader in the country's health insurance market by 2002.

Allianz AG operates two companies in Indonesia: PT Asuransi Allianz Life Indonesia and general insurance firm PT Allianz Utama Indonesia.

Established in 1989, PT Allianz Utama is among the top five industrial insurers and covers large-scale public and private sector investment projects.

Managing director Herris Simandjuntak said that his company achieved a 184.3 percent increase in its gross premium income last year, reaching Rp 244.9 billion from Rp 86.1 billion in 1997.

The increase in premium income made it the fifth largest general insurance company in Indonesia, he said.

"Our market share in Indonesia's general insurance market rose to the current 3.5 percent from 1 percent," he said, adding that the largest portfolio came from engineering insurance, which insured major infrastructure and industrial projects.

Herris said his company would focus on selling retail and commercial products to comply with the downturn in demand for industrial insurance. (gis)