Canada's Sun Life sees Asia accounting for quarter of income in 5-6 years

By Sumeet Chatterjee
HONG KONG, July 29 (Reuters) - Sun Life Financial Inc
SLF.TO expects Asia's contribution to its income to rise to
about 25% in five to six years, from 18% now, driven by its push
to sell insurance products via digital channels and higher
demand after the coronavirus pandemic.
The Canadian insurer has recently ramped up its digital
capabilities in some Asian markets, helping it cushion the
impact of a slowdown in physical sales by agents amid
virus-related lockdowns, the president for Sun Life Asia said.
It will further bolster its digital capabilities to tap into
a growing awareness of life and health insurance products in a
region where insurance density is quite low, Léo Grépin added.
"We think that is, and that's going to be even more going
forward, a competitive advantage," Grépin said.
Sun Life has a presence in seven markets in Asia, including
China, Hong Kong, India, and the Philippines.
Insurance firms in Asia mainly rely on their army of agents
for sales, but regulators are now encouraging the use of digital
tools to ease the challenges posed by the pandemic.
Asia is a promising market for global insurers due to the
low penetration of insurance and fast-growing economies.
Insurance premiums as a percentage of gross domestic product
in emerging Asia Pacific markets was 3.89% on an average last
year, versus 11.43% in the United States and 10.30% in Britain,
a Swiss Re Institute report shows.
While an economic slowdown and a drop in income has created
near-term challenges, the pandemic has also raised awareness
about the need for insurance in Asia, Grépin said.
"The awareness will stay (and) the economic side of the
crisis will resolve itself," he said, adding Sun Life was
already seeing a rebound in sales in China and Hong Kong.
Sun Life's underlying profit from Asia rose 27% in the first
quarter, with most of the earnings coming from before lockdowns
were imposed in March, versus 8% and 7% in the United States and
Canada respectively. It will report April-June results on Aug 6.