PB-ING One Educate

ING has launched a new product named PB-ING One Educate to be distributed through Public Bank branches.

Product Features:

• Investment-linked education plan
• Monthly premium starts from RM175
• A monthly income of up to RM1,000 is payable over 5 years on untimely death of payor
• Entry age of life assured: 30 days to 15 years

Source: Business Times, The Star

ING registered strong growth

ING has registered 37% growth in new business weighted premium in 2008, contributed strongly by its single premium business, presumably as a result of bancassurance tie-up with Public Bank.

ING's other business targets and performance:

• Pre-tax profit target for 2008: RM277 mil (2007: RM286 mil)
• 11.3% market share up to Q2 2008, 3rd largest
• 43.6% market share in group business and employee benefits
• Premium target for 2008: RM770 mil
• May partner an existing local takaful player
• Possibility of "right-sizing" support functions to save costs

Source: Business Times 1 & 2, The Star

ING and Allianz do not need liquidity facility

Both ING and Allianz do not expect that they would need to draw down on the liquidity facility made available to insurers and takaful operators by BNM. Both have stated that their financial positions are strong and they do not face liquidity concerns.

Source: The Edge Daily

ING Buys Menara Standard Chartered

ING is buying Menara Standard Chartered for RM328 mil. ING will continue to seek prime properties in Malaysia for investment.

Source: Business Times

ING Interested in AIG's Asian Businesses

More companies have expressed interest in buying AIG's Asian businesses. We reported previously that Tata Sons and Prudential were interested. The latest is India's Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) and ING are eyeing AIG's Asian businesses as well.

Source: Insurance Daily

Fubon to acquire ING Taiwan

Fubon Life Insurance will acquire ING Taiwan to create Taiwan's 2nd largest insurance company with assets totalling US$30.5 bil.

Source: The Star

ING Receives Capital Injection

ING Groep NV will receive capital injection of US$13.4 bil from the Dutch government which will see the latter becoming a major shareholder of the former. With the capital injection, ING's core Tier-1 capital ratio will improve from 6.5% to 8%.

Source: The Star

Insurance Shares Fell Sharply

Shares in ING, Prudential and Aviva slided recently as a result of market turbulence.

In UK, share prices of Prudential and Aviva fell sharply. There are indications that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) may ease the capital requirement of UK insurers with writedowns in their investment portfolios.

In Netherlands, ING reported Q3 losses of around US$670 mil, due to US$2.7 bil in various investment losses, write-downs and bad loan provisions. The ING shares fell significantly.

Source: Insurance Daily, The Star

INGeasi for Women

ING has launched a comprehensive all-in-one financial solution called INGeasi. Several products will be launched under the INGeasi series within a year. The 1st product under such series is INGeasi for Women.

Product Features:

• 4 plans are available: Dream, Success, Harmony and Cherish
• Protection for accidental death, disability, critical illness and female-related diseases
• Dream: for women just entering the workforce
• Success: for professional women with higher earning power
• Harmony: for working mother with children
• Cherish: for homemakers

For men, I guess we have to wait for INGeasi for Men to be rolled out?

Source: Business Times

Insurance for Unborn Babies

ING Australia has launched what is likely to be the world's first insurance product for unborn babies. The policy insures against birth complications, still birth and defects such as Down syndrome, spina bifida, blindness, deafness, cleft palate and heart disorders. The sum assured is A$50,000 and women between ages 16 and 40 are eligible to purchase. There is a 12-month waiting period and the cover ends on the child's 2nd birthday. Premium is A$439 for age 32 and double that for age 40.

The insurance plan recognises the trend in Australia where the median age of 1st time mothers has increased from 27 in 1985 to 31 currently. The risk of pregnancy complications and birth defects increases with the age of the mother.

While the product may be innovative, the medical experts seem to be sceptical. NSW Midwives Association claimed that ING was adopting marketing fear strategy and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists warned that women could be frightened into paying for insurance they didn't need.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

ING & JIHC in Stalemate

ING's proposal to Joint Inter-hospital Healthcare Committee (JIHC) on securing a volume discount has been turned down by the latter.

JIHC's concern is it may compromise the quality of healthcare and breach the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act (PHFSA) 1998.

The JIHC committee represents >600 specialists in 8 hosipitals in the Klang Valley:

• Pantai Medical Centre
• Sunway Hospital
• Prince Court Medical Centre
• Gleneagles Intan Medical Centre
• Assunta Hospital
• Ampang Puteri Hospital
• Tawakal Hospital
• Damansara Specialist Hospital

With the stalemate, ING's policyholders apparently now have to pay upfront and claim later when they see JIHC's specialists.

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/3/nation/20831586&sec=nation

First Lady CEO in Insurance

Today's Sin Chew Daily runs a special feature article on the 1st lady CEO in insurance industry in Malaysia - Dr Nirmala Menon of ING Insurance Bhd.

Dr Nirmala joined the industry in 1991, after serving as a physician in a government hospital for 9 years. She joined the insurance industry to strike a better balance between work and family. She started her insurance career with the then Aetna (now ING) in the underwriting department.

Other points covered in the special feature article are:

• Insurance industry needs more employees with medical background, especially with the increasing importance of critical illness products.



• Male and female managers have their strengths and weaknesses. Gender itself does not determine whether a person is a good or bad manager.



• A strong agency distribution is still key to an insurance company. With increased competition, alternative channels such as bancassurance would need to be developed.



• Agents must continue to enhance their skills and knowledge through CPD.



• ING is interested in takaful business and will use Malaysia as a base to move to other countries.



• ING is not interested in general insurance as the market is already very crowded.



• The insurance penetration rate in Malaysia is highest for Chinese, followed by Malay and then Indian. However, the importance and potential of the Chinese market cannot be ignored.



• EPF saving is not sufficient for retirement. With the increase in life expectancy and the number of middle income earners, the importance of wealth management for this sector cannot be understated.