Sales of insurance products in Singapore rose 8% in the third quarter and 10% in the three quarters to the end of September compared with the same periods last year, as investors showed a marked preference for annual premium investments, the Life Insurance Association of Singapore reported.
Prudential has agreed a significant long term bancassurance deal with Thailand’s fifth biggest retail bank, Thanachart Bank.
An alliance between Paris-based insurance giant Axa and London-based global banking giant HSBC, in the area of property and casualty (P&C) insurance, has moved forward, with the completion of Axa’s acquisition of the bank’s P&C operations in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Resolution Ltd has confirmed that its Friends Life subsidiary is “in discussions on the possible sale of its 30% stake in AmLife Insurance Berhad and AmFamily Takaful Berhad” back to its partner in the joint venture arrangement, Kuala Lumpur-based AmBank Group.
Investors in Hong Kong will, from today, be allowed to transfer contributions they have made into the national Mandatory Provident Fund to an MPF trustee and scheme of their choice.
Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Ceajer Chan Ka-keung has called on the mandatory provident fund scheme providers to cut fees further.
Hong Kong’s main financial regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission, said it has found “deficiencies” in the selling practices of licensed firms, after completing an inspection of companies selling investment products.
The authority which oversees Hong Kong’s Mandatory Provident Fund fund (MPF) operations is considering capping the fees MPF providers charge their customers, and has retained Ernst & Young to look into the pricing matter, according to a report published this morning.
Investors in Asia should prioritise investing in assets with little or no correlation to financial markets, according to investment services provider PDL International’s chief representative in Asia, Keith Campbell Golding.
Almost half of some 341 Mandatory Provident Funds surveyed by a Hong Kong consumer body posted negative annualised returns for the last five years, spotlighting the challenge ahead for company employees who next month will begin to have the option of choosing their MPF providers.
Singapore has agreed a deal with Germany to boost the level of information the two countries exchange, as it ramps up its regulations aimed at helping to prevent tax evasion.
Manulife had appointed a new chief executive for its Malaysian Insurance business.
