Singapore Insurance

Life Insurance Association will publish guidelines regarding agent recruitment. The rules intend to provide a framework for the recruitment of rival agents by insurers in Singapore and to curb any mis-selling by these new agents who are required to hit their sales target at the new firm. The move comes after the mass migration of 300 or so Great Eastern (GE) insurance agents - nearly 10 per cent of its agency size - to rival AIA's newly set up financial advisory arm, AIA Financial Advisers. What do you do if your insurance agent was one of the GE agents who migrated to AIA? You should take any advice they give on replacing our surrendering any existing insurance policy you have with a great pinch of salt.  Replacing or switching of policies  is rarely beneficial for the insured so be warned. 

I finally received a letter from AIA regarding the recent news about Prudential's potential takeover. Dear XXXX, As you have probably seen in the news, AIG has entered into a definitive agreement to sell AIA to Prudential for approximately US$35.5 billion, subject to Prudential's shareholder approval, regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. AIA is a strong and successful organisation today because of our focus on meeting your needs, supported by a dedicated agency force, distributors and professional employees. We understand Prudential and AIG are devoted to preserving the AIA brand and its commitments. We would like to assure you it is business-as-usual for us and our focus will continue to remain on you, our customer. We will continue to provide you with products and services that meet your needs now and into the future. There are no changes to the policies you have with us and all policyholder obligations will be honoured. If you have questions, please do no...

AIG bids farewell to its Asian arm AIA as a takeover by Prudential takes place. British insureer, Prudential, will offer up to US$35 million dollars for AIA. The deal will be settled through cash, paid through a rights issue by Prudential and also through AIG taking a minority stake in the British insurer. Prudential stepped in after AIG announced that it was intending to IPO its Asian arm. Analysts had previously forecasted that the IPO would raise 10 billion dollars. AIG had earlier intended to auction off 49 percent of its Asian arm after the financial crisis but that failed as it did not receive any suitable offers. Prudential will double its size by this deal.

I received a letter from AIA recently. It reads: In appreciation for your continued loyalty and support, we'd like to extend an exclusive invitation to you to apply for our first premier accident plan - AIA Signature. The AIA Signature plan offers you our highest level of accident protection, with coverage up to $500,000. The invitation is for a select group of priority AIA policyholders, of which you are one. Available for a limited time, this exclusive offer is valid from 15 Oct 09 to 28 Nov 09 and is strictly by invitation only. With AIA Signature, you can enjoy: A high coverage amount of up to $500,000 for Accidental Death, Dismemberment and Permanent and Total Disability Accidental Medical Reimbursement of up to $2000 Premiums do not increase with age And the above coverage is yours at only $400 until age 75. No health questions ask and no medical examination is required. I am not too sure what is so special about this accident plan because accident plans normally do not requi...