The product, Pacific, is a whole of life insurance policy which Zurich said would offer a higher level of insurance cover than its rivals’ offerings that were already on the market.
Authorised by the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and the Securities and Futures Commission, it is available to individuals, trustees and companies on either a single life or joint life first death basis.
Andy Robinson, chief proposition officer for Zurich International Life in Hong Kong, said Pacific was the first product that the company had launched which had been redesigned to be compliant with the new regulatory environment.
He said the late timing of the launch compared to competitors was because the product had been changed so radically.
“We broke the mould, and it just took a long time to get it authorised,” said Robinson.
“It is the first product of its kind in Hong Kong to offer automatic life cover, with short form underwriting, of ten times the annual premium, up to a maximum of $750,000. This ensures that, even if the unthinkable happens in the early years, the policyholder’s loved ones still benefit from the original savings goals,” he said.
He added that “some of the potential misalignment of interests of policyholders and distributors” had been eliminated by removing the necessity to select a term.
“The policy is now designed as a whole of life policy, with no surrender penalties after 10 years. We believe that this is the future of the industry; creating products that are fair for the customer, the distributor and the insurer.
”At the end of year 10, the initial units will then be transferred into accumulation units, so that the policy becomes “very cheap and almost non-contractual”.
Robinson also said the playing field would level out between unit-linked and non-unit linked products from April next year, when the latter will also face a ban on indemnified commission under the GN16 guidance note.
“We’re really trying to do what comes back to the heart of what an insurance company does, which is intelligent protection, and trying to make sure all of our customers have got the right amount of cover that they need.”
