Zurich Hong Kong has been granted a licence by the Insurance Authority to set up a life business.
Alongside the introduction of Zurich Life Hong Kong, the firm will unveil two products: an investment-linked assurance scheme (Ilas) and the Swiss Protect Term Assurance Plan.
The Ilas will support clients’ wealth succession plans and legacy goals by allowing the change of policyholder and life insured; whereas Swiss Protect focuses on safeguarding customers with life protection at “an affordable premium that is guaranteed to remain unchanged within the term”, Zurich said.
Zurich Life will also roll out two digital platforms to connect clients to independent financial advisers, namely MyZurich Life and Zoom.
The former is a self-service online tool that allows clients to access and manage their life policies, while the latter is a mobile application developed for IFAs and brokers to perform financial and risk assessments as well as create proposals for clients.
‘Strong demand’
Geoffrey Au, chief executive of life insurance at Zurich Hong Kong, said: “We see tremendous growth prospects in the local life insurance segment given the strong demand from customers to find solutions for their long-term financial needs.
“Traditionally, there is a strong savings culture in Hong Kong, but amid a persistent low interest rate environment, people are looking for better ways to safeguard their finances and strengthen their investment portfolio – and many are looking towards life insurance products to fill this gap.
“Zurich Hong Kong has seen strong new business growth in life insurance – recording more than a 50% increase in annualized premium equivalent in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the previous quarter.
“My team and I are very excited about this new milestone, which underpins our commitment to the Hong Kong insurance market and our ambition to further grow our business. It’s also particularly exciting that this launch coincides with Zurich Hong Kong’s 60-year anniversary in the market.”
