Prudential Life Insurance Co of Taiwan (保德信人壽), an affiliate of Prudential Financial Inc, is to increase its life planners in central and southern Taiwan this year as the insurer seeks to promote life insurance policies that require face-to-face communication, top executives said yesterday.
“We plan to recruit high-quality professional agents who truly listen to the needs of customers, recognize the value of family protection, and provide hope and protection for their future through our needs-based selling method,” Prudential Taiwan chief executive Dylan Tyson told a media conference in Taipei.
Prudential Taiwan prefers candidates aged between 25 and 39 without prior work experience in the life insurance industry so they can better absorb the company’s training program, Tyson said.
The new recruits are to join the field force management team to develop channel growth and receive monthly financial aid of up to NT$100,000 (US$3,358) during the first seven months, Tyson said.
The first batch of life planners have graduated and the company is recruiting a second batch in central and southern Taiwan, he said.
Life planners would suggest that breadwinners prioritize life insurance instead of annuity or medical insurance to help protect and secure the financial future of their loved ones, Tyson said.
Annuity or medical insurance policies are an easy sell compared with life insurance that requires a high degree of face-to-face communication and a deep understanding of the products on the part of agents, who cannot be replaced by bancassurance or digital sales channels, he said.
Dying unexpectedly young or too old can create financial stress for families and Taiwanese should pay close attention to the issue because the nation’s population is aging quickly, he said.
The average amount of new life insurance policies in Taiwan was approximately NT$530,000 in 2016, much lower than NT$1.35 million in Japan and NT$4.51 million in the US, he said.
The figure suggests that the level of protection in Taiwan is insufficient if a family loses its breadwinner given that the average annual income is NT$547,000, Prudential Taiwan said, citing Ministry of Finance statistics.
While foreign peers focus on investment products, the insurer is to increase awareness of risk protection and establish a comprehensive range of insurance solutions, Dyson said.
Such an approach proved to be a success in Japan and the insurer is seeking to copy the business model in Taiwan, he said.
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