Mercuries Life Insurance Co’s (三商美邦人壽保險) assets grew at a faster-than-expected pace last year, prompting the company to raise its growth forecast for total assets to above NT$1 trillion (US$31.68 billion) by the end of 2017.
Mercuries Life, the nation’s sixth-largest life insurer in terms of market share, had set a goal last year to boost its total assets to more than NT$1 trillion by the end of 2018.
However, due to the strong performance in profitability and gross premiums last year, the company has seen the possibility of meeting the goal earlier than expected.
“The company is looking to achieve the goal to boost total assets to NT$1 trillion in three years,” Mercuries Life chief executive officer Roy Meng (孟嘉仁) told a media briefing yesterday.
In that case, Mercuries Life would become fastest Taiwanese life insurer to expand its total assets to the NT$1 trillion mark.
Meng said the company’s strategy of focusing on sales of long-term insurance products was the major factor leading to the fast growth in assets, and a steady and strong performance in profitability.
The life insurer posted NT$2.41 billion in net income last year, recording a net profit for the 10th consecutive year, with gross premiums of NT$132.59 billion surpassing the NT100 billion mark for the third year in a row.
To continue boosting sales of long-term insurance policies — mainly sold by the company’s personal insurance representatives — Meng said Mercuries Life is looking to recruit more sales personnel this year.
The life insurer has more than 17,000 personal insurance representatives and it plans to increase that number to more than 18,000 by the end of this year, Meng added.
Mercuries Life has received permission from the Chinese Insurance Regulatory Commission to set up an office in Beijing, which the company may open at the end of this month.
The life insurer is also evaluating other investment opportunities in China and is studying Southeast Asian markets as it looks to expand overseas, Meng said.
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