What were the major initiatives of the Company in 2017?

We recognize that the financial services industry is now at a tipping point: either disrupt or get disrupted. A lot of firms are encroaching into the financial arena, not just enticing new customers, but also raising customer expectations for customized and targeted experiences.

While it has a 107-year head start to build a solid reputation and a track record of stability, InLife has to change the way it does business and serve its stakeholders, too. Not only must we learn to adapt, we also must learn to “unlearn” our traditional notions of competing.

This is why innovation and technology had a big impact on the Company’s initiatives in 2017, as financial technology (fintech) and insurance technology (insurtech) took center stage. These two factors significantly influenced what we did in 2017 and what we wanted to do in the next five years to remain competitive in the marketplace.

With digital technology, there are now greater opportunities to enhance customer experience and sales distribution. This prompted us to embark on these digital transformation initiatives in 2017:

• We have digitized some of our processes with the use of Robotic Process Automation (RPA). RPA allows faster deployment of programs to automate repetitive and resource-intensive processes. Automation of these repetitive, mundane tasks is critical for enterprises to gain higher efficiency, lower costs and ensure better user experience. Our investment in RPA has already paid for itself with our deployment of robots that will perform repetitive testing of software & generation of scheduled reports.
  
  
• Our Customer Portal is now sporting an enhanced look and better interface. It was recently upgraded as mobile first design to be compliant with user experience design best practices. This supports our aim to increase client engagement. We have also added first-in-the-market online straight-through processing for functionalities that ramp up service convenience. Withdrawal of Variable Unit-Linked (VUL) funds can now be done by policyholders online without leaving their homes, with funds credited directly to their nominated bank account. Other transactions such as fund switch and premium redirection for VUL policies can also be done online. Inlife is the first life insurance company offering fully automated services from application to benefit fulfillment.
    
• In 2017, we launched our e-commerce platform. Our first online product, Prime Care, provides funds for medical treatment of dread diseases. Also, we completed the successful pilot of an e-commerce product sold via our corporate website and serviced through our online customer portal. We are looking at further building up this online distribution channel.

In addition to these exciting initiatives, Inlife remains the only insurance company in the country that offers a fully automated, end-to-end sales process which includes automated underwriting. Policyholders can fill out forms, choose their desired product, undergo underwriting and receive decisions on applications, all online, in just 30 minutes. This fully-automated sales process will also give revised quotations in case the applicant is found to be substandard.

What new products did you launch in 2017 and how do these reflect the changing customer demands?

Consistent with our thrust to provide Filipinos with a better financial future, we launched a new VUL fund called Peso Global Equity Fund to allow local investors to diversify into global markets using Philippine pesos. At this point when funds are flowing into developed markets, it is timely to provide our clients with options to diversify internationally. Peso Global Equity Fund provides access to international equities that can take our investors’ investment to the next level. Global Equity fund was made available to existing Wealth Secure and VRA products, subject to minimum placements.

I also mentioned earlier that Prime Care, apart from being the first product we launched through e-commerce, is itself a product of Inlife’s innovation. It is a unique product because it not only offers a lump sum amount upon diagnosis of a critical illness, but also provides a monthly allowance for treatment for three years. It also covers 35 types of critical illnesses.

We also launched Wealth Assure on a Guaranteed Issue Offer (GIO) basis, which means applications are accepted and approved instantly.  Because it is GIO, there is no need for long health or medical questions, and applications are accepted regardless of one’s state of health.  

For the first time since we forged a bancassurance partnership with UnionBank of the Philippines in 2017, we also launched two guaranteed issue products exclusively offered by Union for Life for UnionBank clients. These products are: InLife Security, a guaranteed issue offer (GIO) product that provides lifetime insurance coverage and living benefits from the policyholder’s participation in Inlife’s various VUL funds; and the InLife Prominence, a GIO, single-pay VUL product that gives clients access to a diverse portfolio of high- yielding assets while providing life insurance protection.  

We remain mindful of emerging trends that involve greater use of online platforms and social media to sell our products. The IC recently released new guidelines covering e-commerce, including the use of mobile apps to distribute insurance products. With regulations now in place, we hope to take advantage of emerging technology and introduce other innovations in our product pipeline and sales and distribution channels to heighten product awareness, improve efficiency in delivery, and ultimately, cast a wider net when it comes to insuring as many Filipinos. Our local market is also getting younger, as more young Filipinos enter the workforce and gain purchasing power to buy insurance and invest. These millennials design their life plans — their career path, marriage, etcetera — more deliberately and so we also take these into consideration when we design the products we offer.

What internal initiatives did you roll out in 2017 to prepare your organization for the evolving landscape?

We continue to improve on our systems and processes, not just to gear up for the changing business environment, but more so to provide an even better customer experience. A lot of these initiatives have to do with automation as well as relationship building.

For our bancassurance partnership with UnionBank, we have recruited, trained, and licensed 86 financial advisors and 329 business and relationship managers in 2017. We set up the policy issue system, customer servicing system, and monitoring systems customized to the unique requirements of bancassurance. This year, we are keen on continuously improving our bancassurance support capabilities.

In our continuous effort to improve productivity, we looked at ways to further strengthen our relationship with our agency force. We have built this relationship over many years anchored on mutual trust. InLife continues to regard our high-performing agent partners as one of the key pillars of our resilience as a company amid the onslaught of competition and war for talent, not just within our industry.

The other key pillar is our own people at InLife. To cope with the challenging operating environment and make room for more growth, we also deepened our talent bench and hired key talents in 2017, including an Agency Distribution Head, a Chief Strategy Officer, a Chief Innovation Officer, a Chief Information Security Officer, as well as a new Human Resource Division (HRD) Head.

We also started digitizing employee experience using the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) for data entry, tracking, and information needs of our HRD, payroll, management, and accounting functions within the Company. We also put in place tools that will make it easier for our senior officers to know how they measure job performance and for our employees to be aware of how they are being evaluated. With technology, real-time performance assessment will now be possible so everyone will be on their toes and push work productivity. We are also digitizing the other people processes such as training management, talent acquisition, succession planning, and compensation planning. These tools will enable the company to integrate the people process from “womb to tomb.”

In terms of physical infrastructure, a major milestone for us in 2017 was the unveiling of the extensively renovated Insular Life Building in Makati City. The reimagined iconic building now showcases modernized facilities and equipment, a state-of-the-art boardroom, a grand ballroom that can host events for up to 300 people, an updated façade, and a five-level parking building.  Insular Life Makati also boasts of its Silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, which means its construction methods and materials, coupled with energy-efficient building equipment, make it a sustainable building. It uses less water and energy, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. It is also certified by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), assuring tenants of tax incentives and other commercial benefits.

The building houses our InLife Learning Center, which features millennial colors and interiors that are a far cry from the 54-year-old building’s former look. The InLife Learning Center, is primarily for the use of our agents, for training, private meetings between agents and their clients, and with a lounge at the center. At the entrance is our office for customer service. Except for the mezzanine and the 12th floor that InLife occupies, the building is available for commercial lease.

“The risks, as well as the opportunities, will always be there. Competition will always be tough, for instance, but that is the reality of the free market and it is good because it only drives us to be better in what we do.”

How do you plan to make a 107-year-old company like InLife relevant to younger Filipinos?

Millennials are now undeniably a growing market segment for insurance players. There are an estimated 26 million millennials as of 2016, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority, who comprise one-third of the country’s total population. While they spend their salaries to enjoy and experience life in its fullness, market insights we have gathered show that they do not plan to stay in the YOLO (You Only Live Once) phase forever. Eventually, they transition to concern themselves with the more serious parts of life (dubbed as ‘adulting’), and part of this realization is the need to save for their future.

These insights led us to develop the First Million Fund, a VUL insurance offer that calls for parents to jumpstart their investment by putting in an initial premium of at least ₱500,000, which could reach ₱1 million on the eighth policy year. After launching the Fund in 2016, we embarked on a social media campaign on ‘adulting’ targeted at millennials and their parents.

In addition to coming up with products for the millennial market, we realized that our brand has to evolve as well to keep up with this young mindset. This led us to launch “Inlife for Good.” Apart from shortening ‘Insular Life’ into ‘Inlife,’ we also wanted a catchy version that connotes being an insider, trendy, cool and hip, or being “in.” We added “for Good” to reinforce the commitment that we have had in the past 107 years: we serve for a higher purpose for the good of our policyholders, our stakeholders, and our community. And as a company with a 107-year track record, we are here for good.

We think of our company as the ‘flag bearer’ in the Philippine insurance industry. After all, we are the only 100-percent Filipino-owned insurance company among the top life insurance companies. Thus, we always strive to work to be at par with or exceed the multinationals in serving the insurance needs of the Filipino. The greater challenge, however, is really to insure more Filipinos and raise the country’s insurance penetration rate. We believe we have a significant role to play and that is why we are saying Inife is “for good”— working for the good of the Filipino nation.

More than being relevant to the younger Filipinos, this is the bigger message that we hope to achieve with our rebranding.

What risks and opportunities do you see in 2018 for the Company?

We have a very positive outlook for 2018. Our economy’s GDP is expected to grow by 8 percent and national income per capita is seen to reach US$5,000, bringing the Philippines closer to becoming an upper middle-income country.  The life insurance industry is projected to grow by 9 percent.

As one of the industry leaders, Inlife is prepared to capitalize on this growth momentum.

In 2018, our bancassurance partnership will become fully operational. We hope to benefit from UnionBank’s total network of 300 branches and offices and its over six million clients in 2018. We plan to go full blast with our agency force expansion to reach a bigger segment of the market.

We also continue to build our digital capabilities to modernize our sales and service channels. Our goal is to continually improve servicing digitally and to automate our processes to make them faster and more convenient for our policyholders. Nowadays, online channels have made serving the customer a 24-hour window rather than the traditional 9-to-5 office hours. We are also moving for more and more usage of our automated underwriting system (AUS) and our online policy servicing through our customer portal. We also organize events online and offline to maintain our active engagement with policyholders and our agents.

We have also entered into a partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank to educate and offer risk-mitigating solutions for women in the country. Inlife is IFC’s only partner in Asia and we are excited to deliver more products to women and ensure their financial wellness. This program, which we call “Empowering the Filipino Sheroes,” is our way of helping the mission on financial inclusion so all Filipino women will gain access to financial instruments and life insurance.

As for the global market environment, while we recognize threats, being in the insurance business for 107 years makes the Company a veteran to all these cyclical challenges. The risks, as well as the opportunities, will always be there. Competition will always be tough, for instance, but that is the reality of the free market and it is good because it only drives us to be better in what we do. In the end, the good we do will all redound to the benefit of the Filipino — and this is why we say, we are “Inlife for Good.”