Manulife launches unit-linked product with China option
The Jakarta Post | Wed, 04/07/2010 10:43 AM
PT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife Indonesia has launched a new unit-linked insurance product with an option to invest in Chinese equities, known for their high growth, the company’s executive has said.
Senior vice president and chief actuary and pricing officer Hans de Waal said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the investment would be placed in 25 blue chip companies included in the Hang Seng Mainland 25 Index.
“Of the total fund, called Manulife Dana Ekuitas Indonesia China [MDEIC], between 20 and 40 percent will be allocated for investment in Chinese equities, between 80 and 60 percent in Indonesian equities and a maximum of 20 percent in money market instruments,” he said at the launching of a special customer rewards program to commemorate Manulife’s 25th anniversary in Indonesia.
He said the investments could be made both in rupiah and US dollars.
De Waal said MDEIC further increased investment options for the company’s policyholders.
Previously, the company had 10 investment fund options for single premium unit-linked products.
They included investments in equities, fixed income, money market and syariah funds. “But they were focused primarily on the Indonesian market,” he added.
He mentioned that MDEIC would offer higher investment returns because it would be invested in blue chips listed both in Indonesian and Chinese markets.
“For the first time in the Indonesian life insurance market, we have an investment fund which offers opportunities to customers to invest in a foreign market,” said De Waal at the launching, which was attended also by president director and chief executive officer David Beynon, executive vice president and chief operating officer Nelly Husnayati and executive vice president and chief agency officer Premraj Thuraisingam.
De Waal explained that Manulife had actually already been selling MDEIC for a month with sales already reaching Rp 100 million.
“We hope that MDEIC sales will rise to Rp 750 million by the end of this year,” he said, optimistically. (ebf)
