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ife insurer BNI Life hopes to see its total premiums exceed Rp 2 trillion (US$169.16 million) by year-end, supported by its new shareholder, Japan'€™s Sumitomo Life Insurance Company.

Based on the target, premiums are estimated to rise by more than 30 percent, compared to what the company achieved last year.

'€œWe want to see the premiums surge above Rp 2 trillion, that'€™s for sure. However, we cannot reveal the specific figure just yet. We are waiting for the OJK [Financial Services Authority] to approve our new directors so that we can hold official directorial meetings,'€ BNI Life president A. Junaedy Ganie said on Friday during a media briefing in Bandung, West Java.

Sumitomo has appointed Kazuhiko Arai and Hirokazu Todaka to sit on BNI Life'€™s board of directors, which currently consists of Junaedy, Geger Maulana as vice president director and Budi Tampubolon as products and services director.

Junaedy said that Arai and Todaka had undergone the regulator'€™s confirmation test two weeks ago.

If approved by the OJK, Arai will handle the company'€™s bancassurance business, while Todaka will manage its risk management.

As previously reported, Sumitomo completed the acquisition of a 39.9 percent stake in BNI Life, which is part of state-owned lender Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), for Rp 4.2 trillion on May 9.

Following the deal, BNI remains the majority shareholder with 60 percent, while the remaining shares are held by Yayasan Kesejahteraan Karyawan BNI and Yayasan Danar Dana Swadharma.

Geger said that Sumitomo'€™s technical capacity and experience in the business were expected to boost its operations and put the firm in the top five of life insurers by assets in Indonesia.

BNI Life'€™s total assets reportedly stand at Rp 7.9 trillion, while Sumitomo'€™s first quarter results show that it had 26.59 trillion yen ($224.2 billion) in total assets by the end of March.

Geger claimed that BNI Life had already become the fifth-largest life insurer in terms of equity after Sumitomo'€™s acquisition, with Rp 4.6 trillion.

Meanwhile, Sumitomo had noticed a significant difference between the Japanese and Indonesian markets, especially in terms of products, according to Arai.

'€œIn Japan, protection products are very popular, but in Indonesia, people seem to prefer those with saving plans. We will combine the two trends for our future products,'€ he said, adding that Sumitomo had no plan to increase its stake in BNI Life.

During the briefing, Junaedy said that BNI Life had been in talks with two lenders to become its bancassurance partners.

Right now, it is collaborating with its parent company, BNI, and several other financial institutions to market its products.

According to BNI Life data, bancassurance contributes the most to the insurer'€™s premium portfolio, accounting for more than 64 percent. The remainder is made up of employee benefits, agencies and sharia products.

'€œBancassurance will still be our driver for growth because we have great potential with BNI as our main partner, but we are also looking into micro products now. Hopefully, we will soon obtain the OJK'€™s approval to introduce a new micro product,'€ Junaedy said.