Insurance brokers hit by a dent in revenue from mainland policy buyers have found light by offsetting the shortfall with sales to Hong Kongers.
Ongoing political unrest has resulted in a record-low number of mainland visitors to Hong Kong with 55 percent year-on-year drop recorded during last year's Christmas with 450,000 compared to 2018’s 1 million. This plummet has been a major hurdle for Hong Kong’s insurers which has traditionally relied heavily on mainland Chinese, who are permitted by local regulation to buy policies only in person.
Nonetheless, local insurance brokers have acted in nimble fashion, adjusting their sales strategy to focus on local Hong Kong clients. This was particularly effective due to a focus on the sales of a tax-deductible annuity and medical product, which were launched last year, according to an «SCMP» report citing top Hong Kong-based executives from Prudential and Zurich Insurance.
According to the latest data from Hong Kong’s Insurance Authority, sales of life policies to mainland Chinese visitors totaled HK$9.7 billion ($12 billion) in the third quarter of 2019, a 29 percent drop compared to the previous three-month period and a 17 year-on-year decrease.
