Transamerica Life Bermuda is seeing growing demand for high net worth insurance solutions outside of the China market, where its Asia business used to be heavily geared towards.

Although the Covid pandemic and widespread restrictions only ended a little over a year ago in many places much has changed since, especially in Asia. China’s economy has slowed down significantly. Singapore’s financial hub has seen a sharp rise. Geopolitical risks have become a prominent factor.

Many businesses have adjusted to this new reality including Transamerica Life Bermuda (TLB), an insurance solution provider specializing in the high net worth market.

Global Realignment

According to TLB chief commercial officer Jeremy Young, the insurer's Asia business was «more-China centric via Hong Kong» prior to the pandemic. Since then, it has adjusted its strategy with a more balanced focus on other markets including South Asia through its Singapore office as well as Europe, Latin America and, especially, the Middle East via through its Bermuda office.

«We are also looking to add a field office in a new location,» Young said in a conversation with finews.asia.

Growing Awareness

Aside from macro changes, the pandemic has also led to increased considerations about health and ageing which in turn has led to a greater focus on wealth planning in areas such as inherence tax and estate duties. This awareness has extended beyond its traditional market of high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals. 

«We are increasingly seeing demand from policyholders that are entering or about to enter high net worth status,» Young observed. «People are realizing that insurance solutions can be used for more than just protection. It can be used in other forms such as an estate planning tool or an asset class to increase wealth with an insurance wrapper.»

New Product Features

In terms of products, TLB has introduced various fresh features in response to new demands. According to Young, there are three major new trends amongst clients: the need for diversification, the desire for flexibility and the focus on values-based investing

On diversification, TLB’s revamped indexed Universal Life solutions can now track the performance of two benchmarks – the S&P 500 index and the better performing one between a US mid and small-caps index. On flexibility, a feature has been introduced that allows policyholders to spread out their payments or switch from an index-based strategy to a more conservative, fixed strategy at any point. 

And on values-based investing, Islamic clients, for example, can now align their insurance with their beliefs via TLB’s index account option linked to a Sharia-compliant S&P 500 index.