Sun Life Financial's results in the Philippines stunted the company's growth in Asia in the third quarter of 2020.
The volatile economic context caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could continue to hamper its growth in the coming months.
Léo Grépin, President of Sun Life Asia, shared this forecast with financial analysts during a conference call following the release of the company's Q3 2020 financial results.
"We don't anticipate that to get much better over the next couple of quarters," he said.
He explains that the Philippines has one of the strictest movement restriction environments on the continent. The COVID-19 pandemic and confinement measures have a “material impact on sales, especially in a market very much based on relationships and human interactions.”
The size of policies Sun Life sold has shrunk since the pre-crisis era, he continues. "That’s reflecting the economic challenges of the market. A lot of people across the Philippines have lost their jobs or reduced discretionary spending," he explains.
Digital advances
Sales in the Philippines were down about 25% versus the corresponding quarter of 2019, Grépin points out, but compared with the last quarter they "basically doubled.”
"More tangibly, at an underlying activity level, what we're seeing is that the activity ratio of our advisors is almost back to pre-crisis level," Léo Grépin adds.
This increase is fuelled by Sun Life's investments in technology, the vice-president points out. “We've got digital point-of-sales capability across the market. We've also rolled out virtual capabilities on top of digital point of sales, so that means you can basically do things remotely with digital signatures and so on,” he explains.
Grépin gives the example of the insurer’s online medical exam offering: ROME, short for Remote Online Medical Exams. This tool lets “accredited health professionals perform online medical exams for prospective clients, which is the first in its market," says Dean Connor, the Sun Life Financial CEO.
