OSK, Manulife tie-up to contribute 20pc revenue

KUALA LUMPUR: OSK Investment Bank Bhd (OSKIB) expects its bancassurance partnership with Manulife Insurance Bhd (Manulife Malaysia) to contribute 20 per cent to its wealth management revenue.

Both companies signed a distribution agreement yesterday whereby OSKIB would distribute Manulife Malaysia's life insurance products through its private bankers and wealth managers.

OSKIB anticipates some RM12 million in premiums over the next 12 months from the newly launched products under the partnership, namely OSK Wealth Saver and OSK Wealth Saver Max, both underwritten by Manulife Malaysia.

"The collaboration with Manulife Malaysia was not only because of its strong brand image and financial position but also because of its expertise and experience in bancassurance.

"This partnership is an exciting opportunity as it enables OSKIB to extend a wider range of products and services to a larger clientele, with the introduction of insurance based products," OSKIB chief executive officer U Chen Hock told pressmen after the distribution signing agreement.

He said the sharing of expertise between OSKIB and Manulife Malaysia will see both companies work together to develop more products tailored for OSKIB's customers to serve their savings, protection and investment needs.

The company aims to distribute the newly launched products via its 57 branches nationwide and would like to replicate the partnership success here to the regional markets over time.

The two new products, under the OSK Wealth Saver series, are limited payment endowment plans specially designed to help different OSKIB customer segments meet their financial goals.

Manulife Malaysia's chief executive officer Michael Chan said the bancassurance tie-up is the first of its kind with an investment bank. The insurer has existing bancassurance partnership with three other banks.

"This partnership is another milestone for Manulife Malaysia to capitalise on the strengths of OSKIB, one of the leading investment bank in Malaysia and their extensive branch network to offer forward thinking product solutions for a wider customer segment," he said.