AIA rising

After registering record growth in the first six months of this year, AIA Group Limited (AIA) saw the third quarter of 2016 register its best quarterly values so far, with the insurance company value of new business (VONB) rising 27 per cent year-on-year to US$689 million (MOP5.5 billion), according to a company filing yesterday with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
In cumulative terms, in the first nine months of 2016, the AIA group registered a total VONB of US$1.95 billion, representing a 33 per cent increase year-on-year from the same period last year.
In the third quarter of 2016, AIA also registered a 44 per cent year-on-year increase in annualised new premiums (ANP) to US$1.3 billion, and a 17 per cent increase in total weighted premium income (TWPI) to reach US$5.6 billion, the release stated.
The group has 18 wholly-owned branches and subsidiaries in Asia, including Hong Kong and Macau, with the company considering the Hong Kong market to have ‘delivered another excellent quarter of VONB growth driven by a significant increase in active agent productivity and an excellent result from our partnership business’.
No information on the group’s Macau market performance in the third quarter of this year was provided in the latest release.
For the first six months of 2016, the Hong Kong and Macau segment contributed US$537 million in VONB and US$670 million in operating profit after tax to AIA, as reported previously by Business Daily.
According to the group’s release, Asia will continue to be the ‘most attractive and dynamic region in the world for life insurance’ with life insurance markets in the region benefiting from the ‘significant structural economic and demographic trends, rapid urbanisation and increases in disposable incomes’.