Ocean Life begins to raise brand profile

Today's Business News - Wednesday December 12, 2007

Ocean Life begins to raise brand profile

More competition leads to strategy shift

CHAROEN KITTIKANYA

After keeping a low profile for decades, Ocean Life Insurance has embarked on a management and business restructuring and raised its brand profile to cope with intensifying competition in the future.

''We are committed to becoming more aggressive in marketing and branding. We would spend more in marketing and speak more frequently at least once a quarter to the media to brief our business development,'' said managing director Dayana Bunnag, a former president of Kasikorn Asset Management.

During her 14 years with K-Asset, one of the top local fund managers in asset size, Mrs Dayana played an important role in promoting and developing the securities business, investment management and the bond and equity markets.

She is the first senior executive from outside the Assakul family to run the family's insurance business, which was founded in 1949, reflecting the family's attempt to run the company's business in a more professional manner.

''Management restructuring is just an initial step of the company's preparations for intensifying competition in the future. More outside experts will be recruited to help steer the company, which is currently relatively big, to grow even further,'' said Kirati Assakul, the Ocean Life chairman, who also acted as managing director before Mrs Dayana joined the company.

''More business collaboration with partners will be built up, and probably a joint venture will be visible in the near future if we see it necessary and good for the company's policyholders, product development, and expansion of distribution channels.''

According to the company's chairman, with Mrs Dayana on board, Ocean Life is expected to become more active in new distribution channels such as bancassurance and worksite marketing, good corporate governance and, above all, investments.

Agents are currently the major contributors of premium earnings. Ocean Life has more than 14,000 sales agents and operates up to 250 branches. It has about 2.1 million customers.

''Next year and for the years to come, we will see more diversification in terms of customer base, products, and particularly investment,'' said deputy managing director Nusara Banyatpiyaphod. ''We are looking to expand our investment, notably in bonds and mortgage loans, and foreign investments.''

Ocean Life was founded in 2000 in accordance with the 1992 Life Insurance Act, which requires that a Thai insurance company separate its life business from general insurance activities.

Despite having been run exclusively by the Assakul family, the company has reported strong consecutive growth from its outset, with assets growing to 48.56 billion baht at the end of last year, a significant rise from 28.64 billion baht in 2001. The company's written premiums rose to 8.8 billion baht last year from 7.88 billion baht in 2005 and 5.97 billion baht in 2001.

Last year, the company reported an investment income of 2.65 billion baht from its investment assets worth over 41 billion baht. Net profit was 589.30 million baht in 2006 compared with 398.51 million baht in 2005.

By the end of this year, the company projected its first-year premiums to grow to 1.76 billion baht from 1.74 billion baht in 2006 on total premiums of 9.22 billion baht.

Bangkok Post