Zurich Takaful’s new insurance plan in line with Bank Negara’s market strategy guidelines and makes the product more customer-centric
Driven by Bank Negara’s market strategy, the nation’s insurance industry underwent a significant change for Investment-Linked Plans (ILPs) effective Oct 1, 2020.
“As per the guidelines of Bank Negara, insurers must allocate more units to the customer. So, this has made the product more customer-centric,” Zurich Takaful Malaysia Berhad (Zurich Takaful) CEO Mukesh Dhawan explained.
ILPs are coverage plans that combine both investment and protection. The contributions paid would provide takaful cover and be invested in specific investment funds of choice.
According to Mukesh, ILPs in the takaful industry have been holding up well regarding driving growth.
“We were among the first to launch a new ILP plan called Takaful ProInvest (ProInvest), in early November 2020, with a higher allocation of units.”
ProInvest is an investment-linked family Takaful plan which, according to Mukesh, is a customer-friendly, transparent and dynamic product.
“You can increase your contribution by doing top-ups as your life progresses and you can withdraw and sell units if you are in sudden need of money.”
“While you do this, your family takaful policy or plan is intact to protect you. You don’t have to nullify or sell the whole plan.”
Protection up to age 100
The nature of ILP allows customers to personalise their premiums and contributions, according to affordability.
As Mukesh puts it, ILPs work like a chassis – the supporting frame, which structurally supports its construction of an object.
“So, with ILPs, a parent creates the chassis for their future need. Over 20 to 25 years, they can top up and add more money. They also can withdraw and cash in some of the units for various needs such as to fund children’s education, vacations or life milestone events such as weddings and so on.
“ProInvest gives all this in one. That is why this product is very flexible, dynamic and customer friendly.”
With the population living longer, another thoughtful benefit is the provision of Total & Permanent Disability and Golden Age Disability benefits that provide lump-sum disability payout up to age 100.
“As life progresses, you can attach add-ons for premiums, critical illness care as well as other benefits. ProInvest is the only ILP plan in the market that gives you protection up to age 100.”
You can increase your contribution by doing top-ups as your life progresses and you can withdraw and sell units if you are in sudden need of money. While you do this, your family takaful policy or plan is intact to protect you. You don’t have to nullify or sell the whole plan.
2021 and beyond
According to Mukesh, the prospects are good and in the new year, Zurich Takaful is committed to growing in Malaysia with a wide suite of products and distribution channels.
“Apart from ILP like ProInvest, we also have traditional plans such as Term Takaful, Takaful ProEssential and Takaful Family Hero, which are all popular products. We are also one of the few operators that have a standalone cancer care product called CancerCare.
“So, with a wide range of products, we aim to serve the underserved people in Malaysia.”
Another critical success factor is distribution. Zurich Takaful’s plans for 2021 is to drive growth with a multi-channel distribution approach.
“We have a dominant agency force, whereby they contribute to about 90 to 95 per cent of our business. We have about 7,000 professionally trained agents nationwide, known as Zurich Takaful Wealth Planners.
“With Zurich My Second Income Plan, we are committed to growing this channel by recruiting more Malaysians. It is the perfect time to provide a second income to Malaysians, many of whom are looking for second careers.”
Zurich My Second Income Plan is a career program, whereby recruits will be trained and groomed to become a Takaful agent.
Mukesh continued: “Another channel we are committed to serving Malaysians is through online direct channels.
“We are going to make sure we are more visible in the virtual space, especially now where virtual is taking over everything.”
Mukesh believes this is the perfect time to provide financial immunity to Malaysians.
“While doctors are frontliners to give immunity through vaccination, we are the frontliners to give financial immunity to Malaysians.” — The Health
