BY HELEN BURGGRAF
As the UK life insurance
industry heads into the
final weeks of 2011, it is
clear it will not end up
being quite the bumper
year for offshore bond
sales to onshore clients
that some had forecast.
In February, offshore
life industry executives told
International Adviser that
favourable market conditions
for offshore bonds
had caused them to set
sales targets for their teams
as much as 20% ahead of
last year’s figures.
But with the first three
quarters of business now
in, onshore sales of both
DECEMBER 2011
For Distributors of International Fund, Life and Banking Products www.international-adviser.com
NEWS
Platform One attracts
offshore IFA interest 5
Singapore-based Scots
form business network 5
Online recruitment agency
ready for full rollout 5
Gorst elected chief
minister for Jersey 7
HMRC demands ‘proof’
of Liechtenstein links 7
Singapore advisers
start using CKAs 7
Prudential global drive
prompts Asia rebrand 8
Offshore property
targeted by HMRC 8
Barclays Wealth looks
to double China assets 10
Aviva expands into
Benelux region 13
Morningstar replaces
qualitative ratings 14
Coutts fined for selling
AIG product to HNWIs 17
BoAML launches Dim
Sum Index in HK 17
Miller steps down
as Legg Mason CIO 18
Pimco fund taps into
‘best credit ideas’ 18
Manulife set to enter
Cambodian market 21
Lang takes over as
chairman of AILO 21
World’s wealthy show
little trust in families 56
Features – page 4
UK offshore bond sales
miss ambitious targets
Health insurers looking towards China
Providing health insurance
for expatriate employees in
Shanghai and elsewhere in
China has long been more
challenging than in most
other major countries.
Reasons include the
country’s lack of a private
healthcare network comparable
to what expat Brits
and Americans are accustomed
to back home.
Indeed, top quality
private care at the best
Chinese hospitals can be as
expensive as it is in the US,
MD profile 27-28
Ian Phillips The
Investors Trust
Assurance vicepresident
on
the company’s
ambitious emerging
market plans
UK sales of single premium offshore bonds
£bn
8
6
4
2
0
’08
Source: ABI
’09
single premium and regular
premium offshore bonds
are running largely flat
compared with last year’s
results, which in turn were
the world’s most expensive
healthcare market, insurance
experts say.
“A room in a top
Chinese hospital can vary
anywhere from $600 to
$1,000 a night, and that is
before the doctor has even
poked his head round the
door,” said James Cooper,
sales manager at insurer
William Russell, which is
looking after expat clients
from its UK base, as it
mulls its options in the
mainland.
Country profile 30-31
Singapore The city
state has become
a hub for Asia’s
noveau riche and is
boosting its appeal
to the region’s
entrepreneurs
’10
’11
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
38% ahead of 2009’s.
Total new business sales
of UK-distributed offshore
bonds in the first
Continued on page 5
Within the past year,
though, a number of private
health insurance
giants such as Aetna and
Bupa, along with smaller
firms, have begun establishing
a mainland presence
to target the Chinese
market, which is understood
to include an estimated
600,000 expatriates.
Normally they do this
via an alliance with an
established Chinese insurer,
which gives them an
Continued on page 7
Kames Capital
prepares for
Asia expansion
BY SIMON DANAHER
Kames Capital, formerly
Aegon Asset Management
UK, will launch into the
Asia market and has
opened its first office in
the region, in Hong Kong.
The office will be overseen
by James Cooper, who
joins from financial consultancy
firm Liminal Image,
as head of business development,
Asia. Reporting to
Kames’ head of distribution,
Martin Harris, he will
be responsible for developing
the business across the
Asian market.
Commenting on the
expansion plans, Harris
indicated that Kames
intends to expand quickly
in the region.
He said: “In the medium
term we want to have some
of our investment people
based in Asia, this will help
our management of both
insurance company assets
and third party assets.
“We hope to be able
to offer Asian funds to
Asian investors, managed
and run by Kames Capital
in Asia.”
Andrew Fleming, who
heads Kames, also said
that this year’s rebrand
was an important step in
the business “becoming a
major force in investment
management”.
Intermediary profile 33-34
Signia Wealth
Fresh thinking has
helped attract a
steady number of
HNW clients to the
company in a short
space of time
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