Wealth protection gap hindering Singapore’s affluent from growing their wealth for the long term: AIA Affluence Barometer 2019 reveals

Singapore, 9 July 2019 – AIA Singapore today unveiled AIA Platinum Wealth Elite to address a crucial gap that exists for the affluent¹; a single plan to meet both their wealth creation goals and protection needs based on their respective investment time horizon. Launching on 19 July, this innovative product is the first flexible plan in Singapore offering customers potential upside made possible by providing access to a range of funds in the AIA Investment Funds Platform which will be overseen by AIA’s own investments team, and powered by world-class institutional investors including AIA, Baillie Gifford, Wellington Management, and Blackrock.

AIA Platinum Wealth Elite further strengthens AIA’s wealth management proposition to better serve the rapidly growing affluent population² in Singapore. It is also a significant milestone for AIA Group across Asia Pacific, as for the first time, AIA’s customers will have direct access to AIA Funds Platform, which will be managed and overseen by AIA Investments – the investment team of the world’s largest life insurer³. AIA Funds Platform will offer a range of funds to support the Investment-Linked Products (ILP) business of AIA Group businesses.

“AIA chose Singapore as the first market for the launch of our innovative savings proposition to help address the rapidly growing need for both trusted advice and a distinctive approach to investment management. Affluent consumers are constantly looking for new ways to grow and preserve their wealth with confidence. AIA has taken a radical approach by giving our customers access to specially created and exclusively managed investment funds by some of the world’s finest institutional asset managers combined with AIA’s protection solutions, high-quality advice and service. Our aim is to provide our customers with new and innovative ways to help them achieve financial security and peace of mind for the long-term,” said Mr. Ng Keng Hooi, Group Chief Executive and President, AIA.

“The AIA Affluence Barometer 2019 revealed what the affluent segment already know but are struggling to act on – that is to grow your wealth, you need to effectively manage investment risks and returns as well as have adequate protection. AIA Platinum Wealth Elite addresses these needs concurrently and we believe our wealth management proposition will provide a good solution to the affluent customers in Singapore.” said Mr. Patrick Teow, Chief Executive Officer of AIA Singapore. 

Ms. Ho Lee Yen, Chief Customer and Marketing Officer of AIA Singapore added, “With AIA Platinum Wealth Elite, we solve this quandary for Singapore’s affluent by combining the best of wealth management and protection not just for wealth accumulation, but to future-proof their lifestyles, tapping into our 100-year track record of insuring risks and managing investments across the region to make this a reality.” 

“A market-first, AIA Platinum Wealth Elite will provide our customers with access to institutional investors that we have worked very closely with for many years, continuously bringing sustainable investment returns for AIA Group. Carefully selected institutional managers combined with AIA’s oversight and stewardship is exactly how we manage our own balance sheet assets and is aimed at producing long term investment outcomes. This approach is now available to policyholders directly for the first time.” said Dr Mark Konyn, Chief Investment Officer of AIA Group.

Standout features of AIA Platinum Wealth Elite will address immediate needs, concerns and wants of the affluent in Singapore, as well as leverage opportunities, including:

Other key findings and insights from the AIA Affluence Barometer 2019 include: 

AIA Singapore’s wealth management proposition: initiatives to cater for the affluent in Singapore

About AIA

AIA Group Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively “AIA” or the “Group”) comprise the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group. It has a presence in 18 markets in Asia-Pacific – wholly-owned branches and subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, New Zealand, Macau, Brunei, Cambodia, a 97 per cent subsidiary in Sri Lanka, a 49 per cent joint venture in India and a representative office in Myanmar.

The business that is now AIA was first established in Shanghai almost a century ago in 1919. It is a market leader in the Asia-Pacific region (ex-Japan) based on life insurance premiums and holds leading positions across the majority of its markets. It had total assets of US$230 billion as of 31 December 2018.

AIA meets the long-term savings and protection needs of individuals by offering a range of products and services including life insurance, accident and health insurance and savings plans. The Group also provides employee benefits, credit life and pension services to corporate clients. Through an extensive network of agents, partners and employees across Asia-Pacific, AIA serves the holders of 33 million individual policies and over 16 million participating members of group insurance schemes.

AIA Group Limited is listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the stock code “1299” with American Depositary Receipts (Level 1) traded on the over-the-counter market (ticker symbol: “AAGIY”). AIA Singapore.

¹ Affluent individual defined as a person having an annual personal income of above S$120k, or annual household income of above S$150k.
² There are 183,737 millionaires in Singapore, and 1,000 who are 'crazy rich': Credit Suisse. The Straits Times (18 October 2018). Available at: https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/number-of-millionaires-in-singapore-up-11-to-183737-in-year-to-mid-2018-credit
³ Source: Bloomberg, 24 June 2019.
⁴ Please note that while the policy may be paid in full, the actual policy value will depend on the actual performance of the policy as well as any alterations to the policy, such as premium holiday or partial withdrawals. There is a possibility that the policy value will fall to zero and terminate (except when the No Lapse Privilege is in effect). Policyholder can avoid the policy lapsing by topping up additional premium.
⁵ Source: As at 31 December 2018, unless otherwise stated.