Asia's insurance advisors still optimistic despite pandemic

Seven in 10 see rise in critical illness insurance sales.

Majority of insurance advisors in Asia are optimistic about the economy and sales growth despite the pandemic, according to a Sun Life survey.

More than half (56%) expressed optimism regarding the economy whilst three-fourths (70%) are hopeful about the financial outlook of the life sector and their abilities to grow sales this year.

Almost eight out of 10 (79%) see sales growth in medical products and 77% forecast rise in critical illness insurance sales.

Five in 10 (57%) believe that demand for insurance and protection will go up.

Digital sales activity is related to stronger performance during the pandemic, with 59% recognising the need to use both digital and non-digital tools for communication, and that social media is needed for self-promotion (53%) and client prospects (52%).

The insurer around 1,600 insurance agents and advisors working for a range of insurance carriers in Hong Kong, Philippines,Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, between August and September 2020.

The findings came as Sun Life announced a partnership with Google to offer its advisors across Asia Google Workspace, the industry’s cloud-native communication and collaboration solution, to meet evolving needs of its advisor force. The initiative is one of a range of investments Sun Life is making to power its advisor force with digital, data and analytics as part of a digital enterprise strategy.