Samsung Life Insurance is eyeing expansion to the Philippines, possibly through the purchase of a life insurer there, the Philippine Daily Inquirer said Wednesday.
Philippine Insurance Commissioner Emmanuel F. Dooc was quoted as saying he met Tuesday a “foreign investor, which I think is dead set [on] establishing a commercial presence in the Philippines,” namely in life insurance. He would not name the company, but industry sources said it was Samsung, whose interest in the Philippines is growing.
Dooc said his meeting was with an “Asian company belonging to the largest conglomerate in its country,” adding that it would likely go after an acquisition to “hit the ground running.”
Foreign insurers are eyeing the Philippines, he said, thanks to a large population of 100 million, economic growth and the low insurance penetration rate of an estimated 1.5 percent.
Samsung Life is Korea’s biggest insurance company, with its main business lines being life and health insurance, annuities and other financial services.
The company has joint ventures abroad in China and Thailand.