Manulife in the Philippines said it will launch more investment-linked products this year, especially principal-protected investment products.
"Investment-linked products have been very popular recently because of favourable market conditions. Consumers can earn as much as 6 to 7% – and get protection – as compared to 2% in a time deposit," said president and CEO Indren Naidoo in a first quarter results statement last week.
Wealth sales grew by 440% and weighted insurance sales by a record 62% over Q1 2010, it said. Manulife expanded its agency force by 66% to 2,513 agents at the end of March and is looking to increase it to 3,000 by year end.