Safety nets grow in a brighter future 

Hands holding a glass jar of candy.
Issue 9, November 2021 | PCS Vision

Changes are opportunities in the life protection space

The world continues to change, vaccination rates are up, and borders are reopening. There is cautious optimism in the air; people want to reclaim the lives they have missed, but their underlying concerns are still there. With PCS by Mercer solutions, life can resume – with a strong safety net.

In the past two years, the biggest change we have seen is mindset of our clients. Most of our clients have a net worth between US$50 million and US$1 billion. Irrespective of the extent of their wealth however, before COVID-19, they prioritized wealth creation and many probably felt invincible. Since the onset of the pandemic, there has been a marked change.

Our clients now have an increased, even acute, awareness of mortality and the general ephemeral nature of life. Many are seriously examining succession, wealth transfer and their long-term legacy. Liquidity and income guarantees have also become prime concerns. All of that means it’s now easier to have conversations about life protection, and in fact, some prospective clients are initiating the conversation, rather than waiting for an approach.

In some jurisdictions, we are anticipating increased demand in offshore and onshore insurance planning as clients prepare for asset duties, or property/gift and estate tax.

PCS by Mercer’s client service model as the world learns to live with COVID-19

We are dedicated to servicing our clients however they need, so we take different approaches as required.

The remote life protection broking process – which PCS pioneered at the beginning of the pandemic – remains an important method through which we are connecting with any of our clients who would prefer it. Because even those who can travel relatively unencumbered might not choose to do so just yet. We have demonstrated our agility throughout the pandemic, and we continue to look for new ways to service our clients.

The best team for the next 12-24 months

We are really optimistic about 2022 and 2023. There is a lot of pent-up demand and the increased opportunities for face-to-face meetings mean conversion rates will be higher.

Life insurance as financial instruments that offer stability are increasingly attractive in the current environment in which equities growth is facing potential headwind and interest rates remain favorable.

To capture that market potential, we have grown our capabilities and appointed more experts. We have an exceptional team; Christina Wong and Davin Wong were recently appointed as CEOs in Hong Kong and Singapore respectively, and Bill Johnston leads the business development team globally while Jason Kwong was appointed Group Deputy COO and leads the Ops team across Singapore, Hong Kong and China.

Strengthening partnerships

PCS by Mercer is a business that is intrinsically dependent on strong personal relationships, and we are all deeply grateful for our strong collaborations with our banking partners, particularly those who have flexed with us throughout the past two years. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all; the future is looking brighter than ever, and we look forward to working even more closely together.
About the author(s)
Joseph Low

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