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AIA Thailand has found its defence works best when coming first from the government
CHAROEN KITTIKANYA
American International Assurance (AIA) Thailand has had to deal with alarm among its policyholders over the past three weeks since its US parent American Insurance Group (AIG) obtained emergency loans of up to US$70 billion to cover potential losses.
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| White: Be open and responsive |
The turmoil abroad over AIG's exposure to derivatives and other securities affected by the US credit led to frantic calls to AIA from Thai customers uncertain about the long-term security of their insurance policies.
Requests by AIA's customers to terminate or surrender contracts have risen from an average of 20-30 to 50 per day.
AIA Thailand, founded in 1938, is by far the largest life insurer in the country, with a market share of more than 50% and life insurance reserves of 286.67 billion baht, more than enough to cover its liabilities.
As of July, AIA had total assets of more than 383.06 billion baht with retained earnings of more than 70 billion baht. Capital funds totalled 69.24 billion baht, nearly 12 times the legal minimum.
However, these massive assets have not reassured many anxious policyholders.
In their efforts to clear the air and underline its financial strength, AIA Thailand's management and corporate communications department have worked to explain the situation to all stakeholders, focusing first on staff and sales agents.
The company has categorised its stakeholders _ staff, agency forces, business partners, media, regulators and the public as a whole _ and communicated with them accordingly as quickly as possible through meetings and letters.
The management first called an urgent meeting with staff and agency leaders, informing them about the company's situation and whom they could contact to get accurate answers and advice for communicating with customers.
In the meantime, letters were circulated to the company's agents countrywide to explain the situation and to underscore the company's sound financial status.
AIA has also been quick to train customer service and call centre staff in how to handle an anticipated flood of calls from customers.
In addition, clarification letters were sent immediately to all of its policyholders.
To strengthen the credibility of its own communication, AIA asked the industry's regulator, Office of the Insurance Commission to inform the public about AIA's financial stability and to call on AIA policyholders to remain calm amid the turmoil.
The Thai Life Assurance Association (TLA) also stepped forward to reaffirm that the local industry remains fully intact and unaffected by the US financial crisis. Following this, AIA's management then met the media to assert the company's strength.
''We wanted the government to first tell the truth about what's happening and who AIA is, instead of having the company have to defend itself,'' said Thomas White, executive vice-president and general manager of AIA Thailand.
The company has also stayed in close touch with its business partners.
It authorised two of its local senior managers _ senior vice-president and deputy general manager Anucha Laokwansatit and senior vice-president Sutti Rajitrangson _ to visit and give interviews at numerous media outlets.
In addition, the company bought full-page advertisements in print media to reaffirm its financial stability.
''We have had good feedback from our distribution partners and customers that we have been open and have responded as much as possible,'' said Mr White.
''We've worked very closely with regulators and distribution partners to ensure we are in a financially strong position. The fact that we still have 99.9% of customers with us clearly demonstrates that customers have strong confidence in AIA Thailand.''
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