Next up in GAIP's new series of interviews, we have Prudential Singapore's Chief Executive Officer, Dennis Tan, who explains the importance of life and health insurers in supporting the growth of societies, while meeting the changing needs of customers and the economy.
I am Dennis Tan, CEO of Prudential Singapore. I'm also part of the Group Executive Committee at Prudential plc, as Managing Director of the Strategic Business Group covering Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
How do life and health insurers such as Prudential support healthy and prosperous societies in Asia?
With the changing demographics, we are seeing increased longevity particularly in Asia, and the impact of climate change are fast becoming more prominent as well. Hence, making health and financial security accessible, affordable and inclusive, plays a key role in supporting the needs of individuals and businesses.
Well, over at Prudential, we wish to stay true to our purpose of helping people get the most out of life, and we fulfil this by making healthcare accessible. We also deliver the best savings, health, and protection solutions to protect customers' wealth and grow their assets. We want to empower everyone to save for their goals, especially with increasing longevity.
Our Integrated Shield Plans provide comprehensive and affordable medical coverage. We minimise out-of-pocket expenses, provide seamless access to value-added services, and have fast claims processing for customers. To support inclusivity, our customised group insurance plans provide protection for employees up to the age of 100.
Looking ahead, what do you anticipate as being the key challenges and opportunities for the sector?
While the pandemic was viewed negatively in the last few years, a silver lining was that it taught everyone the importance of protection. We must meet the changing needs of our customers, ensure a future-ready workforce and agency, and integrate ESG concerns into our business, to thrive amid an uncertain macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape.
We focus on ensuring our customers have access to quality healthcare. We also want to help them plan for their financial future in today's digital world, amid a challenging economic landscape. To support this – we established a financial advisory arm (Prudential Financial Advisers) earlier this year. This complements our existing distribution channels, comprising our tied agency and our exclusive bancassurance partners – UOB and Standard Chartered Bank.
Another challenge we all face is our climate crisis. Asia is a key contributor to half of global greenhouse gas emissions and the financial sector plays a critical role in net-zero transition. The government has recently announced their plans to expand their focus beyond green finance to one that includes transition finance to decarbonise the economy faster. The key areas they will support include growing green and transition solutions, improving the quality of ESG data and disclosures, and ensuring financial institutions are adopting credible transition plans.
Prudential is committed to doing our part.
How can the Global Asia Insurance Partnership, as a unique public-private partnership, contribute to Prudential's purpose?
GAIP's focus is on large-scale systemic risks, such as climate and disaster risks, health and longevity risks, as well as new and emerging risks. These are risks that can and will affect our customers, our community and stakeholders. It is important to find solutions to mitigate these risks. We are invested in innovating and re-imagining solutions.
Partnerships are also important to us. We actively explore new public-private partnerships to achieve even greater impact, and I look forward to working with GAIP to find solutions today for tomorrow's problems. Collective effort, at scale and with speed, is crucial across the entire ecosystem of policymakers, regulators, academics and financial institutions. This is also why we partner with organisations and stakeholders such as GAIP in support of building a greener future.
