DBS seals $1.6b bancassurance deal with Manulife

The 15-year contract will cover four markets.

DBS has bagged a $1.6b (US$1.2b) bancassurance deal with Manulife Financial Asia. Under the agreement, DBS will distribute Manulife’s insurance products in four key markets, namely Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Indonesia.

The agreement signed today will take effect on 1 January 2016. Manulife intends to fund the deal with internal resources.

There will also be ongoing, variable payments, which are based on the success of the partnership

Leading to the agreement with Manulife, DBS conducted a thorough insurance partner selection process, which attracted strong interest from a number of leading regional and multinational insurers.

The process considered a number of factors, including customer focus, expertise, execution track record and potential for long term value creation.

“Bancassurance is a key focus for DBS and an important part of our overall customer value proposition. We are already working with Manulife in Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia, and will soon be their flagship regional bancassurance partner and their largest bancassurance partner globally,” said DBS CEO Piyush Gupta.