singapore 17
THE BUSINESS TIMES WEEKEND SATURDAY/SUNDAY, MARCH 5-6, 2011
Aviva’s life, pensions sales
more than double in S’pore
Insurer confident that growth will continue this year
By Conrad Tan
[email protected]
BRITISH insurer Aviva’s sales of
life and pensions products in Singapore more than doubled to
£345 million (S$713 million) last
year from £155 million in 2009,
mirroring the group’s rapid sales
growth across the rest of Asia-Pacific.
Aviva Asia-Pacific chief executive Simon Machell told BT yesterday that he expects the insurer’s sales to continue improving
this year, given the strong growth
in most Asian economies.
“I still expect reasonable levels of sales growth this year,” Mr
Machell said. “I’m optimistic
about the prospects for the region. The economic conditions
in most of the markets in which
we operate are still very positive.”
But that same growth is also
pushing up staff costs in some
markets, he said. “In the insurance industry across Asia, there’s
more demand for talent than supply of it.” Still, he expects that the
group’s focus on controlling expense growth while selling higher-margin products will keep its
profit margins in the region high.
Aviva, which is based in London, said on Thursday that
Asia-Pacific sales of its life and
pensions products – which make
up the bulk of the group’s business – rose to £1.62 billion in
2010, up 48 per cent from 2009,
or a 39 per cent increase in local-currency terms. Sales of such
products grew the fastest in Singapore among its key markets,
which include mainland China,
Hong Kong, South Korea and India.
Its new-business margin – a
measure of how profitable new
sales are – also improved substantially in Asia, rising to 3.2 per
cent, from 0.9 per cent in 2009, as
the group focused on selling protection and savings products that
earn higher margins.
It helps that more customers
are seeking such products now.
“More people are now looking
for products with guarantees, particularly after the economic crisis,” Mr Machell said.
“We managed to grow our
business but also increase our
profitability,” he added. “We
have a collection of relatively
young businesses in Asia – the
oldest is in Singapore, which is
10 years old – so last year we
were starting to achieve scale efficiencies; we were selling more
policies, but we weren’t increasing our expenses by as much.”
MR MACHELL
‘More people are now looking for products with guarantees, particularly
after the economic crisis.’
Aviva’s operations also span
four other Asia-Pacific markets –
Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Malaysia and
Indonesia – and it employs some
8,000 staff across the region.
Within the group, however,
Asia is still a small contributor, accounting for just 5 per cent of its
£33.4 billion in life and pensions
sales worldwide last year. Over
two-thirds of the group’s life and
pensions sales came from the
United Kingdom and the rest of
Europe.
Over half of Aviva’s sales in
Asia come from bancassurance,
or partnerships with banks such
as DBS Group here and CIMB in
Malaysia. The group prefers that
sales channel because it gives it
quick and cheap access to a wide
distribution network – the banks’
– which is especially valuable in
new markets, Mr Machell said.
Taiwan semicon company to inject $120m into S’pore
By Amit Roy Choudhury
[email protected]
TAIWANESE semiconductor
company MediaTek yesterday announced a $120 million investment to ramp up its research and
development (R&D) centre in Singapore.
MediaTek is one of the
world’s leading fabless semiconductor companies specialising in
wireless communications and
digital multimedia solutions. The
14-year-old company, with revenues of around $5 billion, is the
largest fabless semiconductor
company in Asia and one of the
top five fabless semiconductor
companies globally.
A fabless semiconductor company is one which outsources the
production of its wafers and other products while concentrating
on design and R&D.
The Taiwanese company first
set up its R&D centre in Singapore in 2004 as a seven-man operation. Over the past seven
years, it has invested $100 million and its workforce has grown
to 150. The additional 120 million investment will boost its
workforce here to 250, according
to Ming-Kai Tsai, chairman and
CEO of MediaTek.
He added: “MediaTek Singapore is one of the company’s
most advanced R&D centres and
it helps lead our world-class RF
(radio frequency) solution developed for mobile, broadcast and
MR YIP
MediaTek’s investment will further
strengthen Singapore’s
semiconductor ecosystem
connectivity applications.” Singapore will now be MediaTek’s regional base for RF design.
Mr Tsai added that Singapore
is one of the company’s two global centres for IC (integrated circuits) design services.
“MediaTek’s increased investment in Singapore is driven by
the country’s distinctive assets including a multi-cultural mix of
world-class talent, easy logistics
for South-east Asia and the
world, and a well-functioning
business environment.
“By expanding in Singapore,
MediaTek is even better positioned to grow our mobile business in the region and beyond,”
said Mr Tsai. He added that the
company will continue to invest
in Singapore via increased collaboration and cooperation with
Nanyang Technological University’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
Leo Yip, chairman of the Singapore Economic Development
Board (EDB), said the investment
by MediaTek will further
strengthen Singapore’s semiconductor ecosystem, which comprises many major IC design
companies, foundries, and assembly and test houses.
Mr Yip noted that Singapore
has successfully built up a comprehensive semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem, which includes the top three foundries
and three of the top five outsourced assembly and test players.
The presence of a complete
semiconductor manufacturing
chain in one location enables design houses such as MediaTek to
work closely with their manufacturing partners throughout the
entire production process, the
EDB official added.
“Besides generating spin-offs
to Singapore-based semiconductor manufacturers, MediaTek’s
partnerships with local research
centres such as VIRTUS at the
NTU will further strengthen our
pool of analogue and RF IC design talent,” he added.
EDB has launched a $16 million IC Design Postgraduate
Scholarship which will provide
150 fully paid scholarships, and
the $50 million VIRTUS IC Design Centre of Excellence at NTU
which will train 100 postgraduate
students in analog, mixed-signal
and RF IC design over the next
five years.
Mr Yip noted that there is a
shortage of analog and RF IC design talent globally. However,
there is a good talent pool of
such talent in Singapore – more
than 40 per cent of IC design engineers in Singapore specialise in
analog, mixed-signal and RF design.
Temasek Trust appoints
Jacqueline Wong as CEO
By Sean Tan
[email protected]
TEMASEK Trust yesterday announced the appointment of Jacqueline Wong as its new CEO.
Ms Wong was formerly a senior partner with leading executive search firm Egon Zehnder International, where she was both
the Asia-Pacific leader of the financial services practice and global leader of the sovereign
wealth funds practice.
A Yale graduate, Ms Wong
brings with her an extensive list
of references which include
stints at Manufacturers Hanover
Trust (now known as JP Morgan
Chase) as an international corporate and investment banker, and
at Hill and Knowlton and Whirlpool Corporation as senior executive for corporate affairs and communications.
As CEO, she will shape Te-
masek Trust, guiding its strategic
direction and mission, and ensuring the institution has the capability and resources necessary to
ensure the trust’s long-term sustainability. She will also work
closely with the board of trustees
to uphold the trust’s role as an independent stakeholder in Temasek Holdings’ commitment to
philanthropy within Singapore,
Asia, and beyond.
While reiterating the trust’s
commitment to strategic and sustainable giving, chairman Lee
Seng Wee said Ms Wong’s appointment would help to meet
the needs of the trust’s “increasing scope and diversity of activities and philanthropic beneficiary platforms”.
“(Ms Wong) has the leadership, integrity, heart and strategic focus to help us in our mission. We are delighted to have
her join us,” he said.