FWD Group has agreed to invest in a significant minority stake in PT Asuransi BRI Life, the life insurance arm of PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk.
The Hong Kong-headquartered insurance group said that following the investment, BRI Life will enter into a 15-year life insurance distribution agreement with BRI.
FWD’s agreement to invest in BRI Life follows its recent acquisition of PT Commonwealth Life and the signing of a 15-year distribution partnership with PT Bank Commonwealth in Indonesia.
Through the transaction, FWD will begin working closely with BRI as part of the strategic partnership, with the goal of transforming BRI Life into a leading life insurance company in Indonesia.
BRI is one of the largest banks in Indonesia, with more than 120 million customers, and is a market leader in micro and consumer banking. According to FWD, the partnership will be transformational for the insurer’s presence in Indonesia, allowing it to work closely with BRI Life to reach more customers in one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies.
“Indonesia is a country that offers great economic potential and is one of our key markets in the region where we intend to increase our investment over the long term,” said Huynh Thanh Phong, FWD Group CEO. “We’re excited to work closely with both BRI and BRI Life to extend FWD’s insurance expertise and digital capabilities to more customers in Indonesia. This investment will add significant size and scale to our presence in Indonesia, reflecting the substantial opportunity FWD sees to change the way people feel about insurance in a highly underpenetrated, rapidly growing market.”
In recent years, FWD has significantly grown its presence in Southeast Asia, in part due to the bancassurance channel. It has 12 bancassurance partnerships with leading banks in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
