Prudential plc has received approval from the Macau Special Administrative Region to establish a branch of its Hong Kong business in Macau.
With the addition of Macau, Prudential will be present in 24 markets across Asia and Africa. It will initially offer life and health insurance products in Macau through a digitally assisted agency force. These include multi-currency options to meet customers’ needs in savings, healthcare and protection.
To lead the new operation, the insurer has recruited Chris Ma as the general manager of Prudential Macau. He was most recently CEO of AIA Macau, bringing more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry, with a strong track record in agency operations and recruitment. Lawrence Lam, CEO of Prudential Hong Kong, will have management and performance oversight of the Macau branch.
The branch is located at 12 Andar A, FIT Centre of Macau, Avenida Doutor Mario Soares.
Lilian Ng, managing director of Prudential’s strategic business group, said the new Macau branch completes the company’s footprint in China’s Greater Bay Area (GBA).
The GBA is made up of nine cities in Guangdong Province and the two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau. It has a total population of 86.7 million people and contributed 11% of China’s GDP in 2021.
“While we have seen rapid economic development in Macau, insurance penetration remains low,” Ng said. “With the city’s fast-ageing population, there is strong demand from its residents for solutions that can help them access private healthcare facilities in Macau and elsewhere in the GBA.”
According to Prudential, Macau had a life insurance penetration rate of 6.4% in 2021 – roughly a third of Hong Kong’s 17.3%.
“The Macau branch will play a pivotal role in our strategy to make healthcare and financial security more accessible to people in the GBA, as we leverage our 50-year experience of providing insurance to customers in Hong Kong,” Ng said.
