FWD Group to invest in a strategic stake in BRI Life Indonesia
FWD Group (“FWD”) today announced it has entered into a Conditional Share Subscription Agreement to invest in a significant minority stake in PT Asuransi BRI Life (“BRI Life”), the life insurance arm of PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (“BRI”), and following which BRI Life will enter into a 15-year life insurance distribution agreement with BRI. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.
Existing BRI Life customer policies will not be affected by the investment and customers will continue to receive their protection, benefits and services in accordance with the terms of their policies.
Following this investment, FWD will work closely with BRI as part of the strategic partnership and contribute to the management and transformation of BRI Life into a leading life insurance company in Indonesia.
BRI is Indonesia’s largest bank with more than 120 million customers and the national champion in micro and consumer banking. This partnership will be transformational for FWD’s presence in Indonesia, allowing the insurer to work closely with BRI Life to deliver unique customer experience and product propositions to even more customers in one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies.
FWD’s agreement to invest in BRI Life follows its recent acquisition of PT Commonwealth Life and signing of a 15-year distribution partnership with PT Bank Commonwealth in Indonesia.
Huynh Thanh Phong, FWD Group Chief Executive Officer, said, “Indonesia is a country that offers great economic potential and one of our key markets in the region where we intend to increase our investment over the long term. 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.”
FWD has significantly grown its Southeast Asia reach in recent years, becoming a partner-of-choice for the leading banks in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, with 12 bancassurance partnerships across these three markets.
FWD first entered the Indonesian market through PT FWD Life Indonesia, its joint-venture insurance company that was launched in 2015. FWD has since been offering both conventional and Shariah products, through a multi-channel distribution platform, leveraging its existing bancassurance partnerships in the country.
