How HSBC Life and Manulife turned Macau into a springboard for insurance sales during Covid lockdowns
- Insurers used Macau as a base to grow their premiums over the past two years as the city kept its borders open to mainland tourists
- Manulife’s premium sales in Macau jumped 126 per cent in 2021, driven mainly by policy sales to mainland visitors, area CEO says
The former Portuguese colony shut its borders to foreigners in March 2020 as the pandemic raged, while the doors remained open to visitors from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, according to government rules. The curbs on foreigners were eased in August 2022, but with entry only via mainland checkpoints.
Hong Kong-based insurers including HSBC Life and Manulife have seized the opportunity to sell more policies over the past two years, using Macau as the springboard to reach out to mainland customers.
“We have accelerated our investments in Macau, including the expansion of our agency force,” said Patrick Graham, CEO of Manulife’s Hong Kong and Macau operations. “We provide comprehensive training in Mandarin as an option for our agents [in Hong Kong and Macau], covering product knowledge, sales techniques and selling process, regulations, and compliance guidelines.”
Manulife’s agency force in Macau more than doubled over the last four years and reached over 1,000 at the end of 2022, he added.
