HSBC Launches Life Insurance Products With Vietnam’s Bao Viet

Financial services group HSBC launched new life insurance products in partnership with Bao Viet in Vietnam after it had received official approval to set up a wholly foreign-owned bank in the country last month.

Tapping on Vietnam's growing insurance market, HSBC introduced two prime life insurance products: anticipated endowment insurance and term life insurance, underwritten by Bao Viet. With Bao Viet as authorized agent and distributor, the new life policies offer individuals a combination of savings, life and disability insurance in Vietnam.

With local headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, HSBC claims to be the largest foreign bank in Vietnam and owns 10% of the share capital of Bao Viet Holdings, the largest insurer in the country. With the eye on bancassurance business in Vietnam, HSBC is opting to offer integrated financial and banking services, a model it said has proven to be successful in many Asian markets.

"We continue to increase our participation in Vietnam's economy and financial markets," said Thomas Tobin, HSBC chief executive, in Vietnam, in a statement. The wholly foreign-owned bank license allows HSBC to develop "a broader distribution network" to reach existing and new customers across Vietnam, he said.

(By Iris Lai, Hong Kong bureau manager: [email protected])