Looking back to look forward: Singapore

Prudential opens its first full branch in Singapore at Raffles Square on 1 March, writing 540 policies with £194,200 sums assured.

Even during the Second World War and the occupation by Japan, we keep our customers’ records safe and stayed in touch with policyholders as much as possible.

We re-open after the war and reinstate pre-war insurance policies, even though premiums were not paid during the war. The future of our business and that of our customers are always top of mind, and we help customers to renew their insurance policies and receive full benefits.

We are recognised for being the highest achiever in the Prudential group with 3,355 policies in force in 1948, a big number for that time.

PACS is given complete authority on underwriting.

Our 25^th anniversary – we now have 40 staff (up from three in 1931) and 120 representatives (up from one in 1931).

Singapore gains independence and the branch name is changed to South East Asia.

We are one of the chief partners in financing the construction of Ocean Building, a 27-storey office tower which will become our head office for over 20 years.

We are third in the Singapore market with £34.7 million of business, with 70,000 policyholders and 1,000 agents.

The Singapore transfers to a new subsidiary company and is now named Prudential Assurance Company Singapore. We launch our first television advertisement with the tagline ‘When you’ve been around as long as we have, you know what life is about’.

PACS becomes part of Prudential Corporation Asia, which was established to oversee strategy and expansion in the Asia region.

The regional advertising campaign and tagline ‘Always Listening, Always Understanding’ is launched.

We win the National Productivity Award, awarded by the National Productivity Board.

We launch a bancassurance partnership with Standard Chartered Bank.

We move into Prudential Tower, a 30-storey head office in Singapore’s Central Business District.

PACS is named life insurance company of the year at the Asia Insurance Industry Awards. We also launch a new PruCard, the first credit card that allowed customers to earn reward points to pay their premiums.

We achieve a milestone of one million policies.

PACS celebrates our 20^th anniversary since being the first to launch a complete suite of Investment-Linked Life Insurance Policies in Singapore. We introduce PRUInvest, a first-to-market portal to enhance the customer experience for our Single Premium Investment-Linked Life Insurance Policies customers.

We are awarded the prestigious Asia’s Best Employer Award.

We become the first insurer to be conferred the Plaque of Commendation (Gold) Award by the National Trades Union Congress.

We move into our Marina One office, PRU WorkPLAYce, that is designed to inspire innovation and blending creativity, collaboration and wellness.

We are the first in Singapore to adopt a claims-based pricing for our PRUShield Plans and remain established as one of the leaders in Shield.

We launch the PRU Fintegrate Partnership, where we partner fintech startups in Singapore and globally to develop digital solutions for customers.

We also launch askPRU, the first AI-powered chatbot in the industry to provide our financial consultants with real-time information about their customers’ policies.

PACS inks a five-year Grand Sponsorship commitment (2018-2022) to the Singapore FinTech Festival, the largest of its kind in the world.

We are the first financial institution in Singapore to enable employees to work beyond the statutory retirement age of 62.

We equalise the Central Provident Fund contribution rate for employees above age 55 and introduce first-in-market medical plans to cover the employees of corporate clients up to age 100.

PACS launches Pulse by Prudential (“Pulse”), an AI-powered mobile app to provide Singapore residents with round-the-clock access to healthcare services and real-time health information.

Singapore enters a Circuit Breaker period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We swiftly roll out PRURemote Advice within seven days, a video conferencing and e-signature tool that allows our financial consultants to remain engaged with their customers for advisory and policy sales virtually.

We set up a PRUCare Package to support the community, consisting of S$3.5 million in cash benefits and donations to aid more than 3,400 individuals. Together with the rest of Singapore’s insurance industry, we defer premium payments and provide hospitalisation benefits for COVID-19 patients to reduce the financial burden on our customers.

PACS is awarded the highest score in the Insurance category in a 2020 national customer survey, the Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore.

PACS is named one of LinkedIn’s Top 15 Companies in Singapore, and the only insurer in the list.

PACS launches Wealth@Pulse on Pulse, to help Singaporeans better plan for rising longevity with new wealth solutions.

We introduce PRUSafe Covid Cover on Pulse, a complimentary microinsurance plan that offers complimentary financial protection against the side effects of COVID-19 vaccinations.

Our 5,000-strong agency undergoes a certification programme, Certificate in Financial Needs Analysis and Plan Construction (Level 1), which is accredited by the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF). We will have the highest number of IBF-certified financial consultants in the life insurance industry by end 2021.

More than 120 employees have undergone the Professional Conversion Programme to date, supported by PACS and IBF, to enhance their skillsets for future-readiness and strengthen our workforce capabilities.

We believe in cultivating a Do Good culture and promoting sustainable volunteerism to help people get the most out of life. The Prudential Longevity Pledge was also set up this year to support the vulnerable groups in our community.