Prudential Plc Value Stock - Dividend - Research Selection

Our Businesses

Prudential is structured around four main business units: Prudential Corporation Asia (incorporating the asset management business, Eastspring Investments), Jackson, Prudential UK and Europe insurance operations and M&G (the UK and European fund manager of the Group). These are supported by central functions which are responsible for Prudential strategy, cash and capital management, leadership development and succession, reputation management and other core group functions.

Asia

Life Insurance

Introduction

Prudential Corporation Asia has operations in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and other Asian countries. Its core business is health, protection, either attached to a life policy or on a standalone basis, other life insurance (including participating business) and mutual funds. It also provides selected personal lines property and casualty insurance, group insurance, institutional fund management and consumer finance (Vietnam only). The product range offered is tailored to suit the individual country markets. Insurance products are distributed mainly through an agency sales force together with selected banks, while the majority of mutual funds are sold through banks and brokers. Local partners are mandatory in some markets, as reflected in Prudential’s life insurance operations in China (through its joint venture with CITIC) and in India (an associate with the majority shareholder being ICICI Bank) and Prudential’s Takaful business in Malaysia (through its joint venture with Bank Simpanan Nasional). In the fund management business, Prudential has joint venture operations in India (through its joint venture with ICICI Bank), China (through its joint venture with CITIC) and Hong Kong (through its joint venture with Bank of China International).

As at 31 December 2016, Prudential Corporation Asia had:

• over 14 million life insurance customers with life and fund management operations in 16 markets;

• distribution through more than 10,000 active bank branches across Asia with relationships including Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB), ICICI Bank in India, CITIC in China and Thanachart in Thailand;

• one of the largest networks of tied agents in Asia;

• consistently high brand recognition, outperforming many other financial services companies and had received multiple awards for its customer service; and

• a top 3 position in 9 out of the 12 life markets.(1)

(1) Prudential’s rank in insurance market by new business. Based on formal (competitors results releases, local regulators, insurance associations) and informal (industry exchange) market share data.

Market overview

Asia’s economic transformation started in the1980s and the momentum remains strong. Although growth rates on a period-by-period basis can fluctuate due to the influence of macro economic and geopolitical factors, the unprecedented increases in personal wealth enjoyed by the growing number of Asian families will continue into the foreseeable future. Between 2010 and 2020 it is estimated that there will be over 700 million people who will have risen from rural subsistence to more affluent lifestyles. Family profiles are changing too. Being able to finance children’s education is a realistic goal, life expectancies are lengthening dramatically, the incidence of chronic diseases is increasing significantly and traditional family and community support networks are breaking down. All these factors can place significant stress on a family’s finances.

The provision of personal financial security is one of the hallmarks of a successful society. Governments in the region appreciate this but typically only have appetites to provide rudimentary levels of state-sponsored healthcare and other social services. Consequently they are keen for individuals to take responsibility for their own financial well-being, address the health and protection gaps and establish savings plans towards their financial security.

While basic medical services may be provided by the state, there can be a high level of out-of-pocket expenses.Around 42 per cent of healthcare spend in the region is out-of-pocket, with this figure as high as 56 per cent in some markets, compared with 12 per cent in the US and 9 per cent in the UK. This creates strong demand for financial solutions to protect against the potentially devastating impacts of health-related incidents on a family’s finances. Critical illness and medical riders are popular additions to life insurance policies in the region.

Insurance penetration remains low and prospects for protection-oriented insurance products remain high. Penetration rates vary by market in the region, which includes under-served markets such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand, and better served ones like Singapore and Malaysia. While customer needs vary in each market, our product solutions are manufactured to serve the bespoke needs of each market and are distributed by our multi-channel distribution network.

As an individual’s personal wealth increases, demand is created for savings and investment solutions that enable the individual to further increase that wealth and plan towards financial security. Around 60 per cent of Asians’ savings are held in unproductive cash, and the loss of compounded investment income that could be earned from putting these savings to work in the capital markets is material.

Prudential has been successful in identifying these opportunities and executing strategies in Asia that enable us to grow our business materially, meet customers’ needs and consistently deliver value to shareholders.

Prudential has been operating in Asia for over 90 years and since 1994 has built high-performing businesses with a product portfolio centred on regular savings and protection, multi-channel distribution, award-winning customer services and a widely recognised brand. Eastspring Investments is a leading asset manager in Asia and provides our clients with access to investment management expertise across a broad range of asset classes.

Although there are common elements such as our focus on regular premium, protection and capital-efficient products, each market in our portfolio has unique characteristics and we adapt our participation strategies accordingly. For example, in Vietnam and Indonesia, life insurance awareness and penetration rates are very low and our priority is building nationwide distribution scale that reaches potential customers and provides them with their first, relatively simple life insurance cover. In Singapore, by contrast, we have more sophisticated financial planners providing advice to customers on a more complex variety of protection, savings and investment options, either directly or via our bank partners.

One of Prudential’s core strengths is the diversity of our portfolio—by geography, distribution channel and product—and the flexibility this gives us in responding to particular opportunities and managing our participation in areas where markets have become more challenging. Consequently, while the headline performance of Prudential Corporation Asia remains relatively stable and predictable over time—we are on track to deliver the five-year performance objectives announced in 2013—the individual components are likely to flex period by period. For example, we have recently seen strong demand from Mainland Chinese customers for our participating and critical illness products in Hong Kong, while in Indonesia the emerging middle class is under pressure from systemic challenges in the economy and so demand for our regular-premium, protection-orientated life insurance has been temporarily depressed in that market. We always seek the appropriate balance between value and volume.

Customers

With more than 14.6 million life customers in Asia, Prudential has one of the largest pan-regional insurance customer bases, with a retention rate of over 90 per cent. To illustrate the scale of our growth and effectiveness of our execution, during 2016 renewal premium collected from our existing customers increased considerably and we paid claims of nearly £5 billion to our customers.

Products

Our life product suite has three main categories, participating: linked and protection.

Although the protection component remains relatively consistent in the mix, reflecting our focus on this core customer need, the products within this category continue to evolve. For example, in Hong Kong we recently added a new feature that covers customers in the event of multiple diagnoses of cancer.

For the savings component of our insurance policies, we have seen softer demand for unit-linked products given the recent volatility in capital markets and correspondingly increased demand for participating products and their smoothed returns. The markets do have strong demand for products with high levels of guaranteed return but although these can generate significant sales volumes we only participate in this sector in a very controlled way. We maintain our balance sheet discipline and are unconcerned by any temporary erosion in market share.