By Melissa Luz T. Lopez, Senior Reporter
PRU LIFE UK has rolled out a balanced fund that will allow Filipinos to invest offshore, as part of the life insurer’s push for clients to diversify portfolios and deploy excess liquidity in the domestic market.
The insurer unveiled its Asian Balanced Fund on Tuesday, which enables clients to invest equally in equities and bonds under one platform.
The PRUlink Asian Balanced Fund allows investors to make dollar-denominated placements in bond and equity markets across the region, unlocking fresh opportunities to diversify portfolios among moderate-risk clients.
“We have gotten to the point now wherein we are really encouraging our customers to diversify their portfolio offshore. The main reason is because the capital markets here in the Philippines continue to be shallow,” Antonio G. De Rosas, president and chief executive officer at Pru Life UK, said in a media briefing on Tuesday.
“The fund has grown too big also, so customers need to diversify.”
The local unit of United Kingdom’s Prudential PLC paired up with Singapore-based Eastspring Investments to manage the new investment facility.
Eastspring has $170 billion worth of assets under management as of end-June.
Robert Rountree, global strategist at Eastspring, said the fund manager is investing heavily on tech shares, as well as in companies in the fields of consumer wealth and spending as these are the segments enjoying rapid growth in the region.
Mr. Rountree added that investing abroad would likewise open up opportunities to invest in booming sectors and companies involved in materials and information technology, which are yet to take off in the Philippines. Stock valuations also remain “low” outside Manila, even as dividends trend above global yields.
The Asian balanced fund is the 12th investment platform managed by Pru Life, and will deploy placements into Asian bonds and equities managed by Eastspring in Luxembourg.
Holders of investment-linked insurance policies expressed in the dollar may avail of the balanced fund by Oct. 10.
Pru Life UK is the fifth biggest provider of life insurance in the Philippines, according to data from the Insurance Commission.
The data showed that the company’s premium income totalled P18.116 billion in 2016, accounting for nearly a tenth of the P182.744 billion total for the life insurance industry.
