The main objective next year for the insurance brokerage of Chilean state bank BancoEstado is to increase the commercial segmentation of certain client segments, the subsidiary's general manager Fernando Silva told BNamericas.
The focus of next year's segmentation strategy will be individuals earning less than 800,000 pesos (US$1,275) per month and those earning less than 400,000 pesos a month, Silva said.
"Many people in those two segments are already clients but there is a significant potential to grow even more in these segments with the right strategy," he said.
That strategy includes specialized products, methods of payment, distribution channels and customer service for those segments, the executive said.
The brokerage is likely to grow premiums 2-3% next year, which would be in line with the rest of the market, Silva said, adding the final 2009 growth targets are still being evaluated.
The global financial crisis and the slowdown in the Chilean economy will see some people spending less money on insurance next year because they will have to spend their reduced income on things they consider more important, he said.
Silva also said the brokerage's life insurance partnership with US insurance group MetLife (NYSE: MET) has been very successful and it has been particularly important in terms of new product development.
MetLife signed a 20-year partnership covering the life business with BancoEstado in September 2004, as a result of which the US company took a 49.9% stake in the insurance brokerage.
BancoEstado has no plans to form a similar partnership in the non-life area because there are many insurance companies in Chile that can satisfy the brokerage's need for non-life products, Silva said.
The brokerage has approximately 3.6mn life and non-life policies and 1.5mn clients, making it Chile's second largest insurance brokerage.
BancoEstado is the country's only state-run bank and the financial system's third biggest lender.
