Taishin Financial maintains interest for insurance sector

The company became more driven to acquire life insurance firm after losing bid to buy MetLife Taiwan.

Taishin Financial Holdings Co remains interested in acquiring an insurance company to increase its earnings, but will give top priority to strengthening its existing businesses, president Lin Keh-hsiao said on Tuesday.

Lin made the remarks after the company lost the bid for MetLife Inc’s Taiwanese unit to Chinatrust Financial Holding Co on Monday.

“It is favorable for Taishin to own a life insurance company, which could boost the group’s overall performance,” Lin said. “We already have a strong bancassurance team and we want to take further advantage of it.”

For the same reason, Chinatrust Financial, the nation’s third-largest financial services provider, on Monday announced its intention to buy MetLife Taiwan Insurance Co for US$180 million in a bid to expand into the domestic insurance market and eventually across the Taiwan Strait.

The deal is scheduled to be completed in the second half of the year, pending regulatory approval.

Bancassurance, a business model whereby insurance companies use bank sales channels to sell insurance products rather than rely on sales agents, accounts for 70 percent of the nation’s first-year premiums.

View the full story in Taipei Times.