Great Eastern Life Assurance is the largest life insurance company in Singapore and Malaysia. It is also the oldest insurance company in Malaysia. In August 2007 it had S$45 billion in assets and 3 million policyholders. At 31 Dec 2005 it had assets in excess of RM26 billion, 2.6 million policies in force served by 24 branch offices and a service network of more than 17,000 agents nationwide. It has two distribution channels – the tied agency force and bancassurance. It is the only life insurance company to be listed on the Singapore Exchange, and the largest insurance company in South-east Asia in terms of assets and market capitalisation.
History
Great Eastern Life Assurance Berhad started as a branch office of Great Eastern Life Assurance Co Ltd. Incorporated on 26 August 1908, Great Eastern Life Assurance Co Ltd claims to be the oldest and most established life insurance company in Singapore and Malaysia. OAC was incorporated in 1920 as the first composite insurer in Singapore. In 1999, Great Eastern Life Assurance Berhad was localised as a wholly owned subsidiary of Great Eastern Life Assurance Co Ltd in Singapore. In November 1999, Great Eastern Life underwent restructuring to become a wholly owned life insurance arm of a financial service holding company – Great Eastern Holdings Ltd. This was followed by a merger between Great Eastern Holdings and Overseas Assurance Corporation in December 2000. In June 2004, Great Eastern Holdings became a substantially owned subsidiary of OCBC Bank, Singapore’s longest established local bank. OCBC Bank has assets of S$164 billion and a network of 390 branches and representative offices in 15 countries and territories including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan, Brunei, Myanmar, Japan, Korea, Australia, UK and USA. This network includes more than 280 branches and offices in Indonesia operated by OCBC Bank's subsidiary, PT Bank NISP. OCBC Bank and its banking subsidiaries offer a wide range of specialist financial services, from consumer, corporate, investment, private and transaction banking to treasury and stockbroking services. In addition to Singapore where Great Eastern is headquartered, and Malaysia with 29 branches, Great Eastern also has a branch office in Brunei since 1975, a subsidiary company in Indonesia since 1996, and representative offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. In June 2006, Great Eastern and Chongqing Land Properties Group launched their 50:50 joint venture life insurance company, Great Eastern Life Assurance Co Ltd. This new company is headquartered in Chongqing which will act as a bridgehead for its expansion plans into the rest of China. The Company also holds at least 31% of the total shares in the Malaysian Share market.
Awards
Great Eastern has picked up a number of awards, one of which is the Singapore Brand Award organised by IE Singapore, which it won for the fifth year running in 2006. Great Eastern is also well regarded as Singapore's 7th Most Valuable Brand and its brand value increased from S$609 million in 2005 to S$693 million in 2006.
