Insurer MetLife, BIDV ink life partnership

The signing ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, chairman of BIDV Tran Bac Ha, and member of MetLife’s Board of Directors and former Assistant Secretary of State (US) Kurt Campbell during Dung’s visit to the United States.

The JV follows a memorandum of understanding (MOU) previously signed by both parties in July and is a key part of MetLife’s strategy to expand its presence in emerging markets. The JV also marks BIDV’s strategic move into the field of life insurance, in-line with and complimenting the bank’s business traditions.

The new JV has charter capital of around $48 million and MetLife, the largest life insurer in the US, will have a 60 per cent stake in the company and BIDV and BIC 40 per cent.

The joint venture will initially focus on offering life and health insurance products and there is an exclusive bancassurance distribution agreement between the JV and BIDV.

The JV is expected to start operations in 2014 and will leverage the strengths of the two companies to create a strong and trusted insurance provider for Vietnam consumers.

MetLife brings its global expertise and financial reliability along with a wide range of innovative products and services while BIDV will be supporting with its keen knowledge of Vietnamese customers and extensive network of over 600 distribution points nation-wide.

After the signing, Chris Townsend, president, Asia for MetLife said, “This JV expands our footprint into the fast growing South East Asia region and highlights our commitment to Vietnam. We look forward to partnering with BIDV, with its long and distinguished history and brand, to deliver a suite of innovative life insurance products to customers in Vietnam to help them achieve and maintain their financial security.”

“This JV is a perfect complement to our already strong banking business in Vietnam. We are confident that this partnership will become a real leader in Vietnam’s life insurance industry and we are looking forward to offering Vietnamese people world-class insurance products and services in the near future,” BIDV chairman Ha said.