Toronto-based Manulife Financial Corp. has launched a new participating whole life insurance product and an artificial intelligence algorithm to speed up the underwriting process, the company announced on Tuesday.
The whole life insurance market represents over half of all insurance sales in Canada, according to research from LIMRA. By launching the its new product, Manulife Par, the insurer is confident it will gain market share.
The new product insurance product designed with guaranteed: premiums; amount of insurance that remains in effect for an entire life; and cash value that grows over time.
Manulife Par is designed for clients who have maximized non-registered and registered savings options, but could benefit from additional tax-advantaged options to diversify their assets. It may be suitable for individuals, corporations or business owners.
The product also features the opportunity to earn an annual dividend, giving clients the ability to grow their insurance coverage and cash values beyond the guarantees.
Clients can use their dividend to purchase additional amounts of fully paid-up insurance, or receive it as cash. In addition, they can choose from two premium payment options.
“Manulife has a proud 130-year history of innovation and leadership in insurance,” said Alex Lucas, head of individual Insurance, Manulife, in a statement. “Not only do we expect strong growth from our new par product and our recently expanded Manulife Vitality program, we also expect increased efficiencies as a result of the launch of our new artificial intelligence (AI) tool for underwriting which will dramatically reduce turnaround times for many of our customers’ applications.”
The AI tool uses Manulife’s many years of internal underwriting data and growing analytics capabilities to make it faster for many Canadians to buy basic life insurance.
“We see lots of opportunity in Canada by making insurance easier to buy and more engaging to own,” added Lucas.
Manulife also recently expanded its Vitality program to all of its term products and plans to expand the rewards in the program over the coming months. The program motivates Canadians to live a healthier life by offering them the opportunity to receive discounts on their insurance and obtain access to a growing set of reward partners.