Quora Answer: Which is the Best Insurance Company in Singapore?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Which is the best insurance company in Singapore: AIA, Prudential or GE Life?”

There is no “best” insurer.  It really depends on what you want, and what type of policies you require, since some insurers are better than others in certain categories.

Generally, it is difficult to compare GE Life with AIA and Prudential since the latter two are much larger.  This is also reflected in market share.  AIA policies tend to be more expensive because their corporate branding focuses on the upper tier of the market.  That is also why AIA tends to have better HNW and investment plans.  One advantage they had over Prudential was in the management charges for the ILPs because AIA itself managed some of the funds, whereas Prudential funds were managed by fund houses like Fidelity.  Being the nature of the industry, Prudential became less competitive.

GE Life, being hungry for market share, tends to be more forgiving with loading in their hospitalisation plans, whereas AIA could be many time more expensive.  Their underwriting process is also seen as more forgiving.  This changed after they made huge losses in the claims to premium ratio for Shield plans.

Regardless of these technicalities, what you should really be looking for is a good financial advisor.  Every insurer in Singapore has good financial services consultants, and with the implementation of the Balanced Score Card by MAS, compliance is very strict.

You should find a financial services consultant that communicates with you, not just sell you policies.  Does your agent make you consider nominating your beneficiaries?  Does he get back to you regularly about the status of your investments?  Does he update you on market developments?  Be exacting and look for that 1% who do this.