NEW APPROACH: Mr Seah has woven 'three Cs' - consistency, comprehensive and compliance - into Prudential's business. -- ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM

In a recent interview, British Prudential Assurance Singapore chief executive Philip Seah said clients would, in the past, often not get a follow-through from incoming agents on advice provided by former agents.

This usually created confusion, he said.

Prudential recently introduced new systems to address the problem and create consistency, Mr Seah disclosed.

'At Prudential, we don't want to just launch a product, teach and say: 'Go do it the best way possible'.

'What's new with us is one approach for all our people to use,' he said.

To facilitate this unified approach, Prudential's 3,300 advisers underwent training on in- house developed software 'Pru Way' - the platform used by all the insurer's advisers.

'Consistency' is only one of the 'three Cs' that Prudential is emphasising to its agents these days. The other two are 'comprehensive', referring to the financial solutions offered to clients, and 'compliance' with regulations.

Underlying the three Cs is the mission of each Prudential agent to help customers achieve financial freedom when they retire, he said.

Prudential has been the leading life insurer here since 2005, a position it grabbed from former No.1 insurance giant AIA.

For the half-year ended June 30, Prudential's new weighted business sales had grown 28 per cent to $164.5 million from a year earlier. Its market share now stands at about 22 per cent.

According to industry sources, this is higher than AIA's market share of about 17 per cent.

Mr Seah attributes the robust performance to Prudential's people, good products and multi distribution channels.

Prudential has, for instance, exclusive partnerships with Standard Chartered Bank, Maybank and Singapore Post. Currently, these channels make up 15 per cent of the company's new business sales.

Looking ahead, the insurer is eyeing the retirement market. This is in line with recent government initiatives to encourage early planning to ensure financial resources will last a person's lifetime.

'We are training our sales people to position retirement as multi-product planning. Some products will give fixed and guaranteed income and some, variable, depending on the investment performance of the products,' said Mr Seah.

Prudential plans to launch a retirement product early next year. To further strengthen its No.1 position, it is in the midst of identifying a group of advisers within its agency force to service high net-worth clients.

Currently, the insurer has more than 35,000 'PruPrestige' customers with at least $10,000 in annual premiums or $100,000 in single premiums with Prudential.

These well-heeled customers have already achieved financial freedom, so their needs are different and may include legacy building and wealth distribution, Mr Seah said.

For a start, he expects 50 to 100 advisers to be in the select group servicing these customers.

Prudential has been here for 76 years, and it has about 450,000 customers.