FWD Hong Kong launches Life Gala Insurance Plan and collaborates with The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited to refer Policy Reverse Mortgage Programme and Reverse Mortgage Programme support customers on retirement planning

• Life Gala is an eligible life insurance plan under the Policy Reverse Mortgage Programme, providing stable cashflow to enhance quality of retirement life
• Life Celebration Booster Option empowers insured to amplify coverage at various important life milestones without medical underwriting; maximum coverage could top-up to 200%¹ of the initial sum insured

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 16 November 2023 – Retirement is a significant phase of people’s life stages. Statistics show that Hong Kong residents would need a minimum savings of HKD 4 million², excluding inflation, to maintain an ideal living standard during retired life. This highlights the importance of planning ahead for both individual and their family members, empowering them to fully celebrate living in their senior years. FWD Hong Kong (FWD) is dedicated to supporting customers at every stage of life. As part of this commitment, FWD has introduced the Life Gala Insurance Plan (Life Gala), an insurance solution that combines affordability with flexible payment terms. It is an eligible life insurance plan under the Policy Reverse Mortgage Programme (PRMP)³ of The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited (HKMC), allowing the insurance policies to be converted into a stable and lifelong cashflow. This could provide ongoing financial support for retirement living expenses, further exemplifying the role that insurance can play in life protection. One key feature of the plan is the Life Celebration Booster Option, which offers policy owners the flexibility to top up their coverage as they reach different life milestones for unlimited number of times, all without the need for medical underwriting. Coverage could reach up to 200% of the initial sum insured ¹.

FWD’s collaboration with the HKMC

FWD’s tied agency force will refer the HKMC’s PRMP and the Reverse Mortgage Programme (RMP)⁴. This collaboration offers FWD’s customers a broader range of retirement solution options, fostering a more comprehensive and flexible retirement planning.

Ken Lau, FWD’s Managing Director of Greater China and Hong Kong Chief Executive Officer said, “With an aging population and increased life expectancy, retirement planning has gained prominence among Hong Kong residents. There is a growing diversification of expectations for retirement life. As such, comprehensive health and wealth protection, as well as retirement planning, has become of the utmost importance. FWD is committed to changing the way people feel about insurance. We are excited to enhance our collaboration with the HKMC, providing the public with more flexible retirement planning solutions. Early preparation empowers individuals and their families to embrace life without worries, accommodating diverse retirement needs and goals.”

Raymond Li, the HKMC’s Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer said, “The PRMP and the RMP help retirees convert their assets into steady monthly payouts, creating lifelong streams of income, thereby enhancing the quality of their retirement life. We are pleased to collaborate with FWD to jointly empower individuals in Hong Kong in preparing for retirement and promote the development of the retirement planning market.”

Life Gala Insurance Plan: fulfilling customers’ needs at various life stages with competitive premiums, protecting retirement living standards

1. Life Celebration Booster Option, encompassing Hong Kong’s most comprehensive range⁵ of up to eight major life events: In the event of one of these designated milestones, the policy owner can top up the coverage without medical underwriting up to 200%¹ of the initial sum insured. These major life events include marriage, childbirth, homeownership, and even emigration, with a total of eight events, offering the most number of life events among similar insurance plans in Hong Kong⁵. Policy owners can exercise this option for unlimited number of times¹.
2. Advanced Death Benefit: In the unfortunate event of the insured being diagnosed with a terminal illness, with certified by registered specialist as having a high likelihood of passing away within twelve months due to the illness, the death benefit will be paid in advance to assist the individual and their family in overcoming difficulties.
3. Unemployment Benefit to ease short-term financial pressure: If the policy owner becomes involuntarily unemployed, he/she can apply to extend the grace period of the policy to a maximum of 365 days.
4. Flexible Premium Payment Terms and Death Benefit Settlement Options: To align with individual financial planning, policy owners can choose to pay for the plan in a single payment or over a premium payment term of five years, 10 years, or 20 years. The Death Benefit can be received as a lump sum, regular instalments, or a mix of both.

Taking the example of a 55-year-old non-smoking male insured applying for Life Gala, with an initial sum insured of USD100,000 (approximately HKD780,000)⁶ with a premium payment term of 5 years, the daily premium amounts to only USD29 (approximately HKD226) ⁶, resulting in comprehensive and flexible life protection.

10Life’s accreditation in “Whole Life Protection Insurance” category

Life Gala has earned a 5-Star rating7 and a perfect score of 10/108 in Whole Life Protection (5-year payment term) from the independent insurance rating agency, 10Life. This serves as testament to the plan’s comprehensive protection and excellent value-for-money, resulting in significant recognition in the market.

Kelvin Yu, Chief Product Officer for FWD Hong Kong & Macau said, “FWD recognises the ever-evolving protection needs of individuals and families. With Life Gala Insurance Plan, we aim to address our customers’ dynamic needs with competitive premiums and flexible policy service options. This comprehensive protection plan is designed to accompany our customers through diverse challenges and major life events with features like the Life Celebration Booster Option, the Advanced Death Benefit, and the option to increase cashflow for retirement through the PRMP. We aspire to become a reliable lifelong partner for our customers and their families, empowering them to live life to the fullest.”

Life Gala Insurance Plan is underwritten by FWD Life Insurance Company (Bermuda) Limited (incorporated in Bermuda with limited liability). The above information is for reference only and does not contain the full terms and conditions, key product risks, and full list of exclusions of the policy. For the details of benefits and key product risks, please refer to the product brochure (www.fwd.com.hk/-/media/documents/product/life/Life-Gala-pb-eng.pdf) ; and for exact terms and conditions and the full list of exclusions, please refer to the policy provisions of the plan.

1 After 1 year from the commencement date of the policy and while the policy is in effect and the insured is alive, the policy owner can exercise the Life Celebration Booster Option upon the occurrence of the designated life celebration event(s) to purchase a designated plan available and as determined by FWD at FWD’s sole and absolute discretion (“New Plan”) on the life of the insured without the requirement of evidence of insurability. The New Plan is subject to FWD’s applicable rules and requirements at that time. The sum insured of all New Plans shall not exceed the lower of (i) 100% of the sum insured of Life Gala or (ii) maximum HK$1,500,000 / US$187,500 per insured under all policies of Life Gala series issued by FWD.

2 IFPHK Hong Kong Retirement Expense Index: https://www.ifphk.org/REI/assets/press-release-ifphk_hong-kong-retirees–actual-expenses-survey_eng.pdf.

3 Please note that Life Gala is an eligible life insurance plan under the PRMP, but it does not necessarily mean that the customer’s PRMP applications will be approved. The eligibility of this product under the PRMP is based on the features of the product. Therefore, the customer and the customer’s insurance policy is still required to meet all the eligibility requirements under the PRMP before he/she applies for the policy reverse mortgage loan.

4 The PRMP and the RMP are operated by HKMC Insurance Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the HKMC. For further information, please refer to the HKMC website: www.hkmc.com.hk.

5 Information was updated as of 31 October 2023, and is based on FWD’s understanding and interpretation towards the current market information. FWD will not be liable for any errors or omissions.

6 To show all values ​​of basic policy with same currency, all values of the basic policy have been converted into US dollars for illustrative purpose, an indicative exchange rate used to of 1 USD : 7.8 HKD is applied.

7 Source: 10Life Insurance comparison platform. As of 6 November 2023, Life Gala Insurance Plan has achieved 5-Star in Whole Life Protection (5-year payment term). For details, please visit www.10life.com.

8 Source of information: 10Life Insurance Comparison Platform. As of 6 November 2023, Life Gala Insurance Plan scores 10/10 in Whole Life Protection (5-year payment term). For details, please visit www.10life.com.
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About FWD Hong Kong

FWD Hong Kong is part of the FWD Group, a fast-growing pan-Asian life insurer with more than 11 million customers across 10 markets, including some of the fastest-growing insurance markets in the world. FWD is a top 3 life insurer by new business ­first year premium in Hong Kong*.

FWD Hong Kong has been assigned strong financial ratings by international agencies. It offers life and medical insurance, employee benefits, and financial planning.

FWD reached its 10-year anniversary in 2023. The company is focused on making the insurance journey simpler, faster and smoother, with innovative propositions and easy-to-understand products, supported by digital technology. Through this customer-led approach, FWD is committed to changing the way people feel about insurance.

For more information about FWD Hong Kong please visit www.fwd.com.hk.

* Source: Provisional Statistics on Hong Kong Long Term Insurance Business – January to December 2022, Insurance Authority of Hong Kong. The calculation combines individual and group businesses, and non-bank insurers.