MALAYAN Insurance Co., Inc. is looking to expand its consumer product portfolio to help offset higher reinsurance costs.

“We want to increase products that don’t rely on reinsurance cost because when you rely on reinsurance costs, the market is very hard and expensive nowadays. So, it’s going to be difficult,” Malayan Insurance President and Chief Executive Officer Paolo Y. Abaya told BusinessWorld on Friday.

Mr. Abaya said about 50% of the nonlife insurer’s premium income comes from the property business.

“Let me put it this way, if you’re writing a lot of property business, most of that’s reinsured,” he said.

Global reinsurance prices will likely continue to go up especially after the fires in Los Angeles, he said, which could affect Malayan Insurance’s premiums this year as prices could likewise rise for local consumers.

“I think the biggest risk right now is the wildfires in California. It’s major. So, that will have a global effect on all the prices,” Mr. Abaya said.

“We still want to grow, but again, maybe the rates might be affected because of those fires.”

Malayan Insurance on Friday launched a golfer’s insurance product as part of its efforts to tap the consumer segment and expand its product portfolio.

“We’re trying to be more accessible, relevant, and affordable. So, similar to how we launched pet insurance, we’re trying to make products that are more approachable for the brand. We’re actually in our 95^th year, and we want the brand to be stronger with consumers, more than just business-to-business,” Malayan Insurance Chief Marketing Officer Anthony L. Guanzon told reporters on the sidelines of the product launch.

The insurer is also working on a product focused on online shopping, he said, which it could launch within this quarter.

“What we’re trying to hit is personal cyber insurance. We’ll have a personal cyber agent. So, aside from covering your credit card, it’s more of when you’re shopping online or from socially engineered phishing,” Mr. Guanzon said.

“We’re also adding a call center service that you can call anytime if you feel like you’re getting scammed. And of course, if you want higher coverage safety limits, you get the higher variants,” he added.

Malayan Insurance’s net premiums written stood at P4.72 billion in 2023, with premiums earned at P4.27 billion and gross premiums written at P15.05 billion. Its net income was at P600.77 million that year. — Aaron Michael C. Sy