Ageas Wins Top Honours in Benchmark 2012 Wealth Management Awards

HONG KONG, Nov. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The dedication to excellent service and innovative technology of Ageas Insurance Company (Asia) Limited (Ageas) has received further recognition in the form of three Benchmark 2012 Wealth Management Awards. These coveted financial-sector honours are organised by WealthAsia under the Benchmark magazine brand.

Ageas Hong Kong has received three Benchmark Awards, in recognition of its outstanding track record in insurance industry.

Ageas has gained a high reputation and strong position in the market through its dedication to delivering world-class insurance and financial services to its customers. The 2012 Benchmark Wealth Management Awards were received for:

• Career Achievement Award (Insurance) -- Mr. Stuart Fraser, CEO of Ageas Hong Kong;
• Best-in-Class in Training and Development (Insurance); and
• Outstanding Achiever in Social Media Engagement (Insurance) of the Year.

The Awards organisers noted that Mr. Fraser's 35 years experience in the financial services sector in both Europe and Asia have been instrumental in building Ageas into an outstanding brand. His leadership and management skills have enabled Ageas Hong Kong to bring together a team of 2,700 professional consultants and to become one of Hong Kong's top five in the combined agency/ IFA segment in terms of newly generated life insurance business in 2011, as well as a leading IFA (Independent Financial Advisor) distributor.

"The need to meet evolving challenges in the marketplace constantly drives Ageas to satisfy its customer needs by providing them with comprehensive products and excellent service," Mr. Fraser commented.

Aiming for academic excellence

Professionalism is the key to success. The Ageas management team aims to outperform its competitors by developing the Ageas Academy into Hong Kong's best and most comprehensive internal training centre for staff and agents. Its ongoing commitment to manpower training and development has also earned it several other awards in recent years, including:

• the ERB Manpower Developer Award Scheme's "Manpower Developer 1st"; and
• the Hong Kong Management Association's "Distinguished Trainer Award".

"Being honoured with the Benchmark Training and Development Award will inspire us to continue delivering quality training programmes to our financial consultants," Mr. Fraser added.

Innovative interactions with the public

"Ageas is actively expanding its business and the reach of its marketing and promotional activities by leveraging the fresh opportunities being provided by advances in IT," Mr. Fraser explained.

Ageas has scored several "firsts", in terms of integrating social media platforms with its advertising campaigns:

• the first in Hong Kong to employ cutting-edge QR technology to allow customers to call celebrities and hear smart financial tips;
• the first insurance company to use U-tie technology to integrate advertising with mobile app technology; and
• the first insurance company to develop an iPad Financial Needs Analysis tool.

Furthermore, Ageas has built its Facebook fanpage and YouTube channel to increase brand awareness.

Benchmark has presented the three 2012 Wealth Management Awards to Ageas in recognition of its outstanding track record in these areas.

Ageas Hong Kong has received three Benchmark Awards, in recognition of its outstanding track record in insurance industry.

About Ageas Insurance Company (Asia) Limited

Ageas Insurance Company (Asia) Limited ("Ageas") is one of Hong Kong's largest life insurance companies. We are a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ageas Group.

Leveraging on our global capabilities and local expertise, Ageas offers both individual and institutional customers a broad range of financial protection products and wealth management services to match their exact needs. In addition, we provide comprehensive general insurance services in partnership with China Taiping Insurance (HK) Company Limited, Asia Insurance Company Limited and MSIG Insurance (Hong Kong) Limited.

New partnerships were established with BCT and Principal Trust Company (Asia) Limited, respectively, to offer comprehensive Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) solutions to businesses, individuals and institutional clients.