Wee Ee Cheong, group CEO of UOB, is UOI’s chairman. The partnership with UOB is key to UOI’s growth. For instance, customers who take up a UOB housing loan get home insurance from UOI. The bank’s credit card customers also get travel insurance when they pay for travel with the UOB card.
UOI CEO Andrew Lim came on board as part of a leadership revamp in 2023 when the late Wee Cho Yaw stepped down as chairman. UOB group CEO Wee was appointed chairman.
UOI has been in operation since 1971 and is known for its steady underwriting and close relationships with long-term clients. Lim’s mandate is to evolve that legacy into a future-ready platform — one that serves digitally savvy customers, strengthens commercial lines and leverages regional distribution.
Lim, who is the insurer’s third CEO since 1971, tells The Edge Singapore in an interview: “There’s never been a better time [to make the announcement of the group’s strategic growth plan].” While Lim acknowledges that the group started to embark on the journey two years ago, he emphasises that the focus since he joined as CEO has been to build and execute a clear strategy before going public with the roadmap.
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“This transformation is not about changing the core of who we are — it is about evolving to ensure our solutions remain relevant for our clients. We are building on 50 years of trust and experience to modernise our services, grow our reach and form meaningful partnerships that enhance protection and convenience,” Lim adds.
Human touch with digital support
UOI’s transformation aligns with the broader industry movement towards digitalisation, reflecting a proactive stance in adapting to customer demands and technological advancements. Even as it embraces digital innovation, UOI is careful to maintain a customer-centric approach. “We want to be part of the journey that customers have entrusted to us for generations. It’s not just going digital. It’s about going hybrid,” says Lim.
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“While AI and Insurtech are great, at the end of the day, we still need human touch. Insurance is all about selling a promise to people. When something happens, you want to talk to a person who understands where the pain point is,” says Lim.
Lim is not going to deploy AI for AI’s sake. “AI is an enabler. It enables us to get from where we are to where we want to be more efficiently, more effectively, cheaper and faster,” he explains. For example, AI technology like robotic process automation (RPA) is helping the group with mundane tasks, such as policy issuance, freeing up time for staff to complete more meaningful tasks.
The hybrid approach extends to customer service. Lim points to the intent to let customers and intermediaries use everyday channels to reach UOI and to avoid repetitive hand-offs. “AI can ease the journey because everything is recorded, and we don’t have to ask the same questions again and again. It improves customer experience and the accuracy of information,” he notes.
“Insurance is built on human connection, and relationships are key to ensuring lasting protection. Since 1971, UOI has upheld this commitment with care and diligence — values we now bring into our digital transformation. We understand the sensitivity of the data we manage, and we are applying the same level of trust and responsibility to our digital solutions,” says Lim, adding that the new initiatives include enhanced customer journeys and the group’s partnership with InsureMO, building on its legacy while ensuring it stays relevant for today’s customers.
To support this new approach and succession planning, UOI plans to increase its investments in technology by 50% between 2023 and 2029, and increase talent acquisition by more than 60% during the same period in Singapore and across the region.
The group is gearing up to spend and invest in its future, but Lim shares that the group still keeps a somewhat prudent stance on its spending. “We have to make sure that there is value in the money that we spend. It is not about the quantum, but the value that [investment] brings,” he says, adding that the investments have to fit the group’s strategies and result in some sort of return.
On funding the transformation, Lim emphasises discipline. “It’s funded from our profit. We took the painful way of making sure that whatever we spend is reflected in the profit and loss,” he says. “Every cent we spend has a direct consequence on our profit.”
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UOI’s dividend policy is to pay out 50% of its net profit after tax, similar to that of the group’s parent company, UOB. For 1HFY2025 ended June 30, the group declared an interim dividend of 7.0 cents.
During the period, UOI’s insurance revenue rose 12.2% y-o-y to $57.2 million, while insurance service expenses increased with higher gross claims and reserves. Profit after tax came in at $8.64 million, 39.1% lower than $14.2 million y-o-y on the back of higher expenses to fund the group’s growth strategies. Despite the lower earnings, UOI shares, year to date, have gained by more than 11% to close at $7.80 on Aug 27.
Growing with partners
According to Lim, more than 50% of UOI’s revenue comes from corporate and enterprise customers, with around 40% to 45% from retail customers. As a growth strategy, he sees UOB’s customer base and footprint as core to UOI’s regional expansion path.
In 2022, UOB acquired Citigroup’s regional business in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. Since the acquisition, the 5.4 million unique customers from the acquisition have grown to 8.4 million. UOB deploys its digital bank UOB TMRW to continue to acquire and cross-sell to its enlarged base.
“Being a related company of UOB, the safest way to start growing is to grow within the bank’s base,” Lim says. “That’s what we did for the last two years. Having deepened the UOB customer base, we are now growing into the non-bank segment. At the same time, because UOB has reached into Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, we are also working with UOB colleagues in those countries to expand general insurance.”
UOI sells through multiple channels and intends to streamline each with tech. “We are multimodal,” Lim says. “Agents are one key channel. The second is brokers. Then we have financial advisers. Fourth is the bancassurance. Fifth is direct corporate accounts.” The coming intermediary portal is geared to speed and convenience for those channels.
Bank-tied propositions remain a core plank, from retail to corporate. Lim points to UOB mortgage-linked protection and compares the value proposition. “With a housing loan comes the insurance to protect the collateral that the bank has and also to protect you as a customer,” he says. “Our product is different. Our product actually protects you as a customer. When something happens, our product can cover your losses — not just the loan.”
Lim explains that UOI is also building targeted consumer propositions through partners. On cruise travel cover, he says: “Another example will be the UOB partnership with Disney Cruise. We’ve got cruise insurance — first in Singapore, [and perhaps] first in the world,” he says, contrasting the targeted design with generic travel policies that charge for unnecessary benefits.
On lifestyles and micro-needs, he notes that general insurance can flex to customer context across protection, lifestyle and accident and health.
Regionally, Lim’s expansion approach is phased and selective. He frames the roadmap as sequenced and pragmatic: “Regional (expansion) is actually phase three,” he says. “We don’t have branches overseas, but we are working through our banking colleagues over there. That’s one of our aspirations under our strategy roadmap — to be a regional entity over time.”
The way he sees it, inorganic expansion overseas would make the most sense. He says, however, that the group is not rushing for an acquisition just yet, as “finding the right partner will take time” and that such deals are about timing and opportunities.
Engaging shareholders
Meanwhile, UOI has also been actively engaging with shareholders. Since Lim became CEO, he has made an effort to build trust with shareholders by being transparent about trade-offs during investment years. “A lot of leaders forget that shareholders are also human. They want to be heard,” he says. “I explained to them: in the next two or three years, my expenses are going to go up, because I took the hard way of recognising whatever I spend directly in my P&L — and they understand that.”
In March, a group of minority shareholders had tabled a resolution asking UOI to distribute its Haw Par Corporation shares as a dividend-in-specie to UOI shareholders. During UOI’s AGM on April 17, UOI had said that its investment portfolio, including Haw Par shares, was subject to regular review by the management and board.
The company said it intended to retain Haw Par shares as part of its investment portfolio and Haw Par shares would not be distributed. UOI’s management added that the company would deploy capital progressively and sufficiently for growth and for greater shareholder value.
In responses to shareholders’ questions, UOI said its dividend income of $7 million in FY2024 comes from various equity investments and is not solely from Haw Par. The investment portfolio broadly comprises equity, fixed income securities, fixed deposits, investment property and investment funds.
“As we reimagine our future, we remain focused on delivering solutions that truly reflect our customers’ needs, making insurance simpler, more accessible, and more human. Our core values remain intact. We are proud to strengthen our roots in serving Singaporeans’ insurance needs and look forward to expanding our footprint to the wider region for generations to come,” says Lim.
