Photo courtesy: AIA Philippines
“Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world.” — Hillary Clinton
Every year, we celebrate the International Women’s Month in March, with March 8 earmarked as the International Women’s Day. A very important day and month to recognize and celebrate the contributions and achievements of women, as they continue to be a vital force for progress, growth and development in our society.
Specifically, the female presence in the insurance industry is becoming increasingly notable. Accordingly, they now represent almost 60% of the insurance workforce. Though most of the industry’s top management positions are still male dominated, it is refreshing to see a good number of women in boardrooms as members of the Executive Committee (Exco) and Management committee (Mancom). Now, when we talk about the insurance agency force, latest numbers show that it’s becoming a female-dominated sector.
With this composition, women are becoming more empowered to transform the insurance industry with their innate mind, skill and heart set. The recent years have seen how the “W” factor have contributed so much in fueling the Philippine insurance industry.
Women are considered a major force in driving market growth as powerful consumers. With more women joining the workforce, either as employees or as entrepreneurs, their purchasing power is also growing. It is even predicted that by 2028, women will control 75% of all discretionary spending. Have you noticed that most marketing and product advertisements have women as their target audience? Add to the equation the fact that in the majority of Filipino households, women (wives and mothers) hold the purse and control the budget. As such, they are often the primary decision-makers in the family, especially when it comes to purchases. Undeniably, they have a big say over insurance purchases. Now, these scenarios make women a solid consumer base for insurance and offer a huge growth potential for the industry as more Filipinas are still considered underinsured. By tapping into this underserved market, we are not only going to see the industry growing, but we are actually narrowing the gender protection gap.
With close to 60% of the insurance employee and sales force composed of women, the insurance work landscape is definitely transforming. When asked why they prefer female financial advisors, Agency Managers and Leaders cite having strong interpersonal relationship and showing empathy as the main reasons why women are chosen for the job The same can be said about the different customer service positions which are pre-dominantly held by women. From pure transactional conversation, women bring their unique soft-skill and relationship-based approaches to client interfacing experiences. Prospects and clients feel more comfortable, relaxed and are more open with women. This usually results to higher sales closing and client retention rates. Moreover, as advocates of financial planning, female advisors are more effective in creating and increasing financial education among their fellow women, which as we said, comprise a big percentage of their target customer-base.
Female leaders are redefining the leadership roles. With much respect to our male counterparts, women leaders have shown to possess inherent qualities and traits required by the role. Aside from being emphatic, good at building relationships and effective communicators, female leaders are considered to be more collaborative, inclusive and consultative. They have this natural ability to connect and bond with people on personal level which makes it easier for them to earn their trust and cause team members (and even those from other teams) to unite and work together. Their decision-making process is usually premised on having discussion and dialogues with the concerned people. Their maternal nature allows them to be firm without needing to lose their soft side.
Having to run the household in a daily basis, juggling between the role of a mother and a wife, women have mastered the art and skill of multi-tasking and problem-solving. Now, these qualities are useful because either as an agency leader or insurance executive, the job requires attention to different but simultaneous concerns. It presents situations, that require detailed analysis and creative solutions. Women have long been trained on that
Thanks to the increasing number of women in the workforce, there are now more insurance products that consider and cater to the specific needs of Filipinas. Occupying roles that can influence product designs put women in a better position to bridge the gender protection gap that is still a major concern in our country. Unlike in the past years, when insurance products were more generic, more and more insurance companies, driven by their female advocates, have now introduced life insurance and medical coverage and HMO programs that include female-specific critical illness benefits such as breast, ovarian and cervical cancer, hysterectomy, osteoporosis, pregnancy complications and other women’s health needs. There are also some companies who offer microinsurance for female entrepreneurs, covering health, life, and family risks. All these intentional and inclusive measures are putting more women at the forefront of insurance protection.
“Malayo pa, pero malayo na.” This is how I can best describe how far women have made their presence felt in the insurance industry. While we continue to work toward equality in opportunities, recognition and appreciation in a once male-dominated industry, we welcome and celebrate the key contributions of women in leading, driving and reshaping our insurance industry to where it is now.
There’s no denying that the “W” Factor is here to stay…and dominate! Cheers to all the empowered women of the Philippine life insurance industry for making it happen!
