Pacific Prime have been awarded Bupa International's Top Global Distributor award for 2012-2013. We were selected from about 4000 agents and brokers worldwide to receive this prestigious award.
From Left to Right : Tim Slee – Bupa International Sales Director, Robert Lang – Bupa International Business Unit Manager, Neil Raymond – Pacific Prime, Raymond Bond – Bupa International Asia Manager
Pacific Prime has won the Bupa International Top Global distributor award for the first time. The award ceremony and presentation took place in Italy on the 19th March 2013, when approximately 50 of Bupa International’s leading global intermediaries gathered for the ceremony. Presenting the award was Stuart Fletcher, global CEO of Bupa.
Bupa International selected Pacific Prime from over 3,000 global intermediaries who sell and represent both Bupa International and IHI Denmark. These intermediaries come from all around the world and include both brokers and agencies. The award is based on the size of the intermediary’s portfolio as well as diverse factors such as growth rate, quality of service and the advice that the intermediary gives to its clients.
Neil Raymond, CEO of Pacific Prime, commented after the ceremony: “We are incredibly proud to win this award, Pacific Prime is committed to giving its clients the best advice possible and it is very satisfying when this is also recognized by insurers, particularly one as important as Bupa International”.
Pacific Prime has been a leading global distributor in the International Private Medical Insurance market for the past decade and has offices around Asia and in the Middle East. Over ten years experience in the market has allowed the company to develop an outstanding reputation for the quality of its staff and their expertise. Pacific Prime has focused on this as a key differentiating factor over its competitors and this strategy has undoubtedly worked, leading to rapid growth and to it ultimately becoming a leading global distributor for Bupa. Pacific Prime works with a range of client types including individuals, SMEs and Corporates and has over 100,000 clients and 200 staff worldwide.
Bupa presents the award at the beginning of each year and previously, it has been awarded to agencies in Europe or the Middle East. In fact, this is the first time the award has been won by a distributor primarily based in Asia. Tim Slee, Bupa Internationals global sales director commented after the ceremony:
“I was delighted to be able to present the top distributor award at our conference this year to Neil and the team from Pacific Prime. At Bupa International, we value greatly our relationships with our distributors and in Pacific Prime, we have found the highest quality of advice coupled with a real drive to expand their business into many parts of the world….sounds like a winning formula to me”
It is also interesting to note that the award is normally won by a Bupa agency rather than a broker. Mr Raymond commented: “As a broker, we work with most insurers in order to help our clients find the right solution and not every insurer is right for every client, however Bupa does offer some very important unique selling points.”
Mr Raymond went on to explain: “Bupa is a unique corporate structure, meaning that they are a Provident Association rather than a PLC and that we have the highest level of trust in their ability and commitment to help clients. Furthermore, they have invested heavily in Asia, specifically China and Singapore, and developed bespoke local solutions matching client needs. We are very confident that Bupa will continue to grow its presence in Asia”.
Bupa International entered the China market with an onshore solution in 2010 in partnerships with Altrust and in 2011, it entered the onshore Singapore market in partnership with Raffles Health Insurance. Both partnerships have focused on developing the International Private Medical Insurance segment and align with Pacific Prime’s own distribution footprint. Pacific Prime has been in both these counties markets for almost 10 years. The growth and potential of the IPMI market around Asia has not been lost on other leading international insurers who have also entered the segment.
Mr. Raymond commented: “Over the past 5 years, most leading IPMI providers have invested in Asia to expand their presence. Much of this is based on anticipated future growth, but we are beginning to see a lot of progress and the development of the market. Bupa is exceptionally well placed to take advantage of this and we look forward to working with them over the next 10 years”.
