AIA Group (1299) warned of a significant disruption in new business sales in the first quarter due to the coronavirus epidemic. Chief executive and president Ng Keng-hooi said the company has been selling insurance products mainly face to face, and although it also has launched online selling platforms, it could not eplicate the traditional model. He expects the virus to have a short-term impact on new business, but all branches in mainland China have reopened and staff returned to work. He said AIA has moved sales, meeting and recruitment online with online sales contributing around 60 percent of new business in the past one to two weeks. Jacky Chan, chief executive of AIA Hong Kong and Macau, said AIA Hong Kong launched an online digital platform two years ago, with 10 products available.

Source: The Standard March 12, 2020 07:41 UTC