It’s not enough, in this day and age, merely to sell insurance. Companies wishing to stand out in a crowded insurance marketplace, to prove their relevance, to gain and keep the trust of customers, must go above and beyond. That’s the thinking behind our corporate philosophy here at Fubon Life. ‘Be positive, enrich life’ encapsulates our commitment to being a force for good in society, whether that’s through our inclusive product line, our outstanding customer service or our ESG ambitions.
It’s this strategy that has won us the support of more than five million policyholders and investors in Taiwan, an impressive share of the market on this island of 23.6 million people. One of the positive outcomes of that support was a cumulative net income after tax of NT$65.5bn ($2bn) in 2022, putting Fubon Life Insurance in a strong position to further invest in our ESG programme. Threats relating to climate change and ageing populations are real, prompting increased action from financiers and banks around the world. As a leading Asian economic centre, Taiwan is part of this trend. As we play our role in this important arena, we move towards becoming one of Asia’s foremost financial institutions.
Going green
Through our ESG goals we seek to engage with the entire population of Taiwan to create common prosperity and common good. We pursue a programme of sustainability using four key low-carbon strategies: green procurement, a friendly workplace, paperless services and environmental protection efforts. All of these are in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
We are proud of our support for environmental schemes, initiatives that both protect nature and connect people with the natural world. A collaboration with the Society of Wilderness saw us conducting river waste screening surveys in the cities of Hsinchu and Taichung. Working with the River Management Office, Water Resources Agency and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, we built a public-private river conservation platform.
We pursue a programme of sustainability using four key low-carbon strategies
By leveraging Taiwan’s wider strategy of University Social Responsibility, which encourages universities to become active contributors to local sustainability, our platform has been bringing river waste issues to campus for the first time, hopefully leading to an improvement in the island’s water quality overall.
Reforestation has been another priority, with our ‘Work for Green’ initiative incentivising sales agencies and agents to protect water sources and coastal ecology through the planting of 12,000 trees in 2022. Our green finance strategies have now been adopted by more than 460 sales agencies and 20,000 tied agents across Taiwan, these numbers giving an indication of the potential of our people when it comes to working for the good of the environment.
Social commitments
Looking after the people of Taiwan – our customers and potential customers among them – is just as key to our ESG commitments as environmental measures. We continue to support dementia care, a growing health and social issue in Taiwan, where someone receives a new dementia diagnosis every 40 minutes. This support includes working with the Federation for the Welfare of the Elderly, Taiwan’s largest elderly welfare organisation, to promote its ‘Love Bracelet’ initiative, which helps return people to their homes and families in the event of getting lost.
While Taiwan is undoubtedly facing challenges associated with an ageing population, it’s important that we also support the young. By focusing our efforts on sports initiatives we encourage the sorts of healthy behaviours that will improve health outcomes in later life.
Sport can also be a wonderful vehicle for community cohesion. With this in mind, Fubon Life is a long-term title sponsor of the University Basketball Association. We also support the college inter-departmental cup, three-on-three basketball tournament and Kaohsiung Fubon marathon.
Policies for the people
Of course, our main business is insurance, and so it’s there that we make the most impact, by providing inclusive policies created with the Taiwanese people in mind. Our website and mobile applications optimise service for all, while special technologies cater to hard of hearing customers, recently arrived migrants, elderly people and other groups.
Our ‘Life Account 4+1’ meets five core needs – responsibility, health care, long-term care, retirement and inheritance – in the process cultivating in our customers an attitude of forward planning that stands them in good stead for the future.
Supplementary protection comes in the form of our national insurance policy, which includes a health check as standard. Furthermore, in response to the fact that cancer has been among the leading causes of death in Taiwan for 40 consecutive years, we now also offer specialist cancer insurance that covers the high-end treatment and costly medical expenses associated with cancer.
It’s no surprise then that Fubon Life has 12 times been named ‘Taiwan’s Best Life Insurance Company’ by World Finance. Other recent gongs include the Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Award and gold at the National Insurance Three Awards Ten-Year Hero List. We’re here for the people of Taiwan and are thrilled to have been recognised for it time and again.
