CRC Protective Life, the insurance arm of China Resources, has formed an alliance with Citibank and Salomon Smith Barney to handle its proposed Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) business.
Citibank is to be the custodian of the CRC Protective Life's MPF schemes while Salomon Smith Barney will run its asset-management operations.
CRC chief executive Elroy Chan Siu-yuen said: 'The alliance with other financial institutions and expansion of sales force will enable us to be a major player in the proposed MPF market.' Ahead of the MPF launch in December next year, CRC Protective Life Insurance plans to triple its agents selling the SAR retirement scheme products.
This will boost its agency force from 1,200 to 3,500 by the end of next year.
'We hope to make the MPF our core business,' said Mr Chan.
'After the launch of MPF schemes next December, we expect premium income earned from MPF business to be more than double that from individual life policies,' he said.
CRC Protective Trustee president Tay Keng-puang said the insurer was aiming to secure a 10 per cent share of the MPF market.