Tune Ins seeks new partnerships to diversify global travel biz

KUALA LUMPUR: Tune Ins Holdings Bhd plans to diversify its global travel insurance business with new partnerships across airline and non-airline partners, said its CEO Junior Namjick Cho.
"We're hopeful to secure and we're actively looking to bring in additional airline and non-airline partners to build our travel portfolio," he told a press conference after its AGM here last Friday.
He said for airlines, it is talking to both low cost and premium airlines in Asean and the Middle East.
"The initial hesitation or reluctance in the earlier part of the business on whether we can overcome the AirAsia stigma is not an issue. We want to demonstrate that we can deliver for them."
Tune Ins offers online insurance products for AirAsia Bhd and its affiliates. It also has a partnership with Malayan Insurance Co Inc to offer travel protection plans to Cebu Pacific Air customers, as well as via Tune Protect Commercial Brokerage LLC, a joint venture (JV) company with Cozmo Travel LLC that provides online travel insurance to Air Arabia customers.
"Any partner that we do pursue, whether it's a JV or direct commercial relationship, we're open to… provided it makes sense for us and for our shareholders, as well as them," said Cho.
Meanwhile, he said the group targets to complete its acquisition of Indonesian general insurer PT Asuransi Staco Mandiri by August 2015. It is currently in the process of securing approvals from the regulators in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Cho said it is optimistic and positive on 2015, expecting its gross written premium and revenue to see a growth of high single digit to low double digit, this year.
"In January and February after the QZ8501 incident, demand in the travel market was subdued and we saw a pick-up in March. We're optimistic our travel business will grow and we're seeing recovery in travel."