Dear readers, for today’s post, it is time to revisit the potential sale of Income Singapore to Allianz Singapore via a majority stake of at least 51% as this topic can be said to be the talk of the town.
If you recap, I have expressed disappointment at the potential sale. You can revisit my posts on the potential sale of Income Singapore to Allianz here and in this link.
Based on the latest developments, it seems to me that the potential sale of Income Singapore is no longer a matter of whether but it is a matter of when.
I am a policy owner of Income Singapore insurances. If the potential sale of Income Singapore goes through, having a foreign company now owes the company of my insurance policies and one which I would not have bought from had I know that this day of sale (to Allianz) will materialize, it does not matter to me if Income Singapore were to change its name next after the sale.
NTUC Income changed its name to Income Singapore after corporatization as of September 2022. I would not be surprised if after the sale (if it materializes), Income Singapore changes its name once again. If the name change happens, I am not surprised if Income Singapore is called Allianz Income (Allianz name may come first to reflect the majority stake). Allianz Income or we could just call it AI Insurance as AI is the short form of Artificial Intelligence is a buzzword these days.
Be it AI, BI or ZI, once the sale to Allianz comes through, I am no longer concerned about the name change of Income Singapore if it happens. This is because once the sale (to Allianz) is to happen, the very fundamentals underpinning the very principles of my purchase of my insurances with NTUC Income few decades ago are no longer there.
To reiterate, I bought my insurances from NTUC Income or should I say choose NTUC Income over so many other competitors for a number of my insurances simply because of the social mission that I associate NTUC Income with, based on the strong branding and most importantly, the close relationships with NTUC.
I have kind of suspect what more is to come when NTUC Income dropped its “NTUC” from its rebranded new name as of September 2022. Never in my wildest imagination would I not only see some of Singapore’s brand old good and large companies like NOL sold to foreign companies but our very own NTUC Income which is a provider of insurances for me and the many other folks, who trust in the name and social mission of NTUC to choose, with our very old hard-earned monies, NTUC Income (now Income Singapore) over so many other local and foreign insurance companies!
If Income Singapore needs funding to grow, I would like to imagine GIC or Temasek Holdings rather than a foreign company in Allianz come to acquire the majority stake in Income Singapore and this will close this very disappointing potential development for myself and those NTUC policy owners who are now very concerned.