Has anyone bought the China Taiping i-secure whole life insurance? What are your thoughts on it compared to other whole life policies?

NTUC whole life (i can't remember it being called vivolife or something like that) and TM Asia are still the 2 strong insurers that i really like and recommend to my friends because they return most of the bonus to customes rather than shareholders.​​​

Hey Isabel, firstly great job narrowing it down to these 3 policies. They are the only ones I end up recommending as well.

However, between the 3, my clients and I usually end up choosing Aviva for one very important reason.

Cash value is paid out during the multiplier period. They're the only insurer to do this in Singapore.

So while for example you may buy a 100k X 2 WL policy from all 3 insurers. Between the age now and 70, Manulife and CTPIS will only pay 200k until the cash value surpasses the 100k multiplier.

Aviva will pay 100k + 100k + any cash value on the policy. So 30 years in, the cash value could be another 75k for example, so you'll be paid out 275k while the others still only pay you 200k, effectively "makan-ing" your cash value.

Due to this main reason, Aviva is the one I almost always end up recommending and applying for.

Hi Isabel,

Your policies are protected the policy owner's protection scheme, so I would say you don't have to worry about the insurer not honouring their commitment.

Yes, they are new to the WL market, but certain not new to insurance. And insurance companies re-insure the risk with bigger companies known as reinsurers, so I would say your policy will be safe. What's untested is their track record of their Participating fund. They are pretty swamped at the moment due to this new plan basically causing disruption in the whole life market.

The claims process will be similar regardless of company. Upon submission of supporting documents for a claim, the insurer will do their own checks and request for more information if required, if not, they will make the payment to you.

For insurers who have left the Singapore market (it does happen), the policies will continue to be in force and handled by another insurer. For example, John Hancock left Singapore and Manulife took over to continue honouring the contract. Remember, this is a contract between two parties, so it has to be honoured.

Regarding BTIR on Term with ECI vs WL ECI, if you'd be able to provide your profile, I can do some sample dataset for you. ECI on term is horribly expensive, which is why sometimes, a Whole Life actually makes sense. But I'll let the numbers speak for themselves.

Note that you should be comparing Manulife against CTP, because the payout structure of the plan is similar (i.e. higher of the bonuses + SA or multiplier amount). Aviva pays out bonuses on top of the multiplier amount. Some of my clients take Aviva due to this (and a very minimal premium difference)

Thanks for the replies. I understand that some may recommend BTIR and I do invest in ETFs and stocks on my own. I did consider term over whole life but for ECI policies it isn't really cheaper to go for term (unless I can get a return of around 10% which I am still struggling to do so now or redeem the policy super early). If anyone out there with a similar profile as me has done an analysis of term and life eci policies across companies it will be very much appreciated.