Bangkok Life Assurance Public Company Limited

Bangkok Life Assurance has launched two new annuity products, BLA Pension 888 and BLA Pension and Care 888, marking the first time an annuity offers a first lump-sum payment of 30% of the sum assured at age 60, the highest rate allowed under the Revenue Department's new criteria. After that, policyholders receive an annuity of 8% of the sum assured each year from age 61 to 88, and premiums can be used for tax deductions of up to 300,000 baht per year. Chone Sophonpanich, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bangkok Life Assurance Public Company Limited, said Thais now live to an average age of about 78, and today's post-retirement years fall under what the World Health Organization defines as active aging, so financial planning must cover 20 to 30 years of life after stopping work. The BLA Pension and Care 888 plan also adds coverage for eight critical illnesses: if diagnosed with one of the eight critical illnesses, the policyholder receives an additional annual payment of 8% of the sum assured every year through age 88.

Bangkok Life Assurance has announced the success of its initiative to elevate its sales force into Life Care Partners under the concept of four dimensions of a good life: physical fitness, financial readiness, mental balance, and strong relationships, in order to serve an aging society. Mr. Chone Sophonpanich, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bangkok Life Assurance Public Company Limited, stated that the company has shifted its role from a guardian of finances and claims payments to a leader that helps build a better quality of life for Thai society, through systematic personnel development programs. It began with the Caring Agent course, which more than 65% of agents have completed, before advancing to the Life Care Partner course, which focuses on knowledge of longevity and care for quality of life across all four dimensions. The result is a new generation of agents who have completed the Life Care Partner course achieving a repeat purchase rate from existing customers as high as 75%, or nearly double, and during the period from April to July 2026, Life Care Partners saw new policies grow by 34% compared with the same period the previous year.

Bangkok Life Assurance has launched two new savings insurance products, BLA Saving 168 and BLA Saving & Care 168, to serve a long-lived society, building on the Care category products launched earlier this year, BLA Long Life Care and Gen First Savings & Flexi Care 12/6, which have been well received. Chone Sophonpanich, President and Chief Executive Officer, said the company is committed to developing products under its vision of being the number one life insurance company in care. The BLA Saving 168 policy requires eight years of premium payments with 16 years of coverage, insuring from birth to age 83, paying back 8% of the sum assured each year on policy anniversaries in years one through fifteen, and on maturity paying a lump sum of a further 808%, for total benefits over the contract of 928% of the sum assured. The BLA Saving & Care 168 policy requires eight years of premium payments with 16 years of coverage, insuring from birth to age 70, offering total benefits over the contract of 928% of the sum assured, along with coverage for death or terminal illness of up to 900% of the sum assured, and coverage for eight critical illnesses in the elderly, with an annual compensation payment of 12% of the sum assured; combined with the 8% annual payback, policyholders receive a total return of 20% of the sum assured each year until the contract ends. Premiums for both life insurance plans can be used for personal income tax deductions under conditions set by the Revenue Department.

TTB Wealth Securities said the 10-year US bond yield has climbed to 5.11%, the highest in 20 years, after several Fed board members voiced support for further rate hikes to curb inflation, amid rising oil prices and a still-strong US economy and labor market. It views this as positive for the banking and insurance sectors, including KTB, KBANK, BBL, TLI and BLA. Meanwhile, statistically, the groups that tend to outperform in a rising bond yield environment include AMATA, WHA, DELTA, AOT, CENTEL, CPN and PR9.

The Thai stock market swung lower and fell below the 1,600-point level during September 14-18, 2026, with DELTA the main stock weighing on the index after its parent company issued a $1.5 billion convertible bond exchangeable into DELTA shares. The conversion price was set at a premium of 15-20% for a one-year tenor, equivalent to 289-302 baht, and 30-40% for a five-year tenor, equivalent to 327-353 baht. As a result, bondholders short-sold the shares to reduce price risk. The bond was split into a one-year tranche worth $500 million and a five-year tranche worth $1.0 billion, issued by Delta of Taiwan to fund business expansion. Meanwhile, the Fed meeting raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.75-4.00%, as the market expected, and the Dot Plot projected rates at 4.1% for both end-2026 and end-2027. Tourism-related stocks AOT, MINT and CENTEL were pressured by the delay of the Thai Tiew Thai Plus measure from late 2026 to 2027. Oil and refinery stocks TOP, SPRC and BCP were pressured by an announcement in the Royal Gazette cutting the ex-refinery price for high-speed diesel by 4.00 baht per litre, from a previous reduction of 2.40 baht per litre. Banking stocks KBANK, KTB and BBL, along with insurers BLA and TLI, rose on expectations that interest rates are on an upward trend.

InnovestX Securities (INVX) said rising bond yields in the third quarter to date will benefit life insurance companies through higher investment returns, stronger growth in endowment insurance premiums, and improved CSM and VNB. INVX maintained its OUTPERFORM rating on both BLA and TLI but prefers BLA due to its cheaper valuation and greater potential to benefit from rising bond yields. The 10-year Thai government bond yield rose 36 basis points quarter-to-date to 2.42%, in line with the rise in the 10-year US government bond yield to around 5%. BLA has an endowment insurance product proportion of about 60%, higher than TLI's roughly 45%, and is more sensitive to interest rates. In the first seven months of 2026, TLI's annualized first-year premiums fell 24% year-on-year, while BLA rose 10% year-on-year, compared with industry growth of 6% year-on-year. TLI's claims ratio fell 57 basis points year-on-year to 43.1%, and BLA's fell 563 basis points year-on-year to 50.2%. INVX expects TLI's profit to grow 11% in 2026 and 5% in 2027, while BLA is expected to grow 8% in 2026 and 6% in 2027. It forecasts a 2026 dividend of 0.69 baht per share for TLI, representing a dividend yield of 6.0%, and 1.33 baht per share for BLA, representing a dividend yield of 5.4%.

Analysts at Krungsri Securities, or KSS, assess that this meeting of the US Federal Reserve is likely to raise the policy rate by 0.25% in what is being called an Insurance Rate Hike, a pre-emptive move. The market has already priced in about 92% odds of a hike this round, so the bigger driver for the market is the direction of the Dot Plot, along with inflation projections and the number of remaining rate increases ahead. KSS believes that if the Fed signals a pause to assess more economic and inflation data, the stock market could see a short-term rebound, or Relief Rally, with domestic and defensive stocks drawing more attention, especially hospitals such as Bangkok Dusit Medical Services, or BDMS, and Bangkok Chain Hospital, or BCH. If instead the Fed signals continued rate hikes beyond market expectations, that would pressure stocks with high valuations that are sensitive to bond yields, such as Delta Electronics (Thailand), or DELTA. Meanwhile, Phillip Securities (Thailand), or PST, assesses that the Thai stock market is likely to move sideways down in the short term on investors reducing risk ahead of the Fed meeting outcome, with the 2-year bond yield rising to 4.69% while the 10-year yield climbed to 5.04%, the highest levels since 2024 and 2007 respectively. As for Thai stocks that benefit from interest rates holding at a high level, the research team names the banking group: TMBThanachart Bank, or TTB, Kasikornbank, or KBANK, SCB X, or SCB, Kiatnakin Phatra Bank, or KKP, and Tisco Financial Group, or TISCO. In the insurance group: Bangkok Life Assurance, or BLA, Thai Life Insurance, or TLI, and Dhipaya Group Holdings, or TIPH.

InnovestX Securities Company Limited expects the Thai stock market to remain volatile and has unveiled four standout stock themes to navigate the SET Index falling below 1,600 points. It estimates support at 1,580 and 1,575 points, with resistance at 1,605 and 1,610 points, and recommends a Selective Buy strategy focused on accumulating shares as prices decline. The first theme covers defensive stocks and high-dividend stocks expected to deliver consistent dividend yields above 5% per year, namely BBL, KTB, HMPRO, AP, SCCC and PTT. The second theme covers stocks benefiting from global economic factors and high bond yields. In the energy group it picks PTTEP, BCP, TOP and SPRC, while in shipping it selects PSL and TTA. High bond yields are a positive factor for banks, namely KTB, BBL and KBANK, as well as life insurers BLA and TLI, after the yield on 10-year US Treasury bonds rose to 5% for the first time in nearly three years. The third theme covers stocks benefiting from government policy, namely GULF, GUNKUL, AMATA and WHA, on progress with the draft PDP2026 plan and policies supporting rooftop solar, while STECON, CK and SCCC fall in the construction and construction materials group. As for economic stimulus measures, CPALL, CPAXT and BJC are seen benefiting from the extension of the Thai Chai Thai Plus program, while CPALL, CRC, ERW, CENTEL and AOT are supported by the Thai Tiew Thai Plus program. DELTA, HANA and KCE fall under the theme of promoting investment in data centers and artificial intelligence. The final theme covers laggard stocks, namely AP, PR9, SAWAD, HMPRO, BDMS, TU, BCH, MTC and TIDLOR, whose second-half 2026 earnings are expected to grow both year on year and compared with the first half of the year.

TTB Wealth Securities stated that the 10-year US bond yield has accelerated to 4.99%, with the market raising the probability that the Federal Reserve will hike rates at this Thursday's meeting to 92.4%, and there is a chance the Fed will raise rates four times in this cycle, up from the previous expectation of only one to two times. Meanwhile, the 10-year Thai bond yield has risen to 2.36%. The research team views this as positive for the banking group, namely KTB, KBANK, BBL, and KKP, and the insurance group, namely TLI and BLA.

Bangkok Life Assurance has announced its goal of becoming the number one life insurance company in care by 2030, using this goal as a compass to set the organisation's direction after 75 years in business. Chone Sophonpanich, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, disclosed that in the first six months of 2026 the company had total premiums received of 18.064 billion baht, an increase of about 10% from the same period last year, while net profit stood at 3.603 billion baht, up about 6%, and the NBCSM-Insurance Contract figure under the IFRS 17 accounting standard stood at 2.409 billion baht, up 27%. The company has laid out its 2026 strategy with Longevity as a core theme, along with developing the BLA Long Life Care product to address dependency arising from brain disease, and a savings product developed jointly with Bangkok Bank under the Flexi Care concept, which as of the end of August accounted for about 23% of sales of products in the same family through Bangkok Bank channels this year. On agent development, the company has about 65% of its active agents having completed the Caring Agent course, and the group that completed the course had a repeat-purchase rate from existing customers about 75% higher than the group that did not, with the number of policies up about 34% from the same period last year during April to July 2026. The company currently ranks around eighth in the industry when measured by first-year premiums.

InnovestX Securities assesses that the Thai stock index on September 10, 2026, may pull back and consolidate after the investment atmosphere returned to a risk-off stance, driven by the rise in the 10-year US government bond yield and continuously climbing oil prices, which brought the market back to worrying about inflation trends and the direction of US interest rates. It estimates support at 1,605 and 1,600 points, with resistance at 1,625 and 1,630 points. The key pressure comes from Brent crude oil, which rose 3.4% to reach 100 dollars per barrel, the highest since May 22, amid supply concerns after heightened tensions in the Middle East, while demand from China has begun to recover. This is seen as a short-term positive for energy stocks PTTEP, BCP, TOP, SPRC and IRPC, as well as petrochemical stocks PTTGC and IVL, but a negative factor for SPP power plants such as GPSC and BGRIM due to rising fuel cost risks. Meanwhile, the US bond market has resumed creating pressure after the US Treasury's buyback of long-term bonds came in at 6 billion dollars, which, although double the previous amount, was still below the market's expectation of 7 to 8 billion dollars. As a result, 2-year and 10-year US bond yields rose 0.04%, and the market assigns more than 60% weight to the possibility that the Fed may raise rates to curb inflation. This high bond yield environment is seen as a positive factor for insurance stocks such as BLA and TLI. Meanwhile, foreign fund flows still show positive signals: on September 9, foreign investors net bought 3,137 million baht of Thai stocks, with cumulative net buying of 10,038 million baht since the start of September and 61,407 million baht since the start of the year, in contrast to domestic institutional investors who net sold 960 million baht, securities company accounts which net sold 1,260 million baht, and retail investors who net sold 917 million baht. On September 9, the SET closed at 1,617.89 points, down 4 points or 0.25%, with trading value of 81,330.74 million baht. For investment strategy, InnovestX recommends Selective Buy, focusing on stocks with specific positive factors, divided into three main themes: Policy and Domestic Play, Global Macro & Bond Yield Play, and Laggard Play. For the Global Macro & Bond Yield Play group, it gives weight to energy stocks PTTEP, BCP, TOP, shipping stocks PSL, TTA, as well as banking stocks KTB, BBL, KBANK and life insurers BLA, TLI. The Laggard Play group includes AP, PR9, SAWAD, HMPRO, BDMS, TU, BCH, MTC and TIDLOR.

Twenty life insurance companies in Thailand reported total premiums of 341.5228 billion baht in the first six months of 2026, up 5% from the same period last year. AIA Thailand led the market with total premiums of 92.646 billion baht, up 11%, followed by FWD Life Insurance with 47.167 billion baht, down 3%, and Muang Thai Life Assurance with 36.922 billion baht, up 9%. Thai Life Insurance posted total premiums of 34.438 billion baht, down 18%, while Krungthai-AXA Life Insurance recorded total premiums of 25.109 billion baht, up 6%. Muang Thai Life Assurance said first-year premiums grew 7% and total premiums grew 9%, with unit-linked products surging as much as 500%. Bangkok Life Assurance reported total premiums of 18.064 billion baht, up 10%, and net profit of 3.603 billion baht, up 6%. Thai Life Insurance posted net profit of 6.575 billion baht, up 3.9%, and announced its first interim dividend of 0.25 baht per share.

Bangkok Life Assurance Public Company Limited, or BLA, reported first-half 2026 results with net profit of 3.603 billion baht, up 6% from the same period last year. Total premiums received were 18.064 billion baht, up 10%, comprising first-year premiums of 3.869 billion baht, up 6%, and renewal premiums of 14.195 billion baht, up 11%. The board approved an interim cash dividend of 0.41 baht per share from retained earnings, with the ex-dividend date, or XD, set for 24 August 2026. For the second quarter of 2026, the company posted net profit of 1.997 billion baht, down 7% from the second quarter of 2025, mainly due to investment performance falling by 92 million baht. Investment income for the first six months was 6.439 billion baht, up 4% from the same period last year, with return on investment, or ROI, at 4.47%, up from 4.28% a year earlier.

Bangkok Life Assurance reported results for the first six months of 2026 with net profit of 3.603 billion baht, up 6% from the same period last year. Total premiums received were 18.064 billion baht, up 10%, comprising first-year premiums of 3.869 billion baht, up 6%, and renewal premiums of 14.195 billion baht, up 11%. Chone Sophonpanich, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, said growth in first-year premiums came from the bancassurance channel, which rose 26%, while the agency channel fell 9% and other channels fell 52%. Investment income was 6.439 billion baht, up 4%, with an investment yield of 4.47%, up from 4.28% in the same period last year. The capital adequacy ratio at the end of the second quarter was 391%, well above the regulatory requirement of 140%.

The yield on the 30-year US government bond has surged above 5.2%, marking a new high for the year and the highest level in nearly 20 years. The 10-year bond yield has also climbed to a range of 4.60% to 4.80%, up from around 3.80% to 3.90% at the start of the year. This rise directly benefits leading insurance companies on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, namely Bangkok Life Assurance and Thai Life Insurance, as both firms can invest new premiums and maturing funds into higher-yielding bonds. Moreover, under the TFRS 17 standard, a higher discount rate reduces the present value of policy liabilities, easing insurance reserve burdens and supporting net profits.

Bangkok Life Assurance advises Thai people to adjust their retirement planning mindset by setting a target lifespan of 100 years to cope with an aging society, inflation, and rising medical expenses. Ms. Sakao Samrankong, Training Division Manager, stated that if you want to have 20,000 baht per month after retirement, you should have savings of about 10 million baht, assuming 4% inflation and a 25-year period. Meanwhile, those who want to spend 50,000 baht per month should have accumulated savings of around 25 million baht, not including income from social security or pensions. She emphasized starting to save and invest today, while transferring risk through life and health insurance to prevent savings from being depleted by medical costs that could reach as high as 50,000 baht per month in cases of serious illness.

Asia Plus Securities says the stock market is facing pressure from three major wars: the Middle East conflict, the trade war, and the technology war. Its research team scored 20 industry groups on which would survive or benefit. The winning groups, with scores between 0 and +2, are energy, insurance, healthcare, petrochemicals, and retail. Recommended stocks in these groups include TOP, BCP, BLA, TLI, BDMS, BH, PTTGC, IVL, CPALL, and COM7. The standout stocks of the day, chosen from groups with non-negative scores, are DELTA, BDMS, and CPALL.

Bangkok Life Assurance has delivered 1,100 hand rehabilitation devices, known as Elephant Hand-Grip Dolls, under the BLA Caring for Silver Age project to six stroke care centers and hospitals nationwide. Ms. Oranat Nachapong, Assistant General Manager of Marketing Strategy and Customer Management, handed over the dolls to the Medical Social Work Center at Rajavithi Hospital, with Ms. Chanantita Yaparohit, a professional social worker, receiving them on behalf of the hospital. The six recipient hospitals are the Medical Social Work Center at Rajavithi Hospital, the Bang Khun Thian Geriatric Hospital Foundation, the Stroke Center at Sappasitthiprasong Hospital, the Stroke and Neurocritical Care Unit at Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, the Stroke Center at Hat Yai Hospital, and the Stroke Care Unit at Chonburi Hospital. The Elephant Hand-Grip Dolls are designed to promote hand grip and stimulate hand muscle function for the elderly and stroke patients. They were crafted by volunteer employees of Bangkok Life Assurance to support comprehensive physical rehabilitation.

Bangkok Life Assurance, or BLA, has launched a new add-on service called Mind Wellness Care to provide preventive mental health care through the BeDee platform under BDMS Hospital Network. Ms. Ornanat Nachaphong, Assistant Managing Director of Marketing Strategy and Customer Management, said the service offers online mental health consultations by expert psychologists, helping to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression without the need to travel to a hospital. The service is part of BLA EveryCare, which aims to build a comprehensive health ecosystem covering preventive care, online doctor consultations, and physical and mental rehabilitation. BLA customers with Blue Premier status receive one entitlement per year, Indigo customers at all levels receive two entitlements per year, and ordinary policyholders with a health insurance rider receive one entitlement per year. Entitlements can be claimed via the BLA Happy Life Club application and bookings made through the Bedee By BDMS application from today until 31 May 2027.