Wen/Zhang Wen of Sina Finance
The most intuitive feeling of Yang Chen is that he is modest and gentle. Mentioning Mingya, he always speaks calmly. In 2004, Minya introduced the "broker model" into the domestic life insurance industry for the first time. In 13 years, Minya has gone through a long way from not being accepted by the industry at first to being recognized by the industry. Now, Minya ranks among the top five in terms of business scale, excellent business quality and 5000 insurance brokers.
"We are not selling insurance products as sales, we are helping consumers choose insurance products. What Minya needs to do is stand with customers." This is Minya's most proud corporate philosophy. Minya has gathered a group of like-minded comrades who insist on providing the most reliable service guarantee to customers, and they firmly believe that the insurance broker model has unlimited prospects.
In recent years, the insurance intermediary market has maintained a strong growth trend. In 2016, national insurance companies achieved a premium income of 150.982 billion yuan through professional insurance intermediaries. The business income of professional insurance intermediaries nationwide reached 45.065 billion yuan, an increase of 26.37% over 2015. With the development of the industry and the influx of capital, how will the insurance intermediary industry change? Is the value of insurance intermediary license revalued? How does Minya break through the tide?
With all kinds of doubts, the fifth issue of Sina Finance's "Dialogue with 30 Insurers" went to Minya to listen to Chairman Yang Chen's unique views on the industry and the company's future development strategy.
From scratch: the broker model was introduced into the domestic life insurance industry for the first time
Minya, founded in 2004, is the first insurance brokerage company in China to engage in personal life insurance business. When talking about the original intention of entrepreneurship, Yang Chen laughingly said that it was a mistake to set foot in the insurance industry. "I have worked in HNA for several years, and I am familiar with the financial field, except for the insurance industry. Ignorant people are fearless and dare nothing. I hit it off with several founders to bring our most recognized insurance sales method to domestic consumers."
"At the beginning of entrepreneurship, I was full of confidence, but in the following years, I was hit repeatedly." Yang Chen said frankly that the introduction of the insurance broker model was at least five years earlier.
The advanced "broker model" faces "immature insurance market". First of all, the concept of insurance broker is not accepted by the market, and even peers only remain at the stage of knowing but not knowing. Secondly, insurance companies had no intention of cooperation. At that time, insurance sales only stayed at the stage of insurance agents, and insurance companies were not interested in cultivating an emerging sales channel. At the same time, consumers are still at an ignorant stage when facing financial products, and it is the most common situation to buy through acquaintances.
The first bucket of gold for entrepreneurs is not simple. After years of efforts, Minya has independently developed a set of customer demand oriented insurance consulting system, and in addition to differentiating demand by life cycle, it has increased market segmentation by education level, consumption ability and other factors. At the same time, Mingya has also invested a lot of time and energy in the training of high-quality brokers. "In terms of professionalism, Minya is very confident" Yang Chen said.
With the growth of Minya, the insurance industry has experienced brutal growth and tends to return to rationality. More and more insurance companies have realized the value of third-party channels. At the same time, the post-70s and post-80s generation have become the first group of rational consumers. They have changed from "being fooled" to "seeking". More and more consumers have gradually accepted the model of insurance brokers.
At present, Minya has signed nearly 50 life insurance companies, 48 property insurance companies, and thousands of products on sale. As of December 2017, Minya has opened 18 provincial and municipal branches and 18 business departments, serving large and medium-sized cities in eastern, southeast and central China.
Time challenge: capital inflow will accelerate industry reshuffle
Insurance intermediaries are entering the era of platform economy. In 2017, there were 25 insurance intermediary companies approved by the CIRC, including 10 agency companies, 14 brokerage companies and 1 assessment company. Capital is pouring into the insurance intermediary industry, including Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba and other Internet giants.
In Yang Chen's eyes, the market pattern is bound to change. The development of the industry is inseparable from the support of the capital market, and the influx of capital will certainly drive the overall improvement of the industry. "As we all know, they are not trifling."
Yang Chen said that, "Insurance intermediaries will be more widely accepted, the value of insurance intermediary license will be re evaluated, and the future development prospects of this industry will certainly be more recognized."
Unlike insurance companies, the market for insurance intermediaries is extremely fragmented. Yang Chen talked about the development of the industry: under full competition and mature development, the insurance intermediary industry will form a certain market share in the future, and the concentration of the insurance intermediary market will be significantly improved.
Yang Chen said frankly that there will be sacrifices in this process, and there will be more distinctive enterprise growth. But on the whole, the insurance intermediary industry is developing rapidly.
Minya in the Wave: Insurance still needs more professionals to provide services
When reviewing the way of entrepreneurship in Minya, Yang Chen's deepest feeling is not "perseverance", but hardship, luck and gratitude. "It's more difficult to build roads and bridges than I thought. You have to ask me if there is any confusion and hesitation. Of course there will be. But there is a way. One person walks is persistence, and a group of people walk is value. I feel lucky and grateful that we have gathered a group of like-minded comrades in arms. We agree that what we do has a bright future, and we firmly believe that we can provide solid protection for customers. "
In the first half of 2017, the number of Internet insurance innovative businesses signed up reached 4.6 billion, up 123% year on year. When Internet insurance came into being, Yang Chen never forgot his original intention. The Internet will certainly drive the rapid development of the industry, but the Internet still matches the fragmented, short-term and scenario oriented market, and complex insurance products and needs still need more professionals to provide services.
Yang Chen does not advocate unlimited development of clients by insurance brokers. "Every client a broker faces is a family. He needs to invest enough energy and time to fully understand the family, and also needs to improve his professionalism to serve the family. One broker serving 100-200 families is the limit."
Yang Chen believes that there are about 400 million families in China and 4 million insurance brokers or financial planners are needed. "Minya is not much, we hope we can account for 1%, so we need 30000 or 40000 professional insurance brokers." Now, Minya's insurance broker team has expanded to 5000 people.
During the growth of Mingya, Yang Chen did not forget his comrades in arms who fought together in the world. Some employees have participated in employee stock ownership. At the beginning of 2017, Minya also introduced institutional investors, "I hope that Minya's investors and employees will not only enjoy dividends, but also enjoy the benefits of the capital market."
Yang Chen is full of hope when talking about the future. "Previously, finance majors talked about their career plans: they wanted to go to banks and securities. I hope that future finance graduates will first choose to be insurance brokers. Minya's wish is to make insurance brokers the most fashionable profession."
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