Asian life insurer AIA has reported a 17% rise in new premium sales to $US512 million ($485.6 million) for the first quarter ending February 28.

The former AIG subsidiary, operating locally as AIA Australia, also reported a strong increase, up 12%, in total premium income to $US3.3 billion ($3.1 billion).

AIA CEO Mark Tucker says the first quarter’s strong new business figures were a good indication to continuing growth.

“This performance reflects the many actions we are taking to increase profitability,” he said.

“We are managing our product portfolio to improve new business value in all our operations across the region.”

Mr Tucker says a new sales campaign is running to encourage people to use AIA to meet their life insurance needs.

“We are also continuing to make good progress on the implementation of our premier agency strategy to increase productivity,” he said.

New premium sales were strong in Hong Kong and Singapore with both centres reporting growth in excess of 30%, Mr Tucker says.

The margins on life insurance sales also increased during the quarter as AIA repriced some products and eliminated low-margin policies.

“The product mix was improved by increasing the range of protection options within products and also repricing selected traditional life products,” he said.

Mr Tucker says the outlook for the rest of the year looks positive, and the impact of recent natural disasters in the region has been minimal. 

“The long-term drivers of organic growth across our Asia-Pacific geographies, both economic and structural, are firmly in place,” he said. 

Meanwhile AIA has appointed former China Pacific Insurance Life Executive VP Garth Jones as its new CFO.