AIA group has reported a 40% increase in new business to $US932 million ($868 million) for the 12 months ending November 30.

The Australian business is included, with results from the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan and New Zealand reporting a 13% growth in new business for the year to $US112 million ($104 million).

Australia was reported as delivering 32% of these countries’ new business growth for the year through the retention of all major group life insurance accounts and winning the Sunsuper account with 1 million members.

AIA Group CEO Mark Tucker says there are plans under way to launch a premium independent advisers model for higher-margin life insurance businesses.

The strongest new business growth was in Singapore, up 58% to $US164 million ($152.7 million), although the largest growth financially was in Hong Kong which reported $US305 million ($284 million) of sales.

Annualised new premiums for the group were up 22% to $US2.2 billion ($2 billion) and AIA reported a net profit of $US1.6 billion (1.5 billion).

Commenting on “an excellent set of results for our shareholders”, Mr Tucker said it “reflects the combined impact of our powerful distribution platform across Asia Pacific; our financial and technical strength; and the consistency with which we are implementing our clear strategy of targeting sustained growth.”

He was also bullish on future growth for AIA, based on the strong economic performance of the Asia-Pacific region.

“Our focus on Asian markets where we have a leading position and depth of experience, combined with our financial strength and a highly motivated team, put us in a very strong position to optimise opportunities for further growth.”