AIA is one of the leading insurance company, which is publicly listed as an independent group. The group is operating in more than 18 economies around region of Asia-Pacific. The vision of the company is to become the pre-eminent insurance provides across the globe. And to offer best services to shareholders and consumers. The company looks forward in playing leadership role for driving the social and economic development in the regions. The company serve to the people and society wholeheartedly. The company offers broad range of financial and insurance services, health, accident insurance, writing life insurance for businesses and individuals. It also offers the retirement planning and services of wealth management (AIA, 2019).
AIA group works in the competitive industry. It is necessary for the company to determine its opportunities and threats for the company. Porter five forces analysis helps the company in determining the strategic position of the company. It identifies both threats and industrial competition for the company. Here is the detailed Porter five forces analysis of AIA Group;
Bargaining Power of Buyers
Bargaining power of the consumers are high of AIA group. This is mainly because corporate businesses buy different insurance packages for their employees and other purposes. They have high bargaining power for buying best packages in least possible prices. However, the individual consumers bargaining power is weak, and they do not have great impact on the insurance company. In addition to this, switching cost is moderate to high, which totally depends on the terms and types of the agreement of insurance. AIA Group has to work on maintain the consumer base and provide same importance to its individual consumers as corporate ones (Khandelwal, 2015).
Bargaining Power of Suppliers
This is one of the major force as it has great influence on the profitability of the company. The bargaining power of suppliers are high because of the strong demand for the product design and services. The competition in the industry is high of insurance underwriter. Moreover, they have the consumer data base, and provide the services accordingly, which influence the choices of the consumers. It is necessary for the AIA to build and maintain good relationship with the consumer. The company should work more towards its supply chain efficiency, in order to be competitive in highly saturated industry (Manuel, 2016).
Threats of New Entrants
Threats of the new entrants in the insurance industry are high. This is mainly from the firms operating in the industry but at low level. There are companies that are operating in niche are of insurance underwriting services. They face the threat of merger or takeover by the big companies like AIA. There are other financial services providers who are diversifying and entering in insurance industry. However, the capitalisation cost is high, but companies analyse the profit and enter in the market. Moreover, they spend a lot on marketing strategies to attract customers and provide offers on the services. It is necessary for AIA to diversify itself to other regions like Europe, America, etc to mitigate the risk of highly saturated insurance industry in Asia (Simcon, 2015).
Threats from the Substitute Products
The insurance industry is not facing much threat from the substitute products as such. However, they have a threat of losing consumers, as they prefer in investing in other avenues. However, medical insurance or health insurance cannot be substituted. AIA group is facing low threat in this force, and that is why, its bargaining power of consumers are low as less substitutes are available (Khandelwal, 2015).
Rivalry of Existing Players
The insurance industry is facing intense competition, not only from international companies but also from local market. There are other financial service providers who enter in this market, giving tough competition. It is necessary for AIA to attract new consumers and in new segments, to be a market leader. For the market survival, AIA should takeover small firms to reduce the competition level. It should work hard on its strategies, offers, and service portfolio to have competitive edge over others (Simcon, 2016).
References
AIA Group, 2019. About AIA. [Online], Available at: https://www.aia.com/en/about-aia.html, [Accessed on: 26th November, 2019].
Khandelwal, A. 2015. Insurance, 2015. [Online], Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/AnkitKhandelwal18/insurancejuly2015, [Accessed on: 26th November, 2019].
Manuel, E. The Five Competitive Forces of the Insurance and Pension Funds Industry for the Angolan Case. [Online], Available at: https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/the-five-competitive-forces-of-the-insurance-and-pension-funds-industry-for-the-angolan-case-2223-5833-1000270.php?aid=82607, , [Accessed on: 25th November, 2019].
Simconblog, 2015. Insurance industry analysis. [Online], Available at: https://simconblog.wordpress.com/2015/08/19/insurance-industry-analysis/, [Accessed on: 26th November, 2019].