Bank of the Philippine Islands Islands (BPI) announced Wednesday the formation of the strategic life assurance joint venture through the completion of the sale of BPI’s 51% stake in Ayala Life Assurance Inc. (Ayala Life) to Philam Life, the largest life insurance company in the country. The transaction was completed on November 27, 2009.

Ayala Life, which will serve as the bancassurance platform for the joint venture between Philam Life and BPI, has been renamed BPI-Philam Life Assurance Corp. (BPI-Philam). All Ayala Life insurance policies will remain in force and will continue to be serviced by BPI-Philam.

Elected to BPI-Philam’s Board of Directors are Jose Cuisia Jr., BPI-Philam Chairman of the Board and Philam Life Vice-Chairman; Stephen Clark, President and CEO of BPI-Philam; Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Chairman and CEO of Ayala Corporation; Trevor Bull, President and CEO of Philam Life; Aurelio Luis Montinola III, President of BPI; Reynaldo Centeno, SEVP and COO of Philam Life; Natividad Alejo, SVP of BPI; Romeo Bernardo, President and Managing Director of Lazaro Bernardo Tiu & Associates, Inc.; and Jesus Tambunting, Chairman and CEO of Planters Development Bank.

The joint venture will benefit from Philam Life’s significant expertise in product development and innovation, particularly in the area of bancassurance. It will also allow Philam Life to gain exclusive access to BPI’s extensive branch network of more than 800 branches and 1,500 ATMs serving over 3 million customers nationwide.

Philam Life is part of the AIA Group. The AIA Group is a leading pan-Asian life insurance organization that traces its roots in the Asia Pacific region back more than 90 years. It provides consumers and businesses with products and services for life insurance, retirement planning, accident and health insurance as well as wealth management solutions. Through an extensive network of 250,000 agents and 20,000 employees across 15 geographical markets.