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AIA Philippines
Philippines-based insurance company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The AIA Philippines Life and General Insurance Company Inc., commonly known as AIA Philippines and formerly known as the Philippine American Life and General Insurance Company or Philam Life, is an insurance company based in the Philippines. As of 2020, it is one of the largest life insurance companies in the country by assets and net worth.[2][3]
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History
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AIA Philippines was founded in 1947 as Philam Life by Cornelius Vander Starr, the founder of AIG, and his partner Earl Carroll.
The company has received various awards such as the Asian Management Award for General Management, Asian Management Award for Financial Management, and the Reader's Digest Platinum Trusted Brand Award. In addition, it also received the Presidential Citation from the Philippine government in 1994.[4]
In 1961, the company inaugurated its office, the Philam Life Building, in Ermita. The building soon became a landmark structure as well as a center of culture and the arts in Manila. The building would serve as its headquarters until 2013, when the company moved its headquarters to the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, then to the AIA Tower in Makati in 2023.
Philam Life was part of AIG until 2009 when the company, along with other AIG subsidiaries American International Assurance (AIA) and ALICO, was placed under the administration of a special purpose vehicle in exchange for a bailout by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.[5] On November 3, 2009, AIA bought a 99.78% stake in Philam Life after approval from government regulators.[6] On November 27, 2009, the new Philam Life bought a 51% stake in Ayala Life and formed a joint venture with the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI). Ayala Life was renamed BPI-Philam Life Assurance Corporation (BPI-Philam) in 2010.[7] Philam Life became AIA's Top Performing Company out of 17 countries in the AIA Group, having won the AIA Champion's League Gold Cup and the Premier League Champion Cup in 2013.[4]
On August 9, 2021, Philam Life officially changed its name to AIA Philippines.[8]
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Office buildings
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Manila office
The Philam Life Building in Ermita, Manila was the former headquarters of the company. Designed by Carlos Arguelles, the building was one of the first structures built in the International Style of architecture.[citation needed] It was completed in 1961.[9]
Architecture
The medium-rise block was a rectangular structure with a centralized core that allowed some 20,000 square meters of office space to be daylit through the use of wraparound ribbon window glazing and aluminium sunshades supported by pipes and millions.[10] Sculpted concrete formed entrance canopies and a roof for the complex's auditorium. Arguelles also used the artwork of Filipino artists like Galo Ocampo and Vicente Manansala to decorate the interior.[11]
The building was best known for its auditorium, whose acoustical profile was highly suitable for classical music. Known for its excellent acoustics, the Philam Life Theater was a 780-seat theater whose acoustics were done by Bolt, Beranek and Newman. It was considered a model for the other Philam Life buildings in terms of design.[12]
Current status
In 2013, Philam Life moved its headquarters to Bonifacio Global City in Taguig and sold the Ermita site to mall developer SM Development Corp. (SMDC). Although many[who?] expected the site to be turned into a shopping mall, SMDC had not decided what to do with the auditorium.
On August 5, 2020, the demolition process began for the Ermita site amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Makati office
The company also owns the 14th tallest building in the Philippines, the Philamlife Tower (now the AIA Tower), along Paseo de Roxas Avenue in Makati through its real estate affiliate. The building was inaugurated in 2000. It has also served as the AIA Philippines headquarters since 2023, just a decade after the company moved its headquarters to BGC in Taguig.
Cebu office
The company also built a ₱2.1 billion 17-storey corporate center within the Ayala-owned Cebu Business Park along Cardinal Rosales Avenue (facing Ayala Center Cebu) to replace the brutalist building that served as its Cebu regional office on Osmeña Boulevard (formerly Jones Avenue) in uptown Cebu City. The new building was completed in 2017.[13] The original office on Osmeña Boulevard would later become the new corporate headquarters of Virginia Food, a local processed meat manufacturer.
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References
External links
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