Leading life insurance giant, Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Berhad (Great Eastern), is pleased to announce on 19th February, 2008 that it will give a Special Bonus for the year 2007 with face amount close to RM900 million to more than 1 million policyholders nationwide.

This Special Bonus will be given to close to 1.5 million eligible Participating Regular Premium Whole Life and Endowment policies, which are in force when the Special Bonus is declared. This Special Bonus will be given in addition to the regular annual Reversionary and Cash Bonuses declared for these eligible Participating Life policies.

In total, Great Eastern’s declared face amount of regular bonuses will amount to more than RM2 billion for the year 2007.

“In view of the good investment returns and favourable past operating experiences of eligible Participating policies, we are pleased to be able to add value to our policyholders with this Special Bonus declaration from Great Eastern’s Participating Life Fund. Indeed, this is in line with Great Eastern’s ‘Life is great!’ philosophy - committed to achieve even greater success in making life great for our policyholders.” said Mr. Koh Yaw Hui, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Great Eastern.

Participating policies, which are not eligible for this Special Bonus, also continue to enjoy the regular annual bonuses in accordance with the policy terms and conditions.

The rates for regular annual bonuses for 2007 will remain the same as 2006 for policies of the same situation, considering the policy duration, policy term and attained age of the policyholder.

The Special Bonus will be added to the eligible Participating Regular Premium Whole Life and Endowment policies in the month of February and March 2008. Policyholders will be notified of the bonus amount respectively via their annual bonus statements or notification letters, which will be sent by ordinary mail to the policyholders.

Koh also shared, “In addition to the declaration of this Special Bonus for our loyal policyholders, Great Eastern is also pleased to celebrate its 100th Anniversary in 2008.

In 2007, Great Eastern has already achieved more than its 2008 financial goal of RM400 million, one year earlier than targeted. This astounding financial performance is a testament of Great Eastern’s resilience and strength as the market leader in Malaysia and we will continue our pursuit of delivering returns to our policyholders and strive for service excellence to meet rising customers’ expectations.” Moving forward, the
Company is confident in attaining its 100th Anniversary financial goals of RM40 billion in assets and total premium income of RM5 billion in 2008.

For further enquiries on the Special Bonus, please contact the Company’s Customer Service Careline at 03-4259 8333 during office hours or visit www.lifeisgreat.com.my. Alternatively contact your Great Eastern servicing agent or visit any of the Great Eastern branches nearest to you.

Below is the FAQ provided by the company.

FAQs on Special Bonus

1. What is this Special Bonus?
(i) It is non-recurrent and for financial year 2007 only.
(ii) It is given in addition to the regular annual Reversionary and Cash Bonuses declared for Participating policies.
(iii) It will apply only to some Great Eastern Life and Overseas Assurance Corporation’s Regular Premium Whole Life and Endowment Participating policies that are in force when the Special Bonus is declared. However, not every regular premium Participating policies will get this.
(iv) The Special Bonus rates may vary according to the year the policy was purchased.
(v) The rates for the 2007 regular Reversionary, Cash and Terminal bonuses remain the same as 2006 for Great Eastern and Overseas Assurance Corporation’s Participating policies.

2. How would I know if my policy enjoys this Special Bonus and how much will I get?
Policyholders will be notified of the entitlement and bonus amount via their annual bonus statements or notification letters that will be sent by ordinary mail to policyholders.

3. Will Great Eastern declare Special Bonuses again in the future?
We do not know now as future bonus declaration depends on the operating and investment experiences of these policies in the future as well as sustainability of the current bonus scales. We would like to remind you that future bonuses are non-guaranteed although past bonuses are guaranteed once declared.

4. Whom should I contact if I have enquiries regarding this Special Bonus?
For further enquiries on the Special Bonus, please contact the Company’s Customer Service Careline at 03-4259 8333 during office hours or visit www.lifeisgreat.com.my. Alternatively contact your Great Eastern servicing agent or visit any of the Great Eastern branches nearest to you.

5. Why is Great Eastern giving its policyholders a special bonus this year?
We are committed to giving a fair return to our policyholders. These special bonuses are declared in recognition of the good investment returns in recent years coupled with favourable past operating experiences of the eligible participating policies. We are committed to return the favorable financial experience back to our policyholders after taking into account expected future operating and investment experience.

6. How much is declared for this Special Bonus?
A special bonus face amount close to RM900 million has been declared and will reach close to 1.5 million eligible participating policies nationwide.

7. How many participating policies eligible to special bonus are there?
The Special Bonus will be given to close to 1.5 million eligible Participating Regular Premium Whole Life and Endowment policies, which are in force when the Special Bonus was declared.