Vietnam's economy has grown relatively rapidly in recent years, spawning hopes that it is one of the brighter emerging Asian countries and a potential hotspot for mass-affluent and high net worth wealth services.

Prudential Vietnam Assurance Private Limited, a subsidiary of UK-listed Prudential, and Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeABank), have created a Vietnamese bancassurance partnership.

The move means that Prudential Vietnam will become the preferred life insurance provider to BRG Group Joint Stock Company, the Vietnam-based conglomerate with about 10 million customers. The partnership is expected to be effective from April 2020.

In much of Asia life insurance is an important channel for wealth management and wealth protection services for mass affluent and high net worth individuals. 

Retail bank SeABank has about 1.2 million customers and almost 170 branches. Prudential Vietnam, meanwhile, has more than 1.5 million clients.

Among recent Vietnam-based news stories, this publication late last year reported that United Overseas Bank's asset management arm intends to buy VAM Vietnam Fund Management for VN113.68 billion ($6.7 million) in cash. UOB Asset Management, a wholly-owned subsidiary of UOB, entered into an agreement with individual Nguyen Xuan Minh for the initial acquisition of 1.13 million ordinary shares of VAM Vietnam Fund Management Joint Stock Company, representing about 24.53 per cent of the issued share capital. 

Vietnam, which has a relatively youthful population, is sometimes dubbed one of the brighter prospects in Southeast Asia. According to the statista.com website, in 2018, Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to around $241.27 billion, and is expected to increase to almost $395 billion by 2024. Recent GDP growth rates have come in at an average of around 6 per cent per year.