GREAT EASTERN ANNUAL REPORT 2005 14

CEO’s Report
Great Eastern continued to be the market leader in the life insurance industry in 2005 with

The different chapters an improved market share of 23.3% in Malaysia.

The asset size of the Company grew to RM26.7 billion in 2005, an increase of 11.4% over
the previous year. Investment income increased by 7% to RM1.3 billion despite the low

of our life story… bank interest rate regime for much of the year. The profit attributable to shareholders for
the year ended 31 December 2005 is RM280.8 million. In 2004, the profit attributable to
shareholders was RM328.4 million which included the one-off profit of RM35 million from
the sale of OCBC Bank shares.

Gross premium income increased to RM4.1 billion with robust growth in the sale of
investment-linked products, which is in line with the Company's strategy to develop and
increase the market share for all business segments. During the year 2005,
the Company declared a One-Time Special Bonus of RM60.2 million, which was given to
some of the Regular Premium Whole Life and Endowment policies bought on or before
31 December 2003. This Special Bonus was given to close to one million of our policy owners.

With continuous growth in premiums and profits each year, the Company is largely on track
to achieve our vision of being the choice financial service provider in the region when we
celebrate our 100th Anniversary in 2008.

Customer Acquisition – Agency Management

The Company continued its focused strategy to grow the
investment-linked business for 2005 using our main
distribution channel, i.e., the tied agency force. This resulted
in another double-digit growth in new business premiums for
investment-linked plans (ILP) and more than 100% growth in
ILP policy owners.
New initiatives and motivating programmes were introduced in
2005 with the key objective to enhance productivity and increase
sales for the 17,000 agents throughout Malaysia. Various
mentoring programmes were launched to provide dedicated
guidance and training for aspiring performers, e.g. the Great
MDRT Achievers Programme, which is a mentoring programme
for aspiring MDRT qualifiers/members and the Great ILP
Mentoring Programme, for developing ILP-focused agents.
achieved via introduction of training programmes such as
Peak Performance And Continuous Excellence (for developing
professional agents), besides other comprehensive training
programmes and communication sessions to keep them
updated on recent changes in guidelines from the regulators.
Recruitment of new agents is an on-going process, and the
quality of the new recruits has been improving each year via
the Company Organised Recruitment Programme and joint
graduate recruitment drives with Agency Leaders. Regular
Business Opportunity Programme (BOP) had been
organised at all branches in collaboration with Agency
Leaders. In addition, we have joined efforts with selected
Agency Leaders to organise campus recruitment
programmes targeted at recruiting final year graduates.

While new programmes were launched, existing and on-going
activities were well-received by the members of the field force;
who have been recognised as the most aggressive, vibrant
and professional field force in the market place. These new
programmes comprised orientation programmes for agents
that were promoted to a higher level, head-start and final sprint
seminars, sales and leadership enhancement workshops and
the Annual Supremacy Award ceremony.
Agency Management continued its other key strategy of
continuous learning and structured recruitment to enhance
the professionalism and skills of the field force. This was
Great Eastern and OCBC Bank have jointly initiated an Agent
Referral Programme in July 2005 to engage the field force in
selling Great Eastern-OCBC Bank co-brand Credit Card.
To ride on the strength of our field force, OCBC Bank is
embarking on a joint initiative with the Company to promote other
loan-based financial products as part of its financial planning
initiatives. Our pioneer effort in this may pave the way for a
gradual transformation of our professional agents to full fledge
financial advisors.
 GREAT EASTERN ANNUAL REPORT 2005 16

2005 Agents' Honour Roll Bancassurance

Top 3 Group Sales Managers with Investment-Linked Rider
Toh Chun Shiong Tan Lay Seong Tan Kuen Wei
Top 3 Unit Sales Managers with Investment-Linked Rider
Chen Lai Li Cheng Wan Leng Mok Weng Onn
Top 3 Career Agents with Investment-Linked Rider
Gui Siew Luang Heng Shoou Ju Kiu Siu Ung
Top 3 Agents with Investment-Linked Rider
Bo Chin Hoong Oo Huei Ying Goh Ek Sean
Top 3 Personal Producers with Investment-Linked Rider
Bo Chin Hoong Tan Kuen Wei Tan Lay Seong
Top 3 Group Sales Managers without Investment-Linked Rider
Tan Lay Seong Toh Chun Shiong Tan Soo Hin
Top 3 Unit Sales Managers without Investment-Linked Rider
Ng Heap Teik Mok Weng Onn Chuah Kang Boon
Top 3 Career Agents without Investment-Linked Rider
Heng Shoou Ju Nalla Thambe a/l Ramasamy Serjit Kaur
Top 3 Agents without Investment-Linked Rider
Datin Teh Beng Swan Nagarajan a/l Ramasamy Chan Mui Lin
Top 3 Personal Producers without Investment-Linked Rider
Heng Shoou Ju Nalla Thambe a/l Ramasamy Datin Teh Beng Swan
Bancassurance started 2005 with the successful launch of a
Guaranteed Income Plus Plan with our partner bank, Public
Bank Berhad, in April 2005. Public Bank distributed a five-year
single premium endowment plan via all of its branches
nationwide in Malaysia. All the tranches allocated were fully
taken up within a short period.
Several measures were taken to further promote Mortgage
Reducing Term Assurance (MRTA) as an attractive and
competitive product in the market. This included the innovative
packaging of riders, and in particular our Refund of Premium
rider, which recorded encouraging take-up rates. Despite the
competitive market and other sales campaigns introduced
by competitors, the Company registered growth in MRTA sales
in 2005 as compared to 2004. This was achieved through the
innovation of products, which catered to the business banking
segment and our continuing efforts in enhancing relationships
with our partner banks – Public Bank and others, to promote
the Bancassurance business.
Throughout 2005, the Bancassurance team enhanced our
partner banks’ servicing via regular participation in their sales and
marketing events. This included wealth management events
as well as joint marketing in property development launches.
To strive for a broader reach of the market, Great Eastern has
secured new tie-ups with more partner banks, and this is
expected to contribute positively towards MRTA sales results in
the near future.
The foregoing initiatives have resulted in a 30% increase in new
business premiums for 2005 over 2004 and Great Eastern is
well positioned to gear for the challenges of 2006 even as
market competition intensifies.

*MDRT Qualifying & Life Member *MDRT Court of the Table Group Insurance
Robert Cheah Booy (23 years) Ng Nyet Chin (qualifying & life member 10 years)
Teh Boon Sing (22 years) Heng Shoou Ju (qualifying member 9 years) Group Insurance had a great year, with new business growth throughout the year. Promotional activities with members of the
G Satheesan (21 years) Kiu Siu Ung (qualifying member 9 years)
of 30% in 2005 as compared to the previous year. field force, together with the strategy to penetrate new market
segments have sustained the growth momentum for this
Chang Chee Kiang (18 years) Kuan Sousa (qualifying member 9 years)
In 2005, the Reward Insurance Scheme (RIS) product reached business segment.
Mahalingam a/l Vellasamy (14 years) Lee Moi Chin (qualifying member 9 years) another significant milestone with enhancements in benefits.
Gan Sing Shoo (13 years) Ng Bok Her (qualifying member 9 years) During the year, efforts have been stepped up to increase For the employee benefit scheme market, Great Eastern
Chua Choh Wan (12 years) Tang Nyut Kiow (qualifying member 8 years) awareness of RIS via regular training and communication secured business by leveraging on the support of international
Lai Kok Fung (12 years) Datin Tan Po Moi (qualifying member 7 years) sessions. The teamwork and activities between members of pooling from two multi-national companies. The potential
Lau Kim Noi (11 year) Cheng Wan Leng (qualifying member 6 years) the field force and Group Insurance team have resulted in an growth for this market segment continues to be optimistic as the
Cheah Har Mooi (10 years) Yau Kim Choy (qualifying member 5 years) 82% increase in the number of customers. Malaysian workforce increases each year.
Subramaniam Ponnusamy (7 years) Chen Foong Ling (qualifying member 4 years)
Hua Chwee Lan (qualifying member 4 years)
The mainstay Group Multiple Benefits Scheme, with its low-
cost comprehensive cover continued to attract new business
*MDRT Life Member Ravi Doraisamy (qualifying member 4 years)
Michael Cheong Moon Lam (15 years) Leong Wai Haan (qualifying member 3 years)
Tan Poo Hong (12 years) Pua Han Nee (qualifying member 3 years)
Tan Yoke Chan (qualifying member 3 years) Marketing
Honour Roll Chen Lai Li (qualifying member 2 years) We started 2005 database marketing working with external the year to encourage cross-selling or up-selling activities with
G Satheesan Lee King (qualifying member 2 years) partners who own ‘young’ databases. During the year, Great sales promotions to our policy owners. It has resulted in a four-
Lo Lai San (qualifying member 2 years) Eastern also partnered Dumex and co-sponsored education fold increase in the premium generated through insights-driven
Ong Yeok Aye (qualifying member 2 years) plans worth RM380,000 for their “Building Better People” campaigns in 2005, as compared to 2003.
contest. The objective was to position Great Eastern as the
*MDRT Top of the Table
Jackson Ting Hwong Sui (qualifying member 8 years) Oo Huei Ying (qualifying member 2 years)
Tony Ng Keng Hong (qualifying member 8 years) Tan Wha Chong (qualifying member 2 years) insurer for young families with children. It created awareness CRM will continue its efforts as initial results have shown that
of Great Eastern amongst the general public and also these initiatives are effective in helping members of the field
Gui Siew Luang (qualifying member 6 years) Goh Ek Sean (qualifying member 1 year)
generated leads for our agency force. force. In addition, the campaigns have produced useful
Tan Lay Seong (qualifying member 6 years) Lawrence Tan Sau Poh (qualifying member 1 year)
customer insights for effective targeting and helped increase
Toh Chun Shiong (qualifying member 6 years) Since its inception in 2003, we have further established the brand affinity with the customers.
Wong Hang Yoke (qualifying member 5 years) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) initiative in 2005.
Tan Kuen Wei (qualifying member 2 years) This was achieved via insights-driven campaigns throughout
Bo Chin Hoong (qualifying member 1 year)

*Great Eastern proudly produced a total of 467 Agents in year 2005 who have met the MDRT production requirements.

Product Development
Our Company continued its efforts to provide our customers with
a good mix of traditional life insurance and investment-linked
products for 2005. We introduced a buyback option to our
accelerated dread disease product, Supreme Livin’Care Plus.
This new product in the market allows the policy owners the
option to buy back the death benefit to the maximum amount of
basic sum assured in the event that he/she is diagnosed with any
one of the 36 illnesses covered under the plan.
In line with the changes in the guidelines from the regulators in
2005, the product development team reviewed the prices of
some of the products such as the Supreme Livin’Care Plus, Great
LifeCare, MultiCash Lion Endowment Series 3, GreatJunior
Advantage Series 2 and Junior Advantage Rider Series 2.
Operations
The key operational departments in Great Eastern have an
important role to provide continuous improvements to achieve
operational excellence. Besides on-going operations and the
efforts to meet the targeted customer service turnaround time,
several other key initiatives were implemented.
The Company launched its electronic submission
(e-Submission) solution following a successful piloting phase in
2004. The e-Submission solution is an alternative option for
agents to submit insurance proposals online to cater to a
growing segment of customers who prefer the convenience of
online transactions and services.
At the Customer Service Department, several initiatives were
implemented to improve operational efficiency and customer
service standards, e.g. a knowledge management system for all
touch-points in Customer Service. The Agent Empowerment
Programme 3 was further extended at the Head Office and
branches with the introduction of fast-track self-help counters and
the implementation of Streamyx for faster connectivity between
branches and the head office. The Great Service Culture
Programme was carried out for the third year at the Head Office
Information Systems
Great Eastern continues its efforts to achieve operational
efficiency and improve customer service via enhancements in
information system applications and infrastructure.
Despite the challenges arising from the Company’s mainframe
migration project, the Information Systems team continued to
implement new projects to support agents and policy owners.
Some of the key initiatives and projects implemented for 2005
included the following:
Enterprise Document Processing Solution – Great Eastern is
the first life insurance company in Malaysia to implement an end-
to-end and straight-through processing solution for the
production of policy documents. With this solution the policy-
document-binding process becomes cost effective and efficient,
and plays a big role in improving customer service.
GEMobile Solution – This is a system that allows agents to use
PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) devices to download customer
Following the success of the Great SeniorCare launched in
2004, Great Eastern enhanced the product and launched the
new Great SeniorCare Plus, 50Care Plan and Great
GoldenCare Plan – which cater to the needs of the senior
citizens market segment.
Products distributed via Bancassurance such as the
Guaranteed Income Plus Plan, and Great Lion Prosperity
Plan, which are single premium endowment products were
also launched during the year.
with emphasis on inter-departmental cooperation and agency
relationship in delivering service excellence.
In a division where there is constant interaction with customers,
both front and back end, there is a need to ensure that the staff
are competent and knowledgable in all aspects of their job scope.
The Underwriting Support Department helps in this area with
structured training for new solutions such as the e-Submission
and “Train-the-trainer” programmes. The Field Underwriting
Manual, launched in 2005, is a simple underwriting reference
guide to help the agents understand standard underwriting
requirements, relevant ratings for hazardous occupation,
avocation and the probable action needed under different
environments for completion of a new business proposal.
Similarly, the Customer Service and Claims Department
organised training and communication sessions at branches to
ensure that development of skills is also carried out at service
centres throughout Malaysia. All these efforts were made to
ensure that excellent customer service will be provided at all
times to our customers and policy owners.
information, carry out financial planning and conduct online
inquiries via the mobile network.
i-SmartSell Website via e-Partner – This allows agents to
participate in the Company’s CRM programme in a convenient
and effective manner.
e-Statement – Provides summary and detailed commission
statements via e-Partner.
Apart from new systems, Great Eastern invested in infrastructure
enhancements to ensure improvements in application
development, security of systems and database. The Capability
Maturity Model Integration and IT Infrastructure Library were
started in 2005 to allow the development and technical services
team to apply the best practices for application development. At
the same time, the Enterprise Security Management System was
implemented to provide the team with the capability to have a
single view of various security exposure and indicators.
Human Capital
Besides being a key employer in the Malaysian insurance
industry, Great Eastern has also been a pioneer in the education
and development of the insurance industry professionals.
With the onset of globalisation, there is increased pressure on the
industry to employ technically skilled workers. The elite
Management Trainees Programme provides the talent pool of
future leaders for our Company. By working closely with local and
international universities, colleges and educational institutes,
Great Eastern is able to draw its talents with backgrounds in
quantitative studies, actuarial sciences and technical disciplines.
With such backgrounds, Management Trainees will be able to
appreciate more fully the business risks and be a better fit for the
Company’s line of work.
Apart from attracting potential talents, existing talents in the
Company are given an education impetus through the
Company’s Education Assistance Scheme which supports staff
in their Actuarial, Malaysian Insurance Institute, Accountancy and
other professional related courses through the reimbursement of
examination fees and books.
Complementing this scheme is the Company’s drive in
motivating its staff to take up the Life Office Management
Association (LOMA) examinations. Reimbursement of
examination fees and books and an attractive award scheme
awaits staff who pass these examinations.
As a good corporate citizen, Great Eastern is committed to
developing staff with the right technical skills, who can play the
role of a coach/mentor and develop leaders for the financial
services industry. The Company has also in place a structured
Practical Training attachment programme, which allows
undergraduates from universities to undergo practical training
with the Company. This win-win approach helps us to identify
potential talents for recruitment.
GREAT EASTERN ANNUAL REPORT 2005 18
Great Eastern also offers scholarships to outstanding students
gaining entry into local and overseas universities. To support the
Company’s expansion in the region, and also to gain better
insights into doing business in China, we now offer regional
scholarships to students gaining entry into selected top
universities in China. The Company’s scholarship initiative has
assisted 45 students with an investment of RM1.52 million since
it started in 1998.
A structured Performance Management System assists
employees with their performance planning, development
planning and appraisal needs, ensuring a comprehensive and
fair system for employees to achieve their goals and targets. This
in turn provides clear direction on how rewards get delivered
within the Company.
Another initiative is the Job Rotation programme, which helps the
Company build a multi-tasking workforce that is flexible,
adaptable and easily deployable. This talent development
programme prepares the Company for future challenges through
on-the-job learning attachments.
As great efforts are spent in recruiting and developing talent,
Great Eastern also reinforces the need to recognise outstanding
talents through the Chairman’s Award. This annual award
recognises outstanding achievements across the board,
culminating in a special award presentation during the
Company’s Annual Dinner & Dance.
A GREAT learning and development culture exists in Great
Eastern that supports and spurs outstanding talents to greater
achievements.
 GREAT EASTERN ANNUAL REPORT 2005 20

Corporate Communications & Branding Risk Management

In the Corporate Communications area, the Company kick-
started the year with the Great Eastern “Life is great!” National
Dance Competition – a modern dance competition open to all
secondary school students in Malaysia. Organised by Nanyang
Siang Pau, Great Eastern was the main sponsor for the event
and the objective was to promote arts and culture among the
younger generation. This was one of the activities carried out
throughout the year to promote Great Eastern and the “Life is
great!” philosophy in Malaysia.
Other branding activities of the same nature included The Sun
Motor Hunt, The Torch Run Procession in conjunction with the
22nd Malaysian Chinese Cultural Festival and the sponsorship of
the Operafest Children’s Choir for the “Life is great!” Across
Borders Charity Concert.
Following the success of the photo contest two years ago, Great
Eastern organised the “Life is great!” Photo Contest in the
second quarter of 2005. It received overwhelming response from
the public and winners were presented with their cash prizes in
August during the prize presentation ceremony and exhibition of
winning photos.
The Company organised a ground breaking ceremony to mark
the beginning of the construction of Great Eastern’s new Penang
branch office building in a heritage conservation site in Penang.
Targeted to be completed in 2007, Wisma Great Eastern Penang
will be a 5-storey office structure boasting a nett lettable space of
82,000 sq ft.
To further enhance brand awareness, outdoor advertising
continued with unipole advertising at strategic locations in
Penang and Johor Bahru, and a creative advertising panel in
Jalan Damansara – which continues to be the ‘talk-of-the-town’
in the Klang Valley area. New outdoor advertising activities
were implemented in Kuala Lumpur International Airport
departure level and advertising panels were placed at the
Kuala Lumpur Monorail station, which is now called the “Great
Eastern Station”.
Great Eastern received the Reader’s Digest SuperBrands Gold
Award (Insurance Category) for Malaysia for the second year
running. This status was awarded to Great Eastern for
receiving the highest ratings from consumers; voted
quantitatively and qualitatively on five key attributes, i.e.,
quality, value, trustworthiness, strong image and understanding
of customer needs.
The Company’s long-term charity project, ChildrenCare, had a
fresh new look when we organised a ChildrenCare relaunch at
the start of the year. With the support of agents and staff, fund
raising promotions continued to be held throughout the year to
create awareness for the Company’s charity project and to raise
funds for ChildrenCare. Other activities were held as part of
ChildrenCare’s contribution to needy children, e.g. Staff/Agents’
Visit to Miracle Home and the ChildrenCare Outing to Aquaria
KLCC where children from five homes were treated to a trip to
learn about marine life.
The management of risk is an integral part of the Company's
management practice. The Company has an established risk
management framework, which largely comprises a risk
governance structure and a risk management process. The year
2005 saw the risk management framework undergo an
extensive review to determine the alignment of its various
components to the established structures and roles,
procedures, policies and regulatory requirements. Under the risk
management project “RK20.12”, this framework now includes
the setting of specific risk categories to facilitate more focused
and effective risk management and to provide a more
systematic approach to the risk management process. A
methodology for the aggregation of operational risks based on
the specific risk categories was also developed to determine the
operational risk exposure at various levels.
Alex Foong Soo Hah
Director & Chief Executive Officer
28 April 2006
As part of the risk management process, the Management
continues to be vigilant of the risk landscape with regular review
and monitoring of key risks.
Several risk awareness training programmes were also
conducted for members of staff to reinforce the importance of
good and effective risk management.
With all of our strategies and improvement programmes in place,
and barring any unforeseen circumstances, we are confident of
achieving our centennial goals of growing our assets to RM40
billion and a profit-after-tax of RM400 million in the year 2008.
Thus, we are in line with our vision to be the leading financial
service provider in this region, recognised for our excellence.

Property
Our Branch Offices
The Company has continued its efforts to enhance its branch
premises in terms of consistent branding and corporate
image, and to acquire suitable properties to house our
branch offices.
Investment Properties
Great Eastern Mall, having established itself as the favourite
neighbourhood mall in its vicinity, has continued to attract
discerning patrons into its outlets. As at 31 December 2005,
the occupancy of the shopping centre stood at 89%.

The Kuantan, Kluang and Tawau branch offices moved into
their new premises during the year. We have taken
possession of the new Kuching property and renovation
works are expected to start by the first quarter of 2006. We
are expecting to take possession of the Bintulu property in
early 2006.
Construction work on the Penang building has been in progress
since March 2005 and is expected to be completed by the first
half of 2007. The proposed re-development to the Batu Pahat
property is also expected to commence in the early part of 2006.
As at 31 December 2005, ten of the 24 branches are located
in company-owned premises throughout Malaysia.
Menara Great Eastern has reached an occupancy rate of
96%, with the balance vacant space reserved for the
Company’s future expansion. Since the Company took over
Menara Weld on 1 June 2004, the office tower has enjoyed a
healthy occupancy of 88% as at 31 December 2005. The
re-positioning works to the retail podium are nearing
completion, with several tenants having started doing business
in the centre. It is expected to be fully opened to the public by
early 2006.
Construction of the 113 units of low-density luxurious apartments
behind the existing Menara Great Eastern/Great Eastern Mall
complex has been progressing since July 2005. With its
expected completion in 2007, the Company’s aspirations of
owning a distinguished piece of real estate comprising an
integrated mix of up-market commercial retail, commercial office
and residential properties will become a reality.