Life sees 20% hike in new business in H1 2018
A half-yearly review by the Life Insurance Association in Singapore (LIA) has stated that new business premiums in the Life insurance industry rose by 20 percent to SGD2.02 billion in comparison with the same period last year.
Another trend that was observed by the LIA was that consumers opted to purchase both investment-linked insurance products (ILP) and non-participating products such as term policies, a shift from the regular participating policies such as whole life plans.
LIA attributed this to improving market performance and economic conditions which typically drive sales of ILPs, as well as insurers’ new product launches of non-participating products.
On top of a guaranteed benefit, participating insurance policies provide a share in the profits of the insurance company’s participating fund – non-guaranteed benefits – paid in the form of bonuses or cash dividends.
The sector also recorded a 19 percent increase in total sum assured for new business to SGD66.28 billion. Further, a total of 14,505 retirement insurance policies – which are designed to provide regular payouts to policyholders – were sold.
LIA president Patrick Teow said helping Singaporeans to be better prepared for retirement is an industry priority, besides helping them to narrow the protection gaps.
There was an increase in uptake across both single and annual premium plans. During the first half of the year, SGD1.34 billion in weighted annual premiums were collected, an 18 percent growth from the same period last year, according to a report by The Strait Times.
