The Life Insurance Association, Singapore (LIA Singapore) has announced industry results for the period from January to June 2022, recording a total of SGD2.63 billion in weighted new business premiums. The number represents a 1.9% decrease from a year ago.
Single-premium products recorded a 12.5% increase to SGD1.44 billion in weighted premiums from the year prior, with cash-funded products accounting for 97.4% of them. Annual premium products recorded a corresponding reduction of 15.1% from the same period last year, amounting to SGD1.19 billion in total weighted annual premiums.
“The life insurance industry has remained resilient and achieved a commendable performance amidst the increased uncertainty in the global economy due to geopolitical tensions, recurring COVID-19 waves, and rising inflationary pressures,” said Khor Hock Seng, LIA Singapore president. “We continue to see strong consumer demand for life insurance … from the sustained growth in the single-premium products which remained popular amongst Singaporeans.”
New policies purchased online continued an upward trend, increasing in the first half of 2022 to 430,725 compared to the 203,351 recorded the previous year and totalling SGD66 million – 2.5% of the total weighted premiums for the period. LIA Singapore noted that these purchases were transacted by customers without financial advisory.
New business premiums for individual health insurance amounted to SGD155.9 million – a slight decrease from the previous year – with IPs and IP rider premiums accounting for 83.5% of them while medical plans and riders accounted for the rest.
The life insurance industry paid out SGD5.92 billion to policyholders and beneficiaries between January and June, with SGD5.186 million going into policies that had matured while the remaining SGD740 million was for death, total and permanent disablement, and critical illness claims.
Looking ahead, Khor identified recurring waves of COVID-19 and a tight labor market among the challenges the insurance industry would face in the near term.
“Life insurers will also have to cater to the rapidly evolving consumer product and purchase preferences as consumers increasingly expect insurers to offer more flexibility and personalisation for their products and services,” Khor said. “Within the industry, life insurers will continue to focus on digitalisation with the aim of helping consumers better manage their healthcare needs and financial planning journey. To help Singaporeans better understand their insurance policies, life insurers have supported the establishment of a Singapore Financial Data Exchange, which will soon include information on insurance policies.”
On the sustainability front, Khor reported that all LIA Singapore member insurers had adopted the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) guidelines on environmental risk management.
