The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released the latest life insurance statistics for the June 2021 quarter following the release of its general insurance and superannuation statistics for the same quarter.
APRA's Quarterly Life Insurance Performance Statistics publication summarises the industry's financial performance, financial position, capital adequacy, and key ratios.
For the quarter ended June 30, 2021, the life insurance industry's net policy revenue totalled $3.9 billion, a 15.9% increase from $3.4 billion in the March 2021 quarter. Meanwhile, the industry's investment revenue reached $3.1 billion in the June quarter, a dramatic increase from the -$1.0 billion in the March quarter.
Overall, the life insurance industry's revenue for the quarter ended June 30 reached $7.3 billion, a whopping 176.9% increase from $2.6 billion in the March quarter.
The expenses in the life insurance industry for the June 2021 quarter totalled $6.5 billion, a 164.9% increase from $2.4 billion in the March 2021 quarter. In addition, the industry's total assets hit $132.7 billion in the June quarter, a 2.5% increase from $129.5 billion in the previous quarter.
Considering the data for the year ended June 2021, APRA stated that the life insurance industry's overall performance is improving.
For the year ended June 2021, the life insurance industry's net profit after tax was $1.0 billion – a significant improvement from the previous year, thanks to the improved investment market performance.
However, APRA revealed that risk products still reported a combined net loss after tax of $18.8 million despite improved performance for the 12 months ended June 2021. In particular, Individual Disability Income Insurance (also known as Income Protection Insurance) reported a loss of $345.5 million during the year, a $0.9 billion improvement from the previous year's result.
Meanwhile, the results for Group Lump Sum and Group Disability Income Insurance remained negative for the same period but have also improved.
