Life insurers ↝ Life insurance

Life insurers adapt pandemic risk models after claims jump, Reuters

LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - A coronavirus pandemic which lasts five years, another pandemic in a decade, and ever more transmissible variants are among the scenarios life insurers are predicting after COVID-19 claims jumped more than expected in 2021. The global life insurance industry was hit with reported claims due to COVID-19 of $5.5 billion in the first nine months of 2021 versus $3.5 billion for the whole of 2020, according to insurance broker Howden in a report on Jan 4, while the industry had expected lower payouts due to the rollout of vaccines. "We definitely paid out more than I had anticipated at the beginning of last year," said Hannover Re (HNRGn.DE) board member Klaus Miller....

So you thought corona was good for insurance companies?

So you thought corona was good for insurance companies? New Delhi: Health insurance may be the fastest growing business segment in the general insurance sector due to popular awareness about the Covid-19 pandemic, but a significant surge in the number of claims is a cause of concern for insurers. Insurers have earned revenue to the tune of Rs 450 crore through the sale of corona-specific products, whereas they settled a huge number of claims, paying out Rs 1,430 crore -- almost three times the premia they earned. This fact was revealed by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) chairman S C Khuntia during a virtual summit held by CII on Thursday. "Life insurance...

COVID-19 and U.S. life insurers , J.P. Morgan Asset Management

COVID-19 and U.S. life insurers We look at YE2019 asset exposures in the U.S. life industry that have a high likelihood of being impacted by the effects of and response to COVID-19. To determine life insurer allocations to asset classes most likely to experience losses or down- grades in the current economic downturn, we analyzed the balance sheets of the top 50 life insurers in the United States, which account for $3.6 trillion in general account invested assets. We classified their fixed income into the categories moderate concern (MC), high concern (HC) and very high concern (VHC), as well as identified exposures to equities and alternatives likely to experience carry value declines. We...

How Life Insurers Need to Adapt Now, ThinkAdvisor

COVID-19 has affected all industries and has spurred major — and immediate — need for change. Since we are facing a global pandemic impacting the lives of millions, pressure on the life insurance industry is significant. Coronavirus has caused a large hit for life insurer stocks, due to the fact that the market expects a drop in interest rates to hurt insurers’ profit margins — but not, as you might think, because of an expected increase in mortality. It would take a much higher percentage of the population contracting the virus to drive major worry from a claims standpoint. Despite the challenges, life insurance is still a key industry and product in this difficult time. Companies across...

New Possibilities for Foreign EU Life Insurers in Sweden - Strategy - Sweden

The Swedish Supreme Administrative Court delivered on 4 May 2004 a judgement in the case of Försäkringsaktiebolag Skandia and Ola Ramstedt v. Riksskatteverket (the National Tax Board). The case deals with the Swedish tax rules relating to insurance contracts which distinguish between pension insurance and endowment insurance and apply different tax regime to them. The Swedish Supreme Administrative Court states in the ruling (just as the Court of Justice of the European Communities did in June 2003) that the provisions on tax deductions for premiums paid under a occupational pension insurance policy (Sw: tjänstepensions-försäkring), requiring the insurance company to be established in...

Life insurers and systemic risk - KPMG Global

{{vm.title}} 25 {{ vm.title }} {{ vm.siteSelectorList.flyout.cell1.heading }} {{ site.countryLocale }} {{ vm.siteSelectorList.flyout.cell1.global.countryLocale }} {{ vm.closeTabLabel }} The IMF’s latest Global Financial Stability Report (PDF 4.27 MB) devotes a chapter to the contribution of life insurers to systemic risk. First, although the failure of an individual large life insurer could still have systemic consequences, this potential impact has not increased. Second, the asset composition of life insurers’ portfolios has not become significantly more similar. However, there are some growing concerns because: Third, low interest rates have induced some life insurers (in...

Accenture Positioned as a Leader in Gartner s 2020 Magic Quadrant for Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems, North America, Business Wire

According to the report, which evaluated 11 different software vendors on 15 criteria, “As the COVID-19 pandemic has clearly demonstrated, business operating conditions can change dramatically overnight, and life insurance policy administration systems and the infrastructure on which they operate must be scalable, secure and adaptable to change.” Shay Alon, who leads Accenture’s Life and Annuity Products and Platforms business, said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has caused life insurers to accelerate their digital initiatives, as the industry understands that it must be more agile and responsive to customers during a difficult time. We believe our leadership position reflects our commitment to...

Life insurers, regulator back 60-day payment grace period under Bayanihan 2, Inquirer Business

MANILA, Philippines — Life insurers and the insurance regulator on Sunday said they support the moves in Congress for a payment moratorium of only up to 60 days under the pending Bayanihan 2 bill. Philippine Life Insurance Association (PLIA) president Benedict Sison told the Inquirer that their group “finds the bicameral committee’s 60-day grace period compromise provision in the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act acceptable.” “It is equivalent to the minimum grace period granted by the industry during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) declaration in March, representing the 30-day policy contractual grace period and the extension that the Insurance...

Life insurers post 7% rise in new business after dismal Q1 - The Hindu

For the first time this fiscal monthly new business or the first-year premium of life insurers turned positive in July, with an almost 7% increase as India accelerated the reopening of the pandemic-hit economy. Collectively, the first-year premium of the 24 insurers stood at ₹22,986.10 crore, 6.87% more than the ₹21,509.25 crore they reported in July 2019, as per the latest data released by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). Last month’s growth ended a period of decline that began in March as COVID-19 took hold and the country resorted to a stringent nationwide lockdown to contain the virus’s spread. New business in March, one of the busiest months for...

Business volumes of all life insurance players hit in Q1 FY21 - The Week

The business volumes of all the life insurance players in India were hit in Q1 of FY21 on account of the lockdown impact leading to reported declines in their total Annual Premium Equivalents (APE) since March 2020. Overall, in Q1 FY21, life insurers, with the exception of Max Life, reported a 30–44 per cent plunge in total APE, affected by a sharp decline in ULIP sales across insurers. On the other hand, Max Life reported a 4 per cent decline in the total APE as per a recent report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Among the business segments of all the life insurers, individual protection trends remain strong, rather than a savings linked investment product. That means life protection...