Singapore’s life insurance
industry consolidated its recovery in the fourth quarter of 2009
with premium income more than doubling compared with the final
quarter of 2008 to S$2.1bn ($1.5bn) reveals data from the Life
Insurance Association (LIA).
The recovery which began in the second quarter
of 2009 has been exceptional in a life market that was one the
world’s most seriously impacted by the global financial crisis.
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Illustrating the crisis’ impact, the LIA
reported total life insurance premium income of S$818m in the first
quarter of 2009, down 73% compared with the first quarter of
2008.
However, the strong recovery in the second,
first and third quarters of 2009 did not compensate for the first
quarter slump, with premium income for the full year of S$6.2bn
coming in 28.7% below the S$8.6bn achieved in 2008 – far behind the
all-time high of S$9.7bn in 2007.
Premium income volatility in Singapore’s life
market remains driven by investment-linked products, which reached
their height of popularity in 2006 and 2007 when they accounted for
accounted for 65% and 68% of total sales, respectively.
In 2009, sales of investment-linked products
totalled S$1.3bn, a significantly lower 21.8% of total sales.
In 2008 investment-linked products accounted
for 38% of sales, while between 2001 and 2005 they accounted for,
on average, 42% of sales.
Though still a minor part of Singapore’s
insurance market, private health insurance premium income put in a
notable performance in 2009, increasing by 31% to S$146m.
The strong increase reflected consumers’
increasing concern over rising medical costs, commented the
LIA.
