Life insurance risk premium inflows remain stable at $18.1bn

In the year to December 2023, risk premium inflows have remained relatively flat, reaching slightly below $18.1 billion, according to a report by Plan For Life.

Year-on-year new premium sales for this period were up 8.8 per cent.

TAL continues its lead in market share, holding steady at 33.5 per cent of all risk premiums for the year, totalling $6.05 billion. It has, however, slipped slightly from last year, reporting -0.10 per cent annual growth, which Plan For Life said reflected the results of the overall market.

Despite holding the second largest share of the market, with 17.2 per cent totalling $3.1 billion, AIA also experienced a drawback, seeing -4.5 per cent annual growth in 2023.

Other larger players also saw declines for this period with MLC (-1.6 per cent) and Resolution (-5.5 per cent) both reporting in the negative for annual growth.

Third place Zurich was the only insurer in the top five to experience growth over this period, with its risk inflows increasing 4 per cent to $2.71 billion, while MetLife saw 5.4 per cent growth falling just shy of $960 million.

Meanwhile, smaller players ClearView (10.5 per cent) and NobleOak (24.2 per cent) recorded the greatest percentage jumps for annual growth, both hitting double digits.

The group insurance category experienced a 2.7 per cent drop over this period, reaching $6.78 billion.

Meanwhile, individual lump sum products for risk coverage increased 1.1 per cent to reach $7.92 billion, and individual income protection for risk coverage saw a year-on-year increase of 2.2 per cent, reaching a total of $3.37 billion.

Zurich (38.3 per cent), NobleOak (37.5 per cent), ClearView (20 per cent), TAL (18.1 per cent), and AIA (9.4 per cent) all reported considerable increases in risk sales for the year to December 2023.

However, this was partially offset by falls reported by MetLife (-38.1 per cent), which Plan For Life explained is due to its group risk sales dropping back down after a sharp jump in 2022, and Resolution (-30.1 per cent).