VIETNAM – The Insurance Supervisory Authority (ISA) of Vietnam has released data showing the country’s total life insurance premiums growing by 25 percent in the January-February of this year to VND3.074 trillion (US$146.38 million).
The number of valid contracts has also increased by 13.5 per cent to nearly 5.85 million, the ISA data showed.
Overall, the ISA said the Vietnamese life insurance segment recorded a five-year record high in terms of total premiums, total value of new business (VONB) and number of contracts signed in the first two months of the year.
The ISA report revealed that the industry’s growth rates averaged around 6.03 percent, with VONB increasing by 44 percent to VND1.249tr (USD59.47m).
Mixed insurance accounted for 43 per cent of total revenues, while investment-linked insurance, Term Life Insurance and pension insurance made up 39.89 per cent, a growth of 4.74 per cent and 0.64 per cent, respectively.
Other services including whole life insurance, pure endowment insurance and annuity insurance accounted for 1.2 per cent.
The strong VONB figure was attributed to the efforts of top insurers in keeping their market share as well as the positive business results among newcomers.
Prudential, Manulife, Dai-ichi, Hanwha Life, Cathay, Fubon, Aviva and Generali focused on providing mixed insurance packages during the period. Together with ACE, Dai-ichi, AIA, Baoviet Insurance and Prudential were also among the life insurance companies that signed huge numbers of Universal Life Insurance contracts.
While the country’s insurance industry continues to grow at record-breaking rates, experts warn that life insurers need to take proper measures to maintain their growth rates in the coming months as failure of some players would adversely affect market performance. – BusinessNewsAsia.com
[Photo credit: “Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum 2006” by Rungbachduong – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons]