Taiwan: Several major life insurers post sterling profits for Jan 2022 – Asia Insurance Review
Six of Taiwan’s major life insurance companies posted an aggregate profit after tax of more than NT$49bn ($1.76bn) in January 2022, an increase of nearly 3.6% from the NT$47.4bn chalked up for the corresponding month in 2021. Several of them posted a new monthly record or near-record for profits in January.
The insurers are:
Insurer
After-tax profit
Jan 2022 NT$ bn
Remarks
Fubon Life
19.9
New monthly record
Cathay Life
13.7
Second highest monthly record (Jan 2020: NT$18.65bn)
Nanshan Life
5.4
New monthly record; 102% higher than in Jan 2020
Taiwan Life
4.4
Second highest monthly record
China Life
3.7
Shin Kong Life
1.9
Total of the 6
49.0
New business premiums
In the single month of January, new business premiums for life insurers in Taiwan is estimated to have exceeded NT$100bn ($3.6bn), more likely in the range of NT$108-110bn. Already a 10-month high, the figure could be a new 25-month high for the life insurance sector.
Of the total, investment-linked insurance policies are estimated to account for about NT$57bn, while US-dollar interest-sensitive insurance policies should total about NT$40bn, reported Commercial Times.
In January, it is estimated that there were four life insurance companies with new-business premiums exceeding NT$10bn. The companies are Cathay Life Insurance (exceeding NT$16.6bn); Fubon Life (nearly NT$16.3bn), BNP Paribas Cardif Life (between NT$13bn and NT$15.6bn); and Nanshan Life (NT$11.4bn).
In recent years, due to the bullish capital market, investment-linked insurance policies have become very popular. In 2021, the new premiums generated by investment-linked policies are estimated at NT$577.5bn, accounting for 55% of total new-business premiums for the year.
In January this year, investment-type insurance policies were still selling like hotcakes, especially by banks and traditional insurance brokerage channels. The sales were completely unaffected by fluctuations in the stock and bond markets. It is estimated that investment-linked policies still accounted for more than 50% of the total new-business premiums in January.
