Group Life Insurers Talk About Q1 Death Rates
Although the insurers’ average group life benefits ratio is about 5 percentage points higher than it was before the pandemic came to light in early 2020, the current numbers look much better than in the first quarter of 2022, when a catastrophic wave filled urgent care clinics and hospitals.
In the first quarter of 2022, group life death claim counts were about 20% higher than the average recorded during the three-year period from 2017 through 2019, according to a team at the Society of Actuaries.
Executives’ Views
Rob Falzon, Prudential’s vice chair, touched on the new group life mortality figures during a conference call held to discuss first-quarter earnings with securities analysts.
“While elevated, mortality improved compared to the year-ago quarter,” Falzon said. “COVID has transitioned to an endemic phase.”
Caroline Feeney, the head of Prudential’s U.S. businesses, noted that the extra deaths in the first quarter were due partly to conditions such as the flu, not just to COVID-19.
“The overall trend is better than in the two previous winters, reinforcing our belief that we will return to pre-pandemic mortality levels in the long term,” Feeney said.
Q1 Group Life Benefits Ratios
…
Group Life Loss Ratio…
Change, in percentage points…
……
…Q1 2023…
…Q1 2019…
……
…MetLife…
…90.5%…
…85.3%…
…5.2…
…Prudential Financial…
…92.9%…
…89.0%…
…3.9…
…Unum…
…75.0%…
…70.9%…
…4.1…
…Hartford…
…86.7%…
…81.3%…
…5.4…
…Voya…
…84.9%…
…78.6%…
…6.3…
…MEDIAN…
…86.7%…
…81.3%…
…5.4…
…AVERAGE…
…86.0%…
…81.0%…
…5.0…
(Image: Adobe Stock)
