Life insurers boast robust business growth in 2015

Premium sales jumped 4% to $2 billion.

The Life Insurance Association Singapore (LIA Singapore) today announced industry results for the period January to December 2015 (YTD 4Q2015).

Singapore’s life insurance sector achieved a total of almost $3 billion in weighted new business premiums for the whole of 2015, according to figures released today by the Life Insurance Association (LIA) Singapore.

Weighted annual premium sales jumped 7% to $2 billion, while weighted single premium sales rose 9% to $940.8 million.

“The life insurance industry saw healthy growth across all types of businesses and provided new protection cover totalling $101.2 billion compared to 2014, which represents a 14 per cent increase in new business sum assured," said Khoo Kah Siang, President of LIA Singapore.

Total annual premiums in-force for group insurance business rose by seven per cent compared with a year ago, amounting to $975 million.

Khoo highlighted that 2015 marked the first year of implementation for key Financial Advisory Industry Review (FAIR) initiatives, including compareFIRST, Direct Purchase Insurance (DPI) products and Balanced Scorecard for financial adviser representatives.

Direct Purchase Insurance products drew approximately $550,000 of weighted new premiums since it was launched on 7 April 2015. DPIs are regular premium plans offering protection benefits.