Sun Life, Philam life lead insurance sector in 2018

MANILA, Philippines — Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc. last year maintained its market leadership among life insurance companies in terms of premiums generated, while Philippine American Life & General Insurance Co. (Philam Life) topped the sector in terms of net income, assets and net worth, according to the Insurance Commission (IC).

Based on the unaudited quarterly statistics submitted by life insurance companies, Insurance Commissioner Dennis Funa said Sun Life of Canada reported a total premium income of P37.39 billion in 2018, making it the top life insurer in the country in terms of premiums.

It was followed by the Philippine Axa Life Insurance Corp. (AXA Philippines) and Philam Life, which collected premiums amounting to P29.44 billion and P22.37 billion, respectively.

Funa said Pru Life Insurance Corp. of UK also took the fourth spot with P22.03 billion in premium income, while BPI-Philam Life Assurance Corp. Inc, landed on fifth place with P18.3 billion.

In 2018, the life insurance industry posted a combined premium income of P228.61 billion. The top five insurers accounted for more than half of the amount.

Meanwhile, Funa said Sun Life likewise recorded the highest new business annual premium equivalent last year totaling P8.22 billion.

This was followed by AXA Philippines with a total of P6 billion, Philam Life with P4.43 billion, Pru Life with P5.76 billion, and BPI-Philippine with P3.73 billion.

In terms of net income, the IC said Philam Life rose to the top spot coming from the second position in 2017, with a reported net income of P9.8 billion.

Sun Life of Canada landed the second spot with a net income of P6.77 billion, followed by AXA Philippines with P2.75 billion, Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (Phils.) Inc. (Manulife Philippines) with P2.59 billion, and Insular Life Assurance Co. Ltd.with P2.30 billion.

The IC said the top players accounted for 84.27 percent of the total net income of the life insurance industry in 2018.

Philam Life likewise led the industry in terms of assets, which stood at P246.75 billion as of end-2018. It was followed by Sun Life with P222.44 billion in assets, Insular Life with P130.42 billion, AXA Philippines with P115.13 billion, and BPI-Philam with P101.38 billion.

The company also recorded the highest net worth in 2018 amounting to P78.87 billion, trailed by Insular Life (P37.03 billion), Sun Life of Canada (P25.41 billion), Manulife Philippines (P14.43 billion), and United Coconut Planters Life Assurance Corp. (P10.99 billion).

Earlier, Funa said 2018 was the new banner year for the insurance industry, as the industry’s performance surpassed even records achieved in the previous year.

Funa said the industry’s total net income rose to a new record high of P37.43 billion in 2018, three percent higher than the P36.39 billion recorded in 2017.

Premium income also improved by 11.67 percent to P290.15 billion in 2018 from P259.82 billion in the previous year.

Assets reached P1.58 trillion as of end-2018, 1.28 percent higher than the P1.56 trillion recorded as of end-2017, while net worth amounted to P337.37 billion or 5.33 percent higher than P320.3 billion in the previous year.