Insurance industry nears P1-T asset mark

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s insurance industry is nearing the P1-trillion mark in terms of assets as it stood at P854 billion nine months into 2013.

At the end of 2013, total assets of the life sector alone already stood at P737.7 billion.

Insurance Commissioner Emmanuel A. Dooc said the reason for the delay in determining the total assets of the non-life sector is lack of data.

“Several non-life players have not yet submitted their reports,” Dooc said during the formal induction of the 2014 set of officers and directors of the Philippine Life Insurance Association (PLIA).

In the first nine months of 2013, the non-life insurance industry reported total assets worth P130 billion, compared to approximately P115 billion in the same period in 2012. In 2012, it reported total assets worth P125 billion.

“I am confident that the industry will reach that historical level within 2014,” Dooc said, noting that a healthy and vibrant insurance industry assures the insuring public of the industry’s ability to pay claims.

Meanwhile, total premium income of the life insurance industry grew 41.13 percent or from P120.3 billion in 2012 to P169.8 billion last year.

Net income grew 31.15 percent to P13.8 billion last year from the P10.5 billion in 2012. It is a tremendous leap from the 7.8-percent growth rate in the 2012-2011 period.

However, total networth and paid-up capital registered losses. That was due to the withdrawal of Sony Life Assurance from the Philippine market, the merger involving Asian Life Financial Assurance Corp. (ALFA) and the Banclife Insurance Co. Inc. (Banc Life), and the continued state of limbo of National Life Insurance of the Philippines (NLIC).

Total networth fell 12.26 percent to P113 billion last year from the P129 billion in 2012. Paid-up capital likewise shrunk 6.9 percent, or from P13.3 billion in 2012 to P12.4 billion.

Investments meanwhile remain modest in terms of growth due mainly to the prevailing low interest rate environment. More than half of investments mandated by law must be in fixed income instruments.

It grew by a mere 6.79 percent to P486.9 billion in 2013, from the 2012 figure of P455 billion.