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Shanghai H1 insurance surrender value hits new high

By Yu Hongyan (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-08-07 18:58

Shanghai saw its surrender value of the life insurance business hit a historical height to 4 billion yuan ($584 million) during the first half, according to data from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission Shanghai Bureau.

The city's surrender value in participating products amounted to 2 billion yuan during the first six months, accounting for 50 percent of the total surrender value. Unit-linked insurance was also spurned by some policyholders and recorded a surrender value of more than 600 million yuan, or 15 percent of the total surrender value.

An insider said that the sluggish stock market and the bonus decrease are the main reasons the surrender value has surged during the past six months, as they dampened policyholders' sentiment.

Unit-linked insurance and participating insurance are categorized as investable insurance products. The mass withdrawal in this area greatly changed the life insurance market setup formed last year.

The performances of domestic and foreign-funded life insurers present a striking contrast through bank outlets, their main sales channel of unit-linked insurance.

The bancassurance business of Chinese life insurers jumped to 10.52 billion yuan, up 235.14 percent from the same period last year; however, their foreign counterparts collected about 2 billion yuan, down 3.07 percent, and the growth rate of some companies even fell by nearly 88 percent. Foreign life insurers' market share by the bancassurance business withered to 16 percent.

"Negative growth in unit-linked life insurance dragged the foreign invested companies down," said an official from the Shanghai bureau.

Participating insurance and universal life insurance were the main contributors to the Shanghai life insurance business during the first half, taking up 46.9 percent of the pie. Premiums in unit-linked insurance reached 4.21 billion yuan, up 103.18 percent from the same period last year. Premiums in universal life insurance,reached 5.6 billion yuan, up 132.1 percent. The participating life insurance, however, earned a premium income of about 8.19 billion yuan, up just 2.77 percent from the same period last year.

The city's insurance industry as a whole achieved a premium income of nearly 34.4 billion yuan during the first half, a 43.74 percent increase year-on-year. It took up 6.12 percent of China's premium income during the period and made Shanghai the third runner in the country.

Premium income from property insurers in Shanghai reached 7.7 billion yuan, up 11.45 percent from the same period last year, but still less than the national average rate. Life insurance companies collected 26.7 billion yuan, 56.74 percent more than the same period last year.

Shanghai insurance companies paid 10.49 billion yuan in indemnities, up 68.66 percent.