Risk Market Inflows Up 11.8% Annually

Overall sales, a measurement of new business in the market, rose even more, increasing 26.6% over the same period.

Plan for Life divides the market into three sectors: group risk, individual risk lump sum and individual risk income. Group risk demonstrated the strongest growth, rising 15.4%, with premium inflows of $3.6 billion. Individual risk lump sum rose 9.9%, with premium inflows amounting to $5.1 billion. Individual risk income grew 10.5%, with premium inflows of $1.9 billion. As a whole, total risk premium inflows totalled over $10.6 billion for the three sectors combined.

For the previous year, the period ending 31 March 2011, premium inflows increased 10.5% year over year.

Among the major companies, AIA Australia reported the strongest growth, with an annual increase of 33%. Comminsure was in second place, with growth of 20.8%, followed by BT/Westpac at 15.5% and TAL at 15.3%. Only one of the large companies saw its premium inflows decline. Suncorp’s inflows fell 9.2% after rising 7.4% in the previous year.

In terms of market share, the positions of the major companies were largely unchanged. With 15.7% of the market, AMP had the largest share, a position it had held the previous year, when its share was 16.1%. National Australia/MLC Group was in second place, with a share of 14%, followed by Comminsure, at 13.4%, and TAL, at 13.1%.

The greatest increase in overall sales, a remarkable 458.2%, was reported by MetLife Insurance, but Plan for Life notes that this exceptional growth was “off a very low base.” AIA showed the greatest growth among other companies, with overall sales rising 105.2%. Other strong performers in the category included AIA, with an increase of 105.2%, Comminsure, with an increase of 66.1%, Suncorp, with an increase of 33.7%, and BT/Westpac, with an increase of 24.4%.

Plan for Life also offers a report of annual results from 2003, although it does not separate those results by company prior to 2010. Taken as a whole, life insurance risk market inflows have more than doubled since 2003, growing from slightly less than $4 billion to a 2012 total that exceeds $10 billion.