AIA Life's 2024 dividend payout ratio at 143%; Baige Online seeks Hong Kong IPO again - Industry highlights this week

...Life disclosed its latest dividend performance, reporting that its 2024 dividend payout ratio reached as high as 143%. Over the past decade, the insurer’s average payout ratio has stood at 112%...

China's life insurers see agent ranks stabilise at 1.33m

...Life and PICC Life — employed a combined 1.33m agents, down 4% from the end of last year. The decline, while continuing, shows signs of bottoming out. Experts point to two main reason...

Ping An Life removes health insurance products amid strategic repositioning

...Life plans to promote its own medical insurance products. The move is seen as a strategic decision to leverage the respective strengths of its life and health insurance arms and expand the overall me...

Bancassurance regains top spot in new life insurance premiums in China

...life insurance premiums from bancassurance exceeded those from individual agents in the first half, marking the channel’s return to the leading position for the first time in over a decade....

Malaysia: Prudential Assurance appoints new CEO

...Prudential Assurance Malaysia has appointed Mr Kelvin Ang as CEO of its life business. In his new role, he will spearhead the company's strategic realignment and growth initiatives, working closely with the senior management team to accelerate the company's transformation....

Hong Kong: Regulator issues a public reprimand and imposes a fine on a life insurer

...Life between July 2019 and April 2020 without prior consent of the IA that involved Tahoe Group Global.  Both Mr Huang Qisen and Mr Ge Yong were directors of the insurer at the material time and...

Cambodia: New partnership to enhance country's insurance Sector

...life insurers, seven micro-insurers, and one reinsurer. In 2024, the market grew by 8%, generating around $357m in gross premiums and total assets exceeding $1.2bn. Despite this, Cambodia’s ins...

South Korea: Country's first parametric weather insurance to be launched soon

...South Korean insurer KB Sonbo Insurance Company will soon launch a traditional market weather damage compensation insurance cover according to an exclusive news report by https://www.chosun.com....

Australia: Drivers face higher wildlife collision risk

...life that resulted in a total write-off, with the average damage bill around A$8,000 ($5,230)....

Morocco: Allianz Maroc reaches agreement with Wafa on the sale of part of its distribution network

...-life insurance, the merger could have restrictive effects on the markets corresponding to 16 cities where Allianz and Sanlam are simultaneously established. To address this risk, the parties had agre...

12th Middle East Insurance Industry Awards finalists revealed

Global reinsurers' capital climbs to US$805bn at mid-year

...life alternative capital (+3.6%),” said the report....

S Korea: Hanwha Life launches inheritance trust for life insurance proceeds

...life insurer said the new service lets policyholders arrange in advance how their death benefit payouts will be handled, by entrusting claim rights to the company and specifying how and to whom the p...

Turkiye: Motor insurers report record third-party liability insurance losses

...-life insurance production increased by 47.9% year-over-year, while life insurance saw a strong 81.2% growth. In real terms, non-life insurance saw a 9.5% increase, while life insurance rose by 34.1%....

Uganda: 1H2025 GWP of insurance sector jumps by nearly 9% to exceed US$300m

...life insurance business grew by 12.55% from UGX357.81bn to UGX402.71bn, while the non-life segment grew by 5.59% from UGX542.27bn to UGX572.60bn....

Egypt: Despite population growth, life insurance penetration remains low

...life insurance penetration in the Egyptian market. These include a lack of insurance awareness among a large segment of citizens, as well as a decline in purchasing power due to the current economic...

Singapore: Insurance brands trusted by the wealthy

...Life leads the insurance sector with a score of 83, underscoring its strength in high-value policies and integrated wealth solutions.   AIA follows with...

Vietnam: Bancassurance revenue hits record, market shifts

...life insurance industry is gradually regaining growth momentum after a period of decline. With new insurance premium revenue growing 8% in the first half of the year, Mr. Dung noted this as...

Philippines: $70m World Bank loan supports climate risk cover for farmers

...The World Bank is providing a $70m loan to the Philippines to establish a co-insurance pool aimed at protecting small farmers and fisherfolk from climate change impacts, the Department of Agriculture (DA) announced on Sunday....

Malaysia: Health Ministry seeks action on soaring medical insurance costs

...The Health Ministry has not dismissed the possibility that rising premiums for medical and health insurance or takaful products are driving more high-income (T20) individuals to seek treatment at public hospitals instead of private facilities....

China plans fund fee cuts to boost returns

...Last Friday, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) released draft regulations to reduce sales-related fees for public offering funds, aiming to lower investor costs and promote long-term investment....

Singapore hosts milestone L20 Conference on longevity risk and capital market solutions

...lifespan-healthspan gap affects everyone during her welcome address. "We have to come up with discussions and hopefully some solutions together." A thriving market for risk tra...

Nigeria: Heirs Insurance Group's insurance units receive strong ratings from pan-African agency

...Life Assurance’s (HLA) ratings to ‘A’ (long term) and ‘A1’ (short term), with a ‘...

Asia: The continent is undergoing a rapid demographic transition, insurers must catch up

...Life & Health Trend Spotlight Ageing in Asia – A strategic reckoning for insurers published by the global reinsurer under its risk knowledge series says this ageing shift is reshaping insur...

Nepal: Regulator directs insurance awareness and promotion programmes in schools

...life insurers to spread awareness about life insurance in the rural areas of the country and had designated four districts each to all the then life insurers. In the current scenario all th...

Australia: Considering the severity and frequency of natural disasters is important for productivity of the construction industry

...Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has proposed that all land use planning should take into account the current and projected extreme weather events and ensure that areas of zero-risk and low-risk are prioritised for future development....

South Korea: Depression cases surpass 1.1m in 2024

...Analysis of data from National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) of South Korea reveals that in 2024 the number of people diagnosed with depression surged to a record high of over 1.1m....

Philippines: Sun Life launches frontline client contact points to elevate client experience

...Life inaugurated its client service center in ACE Building in Makati City. The revamped facility features state-of-the-art technology to support faster transactions and is set to introduce cashless o...

Iraq: Insurers required to place higher minimum security deposits with regulator

...Life insurance companies that conduct both...

Former CBIRC official calls for unified GBA insurance market; China Life selected for data pilot- Weekly industry regulatory updates

...Life among pilot projects for national trusted data space China’s National Data Administration recently announced 63 pilot projects for trusted data space development. China Life...

Ping An Health earns ratings upgrades on strong underwriting profitability & steady investment income

...life insurance affiliate in Ping An Group to acquire business. In recent years, the company has also been diversifying its product portfolio by actively expanding into non-ESB product offerings and d...

73 life insurers post combined net profit of $25.45bn in H1

...life insurance companies had disclosed their H1 2025 net profit data, recording a combined profit of CNY185.8bn($25.45bn). Of these, 52 firms were profitable, while 21 posted losses. Analysts said th...

Life insurance rate cut to 2.0% drives shift toward dividend products

...life insurance products was 1.99%, compared with 2.34% in January and 2.13% in April. Under the mechanism linking pricing rates with market rates, the latest reference value triggered an adjustment....

India: Individual life and health insurance covers exempted from GST

...life insurance policies, whether term life, ULIPs, or endowment and on individual health insurance policies, including family floater and senior citizen plans, marks a historic step towards universal...

Global: Over a billion people living with mental health conditions

...life. They drive up health-care costs for affected people and families while inflicting substantial economic losses on a global scale. The new findings also highlight some areas of progress...

South Korea: Restrictions on overseas travel for those with unpaid health insurance dues

...Over 950,000 South Korean citizens have not paid their health insurance premiums for over a year now according to the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) and the National Assembly of South Korea....

Malaysia: Measures to make insurance affordable for low and middle-income households

...Starting 1 September 2025, recipients of Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) can also claim a MYR30 voucher, subsidised by the Malaysian government, to help finance part of the cost of affordable insurance and takaful products with an annual premium or contribution of at least MYR50 under the Perlindungan Tenang Voucher 3.0 (PTV3.0) programme....

Indonesia: Insurers urge policyholders to report on priority protest-related losses

...The Indonesian General Insurance Association (AAUI) has asked the public to immediately report to their insurers the riot, strike and malicious damage (RSMD) losses for riot insurance claims, if they have been affected by the recent demonstrations in the country....

Thailand: OIC orders special audit for KWI Insurance

...life insurance underwriting. While KWI Insurance has made some progress such as registering a paid-up capital increase of THB30m and compensating insureds under a memorandum of understandin...

India: SBI MoU boosts insurance benefits for rail staff

...lifestyle benefits and privileges. At the event, SBI also issued a cheque for INR114m to cover accidental insurance claims for the families of deceased railway employees. Under th...

Vietnam: Unemployment insurance premiums may be reduced

...The Ministry of Home Affairs has proposed new unemployment insurance (UI) contribution rates....

S Korea: Hanwha Life launches AI-powered cancer insurance with global health care firm

...Life official said. “We plan to further strengthen our cancer-focused solutions that support customers across all stages of life,” the official said,...

Saudi Arabia: Study mulled on expanding mandatory health insurance and lifting coverage limits

...life and achieving equity in access to healthcare services....

Turkiye: 11 insurance entities among top 100 corporate tax payers

Singapore: AIA partners with Singapore Airlines Academy for talent development

...life insurance sector. AIA Singapore and Singapore Airlines Academy have jointly developed this curriculum, which will roll out to all AIA Singapore employees pro...

Singapore: MSIG enhances marine capabilities

...life insurance market. Within this, Asia-Pacific contributes nearly 30%, making it a critical growth region. In particular, Asia's P&I segment is valued b...

Australia: Steadfast group expands into US market

...Steadfast Group has announced its acquisition of a majority stake in US-based specialty underwriting agency and wholesale brokerage, Novum Underwriting Partners LLC....

Tanzania: Insurance market shows double-digit growth over 4 years to 2024

...life insurance retention rate increased from 85.9% in 2021 to 86.2% in 2024....

Tunisia: Insurance market grows by 11% in 1H2025 on buoyant life business

...Life insurance was the fastest-growing line of business in the first half of the year, with premiums reaching TND651m, a 21% increase over the first half of 2024. Life insurance operations accounted...

Australia: Advisers tap into "emotional edge" to deliver value for clients

...life stage, with 42% of advised retirees able to exit the workforce before the age of 65, compared to only 20% of unadvised retirees – 80% of whom retired over the age of 65....