Recently released market study: China Insurance Report Q1 2011

Dec. 13, 2010 - PRLog -- China's insurance sector stands out from other countries' in a number of respects. The first factor is its absolute size, second is the absolute growth potential. Few other countries combine a high savings rate with a financial environment in which life insurance stands out as a particularly attractive investment opportunity compared to other asset classes. Bank deposits offer negative real interest rates. Despite the Chinese stock markets' recovery in the first half of 2009, too many individual households have suffered losses as a result of the brutal bear market the previous year, which would have occurred in the absence of the global financial crisis. Although real estate has given good returns over the last 5-10 years in most major markets in China, recent years have been more challenging.

China's insurance sector also arguably stands out for negative reasons. Although many foreign insurers are present in the non-life and life segments, almost invariably as joint venture partners with a Chinese organisation, they are often confined by their licences to particular lines of business and/or to particular territories. Former state-owned near-monopolies such as PICC and China Life are established players with huge strengths in terms of branding and branch networks. Unlike their peers in other countries however, they also have enormous scale even by the standards of large multinational insurance companies based in developed countries. The government, mainly through the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), is more active in providing strategic direction for the sector than its counterparts in most other countries.

As was the case in Q410, we have provided some rankings of the major players in each of the two main segments, as they are seen by the organisation providing the data, which in practice is the regulator or the trade association. In China the three largest non-life companies in Q310 in terms of gross written premiums were PICC, China Pacific and Ping An, whose market shares were 40%, 15% and 13% respectively. In the life segment, the leaders were China Life, Ping An Life and China Pacific, whose market shares were 29%, 13% and 8% respectively. Over time, we hope to derive insights from observing how market shares change. We emphasise that a decline in the share of gross written premiums is not automatically a bad thing and is often the result of a corporate decision to focus on more profitable business lines.

We also provide a breakdown of the insurance sector by line from the point of view of the regulator or the trade association.

Writing in December 2010, we have been able to ensure that the report includes actual data for 2009 and we have generally been able to use data published in 2010 to adjust our estimates for the year as a whole. We estimate total premiums for 2010 at CNY1,470,008mn. This includes non-life premiums of CNY476,479mn and life premiums of CNY933,530mn. In 2015, the corresponding figures are forecast to be CNY2,408, 398mn, CNY789,440mn and CNY1,618,958mn. In terms of the key drivers that underpin our forecasts, we predict non-life penetration to grow from 1.30% in 2010 to 1.35% in 2015, and for life density to rise from US$106 per capita to US$181 over the same period. BMI's proprietary insurance business environment rating for China is 65.4 out of 100.

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Partial Table of Contents:

Executive Summary
- Table: Overview Of China's Insurance Sector
- Key Insights On China's Insurance Sector
- Issues To Watch
SWOT Analysis
- China Insurance Industry SWOT
- China Political SWOT
- China Economic SWOT
- China Business Environment SWOT
Asia Pacific Market Overview
- Table: Premium's In Asia Pacific's Non-Life Segment (US$mn)
- Table: Premiums In Asia Pacific's Life Segment (US$mn)
MetLife's Acquisition Of ALICO
- Table: ALICO At A Glance
- Table: ALICO's Pre-Tax Profits By Segment And Region Contribution, Year To November 30 2009 (%)
- Table: ALICO - A Market Leader In Japan
- Table: MetLife's Acquisition Of ALICO
- Table: MetLife And ALICO Combined
Projections And Forecasts
- Table: Insurance Premiums, 2007-2015
- Projections And Drivers Of Growth
- Table: Growth Drivers, 2008-2015
Country Update
- Macroeconomic Outlook
- Table: China Economic Activity, 2008-2015
- Political Outlook
Insurance Business Environment Ratings
- Table: China's Insurance Business Environment Ratings
- Table: Asia Pacific Insurance Business Environment Ratings
Regional Context
- Table: Non-Life Premiums In A Regional Context, 2009
- Table: Life Premiums In A Regional Context, 2009
Major Players In China's Insurance Sector
- Table: Top 18 Domestic Non-Life Groups By Premiums, H109
- Table: Foreign Non-Life Insurers Premiums, H109
- Table: Top 20 Domestic Life Groups By Premiums, H109
- Table: Top 20 Foreign Life Groups By Premiums, H109
- Analysis Of Regional Competitive Conditions
Company Profiles
- Local Company Profiles
- China Life Insurance Company
- China Pacific Insurance Company
- New China Life Insurance
- PICC Property And Casualty Company
- Ping An
- Taikang Life Insurance
- Regional Company Profiles
- AEGON
- Allianz
- Aviva
- AXA
- Cardif
- Fortis
- Generali
- Groupama
- HDI-Gerling
- HSBC Insurance
- ING Group
- Liberty Mutual
- Manulife
- MetLife
- Prudential Financial
- Prudential plc
- QBE
- RSA
- Sun Life Financial
- The Principal
- Zurich Financial Services
Country Snapshot: China Demographic Data
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Full Table of Contents is available at:
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Fast Market Research is an online aggregator and distributor of market research and business information. We represent the world's top research publishers and analysts and provide quick and easy access to the best competitive intelligence available.