Market Report, "United Arab Emirates Insurance Report Q3 2011", published

July 25, 2011 - PRLog -- Key Insights And Key Risks

* The continuing expansion of UAE's economy should underpin the steady growth of the insurance sector. However, it is not clear what will cause non-life penetration to increase over the forecast period.
 * Life insurance will likely remain very underdeveloped, partly because households do not need it.
 * The UAE will remain one of the most important markets for takaful.
 * Most local companies lack scale in a fragmented and not necessarily profitable industry.
 * The regulatory environment is still being developed by the Insurance Authority.


The UAE's insurance market can be categorised as being reasonably large in absolute terms, fairly rapidly growing, open to foreign companies, fragmented and highly competitive - with the result that a lot of players are not making an adequate return on their capital.

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Full Report Details at
- http://www.fastmr.com/prod/209717_united_arab_emirates_insurance_report_q3_2011.aspx
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Over the past five years, absolute growth has been driven by health insurance, which became compulsory for private sector workers in 2008. The latest figures indicate that health insurance premiums continue to grow at double-digit rates, if not at the extraordinarily rapid pace of 2007-2008. The market has also been boosted by the rise of takaful (shari'a compliant insurance), which accounts for about a fifth of total premiums in the UAE. Life insurance has also developed rapidly from a low base, although it is constrained by various factors: a lack of need and understanding from local households, the absence of suitably liquid markets for long-term financial assets, not enough skilled staff and the lack of local companies with the necessary scale and brand name. The local companies have gained ground relative to the foreign companies that are operating in the UAE - but the foreigners still account for about two-thirds of the total life segment.

Surprisingly, new insurance companies are still being launched. In H111, there were initial public offerings (IPOs) on the Abu Dhabi Exchange (ADX) for two companies: Insurance House and Wataniya, a new takaful operator. Virtually all of the local companies that commented in Q111 about the operating conditions highlighted how cutthroat competition from an excessively large number (about 60) of sub-scale companies is damaging profitability in the non-life market, which dominates the sector. The Insurance Authority has indicated that it is concerned by the level of price discounting in the market and would welcome consolidation.

In April 2011, the Insurance Authority signed a memorandum of understanding with the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), which oversees activities in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The Insurance Authority is developing regulations governing bancassurance, investment policy and a number of other important areas.

Report Table of Contents:

Executive Summary
- Table: Total Insurance Premiums, 2008-2015
- Key Insights And Key Risks
SWOT Analysis
- UAE Insurance Industry SWOT
- UAE Political SWOT
- UAE Economic SWOT
- UAE Business Environment SWOT
Life Sector
- Middle East Life Sector Overview
- Table: Middle East And Africa Life Premiums, 2008-2015 (US$mn)
- UAE Life Sector Update
- Life Insurance Industry Forecast Scenario
- Table: Total Life Premiums, 2008-2015
- Growth Drivers And Risk Management Projections
- Population
- Table: Insurance Sector Key Drivers, Demographics 2008-2015
Non-Life Sector
- Middle East Non-Life Sector Overview
- Table: Middle East And Africa Non-Life Premiums, 2008-2015
- UAE Non-Life Sector Update
- Table: Non-Life Premiums Breakdown, 2008 And 2009 (AEDmn)
- Table: National Companies' Non-Life Premiums Market Share, 2008 And 2009 (%)
- Non-Life Insurance Industry Forecast Scenario
- Table: Total Non-Life Premiums, 2008-2015
- Growth Drivers And Risk Management Projections
- Macroeconomic Outlook
- Table: UAE - Economic Activity, 2008-2015
- Political Stability Outlook
- Table: Middle East And Africa Defence And Security Ratings
- Healthcare
- Health Insurance
- Epidemiology
- Table: Insurance Sector - Key Drivers, Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), 2008-2015
- Motor
- Table: Insurance Sector Key Drivers - Autos, 2008-2015
- Tourism
- Table: Insurance Key Drivers, Tourism 2008-2015
- Islamic Finance
Insurance Risk/Reward Ratings
- Table: UAE's Insurance Risk/Reward Ratings
- Table: Middle East And Africa Insurance Risk/Reward Ratings
Competitive Landscape
- Competitive Landscape Analysis
- Major Players In The UAE's Insurance Sector
- Table: Ranking Of Companies By Premiums, 2009 And 2010
Regional Company Profiles
- Allianz
- Arab Insurance Group (ARIG)
- Aviva
- AXA
- Chartis
- Generali
- HSBC Insurance
- MAPFRE
- MetLife ALICO
- RSA
- Zurich Financial Services
BMI Methodology
- Insurance Risk/Reward Ratings
- Table: Insurance Risk/Reward Indicators And Rationale
- Table: Weighting Of Indicators

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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.