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LIFE insurance sales have risen in the second quarter, with total new business premiums up about 39 per cent at $1.13 billion from a quarter earlier.
The Q2 figure is also some 9 per cent up from Q4 2008, said the Life Insurance Association of Singapore (LIA) yesterday.
Sales in Q1 came to $817.9 million, giving a half-year total of $1.95 billion, or a more than 64 per cent drop from the same period last year.
But last year's $5.48 billion was partly driven by impending CPF investment scheme restrictions that took effect in April 2008, while this year's showing comes in the wake of the financial meltdown of September.
LIA president Darren Thomson said that the anomalies between the first half of 2009 and the same period last year do not allow for a fair analysis of sales. 'The environment and consumer sentiment were starkly different at these points in time.'
He also said that the upturn in Q2 sales while market conditions are still on the mend point to a definite bright spark, following a string of quarterly drops. 'Like most businesses, our industry has had to brace itself to ride out the storm. The latest sales figures indicate that continued recovery may well be in sight.'
Continuing a trend in the past few quarters, single premium policies accounted for the bulk of sales, at $896.6 million. The remainder is from annual premium policies.
Distribution-wise, the tied agency channel accounted for more than half of new business. The rest came mainly from banks and licensed financial advisers.
Mr Thomson said that the insurance industry has managed to weather the crisis well, and that while many of the more established players had to cut staff a tad, the new opportunities afforded by new entrants kept the overall manpower count stable.
On claims payout, LIA said that, up to end-June, the industry paid out $2.48 billion to policyholders and beneficiaries. Of this, $189 million was for death, critical illness or disability claims. The rest was for policies that matured.
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