The aggregate gross premiums of LICs set a kind of record in March 2021 showing the annual dynamics of premiums similar to February. Both in February and March, the increase in premiums over the same period in 2020 amounted to 79.8%. The difference is in the collected sums.
At the end of March, the total premiums of the LICs made 89.8 billion tenge. LIC Nomad Life is still a leader in terms of total fees. The company’s market share in the life insurance industry was 31.8% or 28.6 billion tenge in absolute terms. In addition to collected premiums, the company is leading in terms of assets (214.2 billion tenge), insurance reserves (160.1 billion tenge) and retained earnings (2.66 billion tenge). LIC Nomad Life is a leader in the entire insurance market of the Republic of Kazakhstan in insurance reserves.
At the end of March, annuity insurance is still the main driving force of the life insurance market. In March 2021, the annuity premiums increased by 188% reaching 43.5 billion tenge, thanks to the strong growth of retirement annuities by 202.9% (yoy). The retirement annuity fees amounted to 41.9 billion tenge in monetary terms, or 48.5% of the total portfolio of LICs. All companies collecting premiums in the segment of annuity insurance and retirement annuities performed positive dynamics of premiums.
LIC Nomad Life remains the leader in the annuity insurance sector and retirement annuity segment. At the end of March, the LIC's portfolio on annuity insurance amounted to 15.2 billion tenge, including 15 billion tenge for retirement annuities. The company was the first among LICs to collect a portfolio of over 15 billion tenge in the annuity segment. By results of March 2021, LIC Nomad Life held 35% in the retirement annuity segment, including 35.8% on retirement annuities.
LIC Halyk life is in the second place in terms of the annuity portfolio volume. It collected 11.2 billion tenge of annuity insurance premiums, including 10.4 billion tenge of retirement annuities. It forms 25.7% of the annuity insurance segment and 25% of the retirement annuity segment accordingly.
LIC Freedom Finance Life is in the third place. The LIC collected 5.9 billion tenge of premiums, including 5.8 billion tenge on retirement annuities. High revenue allowed LIC Freedom Finance Life to occupy 13.7% of the annuity insurance segment, including 14% of the retirement annuity segment.
The annualized premiums of the employer liability annuity (ELA) class increased by 26.3% in March. However, the March dynamics of premiums in annual terms turned out to be lower than the annual dynamics as of February, when the premiums grew by 56.6%. Let us note that the annual dynamics of premiums in this segment of annuities has been declining for three months in a row. However, the decline did not prevent LICs from collecting an aggregate portfolio of 1.1 billion tenge.
LIC Halyk life remains the leader of the ELA segment. In March 2021, it collected 518.8 million tenge of premiums making 46.8% of the segment. The second place is held by LIC Nomad Life. The portfolio of its premiums in the ELA segment increased to 210.2 million tenge, and the market share in the segment - to 18.9%. LIC KM Life is in the third place. It collected 132 million tenge of premiums, however, its market share in the ELA segment decreased to 11.9%. Due to the growth in the activity of other LICs, the share of the top three in the ELA segment in the first three months of 2021 dropped to 77.6% from 80.8% in the first two months.
The segment “Other types of annuity insurance” showed a serious upward trend by 33.9% (year-on-year) collecting 554.7 million tenge in March. According to the results of March, LIC KM Life has the largest portfolio of 288.6 million tenge forming a 52% share of the segment. LIC Halyk life attracted 225.6 million tenge of premiums and increased its market share to 40.7%. The third largest insurer in the segment, LIC Nomad Life, attracted 31.4 million tenge and made 5.7% of the segment. The three largest insurers in the “Other types of annuity insurance” segment collect 98.4% of premiums.
Life insurance premiums increased by 47.5% at the end of March 2021 compared to the same period in 2020 amounting to 32.6 billion tenge. The high dynamics allowed the life insurance portfolio to make 36.3% of the total LIC portfolio (life insurance accounted for 28.6% of the total LIC premiums in January-February 2021).
Competition in the segment is very fierce. Of the eight LICs collecting life insurance premiums, four showed a decline in fees, four - an increase, while their growth was higher than the market growth rate.
LIC Halyk life remains the segment leader, according to the results of March. It collected 14 billion tenge of premiums, the first among LICs to exceed this milestone in life insurance, and increased its market share to 42.9%. LIC Nomad Life is the second, it has collected 10.8 billion tenge and occupies 33.3% of the life insurance segment.
LIC European Insurance Company (EIC) remains the third largest insurer in the life insurance segment. At the end of March 2021, the LIC has increased its portfolio to 5 billion tenge, but its market share in the life insurance segment continues to decline making 15.4%.
Accident insurance (AI) premiums collected by LICs have sharply slowed down at the end of March 2021 showing an annual growth of 14.7% against 120.1% annual growth in February. At the end of March, the premiums amounted to 4.9 billion tenge in monetary terms against 4 billion tenge at the end of February.
The dynamics in the segment was once again set by LIC KM Life. By the end of March, it collected 2.5 billion tenge of premiums, the same amount as in February. A low level of fees reduced the share of LICs in AI premiums collected by LICs to 51.5%, from 62.9% at the end of February 2021. LIC Freedom Finance Life is in the second place. The company's fees in this segment increased to 853.6 million tenge in March. This allowed the LIC to increase its market share in the segment to 17.3%, from 11% in February 2021. The third position is retained by LIC EIC at the end of March 2021. It collected 655.3 million tenge of premiums thereby increasing its market share in the segment to 13.3% from 9.7% in February 2021.
At the end of March 2021, the premiums in the “Insurance of an employee against accidents in the performance of labor duties” (CAI) sector left the fall zone showing a slight increase of 3.1% compared to the same results in 2020, for the first time exceeding 8 billion tenge.
LIC Nomad Life remains the irreplaceable leader of the CAI segment. The LIC portfolio exceeded 2.3 billion tenge in absolute terms making 29.7% of the segment. The second place is taken by LIC Halyk life, its portfolio has grown to 1.7 billion tenge and forms 21.7% of the segment.
There is a keen struggle for the third place in the CAI segment. According to the results of March, LIC Standard Life returned to the top three winners collecting 1.11 billion tenge of premiums, which allowed it to occupy 13.9% of the CAI segment. Next come LIC Freedom Finance Life (the premiums amount to 1.01 billion tenge, market share is 12.7%) and LIC Eurasia (the premiums are 983 million tenge, market share has dropped to 12.3%). By results of March 2021, the share of the two largest insurers in the CAI segment decreased to 51.4% against 62.4% in March 2020.
However, if we compare the results of March and February 2021, the share of the largest LICs in the segment still exceeds 51%. Health insurance premiums (VHI) among LICs increased by 7.3%, to 680.6 million tenge in March 2021. LIC KM Life remains the largest insurer in the segment. The premiums of the LIC grew to 644.8 million tenge in March, but the share in the segment dropped to 94.7% due to the other LICs’ activity. The premiums of LIC EIC, which ranks second in the segment premiums in the segment, have increased to 28.4 million tenge, and its share has risen to 4.2%. The third place in the segment is occupied by LIC Freedom Finance Life. It attracted 4.2 million tenge of premiums and formed 0.6% of the segment.
At the end of March 2021, the total assets of LICs grew by 30.9% (year-on-year) to 638.7 billion tenge. Insurance reserves increased by 28.9% to 458.3 billion tenge. Equity capital of LICs rose by 42.1% (year-on-year) to KZT 119.4 billion.
Photos are from open sources.
