ronanmccaughey

Singapore

  • The Singaporean life insurance segment is considered to be over serviced and a ‘defined market’, as there are only a few well-established providers and over 12,000 tied agents operating to serve a population of fewer than 6 million

 

  • Agencies play a critical role in the growth of life insurance in most South Asian countries, including Singapore, and accounted for 43% of the total new business direct written premium in Singapore’s life insurance segment in 2014.

 

  • Due to the emerging popularity of other distribution channels, however, the number of new life policies sold through agencies decreased from 335,667 in 2010 to 328,749 in 2014

 

  • The number of partnerships between insurers and domestic banks to cross-sell life products is increasing rapidly, and bancassurance is consequently gaining popularity and is expected to become the leading distribution channel surpassing agencies between 2014 and 2019 , with a share of 41.5% in 2019

 

  • Brokers accounted for the third-largest share of 18.0% of the total new business direct written premium in 2014. A number of life insurers, including NTUC Income, Great Eastern Life and HSBC Insurance, partnered with brokers such as Ng Cheng QueePte Ltd and Aon Risk Services Singapore Pte Ltd to market their life insurance products.
  • The evolution of e-commerce is expected to play a significant role in the sale of life insurance products over 2014-2019 due to its cost advantages and convenience. The number of internet subscribers is expected to increase from 4.4m in 2014 to 5.2m in 2018