Manulife Singapore’s CEO and president Annette
King has stressed the opportunity for life insurers to cater for
the needs of Singapore’s ageing population.
The proportion of residents aged 65 and above
in Singapore increased from 7.2% in 2000 to 9.3% in 2011, according
to a report released in September 2011 by Singaporean government
departments.
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In King’s view, this creates an opportunity
for industry players. Speaking to Life Insurance International, she
said: “Insurance products with savings and payout periods
that cater to retirement planning hence will become increasingly
important and in demand in the near future.”
With Singapore increasingly becoming an
international wealth management hub, estate and succession planning
is also becoming increasingly relevant for local and foreign high
net worth individuals who reside there.
In Singapore, for example, the number of HNWIs
is forecast to double from 64,000 in 2010 to 129,000 by 2015,
according to the Julius Baer Asia Wealth
Report.
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By GlobalDataKing says: “The increase of HNWIs yields
opportunities for wealth management
solutions. There are more opportunities for legacy and succession
planning with HNW foreigners choosing to use Singapore as the
centre for their wealth management.”
Although Singapore’s life insurance sector has
grown in breadth and in depth over recent years and benefited from
the strong economic growth and political stability, King says there
is a significant gap in the country’s protection market.
According to King, the average Singaporean
needs about S$495,000 of life insurance, but is covered for only
one-third of that amount.
She says that nearly three-quarters, or 73 per
cent, of Singaporeans are aware of the need to insure themselves,
but only 48 per cent are aware of how to go about it.
King says: “Hence there is still a vast
opportunity for life insurers here to educate clients, increase
awareness and produce life insurance products that meet clients’
needs.”
Graham Morrall, CEO of Zurich Life
Singapore, concurred with this point saying: “Many
Singaporeans only have a quarter of the insurance coverage they
need. Coupled with Singapore expected to have the highest
concentration of wealth in APAC and the highest number of HNWI by
2017, we anticipate there will be needs of the affluent and the
emerging affluent that will remain unmet.”
A country profile of the Singaporean life
insurance market will be available in the August issue of Life
Insurance International. This draws on a new report from the
Insurance Intelligence Center: Life Insurance in Singapore, Key
Trends and Opportunities to 2016.
