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APRA releases life insurance statistics for September 2020

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) today released its Quarterly Life Insurance Performance Statistics publication for the September 2020 quarter.

The Quarterly Life Insurance Performance Statistics publication provides industry aggregate summaries of financial performance, financial position, capital adequacy and key ratios.

Key performance statistics for the life insurance industry in the year ended 30 September:

 

Year to Sep 2019 ($bn)

Year to Sep 2020 ($bn)

Yearly change

   Net policy revenue

16.1

14.7

-9.2%

   Investment revenue

15.7

-3.3

 

Total revenue

34.9

12.9

-63.0%

   Net policy expenses

10.6

9.9

-6.8%

   Operating expenses

9.0

7.5

-16.2%

   Effective movement in net policy liabilities

13.7

-1.7

 

Total expenses

33.8

15.9

-53.0%

Net profit after tax

0.2

-1.6

 

Total assets

202.9

128.9

-36.5%

Key performance statistics for the life insurance industry in the quarter ended 30 September:

 

Jun 2020 Quarter ($bn)

Sep 2020 Quarter ($bn)

Quarterly change

   Net policy revenue

3.4

3.9

13.8%

   Investment revenue

4.0

1.6

-58.8%

Total revenue

7.8

5.7

-27.4%

   Net policy expenses

2.4

2.5

5.6%

   Operating expenses

1.8

1.8

-3.7%

   Effective movement in net policy liabilities

2.9

1.3

-55.6%

Total expenses

7.0

5.6

-19.9%

Net profit after tax

0.4

0.0

-95.6%

Total assets

129.1

128.9

-0.2%

The life insurance industry’s performance continues to be challenged. Net loss after tax was $1.6 billion for the year to September 2020, a significant reduction from a $220 million profit in the previous year. This deterioration was caused by poor results in both the December and March quarters.

 

For the 12 months to September 2020, risk products reported a combined after-tax loss of $1.5 billion. Performance of all risk products deteriorated over the year apart from the Individual Lump Sum product. In particular, Individual Disability Income Insurance (also known as Income Protection Insurance) reported a substantial loss, primarily driven by loss recognition as adverse claims experience persists. 

Risk product net profit after tax for the life insurance industry in the year ended 30 September:

Risk product

Year to Sep 2019 ($m)

Year to Sep 2020 ($m)

Sep 2020 quarter only ($m)

Individual lump sum

866.0

354.8

162.8

Individual disability income insurance

-1,119.0

-1,349.0

-318.8

Group lump sum

8.1

-403.2

-95.5

Group disability income insurance

-173.1

-147.9

35.5

Total

-418.0

-1,545.3

-216.0

Key ratios for the life insurance industry in the year ended 30 June:

 

Year to Sep 2019

Year to Sep 2020

Yearly Change

Jun 2020 Quarter

Sep 2020 Quarter

Quarterly change

Return on net assets

0.9%

-6.2%

-7.1 percentage points

6.6%

0.3%

-6.3 percentage points

Prescribed capital amount coverage ratio

1.73x

1.78x

0.04x

1.78x

1.78x

Unchanged

The September 2020 Quarterly Life Insurance Performance Statistics publication is available on APRA’s website at: Quarterly life insurance performance statistics.

Statistics

For more information

Email dataanalytics@apra.gov.au or mail to

Manager, External Data Reporting
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority
GPO Box 9836, Sydney NSW 2001

Looking for discontinued publications?

Search historical snapshots of APRA's website on the Australian Government web archive.