KUALA LUMPUR: Members of the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM) recorded an overall stronger performance with a double-digit growth of 12.4 per cent in its new business total premiums in 2021 compared to 2020.
For the financial year ended December 2021 (FY21), the industry recorded RM12.8 billion in new business total premiums from RM11.4 billion in 2020.
Liam said the stronger performance reflected the increase in awareness among the consumers on the importance of life insurance protection amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Liam president Loh Guat Lan said the industry recorded a healthier performance, driven by the strong rebound of investment-linked policies which rose 31.2 per cent to reach RM6.6 billion in 2021, despite the challenging business environment due to the pandemic.
Loh said group policies recorded a moderate growth of 7.7 per cent in new business total premiums to RM4.1 billion in 2021.
"However, traditional policies charted a decline of 17.3 per cent during the year," she said in a statement today.
Loh said the overall new business sum assured increased to RM461.1 billion, registering a modest growth of 5.4 per cent from RM437.2 billion in 2020.
"The new business sum assured of investment- linked policies recorded a strong increase of 14.4 per cent from RM107.7 billion to RM123.2 billion in 2021, while group policies recorded an increase of 2.8 per cent and traditional policies, a slight dip of one per cent," Loh said.
In terms of new policies issued in 2021, Loh said Liam recorded a strong growth of 53.5 per cent from 1.2 million policies in 2020 to 1.9 million policies in 2021.
This was mainly due to traditional policies which charted a huge increase of 99.7 per cent to reach 1.2 million policies in 2021.
On the outlook of the industry for 2022, Loh said she was very positive with the developments in the country in the coming months.
She said the encouraging take-up rate of the Perlindungan Tenang Voucher (PTV) programme by the BPR/BKM recipients bodes well with the industry's financial inclusion agenda.
"The waiver of stamp duty for the purchase of Perlindungan Tenang products until the year 2025, in the long run will encourage more recipients to continue with their protection plans to ensure that their family and loved ones are protected against key risks in life.
"The introduction of PTV programme to the lower-income groups is expected to support the demand for life insurance policies that will help drive the adoption of life insurance in the country," she added.