Life Insurance: Premiums Up 4% Since the Start of the Year
Life insurance posted positive net inflows of 1.3 billion euros over the first nine months of 2023. Premiums for insurance-based Retirement Savings Plans (PERs) rose by 34% year-over-year. Transfers of life insurance policies under the PACTE Act remain strong.
In September 2023, life insurance premiums totaled 10.8 billion euros, a slight increase compared with September 2022 (+1%). Year-to-date, premiums totaled 113.2 billion euros, up 4% compared with the same period in 2022. This increase was seen in both euro-denominated policies (+4%) and unit-linked policies (UC, +6%). The share of unit-linked premiums stood at 40% in September and year-to-date, the same share as that recorded for the entire year of 2022.
Payments totaled 11.2 billion euros in September 2023 (and 111.9 billion euros year-to-date), an amount that is up but showing signs of slowing compared to the start of the year: +5% compared to September 2022, compared to +16% year-to-date relative to the first three quarters of 2022. Redemptions totaled 65.3 billion euros, representing 58% of total payouts, compared to 57% during the same period in 2022.
As a result, net inflows totaled −0.3 billion euros in September 2023 and +1.3 billion euros year-to-date. Assets under management totaled 1,895 billion euros at the end of September, up +4.7% year-over-year.
Contributions to an insurance-based Retirement Savings Plan (PER) are up 34% year-over-year
In September 2023, 46,000 new policyholders took out a PER with an insurance company. Contributions to insurance-based PERs totaled 776 million euros, a 34% increase compared to September 2022. At the same time, 9,900 policyholders transferred existing policies to a PER, totaling 294 million euros.
In total, the market for PER plans offered by insurance companies saw an increase of 55,900 policyholders and €1,070 million in contributions during the month of September 2023.
Net inflows into PERs totaled +554 million euros in September and +4,371 million euros since the beginning of 2023.
As of the end of September 2023, 5.2 million policyholders held a PER, with total assets under management of 68.8 billion euros. Excluding transfers, as of the end of March 2023, insurance companies held an 82% market share of the 2.6 million new PER account holders and an 89% share of the 24.1 billion euros in assets under management from new business.
Transfers of life insurance policies under the PACTE Act remain strong
Since the beginning of the year, 252,000 life insurance policies have been transferred under the PACTE Act (excluding transfers of retirement insurance policies to a PER), compared with 276,000 policies during the same period in 2022. These transfers total 9.7 billion euros (compared with 10.9 billion euros during the first three quarters of 2022), of which 2.3 billion euros were reinvested in unit-linked funds (compared with 2.6 billion euros).
