Sun Life retains top spot in life insurance industry

MANILA, Philippines — Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc. retained its position as the leading life insurance company in the Philippines last year, according to the Insurance Commission (IC).

Citing data from the unaudited quarterly reports submitted by life insurance companies, Insurance Commissioner Dennis Funa said Sun Life recorded a total new business annual premium equivalent (NBAPE) of P9.61 billion in 2019,  the highest among life insurers in the country.

It was followed by Pru Life Insurance Corp. of UK with a total NBAPE of P7.67 billion and Philippine Axa Life Insurance Corp. with P5.5 billion.

Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. (Phils.) Inc. (Manulife) took the fourth spot, while Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI)- Philam Life Assurance Corp. occupied the fifth place, with NBAPE of P4.36 billion and P3.9 billion, respectively.

Completing the top 10 were BDO Life Assurance Co. Inc. with P3.68 billion in NBAPE, Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. (Philam Life) with P3.48 billion, FWD Life Insurance Corp. with P2.94 billion, United Coconut Planters Life Assurance Corp. (Cocolife) with P2.18 billion, and Insular Life Assurance Co. Ltd. with P1.91 billion.

“A life insurer’s NBAPE is computed by obtaining the sum of the value of regular premiums from products newly sold in a specific year (or the initial annualized premium) and 10 percent of single premiums written,” Funa said.

“It is an international standard that the IC has adopted to more accurately measure the life insurance industry’s sales performance,” he said.

Meanwhile, Funa said Sun Life also ranked first in the industry in terms of premium income, posting P39.51 billion in 2019.

Pru Life placed second with a total premium income of P26.97 billion, followed by AXA, with P26.24 billion.

Manulife also reported a premium income of P18.35 billion, while BPI- Philam Life posted P17.24 billion.

Next on the list were Philam Life with a premium income of P16.64 billion, BDO Life with P14.88 billion, Insular Life with P12.67 billion, FWD Life with P9.52 billion, and Allianz PNB Life Insurance Inc. with P9.44 billion.

Sun Life also took the top spot in the industry in terms of net income as it booked a net profit of P8.21 billion last year.

It was followed by Philam Life with P7.67 billion, Pru Life with P4.4 billion, AXA with P3.39 billion, and Insular Life with P2.94 billion.

Also in the top 10 were Manulife (P2.79 billion), BDO Life (P2.23 billion), BPI-Philam (P1.18 billion), Sun Life Grepa Financial Inc. (P845.86 million), and Cocolife (P719.54 million).

On the other hand, the IC said Philam Life reported the highest assets among life insurance companies last year amounting to P290.16 billion.

Sun Life took the second spot with resources amounting to P254.52 billion, followed by Insurance Life with P133.02 billion, AXA with P127.55 billion and Manulife with P114.9 billion.

BPI-Philam also posted P108.83 billion in total assets in 2019; Pru Life, P106.22 billion; BDO Life, P56.52 billion; Sun Life Grepa, P47.88 billion; and Manulife Chinabank Life Assurance Corp., P39.34 billion.

According to data from the IC, the life insurance industry’s total net income in 2019 rose by 20.38 percent to P45.12 billion from P37.48 billion in the previous year.

Premium income also increased by almost five percent to P304.64 billion from P290.15 billion in 2018.