Insurers optimistic on growth prospects

Hanoi (VNA) - Insurers have expressed optimism over the country’s insurance sector for 2016 thanks to strong results last year, according to Vietnam Report (VNR).

The company has announced its survey results together with a list of the top five prestigious life insurance companies and the top 10 prestigious non-life insurance companies.

Statistics from the Finance Ministry’s Insurance Supervisory Authority showed that the country’s total premium income climbed by 21.4 percent from the previous year to reach 68 trillion VND, while total assets grew by 21.7 percent to 201 trillion VND. The non-life segment led sales, accounting for more than 45 percent of the total and up 14 percent on 2014. Premium income in the life segment, meanwhile, rose by 29.5 percent, marking the segment’s fastest rate of growth in a decade.

By the end of 2015, the total premium income accounted for 2 percent of the country’s GDP.

This has been a good sign for the sector as well as a foundation for its development in coming years.

VNR said potential for the insurance sector’s development is strong. However, each insurer should be transparent about customers’ rights, benefits and duties in joining insurance contracts to avoid losses.

The company’s survey also revealed that most customers often chose insurers that have strong financial capacity, good business results, a high and stable premium and large capital and market share. These factors are considered part of the guarantee of payment for insurance contracts.

In addition, customers also pay attention to feedback on the insurer from their friends, the media and the Internet. This is why insurers should build and properly manage their image in the media as well as improve training and employ high-quality human resources.

Notably, four out of the top five life insurers are foreign companies, while the rest have foreign strategic shareholders.

VNR said the life market had seen the dominance of experienced foreign companies with senior specialists. Specifically, they can design products that have high expenditures. In addition, life insurance products are often long-term contracts, making it difficult for Vietnamese companies to compete with foreign firms.-VNA