Insurance Commissioner Dennis Funa
MANILA -- Insurance Commissioner Dennis Funa remains optimistic of the steady growth of premium income this 2020, citing that domestic fundamentals remain strong despite external challenges.
“Barring international issues, I continue to be confident about the performance of the industry because the domestic fundamentals are undisturbed, are okay,” he said at the sidelines of the Commission’s 71st anniversary at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) Tuesday.
Funa said the insurance industry has sustained growth in the past three years amid the strength of the domestic industry.
“There’s no factor that will push me to say that there’s going to be a reversal,” he added.
Data released by the Insurance Commission (IC) on Tuesday showed that premium income grew by 2.77 percent in the third quarter of 2019 to PHP224.97 billion from year-ago’s PHP218.91 billion.
The jump in premium income was traced to increased number of variable life insurance products, which at the end of the third quarter this year pushed income to PHP172.05 billion.
Net premium income of the non-life sector during the same period amounted to PHP44.02 billion.
In terms of assets, the life sector registered PHP1.39 trillion as of end-September 2019, while it is PHP248.99 billion for the non-life sector.
The pre-need industry is also growing, with assets rising by 3.70 percent to PHP127.62 billion in the third quarter last year from PHP123.07 billion during the same period the previous year.
The health maintenance organization (HMO) registered an uptick in total assets after revenues reached PHP36.76 billion, higher by 8.64 percent from PHP33.83 billion in the third quarter of 2018. (PNA)
