Wednesday 13 March 2024

• Annual underwriting profits plunged from HK$4.2bn in 2022 to HK$800m in 2023.
• The A&H sector recorded substantial underwriting losses throughout all four quarters of 2023.

• Underwriting losses in property damage insurance totalled HK$217m in Q3 and HK$91m in Q4.

• Pecuniary Loss business suffered significant underwriting losses of HK$776m in Q4.

• Inward reinsurance profits dropped 61.7% year-on-year to HK$700m in 2023.

• GI gross premiums increased modestly by 4.1% to HK$67.3bn in 2023, up from HK$64.4bn the prior year.

• Canopius Group's GWP for 2023 reached US$2.8bn, a 22% increase from 2022.

• Profits after tax nearly tripled to US$363m.

• In APAC, GWP rose by 34.7% to US$295m.

• APAC growth attributed to Lloyd's business, strong performance in Australia's Accident & Health, output from newly acquired treaty underwriters in Australia, and advantageous Singapore reinsurance market conditions.

• China's National Financial Regulatory Administration plans to optimise insurance pricing for electric vehicles (EVs).

• Li Yunze, head of the NFRA, announced strategy during the 14th National People's Congress, alongside plans to reduce the minimum down payment for consumer car loans.

• The initiative aims to encourage more EV purchases within China.

• Electric Vehicle production and sales rose by 35.8% and 37.9% respectively in 2023 and EVs now account for 31.6% of all passenger vehicles in China.

• Bolttech forms strategic partnership with stc Group to offer embedded device insurance in the Middle East.

• Businesses said there is potential for future collaboration on wider range of products, including home appliances, health electronics, cyber asset protection.

• The Insurance Authority (IA) suspended an insurance agent's licence for seven months.

• In Dec 2020, agent had taken a policy in a client's name without consent, paying HK$8009 for first year's premium.

• The client discovered the unauthorised policy via her insurer's e-portal and filed a complaint with the IA.

• The agent misled the client with a non-existent lucky draw to appear as if she had won an insurance policy, in order to inflate sales figures.

• The IA found the agent's actions unethical and said they demonstrated a lack of integrity.

In APAC, Mukul Kishore (pictured left) will be Head of P&C, while Chloe Wang (pictured centre) and Dion Russell (pictured right) take on Head of L&H for Fast Growth Markets and Head of L&H for Mature Markets roles, respectively.