First-year premiums (FYPs) of foreign currency-denominated life insurance policies fell 6 percent to NT$58.73 billion (US$1.94 billion) in January from NT$62.4 billion a year earlier, Financial Supervisory Commission data showed.
Despite the industry trend, FYPs of US dollar-denominated policies increased 9 percent year-on-year to US$1.83 billion, the data showed, with FYPs of traditional life insurance policies increasing 16 percent to US$1.41 billion, while those of investment-linked policies decreased 9 percent to US$416 million.
FYPs of US dollar-denominated policies totaled US$14.797 billion for the whole of last year, down 14 percent from 2018, the data showed.
The increase in January showed that the policies had regained the favor of local investors, as they offer better investment returns and higher bonuses than New Taiwan dollar-denominated policies, the commission said.
However, the US Federal Reserve’s unexpected interest rate cut of 1.5 percentage points earlier this month would make it difficult for life insurers to maintain the same investment returns and that could lead to lower sales of US dollar-denominated policies, the commission added.
FYPs of yuan-denominated policies shrank 65 percent year-on-year to 328 million yuan (US$46.2 million) in January — a 68 percent slump in investment-linked policies and a 17 percent fall in traditional life insurance policies, the data showed.
FYPs of yuan products for the whole of last year fell 43 percent to 5.82 billion yuan and the continued decrease was likely due to the volatility of Chinese financial markets amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the yuan’s weakness against the greenback, the commission said.
FYPs of policies denominated in Australian dollars fell 49 percent year-on-year to A$79 million (US$48.5 million) in January, including a 60 percent fall of FYPs of index-linked policies and a 43 percent decline in FYPs of traditional life insurance policies, the data showed.
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