First-year premiums (FYPs) of foreign-currency insurance policies in April were NT$27.1 billion (US$914.3 million), the lowest in the past six months, as the COVID-19 pandemic affected insurers’ sales activities, data released on Tuesday by the Financial Supervisory Commission showed.
The FYP represented a 45 percent plunge from a year earlier and was larger than a 13 percent annual decline in the first quarter, which the commission attributed to a 58.8 percent retreat in sales of investment-linked foreign-currency insurance policies to NT$6.3 billion and a decline of 38 percent in sales of traditional foreign-currency insurance products to NT$20.8 billion.
Although consumers in April were still interested in buying US dollar-denominated insurance products because of the cheaper greenback against the New Taiwan dollar, foreign-currency insurance policies in general saw weaker momentum as insurers could not hold regular marketing events amid the pandemic, a commission official said on Wednesday.
Insurers tend to rely on face-to-face customer visits to introduce foreign-currency insurance policies, which are more complicated than NT dollar products and involve foreign-exchange risk, the official said.
Overall, cumulative FYPs of foreign-currency insurance policies decreased 21 percent annually to NT$160.2 billion during the January-to-April period, a smaller decline than a 41 percent drop in FYPs of all life insurance policies to NT$268 billion during the same period, data showed.
That was because declared interest rates of foreign-currency products — which determine the bonuses that policyholders receive — were still higher than those offered by the NT dollar insurance products, the official said.
For example, US dollar products’ declared interest rates remained above 3 percent, while the rates of NT dollar products were at about 2 percent.
FYPs of US dollar policies totaled US$5 billion in the first four months, down 11 percent from a year earlier, while those of yuan-denominated policies shrank 77 percent to 562 million yuan (US$79.4 million) and Australian dollar policies fell 42 percent to A$230 million (US$158 million) over the same period, data showed.
US sports leagues rushed to get in on the multi-billion US dollar bonanza of legalized betting, but the arrest of an National Basketball Association (NBA) coach and player in two sprawling US federal investigations show the potential cost of partnering with the gambling industry. Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and an NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested for his alleged role in rigged illegal poker games that prosecutors say were tied to Mafia crime families. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was charged with manipulating his play for the benefit of bettors and former NBA player and
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would
YEAR-END BOOST: The holiday shopping season in the US and Europe, combined with rising demand for AI applications, is expected to drive exports to a new high, the NDC said Taiwan’s business climate monitor improved last month, transitioning from steady growth for the first time in five months, as robust global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products and new iPhone shipments boosted exports and corporate sales, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. The council uses a five-color system to measure the nation’s economic state, with “green” indicating steady growth, “red” suggesting a boom and “blue” reflecting a recession. “Yellow-red” and “yellow-blue” suggest a transition to a stronger or weaker condition. The total score of the monitor’s composite index rose to 35 points from a revised 31 in August, ending a four-month
RSS