LIC world's fourth largest insurer: S&P
The list is dominated by European companies from six countries with 21 spots
India’s largest life insurer, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), has been ranked as the fourth biggest in the world by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The list of 50 is led by German giant Allianz SE, followed by Chinese co China Life Insurance Co and Japan’s Nippon Life Insurance Co.
According to the rankings, LIC has reserves of $503.07 billion. The German company has reserves of $750.2 billion.
The list is dominated by European companies from six countries with 21 spots. In Europe, the United Kingdom is home to the most companies on the list with seven headquartered there.
Asia accounts for 17 spots on the list of top global life insurers, making it the region with the second-highest number. Mainland China and Japan shared top spot in Asia with five companies each.
North America had 12 spots on the list with eight companies based in the US, two in Canada and two in Bermuda.
On country basis, US had the highest number of companies with eight.
But the biggest company in US MetLife Inc, is ranked seventh in the overall list followed by Prudential
When asked to highlight future issues that life insurers will need to contend with, experts said one of the biggest themes is going to be how the global life insurance industry will adapt to the forthcoming large-scale transfer of wealth from one generation to the next.
“There’s not a single area in the world that isn’t going to be experiencing that wealth transfer,” said Samantha Chow, global leader for the life, annuities and benefits sector at Capgemini, noting that this transfer of wealth will be fueled by challenges centered around an aging population. The life insurance industry is not yet ready to address this challenge as it does not have the right products and technology, Chow said in an interview to S&P.