LIFE AND INVESTMENT-LINKED INSURANCE POLICIES

LIFE AND INVESTMENT-LINKED INSURANCE POLICIES

1.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Senior Minister what percentage of Singaporeans have life insurance policies and how many of those insured have investment-linked policies.

Mr Goh Chok Tong: The penetration rate of life insurance coverage in Singapore, measured as the percentage of insurance premium over the GDP of the country, is 5.1% in 2009(1). By this measure, Singapore is ranked 17th in the World and 5th in Asia.

As of end 2009, about 14% of the total in-force life policies comprised investment-linked policies. The breakdown of in-force policies by product type as at end 2009 is as follows:

2009

|

Investment- Linked

|

Term

|

Whole Life

|

Endowment

|

Accident & Health

|

Others

|

Total

---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---

% of In-force Policies

|

14%

|

19%

|

16%

|

17%

|

33%

|

1%

|

100%

Investment-linked, Whole Life and Endowment products contain an investment element, and these products comprise 47% of the total in-force policies.

To help consumers better identify their own insurance needs and understand the different features of insurance products, MAS and the Life Insurance Association have issued consumer guides on life insurance, investment-linked insurance plans and participating life insurance policies. These guides are produced under MoneySENSE, our national financial education programme, and are available on MoneySENSE's website.

(1) As reported in Swiss Re Sigma Report 2/2010.

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