Switzerland’s biggest life insurer, Swiss Life, has had a solid first crisis quarter. The decline in premium income was due to a one-off effect a year earlier.
A drop in premium income of 20 percent in the first quarter – the numbers that Swiss Life presented on Tuesday don’t look good, especially given the current climate of crisis. But it is a case of misconception: the 7.82 billion Swiss francs ($8.05 billion) in premiums as pretty much business as usual.
The Axa-Effect
The year-earlier figures were skewed because rival Axa had pulled out of the business with full insurance policies, which had given Swiss Life a massive boost. Taking this extraordinary effect into account, premiums in the first quarter in Switzerland rose 4 percent year on year.
The business at Swiss Life has held up well in the troubled months with direct investment income down only marginally at 1.01 billion francs compared with 1.07 billion a year ago – this despite the crash in March.
Solid Solvency Ratio
At Swiss Life Asset Managers, the inflow of net new assets from third parties almost dried up – it received 13 million francs and assets under management dropped to 79.3 billion from 83 billion at the end of 2019.
Swiss Life has a solid solvency ratio of an estimated 180 percent, which is well within the strategic ambition range of 140 to 190 percent. On January 1, the SST ratio had been 204 percent. CEO Patrick Frost said that the group maintained its financial targets given the resilience and sustainability of the business.
