Swiss Life in the first half of 2020 had a drop in net income, which wasn’t directly a consequence of the pandemic. The volatility on stock markets did however affect the return on investments.
Swiss Life profit dropped 13 percent to 537 million Swiss francs ($590 million) in the first half of 2020, according to a statement released on Thursday. Revenues declined 16 percent to 11.6 billion francs.
One reason for the decline in profit was a positive one-off tax effect of 30 million francs in the context of the Swiss corporate tax reform in the previous year.
Third-Party AuM Remain Flat
Swiss Life also generated a lower income from investments of 2 billion francs, down from 2.2 billion a year earlier. The direct investment yield was 1.2 percent, slightly down from 1.4 percent in 2019.
The asset managers received net new assets of 1.4 billion francs in the first half. Assets under management for third parties was almost flat at 82.9 billion.
Outlook Confirmed
Swiss Life expanded the fee business in a challenging environment and boosted income by 10 percent to 916 million francs.
Overall premiums dropped 16 percent to 11.6 billion francs. The decline was due to the extraordinarily high single premiums written by Swiss Life in the previous years, as a result of the withdrawal of Axa Switzerland from the full insurance business.
Swiss Life confirmed its financial targets set for the full year, including the return on equity of 8 to 10 percent.
