Snapshot: Chile’s 10 biggest life insurers by profits

Chile’s life insurers eked out premium growth over the first three quarters of 2019.

Direct premiums totaled US$6.46bn, up 0.5% from US$6.43bn in the same period of 2018, according to watchdog CMF.

The bulk of revenue corresponded to retirement insurance (62.1%), followed by credit life (16.4%) and individual life (11.9%).

Over the period, the standard retirement annuity and group and individual life insurance segments contracted, while the rest, led by survivors and disability insurance, expanded.

INVESTMENTS

At the end of September, the country’s 36 life insurers had nearly US$62bn invested, the bulk (28.4%) in local corporate bonds, followed by foreign fixed-income instruments (11.1%) and local bank bonds (10.9%), according to CMF.

M&A 

In the first quarter, Chilean financial services group Bicecorp finalized its acquisition of the local annuities business of Colombian insurance and pension giant Sura for around US$200mn. Bicecorp now operates a life business and an annuities unit in the life market. 

And around the middle of the year, Confuturo was given the green light to absorb sister company CorpSeguros. Both are life units of local financial services holding Inversiones la Construcción.

Meanwhile, in September, the controller of commercial lender Banco de Chile, Quiñenco, agreed to sell its insurance business to Swiss giant Chubb. Earlier in the year Chubb reached an agreement with Banco de Chile to form a strategic alliance. Under the alliance Banco de Chile's insurance broker Banchile Corredores de Seguros will sell Chubb's life and P&C polices through the bank's branches, ATMs, direct marketing and digital channels.

Also in September, the Chilean unit of Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual announced it had agreed to sell its life insurance business – BTG Pactual Compañía de Seguros de Vida – to DT Rigel for about US$66mn. DT Rigel, part of local group Dercorp, owns life insurer Rigel Seguros de Vida.

LIFE INSURER PROFITS

The country’s life insurers posted a bottom line of 247bn pesos (US$329mn) for January-September, down from 331bn pesos reported for the same period of 2018 while 10 insurers posted a loss.

The companies reporting the biggest profits were:

No. 1

Confuturo was the biggest profit generator, reporting 36.8bn pesos.

No. 2

Consorcio Nacional posted 30.1bn pesos.

No. 3

Zurich-Santander reported 28.3bn pesos.

No. 4

MetLife posted 25.6bn pesos.

No. 5

BICE posted 24.2bn pesos.

No. 6

Security Previsión reported 18.5bn pesos

No. 7

Penta posted  nearly 17bn pesos.

No. 8

BICE Seguros (the group’s annuity unit), reported 14.3bn pesos.

No. 9

BanChile (Banco de Chile) posted 13.4bn pesos.

No.10

Mutualidad del Ejército y Aviacíon (for army and air force) posted 12.3bn pesos.

Chile's biggest life insurer by premiums in the period was MetLife, posting 770bn pesos, up 14.4% year-on-year.