Superannuation assets are continuing to be the mainstay of the Australian life insurance industry, according to the latest data released by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
The APRA data on the life insurance industry in September 2005 reveals that total statutory fund assets backing Australian policyholder liabilities stood at $213.3 billion, and that superannuation assets represented $188.7 billion of that figure.
What is more, the APRA data revealed that while total statutory fund assets grew by 3.5 per cent in the September quarter, the proportion of superannuation assets had grown by 4 per cent.
According to APRA, the superannuation assets have continued to trend upwards and now represent 88.4 per cent of the total assets backing Australian policyholder liabilities in life office statutory funds.
“Total superannuation assets over the year to September 30, 2005 increased by 22.4 per cent, and as a result life office superannuation assets as a percentage of total superannuation assets continued to decline, falling from 26.1 per cent to 23.8 per cent over the same period,” the APRA data said.
It said life office premiums for the quarter stood at $10.5 billion, representing an increase of 13.6 per cent from the June 2005 quarter, and a 3.7 per cent decrease on the September 2004 quarter, during which time the increased inflows for complying income streams and the introduction of term allocated pensions caused a substantial one-off increase in premiums.
The insurance company has joined this year’s awards as a principal partner.
The $135 billion fund has transitioned away from TAL Life Insurance following an “extensive tender process”.
The $80 billion fund is facing legal action over allegedly signing up new members to income protection insurance by default without active member consent.
In a Senate submission, the Financial Services Council has once again called for further clarification that the government will assess the consumer outcomes of group insurance against the enshrined objective of superannuation.