76 | Financial and Monetary Affairs
interactive elements, more useful links, e-learning programmes and animated video clips on the internet.
Outreach activities targeting different audiences continued. The SFC organised investor education seminars jointly with the Hong Kong Society of Financial Analysts and The Open University of Hong Kong respectively. These public seminars were taped for broadcast on television, and their summaries published in newspapers.
The SFC also collaborated with the Institute of Financial Planners of Hong Kong and the Education Bureau to offer courses for secondary school teachers, assisting them in teaching business, accounting and financial studies under the New Senior Secondary curriculum starting in the 2009-10 school year.
Moreover, talks for university and secondary school students were held. The response to these outreach activities was positive - almost 8 560 persons attended the 59 sessions held.
To better understand the behaviour of investors and address their needs, the SFC conducted a 'Retail Investor Survey' for the first time. One key finding showed that although retail investors were aware that investments involved risks, two-thirds of the respondents bought investment products despite knowing little about them.
A calendar card featuring five fundamental questions was distributed to the public in November as a prelude to an education theme to be launched in 2009 that advises people to ask questions before investing
Insurance Sector
Main Features
At year-end, there were 175 authorised insurers, 90 of which were incorporated in Hong Kong while the remaining 85 were incorporated on the Mainland and in 21 overseas countries, with the United States taking the lead.
The total gross premiums of the insurance industry reached $197.3 billion in 2007, representing 26.4 per cent growth over that in 2006. Gross premiums of the general insurance sector increased by 5.7 per cent to $24.3 billion in 2007. The increase was mainly driven by the strong momentum registered in accident and health insurance business.
Overall underwriting profit of general insurance business improved from a profit of $2.1 billion to $2.4 billion in 2007, attributable to better claims experience as well as release in claims reserves.
The long-term insurance business continued to attain double-digit annual growth from 1991 to 2007, with office premiums increased by 30 per cent to $173.0 billion in 2007. The individual life business remained dominant with the office premiums in force of $153.1 billion, accounting for 88.5 per cent of the total office premiums. The number of individual life policies in force grew by 8.5 per cent to 7.7 million in 2007.
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