4
Financial and Monetary Affairs
During the year, the SFC also put forward measures to reform the IPO sponsors regime, intended to encourage sponsors to take a responsible, proactive and constructive role when leading IPOs and to maintain investor confidence in Hong Kong's IPO market. The new requirements will apply to listing applications submitted on or after 1 October 2013.
Insurance Sector
Main Features
At the end of 2012, there were 155 authorised insurers, 83 of which were incorporated in Hong Kong while the remaining 72 were incorporated in the Mainland and overseas jurisdictions.
During the past five years, the Hong Kong insurance industry achieved an average annual growth of 5.3 per cent. In 2012, the total gross premiums of the Hong Kong insurance industry amounted to $255.2* billion, representing an increase of 9 per cent over 2011. The total revenue premiums1o of in-force long term business rose by 8.6 per cent to $215.9* billion in 2012. Individual life insurance remained the leading business, accounting for $196.4* billion or 90.9* per cent of total revenue premiums, while the corresponding number of policies stood at 10.1* million.
General insurance business rose in money terms from $34.8 billion in 2011 to $39.3* billion in 2012, representing a 12.9 per cent increase in gross premiums. The growth was largely led by insurance policies relating to general liability business (comprising employees' compensation business) and accident and health business (comprising medical business). However, the overall underwriting performance of general insurance business decreased from $2.6 billion in 2011 to $2.2* billion in 2012, due to the fall in the underwriting profit of pecuniary losses business and general liability business.
At the end of December 2012, there were 74,236 individual insurance intermediaries, including 8,798 Chief Executives or Technical Representatives of 604 broker firms, 27,830 Responsible Officers or Technical Representatives of 2,419 agency firms, and 37,608 individual agents.
Statistics on insurance business
2010
2011
2012
Number of authorised insurers
168
163
155
Of which:
Incorporated in Hong Kong
88
85
83
Incorporated in the Mainland and
80
78
72
overseas
Premium income ($billion)
*
Provisional statistics.
10 The premiums actually received during the financial year.
75