After several ups and downs
The operating environment of Japanese life insurance companies has gradually deteriorated, which is characterized by reduced profits, increased termination and slow growth of new underwriting contracts.
At present, life insurance has penetrated into Japanese national life, and Japan's life insurance industry has reached a very developed stage. 196 The premium income of Japanese life insurance companies was 29.4 trillion yen, and new contracts for personal life insurance were signed12198,000. The main types of personal life insurance in the market in that year and their proportion in the number of new contracts are as follows: whole life insurance plus term death insurance is 23.1%; Sickness insurance18.0%; Periodic death insurance155.5%; Endowment security11.3%; Life insurance 8.3%.
However, since the collapse of the 1990 bubble economy, Japan's interest rate has decreased and the yen has appreciated. Especially from 2000 to 200 1 year, the growth rate of life insurance premium income in Japan was negative 3.9%, which was very conspicuous compared with the dynamic life insurance market in Britain, France, Spain and other countries.
At the same time, the number of insurance contracts has been declining since 1997. With the declining birthrate, aging and economic development in the future, it can be said that Japan's life insurance industry will enter a recession.
According to the "National Life Insurance Survey" conducted by Japan Life Insurance Cultural Center 1997, the family insurance rate of Japanese nationals is 93%, ranking first in the world. The insured amount is 4.9 pieces, the insured amount is about 65.438+300 million yen, and the annual premium is 676,000 yen, accounting for 654.38+006.5438+0% of the annual income.
In 200 1 year, Japan's life insurance income accounted for 24.79% of the world's and 77.99% of Asia's life insurance income. In 2002, the life insurance premium income of Japanese insurance companies reached 25511800 million yen (US$ 3,545.53 million), which was 2.3% lower than that of 5438+0 in 2006, but it still accounted for 79.6% of Japan's total insurance business and 23.08% of the world's life insurance share, ranking second in the world. In 2002, the life insurance coverage was 1.675 trillion1.81.70 billion yen, which was 4.6 times of the net income of Japanese nationals.
The results of the national life insurance survey in 2003 show that the coverage rate of Japanese nationals' family insurance is 89.6%, which still ranks first in the world, with 4.3 pieces insured, the insured amount is 46.98 million yen, and the annual premium is 53 100 yen, accounting for 9.2% of the annual income.
Japan's life insurance market (except statutory social insurance) is mainly operated by various life insurance companies (called private insurance companies in Japan), post offices and agricultural cooperatives. By the end of 1995, the premium income of these three companies in that year was 30.8 trillion yen, 14.6 trillion yen and 3.3 trillion yen respectively; Its assets are 174.4 trillion yen, 92.4 trillion yen and 9.3 trillion yen respectively.
Diversified development
Insurance is a commodity operated by insurance companies, and the main types of insurance in Japan's life insurance market change with the development of the life insurance market.
The main types of insurance in Japanese life insurance market range from ordinary old-age insurance (i.e. old-age insurance) to multiple regular old-age insurance (i.e. ordinary old-age insurance plus multiple regular death insurance), and then developed to whole life insurance and whole life insurance plus regular death insurance and annuity insurance, so as to meet the market demand for the insured to pay less premiums and get more protection.
After entering the 1980s, due to the extension of life expectancy, people began to value life insurance with low premium. Especially after the rate of 1985 was lowered, the sales momentum quickly changed from regular old-age security to regular life insurance.
So far, term life insurance has occupied the throne of the main commodities of life insurance companies. According to the statistics of Japan Life Culture Center, term life insurance accounts for 50.6% of the new policy coverage of 1998. With the diversification of insurance consumer demand, the content of additional term life insurance is increasingly rich. For example, there are many kinds of additional risks of term insurance. After the premium payment period is over, the protection content of life insurance can be converted into endowment insurance, husband and wife endowment insurance and nursing insurance.
Back to 1957, Japan's life insurance industry has recovered to the level before World War II. At this time, the main insurance in the insurance market is still ordinary endowment insurance. From 1955 to 1965, the annual growth rate of Japanese economy is 15%, inflation is gradually increasing, families are getting smaller, and the popularity of automobiles leads to frequent traffic accidents and a sharp increase in deaths. Therefore, the market needs to obtain higher protection of death insurance at a lower premium. Therefore, in 1959, the triple payment term pension insurance appeared in the Japanese life insurance market. By 1965, the market share of regular endowment insurance has exceeded that of ordinary endowment insurance.
By the mid-1970s, Japan's major life insurance companies had successively introduced 65,438+00 times and 65,438+05 times term pension insurance, and life insurance claims further tended to be highly multiplied. By 1975, the market share of ordinary endowment insurance had dropped from 50.2% in 1965 to 17.7%, while the market share of overpaid term endowment insurance had increased from 25.4% to 39.3% in the same period, becoming the main commodity in Japanese life insurance market at that time. From 65438 to 0975, after the second oil crisis in the world, Japan's economy entered a period of relatively stable development.
In 1980s, Japanese society entered an aging age, and personal annuity insurance and life insurance with saving function were paid more and more attention, while the payment of regular pension insurance began to shrink. By 1992, the market share of paid term pension insurance dropped to 1 1.4%, the market share of life insurance reached 23.7%, and the market share of individual annuity insurance reached 16. 1%. In this way, life insurance with low premium, life insurance with regular death and annuity insurance with saving function replaced the payment of regular old-age insurance and became the main commodities in the life insurance market in this period.
Since 1982, life insurance companies have successively introduced medical insurance. Since then, Japan's life insurance market has entered the era of commodity diversification. There are three new products recently: sickness insurance and additional insurance paid before death. Both of them are new life insurance products launched in time to meet people's demand that "insurance should benefit while alive".
The three major diseases insurance can get the same amount of insurance money as the death insurance money not only at the time of death, but also when cancer, acute myocardial infarction and stroke are diagnosed. Prepaid additional insurance is an additional term life insurance attached to the main commodity. As long as it is confirmed that the insured only has a life span of 6 months, he can receive all or part of the death insurance money in advance. There is no need to pay premium for this kind of additional insurance. Not only can you add new policies, but you can also add old policies halfway.
As the future development trend, additional term life insurance will undoubtedly replace the status of additional term old-age security. In the future, there will be more and more products focusing on customers aged 20-30. We will focus on products for young people and add various additional risks to improve our products, such as gynecological diseases, outpatient services, nursing, cancer, annuity and death payment.
Recently, some insurance companies have introduced "excellent body insurance" with risk segmentation. This kind of insurance is to add strict health conditions to the previous life insurance underwriting conditions and set up "excellent body" so that the insured who meets the "excellent body" conditions can be insured at a more favorable premium.
Since 1996, all insurance companies can set their own insurance dividends. Since April 1999, major life insurance companies can set their own rates to provide preferential price services for customers with more insurance. Japan Life Insurance Company successfully launched the "Insurance Account" in April, 1999. In this system, the insured families are insured by several policies of the company, unified under the name of the head of the household, unified management, and given various preferential services.
In addition, some companies also reduce costs by selling insurance directly (for example, communication sales, etc.). ) and put the goods into the life insurance market at a low price. In order to further meet the diversified needs of customers, life insurance companies are striving to improve their products and services.
Surrendered again.
Seven major life insurance companies in Japan have recently announced that their business performance in 2002 has further deteriorated due to the investment income brought about by the plunge in stock prices and low interest rates, as well as the impact of customers' surrender.
In the year of 2002 ending March 3, 2003, the profits of seven life insurance companies decreased by about 6.7%, and the total profits decreased from 498.2 billion yen in 2006 to 465 billion yen (about 3.9 billion US dollars) in 2002.
These seven life insurance companies include Japan Life Insurance Company, First Life Mutual Insurance Company, Sumitomo Life Insurance Company, Fuji Life Insurance Company, Asahi Life Mutual Insurance Company, Mitsui Life Insurance Company and An Tian Life Insurance Company.
Life insurance companies claim that there is a considerable gap between their poor return on investment and the average guaranteed return on insurance policies. The return on investment of the seven major life insurance companies did not reach the guaranteed rate of return, and their total return on investment decreased from 1. 1.04 trillion in 2006 to 1.07 trillion in 2002.
Although the Japanese government recently submitted a bill to the National Assembly to prevent the bankruptcy of life insurance companies, the seven major life insurance companies claimed that they had no plans to reduce the guaranteed rate of return on policies. It is reported that the proposal aims at allowing life insurance companies to reduce the guaranteed rate of return on their policies and suspend surrender.
In view of the fact that the popularity of insurance policies of various life insurance companies is not as good as before, except the largest life insurance company in Japan, the surrender fees paid by the other six life insurance companies in 2002 due to the termination of their policies far exceeded the value of the new policies they sold. The surrender premium paid by seven life insurance companies decreased from 107.63 trillion in 2006 to 100.74 trillion in 2002, and the value of new policies sold also decreased from 90.92 trillion to 85. 14 trillion. The premium income of seven life insurance companies also decreased from 18.44 trillion and 5438+0 in 2006 to 16.88 trillion in 2002. The slowdown in the termination of life insurance policies became the only bright spot for life insurance companies in 2002.
In the investment market, seven Japanese life insurance companies enjoyed 2.25 trillion yuan of unrealized bond income in 2002, which was significantly higher than the income of10.4 trillion yuan in 2006, 5438+0. Considering that the Nikkei index fell by 27% in 2002, the unrealized gains of seven life insurance companies in the bond market also made up for their unrealized losses in the stock market of 269.8 billion yen.
Among the seven life insurance companies, only Japan Life Insurance Company and Fuji Life Insurance Company announced unrealized gains in the stock market, of which the unrealized gains of Japan Life Insurance Company were 669 billion yen and Fuji Life Insurance Company were 3.7 billion yen.
Further reading: How to buy insurance, which is good, and teach you how to avoid these "pits" of insurance.