Sun Life still PH’s top insurer

Insurance giant Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc. remained the country’s top insurance firm for the sixth straight year in 2016 in terms of total premium income.

Citing latest data from the Insurance Commission (IC), Sun Life said its P31.8-billion premium income last year marked a P10-billion lead over its nearest rival.

Combining the operations of Sun Life Grepa Financial, Inc., Sun Life’s joint venture company with the Yuchengco Group, the Sun Life group made over P37 billion in premium income in 2016. The group ended with a market-leading share of 20 percent last year.

“The previous year presented several challenges to the insurance industry with the decline in premium production and the market volatility. But thankfully, Sun Life was able to endure all these and still sustained leadership,” Sun Life president and CEO Riza Mantaring said.

Based on the IC data, the second biggest player is Philippine Axa Life Insurance Corp. with P21.5 billion in total income.

The other top players are: BPI Philam Life Assurance Corp. (P19.31 billion), Philippine American Life (P19.21 billion), Pru Life Insurance Corp. (P18.1 billion), Manufacturers Life (P16.6 billion), Insular Life (P12.3 billion), BDO Life (P8 billion), Manulife ChinaBank (P7.3 billion) and Sun Life Grepa Financial (P5.78 billion).

The life insurance industry posted a combined premium income of P182.79 billion in 2016.