Growth of mutual continues to outstrip wider industry
Record membership numbers boosted the aggregate premium income of members of the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) in 2015, according to the Federation's latest financial research.
The seventh edition of the ICMIF Members: Key Statistics report, an annual overview of ICMIF members collective financial performance, highlighted that members wrote a record level of premium income in 2015, collectively writing $307 billion in insurance premiums. Since 2007, members have grown their premium income by 18 percent, compared to an 8 percent growth in the total insurance industry.
Member companies from AMICE (the Association of Mutual Insurers and Insurance Cooperatives in Europe) were included in the financial data for the first time following its integration with ICMIF in 2016. As of October 2016, ICMIF represents 290 members in 74 countries across the world.
The ICMIF Members: Key Statistics 2015 report also includes a regional analysis of members' premium growth and market share, insurance products by line of life and non-life business, operating ratios, and asset and investment breakdown. It also includes a list of the largest members in 2015 and the fastest-growing members from the previous year.
Shaun Tarbuck, chief executive of ICMIF, said: "Mutual and cooperative insurers performed robustly in 2015 as they continued to expand their global reach, shown by a growth in the aggregate premium income; numbers of policyholders served and people employed around the world.
"Mutuals and cooperative insurers continue to show their relevance at a regional level, holding an important stake in the European and North American markets and a growing influence in the African and Latin American markets, as well as at a global level. The latest data shows that mutual and cooperative insurers continue to be the fastest-growing part of the global insurance industry since the financial crisis."
