BMI's Executive Summary for the Malaysia Insurance Report

[TOP]

Malaysia's IBER is 63.5. Relative to other countries in the Asia Pacific region, it is a moderately attractive insurance market for foreign insurers, ranking in the middle of the table, well above close neighbour Indonesia, but below Singapore. Malaysia scores well on the development of its regulatory system reflecting reforms of recent years that has helped to raise its overall IBER, despite the size of the sector. Malaysia's non-life segment is less developed than life and particularly so relative to market leaders in the region.

Over the forecast period, we anticipate that non-life premiums will grow by 9% annually in local currency terms and by 11% in US dollar terms. Life premiums are expected to increase by 7% annually in local currency terms and by 9% in US dollar terms. The key drivers of growth in the non-life segment in 2007- 2012 are the anticipated rise in nominal GDP at around 2% a year from around US$179.6bn to US$263.4bn and an expected increase in non-life penetration from 1.96% of GDP to 2.11%. The key driver of growth in the life segment is the envisaged rise in life density from US$211.7 per capita in 2007 to US$292.23 per capita in 2012.

With few barriers to entry, foreign insurers have flooded into the Malaysian market, making both life and non-life segments extremely crowded. However, many of the cross-border firms in Malaysia are either specialist insurers or focus on multi-national corporate clients. In the non-life segment there are around 20 local groups, typically stand-alone non-life or composite insurers or affiliates of the various (generally listed) Malaysian financial services companies. They are, in the main, (significantly) larger than their counterparts in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Malaysia has an enviable regulatory environment compared with many economies in its region. The country has largely shaken off international economic problems and is expected to deliver stable growth over the coming years. Its local firms have strong brand names, tested over many years, and the country is an unquestioned leader in Islamic banking and insurance – an area with great opportunities for growth from a niche sector as the overall market increases. The overall market has great room for growth as Malaysia, despite having developed further than many of its regional peers, still has relatively low penetration rates.

It is unlikely to attract many new players to its crowded markets and those existing local firms have limited ability to expand beyond Malaysia's borders.

Contents of the Malaysia Insurance Report

[TOP]

Chapter 1 - The Sector At A Glance

Table: Overview

Key Features Of This Report & Likely Future Changes

Chapter 2 - Latest News

Recent Developments

Chapter 3 - Evolution Since The Mid-1990s

Table: Evolution Of The Insurance Sector (in millions of currency specified)

Evolution

Chapter 4 - Projections And Forecasts

Table: BMI Projections (in millions of currency specified)

Projections And Drivers Of Growth

Chapter 5 - Macroeconomic Outlook

Table: GDP, Population and Output

Chapter 6 - Country Update

Political Risk Stability And Nationalism

Economic Risk Investment Friendly

Business Environment Strong Rule Of Law

Chapter 7 - Analysis of Competitive Conditions

Country Overview Malaysia Non-Life Segment

Table: Non-Life Segment Rankings of Markets

Table: Presence Of Cross-Border Insurers Non-Life

Table: Selected Local Insurers

Country Overview Malaysia Life Segment

Table: Life Segment Rankings of Markets

Table: Presence Of Cross-Border Insurers Life

Table: Selected Local Life Insurers

Chapter 8 - Regional Context

Table: Regional Context - Premiums

Table: Regional Context Total Premiums

Chapter 9 - Methodology And Objectives

Introduction

Background

Forecasts

Chapter 10 - Appendix

Table: Latest Estimates / Actual Figures For 2005

Table: Latest Estimates For 2010

Table: Latest Estimates For 2005-2010

Competitive Landscape for Asia Insurance Reports: Sample of
    Companies Ranked

[TOP]

A cross-border overview of key players and their insurance market share across Asia. Tables and graphs show country presence of multinationals across the region. Comparative company analyses and rankings by premium income (life and non-life). Company SWOTS for leading life and non-life insurers, covering network of offices, presence of foreign stakeholders, strategic relationships, joint ventures; portfolio of clients; diversity of product range; profit growth, investment strategy and risk exposure.

Network of Insurance Sources

[TOP]

BMI's Asian Insurance Reports are based on an extensive network of multilateral organisations, government departments, insurance industry associations, chambers of commerce and company reports. Information sources include:

Read about our other Insurance Reports