American insurer Cigna is seeing a sustained life in life insurance sales in Hong Kong and Asia following the effects that the pandemic had on health awareness.
President of international markets Jason Sadler said that the strong growth across the region and other international markets are continuing in recent years, with no signs of slowing down even as the pandemic stops being a daily concern.
“One of the positives that came out of COVID was that it significantly increased people’s awareness about the importance of looking after their health,” Sadler said in an interview with the SCMP. “Here in Hong Kong we have continued to see very attractive growth opportunities.”
Cigna recently reported an adjusted revenue of US$3.2 billion and pre-tax adjusted income from operations of US$253 million in 2022. From the pandemic’s beginnings in 2020 to today, the firm has reported double-digit growth across all its international markets, including Hong Kong and Mainland China.
“Hong Kong has a long track record of being both a regional hub, and in many instances, a global hub as well. Hong Kong’s location and its proximity to China is ideally positioned. The opportunities in the Greater Bay Area will promote the city’s insurance industry to grow for some time,” Sadlier said.
The life insurance sector for the special region continues to grow alongside the rest of the industry. Recent financials from the Insurance Authority noted that while the sector posted a 7% decrease in the first quarter of 2023, new business premiums derived from cross-border visitors netted the industry US$9.6 billion, a rise of 2686.4%.
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