Share of French insurers' GA investments erodes further

21 December 2021

In 2020, 12 French insurance undertakings ranked among the top 50 Europeans by investment volumes – the same as in 2019 – however, their leadership position among Europe's largest peers, and all 'solo' insurers, continues to erode, according to research by Insurance Asset Risk.

At the end of 2020, the 12 French firms in Europe's largest 50 held €1,507.6bn (2019: €1,506.1bn).

That accounted for 18.8% (2019: 20%) of the €8,021.2bn invested by 1,932 undertakings across the EEA, in Insurance Risk Data's database.

Across Europe's top 50 insurance investors in 2019, French insurers had accounted for 35.3% (2019: 36.6%) of the €4,271.6bn invested.

Marlon Rockenfeller, head of insurance strategy and advisory EMEA & APAC at DWS said this might a consequence of other countries growing at a higher rate during 2020.

"I have not seen any structural shifts that would see a decline of the French insurance book of business," he said. "When looking at direct written premia, it seems that [the French] dipped in 2020 compared to 2019, while Germany and Sweden grew."

As in previous years, German insurers came second in the ranking with 11 firms in the top 50 with a combined €932.9bn invested (2019: €897.3bn).

The third and fourth largest country for investors were the UK and Italy.

The UK had nine, and Italy six, of Europe's top 50 investors. Britons allocated €733.6bn, the Italians €471.2bn.

 InsurerTypeCountryInvestments (€ ‘000, excluding index/ unit-linked)
1 CNP Assurances Solo Composite France 330,286,813.00
2 Predica Life France 305,470,618.00
3 Allianz Lebensversicherungs AG Life Germany 284,745,001.00
4 The Prudential Assurance Company Limited Life United Kingdom 164,684,267.30
5 Allianz SE Composite Germany 159,964,439.00
6 Poste Vita S.p.A. Life Italy 151,179,488.00
7 AXA France Vie Composite France 148,561,695.00
8 BNP Cardif Assurance Vie Composite France 139,145,082.50
9 Legal & General Assurance Society Limited Composite United Kingdom 116,582,676.90
10 Sogecap Composite France 107,852,244.60
11 Aviva Life and Pensions UK Limited Life United Kingdom 106,212,658.60
12 NN Levensverzekering Maatschappij N.V. Life Netherlands 96,694,157.00
13 Assurances du Credit Mutuel (ACM) Vie SA Life France 93,905,439.00
14 Rothesay Life plc Life United Kingdom 90,004,254.50
15 Generali Vie S.A. Life France 88,339,039.00
16 Generali Italia S.P.A. Composite Italy 87,942,845.00
17 Intesa Sanpaolo Vita S.p.A. Composite Italy 83,535,596.00
18 Munich Re (Munchener Ruck AG) Composite Germany 83,073,000.00
19 La Mondiale Life France 75,888,632.00
20 Pension Insurance Corporation plc Life United Kingdom 73,071,429.70
21 VidaCaixa S.A.U. de Seguros y Reaseguros Composite Spain 70,006,196.50
22 R+V Lebensversicherung AG Life Germany 62,899,770.00
23 Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. Composite Italy 62,168,449.00
24 Debeka Lebensversicherungsverein AG Life Germany 61,718,805.00
25 Groupama Gan Vie Composite France 61,156,148.00
26 AG Insurance SA Composite Belgium 59,625,340.90
27 Allianz Vie Life France 58,591,097.00
28 BPCE Vie Composite France 57,793,904.00
29 Debeka Krankenversicherungsverein AG Health Germany 57,292,700.00
30 Standard Life Assurance Limited Life United Kingdom 53,360,278.70
31 Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia omsesidigt Composite Sweden 53,271,946.90
32 The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited Life United Kingdom 52,940,228.40
33 Kommunal Landspensjonskasse Life Norway 52,183,883.30
34 Proxalto Lebensversicherung AG Life Germany 50,437,099.00
35 DKV Deutsche Krankenversicherung AG Health Germany 50,157,952.00
36 Danica Pension Composite Denmark 49,663,948.30
37 UnipolSai Assicurazioni S.p.A. Composite Italy 48,410,937.00
38 ERGO Lebensversicherung AG Life Germany 42,941,862.00
39 AXA Belgium Composite Belgium 42,790,866.90
40 Aegon Levensverzekering N.V. Life Netherlands 42,483,148.00
41 AXA Lebensversicherung AG Life Germany 42,409,253.00
42 ASR Levenserzekering N.V Life Netherlands 41,844,254.00
43 Aviva Vie Composite France 40,649,477.00
44 SRLEV N.V. Life Netherlands 40,135,604.00
45 Scottish Widows Limited Life United Kingdom 39,307,611.40
46 Achmea Pensioen en Levensverzekeringen N.V. Life Netherlands 38,820,022.00
47 PFA Pension Composite Denmark 38,688,185.60
48 Alleanza Assicurazioni S.p.A Composite Italy 37,912,061.00
49 Phoenix Life Limited Life United Kingdom 37,478,475.10
50 Allianz Private Krankenversicherungs-AG Health Germany 37,330,875.00


Last year's ranking is available here.

Financial and investment data for over 3,000 insurers in Europe and Bermuda is available to users of Insurance Risk Data, a database from Field Gibson Media, Insurance Asset Risk's publisher. It includes European insurers' financial and regulatory filings, including Solvency II SFCR disclosures, into a single, comprehensive and user-friendly database. Click here for a demo/free trial or for more information contact phil.manley@fieldgibsonmedia.com.