Dallas, TX -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/11/2010 -- This report highlights three key aspects of New Zealand's insurance sector. First, the life sector – and organised savings in general – are underdeveloped. Pension plan savings that are held through longestablished schemes and whose assets under management (AUM) are equivalent to a very substantial percentage of GDP simply do not exist. In this respect, New Zealand is radically different to Australia, where superannuation (ie pension) AUM amount to around 100% of GDP and continue to grow more rapidly than the overall economy. In Australia, the superannuation business dominates – indeed, drives – the life insurance segment. In New Zealand, life penetration (ie premiums per capita) is broadly the same as it is in Poland or the Czech Republic.
The second key aspect, which almost certainly goes some way to explaining the first, is that a number of public sector institutions socialise the coverage of risks, which would in almost all other countries be insured through the private sector. The Earthquake Commission (EQC) covers every insured household against catastrophes (to a limit of NZD100,000 for homes and NZD20,000 for contents). The EQC lays off its risk in the global catastrophe reinsurance market and by way of a government guarantee. The (underfunded) Government Superannuation Fund provides a government guarantee to the pensions to be received by current and former public servants. The National Provident Fund acts similarly in relation to current and former employees of (mainly) government-linked enterprises.
Most crucially, the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) assumes all risks associated with injuries in New Zealand. The laws governing the ACC – the details of which have changed many times since the inception of that institution in 1974 – do not permit injured parties to undertake lawsuits. The costs of the ACC – substantially medical/rehabilitation treatment costs and payments to people who are unable to work – have ballooned in recent years and, in particular, in the year to June 30 2009 (ie the end of the ACC's last financial year). Over that 12-month period, net levy income received by the ACC (ie receipts that are roughly analogous to premiums received by insurers providing accident/health/injury/ workers' compensation coverage in other countries) was NZD4,183mn. Claims expenses – in a country whose total GDP amounts to around NZD200bn – were no less than NZD23,786mn. At the end of the year to June 30 2009 the total liabilities of the ACC were NZD27,276mn and exceeded total assets by almost NZD13,000mn. The new government has commissioned a 'steering group' to examine the problems of the ACC and to report by mid-2010.
The other key aspect of New Zealand's insurance sector is that barriers to entry and exit are low. Put another way, corporate decisions are not necessarily driven primarily by issues and themes in the New Zealand insurance industry. Once again, a comparison of New Zealand with the larger markets of Central and Eastern Europe is useful. In Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and other nearby countries, almost all insurers – be they active in the non-life segment, the life segment or both – fall into two categories. The first category includes multinationals that have a clear commitment to developing a substantial business across Central and Eastern Europe, such as the Generali/PPF joint venture (JV) and Vienna Insurance Group. The second category, of which Poland's PZU is the largest organisation by far, consists of indigenous organisations that, like insurers in the first category, have a vested interest in promoting the long-term development of insurance and organised savings.
In New Zealand, in contrast, most of the major insurers – such as IAG New Zealand, Vero and Lumley General in the non-life segment and Sovereign Insurance, AMP, AXA New Zealand and Asteron in the life segment– are subsidiaries of Australian organisations (in AXA's case, the old National Mutual Life Association), which have become large as a result of mergers/ takeovers between businesses in Australia or banking organisations in New Zealand. To a certain extent, deal-making has been opportunistic. The radical differences between the structure of insurance and organised savings in Australia and in New Zealand mean that, in general, there are not substantial cross-border economies of scale. Over time, a number of international firms have concluded that New Zealand is not a market in which they need a presence. The Dutch giant ING is the latest multinational to complete a withdrawal from New Zealand (and from Australia) by way of the sale of its share in a JV with Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) to that Australian bank.
Issues To Watch
Competitive Landscape
In February 2010, AXA New Zealand was at the middle of a take-over battle between AMP and National
Australia Bank. French giant AXA SA is looking to buy the non-Australasian operations of AXA Asia- Pacific, of which AXA New Zealand is a part. If National Australia Bank acquires AXA New Zealand, that Australian bank will become one of the larger players in New Zealand's life segment. Regulation Traditionally, New Zealand's insurance sector (and the health funds) have managed themselves – and fairly effectively – through self-regulation. The country is in the process of adopting a tighter regulatory regime under the aegis of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. Industry commentators suggest that this change, which has been discussed and explained for some time, will have little impact on the industry as a whole -- although it will increase costs. Unpleasant surprises are unlikely but possible.
The Accident Compensation Corporation
As noted above, the ACC's financial position is unsustainable. Remedial action, which will likely be discussed extensively following the report of the 'steering group' in June 2009 could involve any of the following: substantial increases in levies; radical measures to reduce claims and payments; establishment of a new sinking fund (along the lines of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund) to cover the ACC's deficit; (re)privatisation of the Work Account (essentially that part of the ACC that deals with workplace claims); wholesale privatisation of the ACC.
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This is BMI's second report on New Zealand's insurance sector. As is the case with our other insurance sector reports, we seek to place the non-life and life segments in a regional and global context. We discuss the main lines and describe the competitive landscape in some detail.