Co-operative and mutual insurers continue to grow

Co-operatives and mutuals active in the insurance sector have continued to expand their global reach. A report by the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (Icmif) showed the...

Co-operatives and mutuals active in the insurance sector have continued to expand their global reach. A report by the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (Icmif) showed the number of people covered by mutual and co-operative insurers grew to 955 million in 2014, from 923 million in 2013.

The sector was also employing 1.11m people worldwide in 2014, a 20% increase since pre-financial crisis levels. Icmif’s Global Mutual Market Share report features an analysis of the premium income, assets and investments of 5,000 mutual and co-operative insurance companies from 77 countries across the world.

Mutual and co-operative insurers have also grown faster than the general insurance sector.

icmif reportCo-operative insurers grew their premium income market by 30% between 2007 and 2014, compared with the 13.6% witnessed by the total insurance market during the same period. The global market share of the mutual/co-operative sector grew from 23.7% in 2007 to 27% in 2014. Mutual insurers held a record market share in the European (31.2%) and North American (35.5%) markets in 2014.

Commenting on the report, Anders Sundström, chair of Icmif, said: “The mutual and co-operative insurance sector has maintained strong levels of financial growth and market share in 2014 across the vast majority of insurance markets, while increasing its social impact, both as an insurer and an employer. These figures help us to promote co-operatives and mutual insurers as preferred insurance providers, and demonstrate their contribution to long-term socio-economic growth.”

Shaun Tarbuck, chief executive of Icmif, added: “There has been a shift in consumers’ buying behaviour since the financial crisis, and this has given the mutual and co-operative insurance model a competitive advantage against shareholder-owned insurance companies. Mutual and co-operative insurers tend to have a greater level of trust and customer satisfaction associated with them, as their intentions are closely aligned with that of the policyholder (their members).

Also, mutual and co-operative insurers benefit from a long-term perspective and can be run to protect the interest of the business and its customers, unlike joint- stock companies, which are under pressure to generate short-term profits for external shareholders.”

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[Image: Icmif]
Co-operative and mutual insurers have also achieved record levels of assets – worth USD $8.3tn in 2014, which represented approximately one third of the insurance industry’s total asset values in developed markets.“This latest statistical research clearly demonstrates the mutual and co-operative sector’s socio-economic relevance; it is a sector committed to putting people and the planet before profit, and to protect lives and livelihoods,” added Mr Sundström.

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