Life insurance industry profits plummet, 'big guy' loses throne

Up to now, most life insurance companies have announced their financial reports for the second quarter of 2025, except for MVI Life and MB Ageas.

Accordingly, 11 enterprises recorded a decrease in pre-tax profits in the first 6 months of the year compared to the same period last year.

Among them, Generali Vietnam had the largest decrease, with a decrease of up to 118% when recording a pre-tax loss of nearly VND22 billion in the first half of this year.

Chubb Life Vietnam's business results were also not very bright when profits dropped by 98% compared to the same period, reaching only 2.5 billion VND.

Even the "big guy" AIA also suffered heavy losses in pre-tax profit, with a decrease of up to 92%, reaching only 45 billion VND.

Manulife Vietnam lost its market leading position in terms of profit after a 65% year-on-year decline, reaching VND737 billion in pre-tax profit in the first two quarters of the year.

The positive point in Manulife's financial report is that insurance premium revenue only decreased slightly by 3% compared to the same period, reaching VND8,391 billion.

Manulife said that in the first half of this year, it paid out nearly VND4,000 billion in insurance benefits to customers. Most recently, in the Ha Long shipwreck accident, the company paid out more than VND9.2 billion to the families of six unfortunate customers.

Having lost the top spot in the profit rankings, Manulife now ranks fifth, behind Bao Viet Life, Dai-Ichi Life, Cathay Life and Prudential Vietnam in terms of pre-tax profit.

Meanwhile, along with taking the lead in the market in terms of life insurance profits, Bao Viet Life surpassed the 1,000 billion VND profit mark for the first time in the first half of the year, reaching 1,204 billion VND. This figure is equivalent to 70% of total pre-tax profit in 2024 and a sharp increase of 55% over the same period last year.

This enterprise also leads the market in insurance premium revenue in the first 6 months of the year, up to 16,650 billion VND, nearly double that of the two closest competitors, Prudential and Manulife.

In addition to Bao Viet Life, Dai-Ichi Life also reached the trillion-dollar profit milestone, specifically 1,203 billion VND in the first half of this year. However, this figure decreased by more than 11% compared to the same period.

The top 3 businesses with the highest profits also include Cathay Life with 820 billion VND, however, this business's profit has decreased by more than 21% compared to the same period.

Fourth place is Prudential, with pre-tax profit of VND811 billion, down sharply by 25% over the same period.

However, in terms of profit growth rate, BIDV Met Life had the strongest acceleration when profit jumped 329% over the same period, reaching 92 billion VND. The main reason was that insurance premium revenue increased 55% to 918 billion VND.

FWD also achieved very high profit growth, with an increase of up to 96% compared to the same period, reaching 36.57 billion VND. However, net revenue from FWD's insurance business and financial activities decreased by 34% and 12% respectively.

The reason for FWD's high profit growth is that "other income" skyrocketed by more than 5,000% compared to the same period, reaching VND1,170 billion. In addition, expenses such as sales costs, business management costs, and insurance business operating costs were all sharply reduced.

FWD Vietnam is currently an insurance distribution partner at three major banks: Vietcombank, Agribank and HDBank.

In the general picture of profits of life insurance companies, there are 3 companies reporting losses: Sun Life, Fubon and Generali.

Notably, Sun Life Insurance continued to report a loss of up to VND 608 billion, equivalent to 70% of the loss in 2024. As of December 31, 2024, Sun Life's accumulated loss had reached more than VND 6,300 billion since PVI withdrew capital from the PVI - Sun Life joint venture.

For Fubon Life, the company's pre-tax profit in the first half of the year continued to be negative VND 2.9 billion, while in the whole year of 2024, Fubon reported a loss of VND 7 billion.

Generali unexpectedly appeared on the list of businesses reporting losses with a negative profit of nearly 22 billion VND, while in the same period last year it achieved more than 116 billion VND in pre-tax profit.

In a highly competitive environment, insurance companies are forced to strengthen their distribution partnerships, develop a new generation of consultants, and improve customer experience. Companies with a strong financial foundation and a strategy focused on customer experience will win.

PROFIT BEFORE TAX IN THE FIRST 6 MONTHS OF LIFE INSURANCE ENTERPRISES
STT	BUSINESS	Profit after tax (VND billion)	% CHANGE
1	Bao Viet Life	1,204	55%
2	Dai-Ichi Life	1,203	-11.66%
3	Cathay Life	820	-21.40%
4	Prudential	812	-25.67%
5	Manulife	737	-65%
6	Hanwha Life	329	-34%
7	Phu Hung	171	67%
8	BIDV Met Life	92	329%
9	AIA	45	-92.29%
10	Mirae Asset	41	-20.98%
11	FWD	36,576	96.26%
12	Chubb Life	2,447	-98.47%
13	Fubon Life	-2.95	-15.42%
14	Generali	-22	-118.65%
15	Sun Life	-608	67.86%