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The local insurance market remains buoyant, feeding on an increasing demand for wealth management and retirement planning products brought about by changing demographics and rising affluence, the Commissioner of Insurance, Mr Clement Cheung, said today (June 17).
However, as market volatility could induce stress on insurers whose operating profit is derived largely from investment income, the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) will place particular emphasis on monitoring of risk concentration and pricing behaviour, Mr Cheung said
when releasing the OCI Annual Report 2007 today.
"Insurers should strike a sensible balance between business expansion and capacity building when charting their corporate strategies,"he said.
"As financial information turns into a global commodity, clients will expect nothing less than incisive analysis and insightful advice. Amid undulating economic conditions, quality of service is always the defining edge to win customer loyalty and trust," Mr Cheung added.
Looking ahead, Mr Cheung stressed that Hong Kong will continue to pursue the recommendations of the Economic Summit on China's 11th Five-year Plan to open up new business prospects and frontiers for the local insurance industry.
According to the OCI Annual Report 2007, as at December 31, 2007, there were a total of 178 authorised insurers, 55,440 appointed insurance agents (including their responsible officers and technical representatives) and 7,060 authorised brokers (including their chief executives and technical representatives) operating in Hong Kong.
The OCI Annual Report 2007 provides a summary of insurance statistics and an overview of key activities undertaken by the Insurance Authority. Members of the public may obtain copies of the annual report from the OCI website at www.oci.gov.hk.
Ends/Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Issued at HKT 15:00
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