The long road to Xiongguan is really like iron, but now we are crossing it all over again.
In 2018, China's insurance industry has a difficult road ahead, with three problems facing it:
It is difficult to achieve a "good start". How to achieve the full-year premium target? “Big regulation” continues unabated. How to control compliance costs? BATJ is "disrupting the situation". What can financial technology do?
"A good start" and a collective misfire
"A good start, a good year", this is a "golden rule" in the insurance industry. In 2018, this “iron law” may be broken.
html At a gathering in the insurance industry at the end of 2020, the first thing the big guys said when they met and greeted each other was: "How was your 'good start' sales this year?" Some people looked embarrassed, some shook their heads frequently, and some simply said "Don't talk about it" "It's done hastily.In 2018, why did the "good start" collectively fail?
The person in charge of a large life insurance company revealed in an interview with a reporter from the International Finance News, "On the one hand, it is affected by Document No. 134 ("Notice on Regulating the Product Development and Design Behavior of Personal Insurance Companies") and Document No. 136 (" "Notice on Further Strengthening the Sales Management of Personal Insurance Companies"), this year's "Good Start" products are launched relatively late this year. On the other hand, this year's "Good Start" products return to insurance, so it is understandable that the scale will not increase. "
What impact do these two documents have on "a good start"?
In this regard, a senior insurance industry insider told a reporter from the International Finance News: "Circular No. 134 mainly targets product design, while Circular No. 136 targets product sales. In comparison, the former has a greater impact. In Document No. 134 On the proposed 'deadline' date of October 1, 2017, many insurance companies were forced to update their products. These products were planned to be a 'good start'. However, few products actually received approval on October 1. "The core contents of document No.
134 include: for endowment insurance products and annuity insurance products, the first survival insurance benefit shall be paid after the policy has been effective for 5 years, and the annual payment or partial payment ratio shall not exceed 20% of the paid insurance premium; Universal The design of insurance products and investment-linked insurance products should provide functions such as irregular and irregular additional premiums and flexible adjustment of insurance amounts. Insurance companies are not allowed to design universal insurance products or investment-linked insurance products in the form of additional insurance.
"Our 'good start' product has just been approved." On December 28, 2017, the person in charge of a joint venture life insurance company revealed to a reporter from the International Finance News, "October to November in previous years was the most important period for launching the 'good start' This year, the "good start" of the entire industry has been delayed. This is related to the stricter product approval by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission. "
The general manager of the Shanghai branch of a large life insurance company told a reporter from the International Finance News: "We did not wait until December last year. I have just received the head office's arrangements and goals for "Good Start". Frankly speaking, the market is relatively cautious, and no one can clearly see the trend of "Good Start" this year, and they are not sure. "
" So, the first batch of "Good Start" will be launched. "How is the performance of the company?
The relevant person in charge of the Shanghai branch of a listed insurance company said in an interview with a reporter from the International Finance News: "The scale of this year's 'good start' has definitely dropped a lot. In fact, from the first time point, we have The performance is much worse than in previous years. After all, the main protection products cannot impress ordinary consumers, and they prefer investment products. What's more, the financial market is hot at the end of the year, and banks' deposits and fund sales have created a bad start. Little pressure.”
Insurance companies have already been mentally prepared for such a situation. However, for some aggressive small companies with a high proportion of "good start" premium income in previous years, "good start" premium income accounted for 70% to 80% of the annual premium income. How to achieve this year's full-year premium target has become a difficult problem to be solved. .
In this regard, the relevant person in charge of the Shanghai branch of the above-mentioned listed insurance company told the International Finance News reporter: "This situation will never return. Our company is gradually diluting the concept of 'good start', encouraging the team to work steadily and maintain premium growth. Smoothly, rather than engaging in 'attacks'."
In fact, although the "good start" has helped insurance companies make a big leap in the scale of premiums for a long time, it has also given rise to many "hidden rules" in the industry.
For example, the reluctance to sell insurance policies is also called "hiding insurance policies." . Insurance agents often like to reserve part of the policies at the end of the year until the beginning of the next year. On the one hand, they want to get a good start and have a "good start" in sales; on the other hand, it is also out of personal interests.
An industry insider revealed to a reporter from International Finance News that generally insurance companies will set up strict assessment and management systems. For ordinary sales staff, only by completing tasks can they maximize their own interests, which include commissions and other rewards. . However, when the salesperson has completed the annual assessment task, his basic interests have been satisfied. Then, signing the policy with the policyholder will only increase the pressure on his sales in the second year. At the beginning of the second year, the salesperson will not only receive commission on the policy, but also receive special incentives from the company.
“In fact, various insurance companies have given higher commissions and special incentives to policies that have a ‘good start’. "The above-mentioned industry insider told reporters, "Therefore, during the good start period in previous years, agents focused on investment-type, short- and medium-duration products such as universal insurance, and the premium amount of such products is often relatively large. "
removes illegal shareholders
" This trend may continue, and supervision will only become more stringent in 2018. "Many insurance company executives said in interviews with reporters from the International Finance News.
Illegal equity is a key target of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission. Many leaders of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission said on many occasions: Insurance cannot become a "cash machine" for individual shareholders. .
On December 26, 2017, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission website disclosed a piece of news: Qianhai Ark Asset Management Co., Ltd. and other five equity investment fund management institutions were notified of violations of insurance fund utilization regulations.
Since 2017, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission has carried out reports. A special rectification work was carried out to investigate risks in the use of insurance funds. In the investigation of risks in insurance fund investment equity investment funds, off-site supervision and inquiries found that Qianhai Ark Asset Management Co., Ltd., PICC Yuanwang Asset Management Co., Ltd., and Shanghai Dingying Investment. Equity fund investment institutions such as the Management Center, Dongfang Guoxin Venture Capital Management (Xinjiang) Co., Ltd., Cindafeng Investment Management Co., Ltd. have low compliance awareness regarding the use of insurance funds, have internal management problems, and have not reported to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission on time in accordance with regulations. Submit an annual report. The China Insurance Regulatory Commission publicly notified this and required relevant insurance institutions to effectively strengthen post-investment management, regularly understand the investment situation and the compliance operations of relevant institutions, and urge equity fund investment institutions to strictly implement regulatory regulations.
The next step is the China Insurance Regulatory Commission. In accordance with the requirements of the National Financial Work Conference, we will effectively strengthen functional supervision and strengthen the compliance supervision of equity fund investment institutions and intermediaries involved in insurance fund investment; further improve the post-report reporting supervision mechanism for insurance fund investment in equity funds, and urge insurance institutions to strengthen Continuous tracking, evaluation and reporting of equity fund investments; exploring the establishment of a blacklist system to prohibit insurance institutions from conducting business with relevant institutions with compliance issues
Just 10 days before notifying the five equity investment fund management institutions, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission issued the issued a decision to revoke the administrative license, ordered several shareholders of Kunlun Health to liquidate the illegally obtained equity, and introduced compliant shareholders within three months. Relevant investors and intermediaries were included in the market access blacklist
on February 17, 2017. On March 1, 2016, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission issued two letters of inquiry to Kunlun Health, asking whether the four shareholders who changed in December 2016 were related to the Guo Yingcheng family of Kaisa. The China Insurance Regulatory Commission also requested that the company’s shareholder Hongchang be explained. The main business situation, financial status of Yu, Zhenglaida Industrial, Zhengyuan Technology, and Taiteng Materials Trading in the past three years, as well as the detailed sources of funds for the Kunlun Health Insurance, provide the basic information of each level of shareholders of the above four companies.
The China Insurance Regulatory Commission said that after investigation, it was determined that seven shareholders of Kunlun Health had false materials and untrue relationships between shareholders during the process of investing in Kunlun Health. It was determined that Kunlun Health had lied about its ownership structure.
Technology empowers finance
In 2018, the Internet giant BATJ (Baidu, Alibaba , Tencent , JD.com) has become increasingly clear in the insurance industry. Will these Internet companies that bring their own traffic, pursue innovation, and insist on using technology to empower finance become disruptors to the insurance industry?
On November 2, 2017, WeSure, an insurance platform owned by Tencent, was officially launched and launched a health insurance product, which successfully attracted the attention of WeSure Moments. On December 21, Micro Insurance Auto Insurance entered public beta and provided auto insurance renewal services.
Previously, Baidu Finance confirmed to a reporter from International Finance News that it had acquired Heilongjiang Lianbao Longjiang Insurance Brokerage Co., Ltd.
According to an incomplete review by a reporter from International Finance News, Ant Financial also established an insurance division at the end of 2015. Later, it also controlled Cathay Property & Casualty Insurance, with its shareholding ratio reaching 51%. At the same time, it initiated the establishment of Xinmei Mutual Life Insurance Co., Ltd. In April 2016, Alibaba Group, China Taiping, Taiping Life Insurance and other companies jointly established Alibaba Health Insurance Company to engage in Internet health insurance related businesses.
Weimin is the first insurance agency license that Tencent has obtained. At this point, Tencent has gathered the three basic businesses of property insurance, life insurance, and insurance agency. It has previously invested in Internet property and casualty insurance company Zhongan Insurance, Internet life insurance company Hetai Life Insurance Company and Hong Kong Aviva Life Insurance Company.
In addition, Baidu plans to establish Internet property and casualty insurance companies with Allianz Insurance , Hillhouse Capital, and Pacific Insurance. JD.com plans to enter the insurance industry by applying for a license or investing in it.
The concentrated entry of Internet giants has put many people in the insurance industry feeling pressured.
"The entry of BATJ will bring about a crowding-out effect on the traditional intermediary market, and the insurance online sales platform may usher in a reshuffle." A senior intermediary company employee said in an interview with a reporter from the International Finance News, "From another From this perspective, it shows that the intermediary market has huge potential, which can attract the attention and coveting of capital.”
However, some people in the insurance industry pointed out in an interview with a reporter from the International Finance News: “BATJ mainly enters the insurance industry to obtain data. Through data cleaning and analysis, we prepare for the next step of development. In recent years, Internet finance has become popular, and technology-empowered finance is considered to be the next trend. But in fact, Internet insurance is less innovative than other Internet financial industries. Obviously insufficient, there are no products and services that change the industry. More often, Internet insurance just moves offline to online. "
In 2018, what technologies can empower finance, especially insurance?
According to the industry report "Technology Demonstrates Value, the Future of Insurance Has Come" jointly released by Ovi Consulting and Zhongan Insurance: Insurance companies are using cutting-edge technology to improve and upgrade existing insurance products, develop innovative products and reshape the industry structure. Key technologies include cloud computing, the Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain. Among them, the application of cloud computing, Internet of Vehicles and big data has begun to have a significant impact on the insurance industry, and the further application of big data, artificial intelligence and blockchain will have a greater impact on the industry in the future. (Reporter Zhang Ying)
