The UAE’S thriving economy, including its active construction industry, had a positive impact on the nation’s insurance sector, with premiums written in property and liability insurance rising from Dh24.9 billion in 2014 to Dh27.5 billion in 2015, an increase of 10.4 percent, according to data released by the annual insurance report for 2015.
The UAE economy is distinguished with a stable investment, economic, and political environment that can continue economic growth, despite the instability seen in the world economy, including periods when oil prices are dropping.
This stability is due to adopting policies that promote economic diversity, in which the UAE has succeeded in increasing the contribution of non-oil sectors to the nation’s economy, and in providing the State with financial reserves which enable continuous funding needed for all its projects.
In addition, the adopted open-door economic policy is attracting foreign investments. The UAE ranked in the 13th position worldwide and the 1st position in the Middle East, with respect to foreign investments from 2013 to 2015, the report said, reflecting the economic climate on the insurance business in the UAE.
The insurance market indicators for 2015 revealed that gross written premiums for the insurance of persons and fund accumulation operations amounted to Dh9.5 billion. The share of national companies and foreign companies accounted for 20.6 percent and 79.4 percent, respectively.
Gross written premiums for property and liability insurance stood at Dh27.5 billion. The share of national companies was 74.1 percent, against 25.9 percent for foreign company branches.
The percentage share by class of property and liability insurance to total written premiums is as follows: medical insurance at 47.8 percent, accidents and liability 34.3 percent, fire 8.4 percent, land, sea, and air transportation 6.0 percent and other risks 3.5 percent.
Gross technical provisions for the insurance of persons and fund accumulation operations amounted to Dh17.0 billion.
Further, the technical provisions for property and liability insurance reached Dh18.7 billion. The total shareholders’ equity of national insurance companies was valued at Dh17.5 billion, as of 31 December 2015, while the total funds invested in the sector amounted to Dh45.7 billion, 60.5 percent of which is invested in financial securities, followed by 20.7 percent in bank deposits.
With regards to Emiratisation in the insurance sector, the report said it is a strategic objective of the IA and one of its priorities.
”The IA continues taking more practical actions to increase the Emiratisation rate in the insurance sector and improve the skills and experiences of UAE nationals working in the sector. A detailed plan to execute the Cabinet Resolution issued in 2015 concerning adopting the Emitratisation strategy in the banking and insurance sector was finalized. The plan included sponsoring workshops and the issuing of manuals for adopting the strategy, which is based on a points system in the insurance sector,” the report explained.
The total number of employees in the technical departments in those insurance companies operating in the State, as of the end of 2015, was 2,900, including 340 UAE nationals, making up 11.7 percent of the total number of employees in these departments.