Oman Insurance Report Q3 2011
Includes 3 FREE quarterly updates
Oman’s insurance sector is small, crowded, fragmented and not rapidly growing.
Conditions have been challenging for many players in 2010-2011, with a number of the leading companies ceding market share and absolute size in order to boost profitability.
Many of the catalysts for growth that exist elsewhere in the region, such as takaful, have been absent from Oman.
Oman’s insurance sector does not compare favourably with its peers in other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Twenty-one companies, including 10 local groups, are competing for total premiums that are still less than US$700mn per annum. As is the case in the rest of the region, none of the local companies have the benefits of economies of scale, nor, with the clear exception of al-Ahlia, which is an affiliate of global non-life major RSA Insurance, are any owned by major shareholders that have a clear competence in insurance. In most countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), small local groups tend to focus exclusively on non-life lines (particularly the ‘basic’ areas such as motor and home/contents insurance). Oman is unusual in that most of the local groups are composite insurers. Even al-Ahlia offers group life products. The regulatory regime dates back only to 2004. As yet, Oman’s insurance sector has not participated in the growth of takaful – a key factor in the expansion of the much larger industries in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
A strength is that the market is clearly open to foreign players. Majors that are present include AXA Gulf, Chartis and, since October last year (through its purchase of Compagnie Libanaise d’Assurance), Zurich, as well as MetLife ALCIO. LIC and New India are serving Indians who live and work in Oman. There are also offshoots of much smaller firms based in the UAE and Lebanon.
However, this only adds to the competitive pressure. In the non-life segment especially, but also in the life segment, it is easy to identify metrics that are moving sideways or even backwards. The challenges of life insurers have been compounded by volatile local and regional financial markets. Looking forward, we cannot see any obvious reasons why non-life penetration or life density should rise from what are fairly low levels.
Oman’s insurance sector is small, crowded, fragmented and not rapidly growing.
Conditions have been challenging for many players in 2010-2011, with a number of the leading companies ceding market share and absolute size in order to boost profitability.
Many of the catalysts for growth that exist elsewhere in the region, such as takaful, have been absent from Oman.
Oman’s insurance sector does not compare favourably with its peers in other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Twenty-one companies, including 10 local groups, are competing for total premiums that are still less than US$700mn per annum. As is the case in the rest of the region, none of the local companies have the benefits of economies of scale, nor, with the clear exception of al-Ahlia, which is an affiliate of global non-life major RSA Insurance, are any owned by major shareholders that have a clear competence in insurance. In most countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), small local groups tend to focus exclusively on non-life lines (particularly the ‘basic’ areas such as motor and home/contents insurance). Oman is unusual in that most of the local groups are composite insurers. Even al-Ahlia offers group life products. The regulatory regime dates back only to 2004. As yet, Oman’s insurance sector has not participated in the growth of takaful – a key factor in the expansion of the much larger industries in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
A strength is that the market is clearly open to foreign players. Majors that are present include AXA Gulf, Chartis and, since October last year (through its purchase of Compagnie Libanaise d’Assurance), Zurich, as well as MetLife ALCIO. LIC and New India are serving Indians who live and work in Oman. There are also offshoots of much smaller firms based in the UAE and Lebanon.
However, this only adds to the competitive pressure. In the non-life segment especially, but also in the life segment, it is easy to identify metrics that are moving sideways or even backwards. The challenges of life insurers have been compounded by volatile local and regional financial markets. Looking forward, we cannot see any obvious reasons why non-life penetration or life density should rise from what are fairly low levels.
Contents
Executive SummaryTable: Total Premiums, 2008-2015
Key Insights And Key Risks
SWOT Analysis
Oman Insurance Industry SWOT
Oman Political SWOT
Oman Economic SWOT
Oman Business Environment SWOT
Life Sector
Middle East Life Sector Overview
Table: Middle East And Africa Life Premiums, 2008-2015 (US$mn)
Oman Life Sector Update
Life Insurance Industry Forecast Scenario
Table: Life Premiums, 2008-2015
Growth Drivers And Risk Management Projections
Population
Table: Insurance Sector Key Drivers – Demographics, 2008-2015
Non-Life Sector
Middle East Non-Life Sector Overview
Table: Middle East And Africa Non-Life Premiums, 2008-2015
Oman Non-Life Sector Update
Non-Life Insurance Industry Forecast Scenario
Table: Non-Life Premiums, 2008-2015
Growth Drivers And Risk Management Projections
Macroeconomic Outlook
Table: Oman Economic Activity, 2008-2015
Political Stability Outlook
Healthcare
Epidemiology
Table: Insurance Sector Key Drivers – Disability-Adjusted Life Years, 2008-2015
Tourism
Table: Insurance Sector Key Drivers – Tourism, 2008-2015
Islamic Finance
Insurance Risk/Reward Ratings
Table: Oman’s Insurance Risk/Reward Ratings
Table: Middle East And Africa Insurance Risk/Reward Ratings
Competitive Landscape
Competitive Landscape Analysis
Major Players In Oman’s Insurance Sector
Table: Breakdown Of Gross Written Premiums By Line, 2008-2010 (OMRmn)
Table: Breakdown Of Net Written Premiums By Line, 2008-2010 (OMRmn)
Table: Breakdown Of Apparent Retention Ratios, 2008-2010
Company Profiles
Local Company Profiles
Al-Ahlia Insurance Company/RSA Oman
Dhofar Insurance Company
National Life & General Insurance Company
Oman United Insurance Company
Allianz
Arab Insurance Group (ARIG)
Aviva
AXA
Chartis
Generali
HSBC Insurance
MAPFRE
MetLife ALICO
RSA
Zurich Financial Services
BMI Methodology
Insurance Risk/Reward Ratings
Table: Insurance Risk/Reward Indicators And Rationale
Table: Weighting Of Indicators 62 Skip to top