Gen Re Announces 2011 U.S. Group Disability and Group Life Mid-Year Market Survey Results

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Gen Re is pleased to release the results of the 2011 U.S. Group Disability and Group Life Mid-Year Market Survey. This leading industry benchmark survey covers Traditional/Basic and Voluntary Group Life, Short Term Disability (STD), Long Term Disability (LTD) sales and earned premium for the first half of the year.

Thirty-one carriers participated in the survey, representing approximately 95% of the Group Disability market and over 85% of the Group Life market. Participating companies reported a combined earned premium for all products of $17.1 billion for mid-year 2011, and a combined annualized new sales premium of $2.6 billion. Although sales premium is relatively unchanged from the same time period in 2010, earned premium has grown by 3%.

Carriers reporting Total Group Life results experienced an increase in earned premium of 4% compared to mid-year 2010, reaching nearly $10.5 billion. LTD earned premium remained level with just over $4.8 billion reported while STD has grown by 2%, totaling over $1.7 billion in earned premium at mid-year 2011.

Compared to the same time period last year, the number of employers offering insurance declined by 1% for Group Life and remained level for LTD. STD, however, showed a 2% increase in the number of covered employers.

Group Life annualized sales premium reached close to $1.5 billion halfway through 2011 which is a slight decrease from the same the period in 2010. LTD sales premium experienced the strongest growth with an increase of 4%, reporting more than $769 million year to date. New sales for STD had a slight decrease year over year. Annual sales premium for carriers reporting STD totaled just over $369 million.

“2010 full-year sales results were flat or down for the Group Life and Disability markets,” said Drew King, Senior Vice President of Group & Specialty Reinsurance at Gen Re. “However, we are seeing some signs of a recovery in the first half of 2011, led by LTD sales. For Life and STD, carriers have found some success in growing their earned premium. It remains to be seen if carriers can hold on to this momentum for the remainder of the year.”

If you would like to obtain a summary of the survey, please visit Gen Re's website at www.genre.com. Participating companies receive the full report.

Gen Re, a Berkshire Hathaway Company, is one of the leading property/casualty and life/health reinsurers in the world. Our North American life and health reinsurance company, General Re Life Corporation, has superior financial strength ratings among life and health reinsurers. Gen Re delivers tailor-made reinsurance programs and risk management solutions for the Life, AD&D, Disability, Critical Illness and Medicare Supplement markets. Through our research, we also offer valuable information and insights. For more information, visit www.genre.com.