Life insurance is flying from record to record. After a very promising month of January, where payments reached 15.9 billion euros, the month of February confirmed this new dynamic with an identical level of collection (16 billion euros). A renewed appeal which can be explained both by the good level of return provided by euro funds for 2023 as well as by the performance of equity and bond units of account over the past year.
But these flattering figures should not obscure the fact that capital outflows are also high. They result from deaths or from redemptions of contracts by their holders, for example to build up a contribution in the context of a real estate investment.
As a result, the net collection over the first two months of the year is less dazzling, at 4.9 billion euros. Certainly, it is progressing compared to 2023 but this does not allow insurers to regain investment capacity in euro funds. In fact, these are the only units of account which benefit from the situation, the guaranteed assets still being in a situation of net outflow, at -3.2 billion euros cumulatively over January and February.
A thorn in the side of insurers who want to take advantage of the period to acquire well-paid bonds on the market and thus improve the profile of their fund in euros. Time is running out because market rates are likely to decline in the coming months. Incentive trade policies should therefore continue.