OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Carriers seeking share in Brazil’s life insurance market must address distribution challenges and develop savings-oriented products to help dissuade consumers from channeling increasing levels of income into a private pension segment dominated by bank-owned insurance subsidiaries, according to a new A.M. Best Co. report.

Distribution stands as the loftier challenge for nonbank owned life insurers, given that product delivery has been built largely on the banking sector’s extended network of branches and strong customer relationships. Banks’ consumer-oriented emphasis on marketing savings products has added further momentum, leaving nonbank owned life insurers with a limited ability to compete for the growing level of income held by Brazil’s emerging middle class.

Perhaps an even more critical challenge is achieving a favorable spread between projected operating margins and the overhead of tailoring a distribution strategy for life products. There is a parallel hurdle in developing and deploying a universal life product that melds the accumulation component with a death benefit, but at a price that can generate premium volume and foster sustainable growth.

The tax benefits of two long-term savings products continue to appeal to Brazilian consumers.

One of these retirement offerings alone, vida gerador de beneficio livre (VGBL), accounted for nearly 70% of the BRL 62.5 billion (USD 30.4 billion) that Brazilian consumers technically spent on life-related insurance products in 2011, according to the Superintendence of Private Insurance (SUSEP).

Also of note in the report:

• The private pension segment grossed BRL 5.6 billion in the first quarter of 2012, up 38% from a year earlier.
• As Brazil’s consumers grow more familiar with insurance products, the idea of purchasing coverage outside of the bancassurance channel may become more mainstream.

To access a copy of this special report, please visit www.ambest.com/press/070902brazillifereport.pdf.

Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2012 by A.M. Best Company, Inc.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

A.M. Best Co.
Al Slavin, (908) 439-2200, 5098 ext. 5098
Business Analyst
al.slavin@ambest.com
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Senior Manager, Public Relations
rachelle.morrow@ambest.com
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Jim Peavy, (908) 439-2200, ext. 5644
Assistant Vice President, Public Relations
james.peavy@ambest.com

Source: A.M. Best Company, Inc.