The expansionist era is over for Taiwan’s $1.1 trillion life insurance industry after the steepest Federal Reserve interest hikes in 40 years pushed it to the brink of a liquidity crisis.
Over the past year, local regulators have repeatedly loosened operating rules after a cocktail of unrealized investment losses, falling income and increased payouts saw companies struggle to meet required financial standards.
The combination of a concerted push to shore up capital buffers and the introduction of new rules allowing companies to reclassify assets means analysts now believe the worst of the crisis is over. However, there are still concerns over some operators and even the biggest players face years of crimped profitability and far slower asset growth.