Made for you: Tailored solutions driving growth of South Africa's long-term insurance industry

Zawya

27-02-2025

Stronger-than-expected global economic growth, combined with high interest rates, has led to a 1.3% increase in the value of the long-term insurance market in South Africa. These conditions have created a favourable operating environment in 2024, with expectations of continued growth into 2025. Insurers, both global and local, are capitalising on this momentum by introducing customised, flexible Long-Term Insurance products and services.
These innovative offerings go beyond meeting individual needs, and are designed to address specific consumer pain points, ensuring accessibility for a broad audience while maintaining the adaptability modern policyholders demand.
Insight Survey's latest South African Long-Term Insurance Industry Landscape Report 2025 carefully uncovers the global and local Long-Term Insurance market, based on the latest information and research. It describes the key global and local market trends, innovation and technology, drivers, and challenges, to present an objective insight into the South African Long-Term Insurance industry and its future.
The global InsurTech market continues to expand at a rapid pace, with a projected 27.0% compound annual growth rate between 2024 and 2033, reaching a staggering $239.3bn. This acceleration is largely driven by advancements in artificial intelligence, blockchain, and the Internet of Things, allowing insurers to deliver highly personalised, data-driven insurance solutions. By integrating these technologies, insurers are reshaping consumer engagement, improving risk assessments, and enhancing policy customisation.
The rise of group and individual personalised and flexible Long-Term Insurance is a significant trend that is reshaping the global market, driven by advances in technology and data analytics, and the leveraging of data, to create policies that align with the circumstances of individuals and groups. As an example, Sun Life Singapore unveiled the SunBrilliance Whole Life insurance solution, revolutionising wealth transfer and legacy planning for High Net Worth (HNW) and Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW) clients, whilst ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, in collaboration with Reinsurance Group of America (RGA), unveiled 'ICICI Pru Wish,' a pioneering health insurance product tailored specifically to address critical illnesses and surgeries unique to women.
Interestingly, this level of customisation has taken the form of hybrid Long-Term Insurance products which integrate life insurance with other benefits, most commonly long-term care coverage. These policies provide a death benefit to beneficiaries and can also cover expenses related to long-term care if the policyholder requires such services.
A notable example is Federal Life's LifeStage product, a hybrid policy combining Indexed Universal Life (IUL) insurance with long-term care benefits. Designed for individuals aged 35 to 55, it adapts to evolving customer needs at key life stages, offering both financial security and essential care coverage.
This trend of personalisation has also gained momentum in the local market, both at the group and individual levels. For instance, Metropolitan Life has partnered with the Nazareth Baptist (Shembe) Church - one of South Africa's most influential Christian-African movements - to launch a culturally-tailored funeral insurance product. This collaboration ensures that the community's religious and cultural practices are honoured, while providing essential coverage.
Bidvest Life has also enhanced its FMI Individual product to better serve families, expanding eligibility for its market-leading seven-day income protection waiting period. Additionally, new benefits include Spouse Life and Child Life coverage, along with a Deferred Life benefit for applicants with pre-existing health conditions.
Younger consumers are another key focus area, with insurers modernizing products and marketing strategies to engage this demographic. 1Life Insurance's Changes campaign, for example, leverages digital storytelling to make life insurance more relatable and accessible to younger South Africans - an audience traditionally disengaged from such offerings. This approach highlights the growing emphasis on meeting consumers where they are, both digitally and culturally.
Similarly, FNB has introduced the FNB Life & Legacy Plan to enhance accessibility to Long-Term Insurance. This plan offers flexible coverage ranging from R100,000 to R1.5m, allowing policyholders to tailor their benefits. Customers can also choose between a lump-sum payout or a structured monthly income over 24 months - ensuring greater financial security for families navigating life's uncertainties.
The South African Long-Term Insurance Industry Landscape Report 2024 (146 pages) provides a dynamic synthesis of industry research, examining the local and global Long-Term Insurance industry from a uniquely holistic perspective, with detailed insights into the entire value chain – from market size, industry trends, latest innovation and technology, key drivers and challenges, to a detailed competitor and product analysis.
Some key questions the report will help you to answer:
- What are the current market dynamics (overview, market environment, and key regional markets) in the Global Long-Term Insurance industry?
- What are the latest news and developments in the South African Long-Term Insurance industry, as well as the current market dynamics (overview, market environment, and key industry statistics)?
- What are the latest Global and South African Long-Term Insurance industry trends (including Insurtech), innovation and technology, drivers, and challenges?
- How did South African Long-Term Insurance companies perform in 2024?
- What is the latest company news for each South African Long-Term Insurance player, in terms of products, services, new launches, and marketing initiatives?
- What is the latest marketing and advertising news for each of the key Long-Term Insurance players?
About Insight Survey:
Insight Survey is a South African B2B market research company with more than 15 years of heritage, focusing on business-to-business (B2B) and industry research to ensure smarter, more-profitable business decisions are made with reduced investment risk.
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