The Financial Sector in Figures: Life insurance companies and pension funds
- In 2024, the Danish life insurance companies and pension funds achieved a total post-tax result of DKK 10.6 billion, which is on par with the result of 2023.
- By the end of 2024, market interest rate products accounted for just over half (57 percent) of the total provisions. This compares to 55 percent the previous year. At the same time, gross premiums related to market interest rate products made up 81 percent of total gross premiums.
- Returns on market interest rate products were primarily driven by listed equities, while returns on the average interest rate products were driven by both bonds and listed equities.
- The investment assets of life insurance companies and pension funds amounted to a total of DKK 4,390 billion by the end of 2024.
- Alternative investments accounted for 17 percent of the total investments.
- The sector had an overall solvency coverage of 243 percent, and 90 percent of the companies had a solvency coverage of 190 percent or more.
Figure 1: Distribution of Assets
Figure 2: Distribution of Returns
Figure 3: Alternative Investments
Figure 4: Solvency Coverage of the Sector and its Companies
Table 1: Income Statement Extract
| Result items (DKK bn.) | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2020-2024 | 2023-2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross premiums | 192.5 | 215.5 | 220.3 | 228.1 | 256.5 | 33.0 | 12.4 |
| Gross premiums related to market rate products | 142.1 | 165.1 | 168.8 | 179.2 | 207.3 | 46.0 | 15.7 |
| Gross premiums related to with profits products | 50.3 | 50.4 | 51.4 | 49.0 | 49.2 | -2.0 | 0.4 |
| Premiums, f.o.a. | 193.7 | 213.9 | 218.1 | 229.7 | 258.5 | 33.5 | 12.5 |
| Investment return | 193.6 | 325.4 | -416.7 | 299.8 | 332.3 | 71.6 | 10.8 |
| Insurance claims, f.o.a. | 139.9 | 155.9 | 161.7 | 179.1 | 207.6 | 48.4 | 15.9 |
| Change in life insurance/pension provisions, f.o.a. | -201.6 | -306.4 | 281.4 | -305.3 | -315.9 | 56.7 | 3.5 |
| Total insurance/pension operating expenses, f.o.a. | 5.3 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 6.3 | 6.6 | 24.2 | 3.3 |
| Annual result, pre-tax | 7.5 | 15.4 | -11.5 | 12.5 | 12.3 | 64.0 | -1.6 |
| Annual result, post-tax | 6.4 | 13.1 | -10.1 | 10.6 | 10.6 | 66.0 | 0.5 |
Table 2: Balance Sheet Extract
| Balance sheet items (DKK bn.) | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2020-2024 | 2023-2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Own funds | 142 | 151 | 135 | 141 | 146 | 2.2 | 3.0 |
| Total assets | 3,814 | 4,141 | 3,925 | 4,120 | 4,516 | 18.4 | 9.6 |
| Total provisions for insurance and investment contracts | 3,096 | 3,410 | 3,115 | 3,369 | 3,689 | 19.2 | 9.5 |
| Total provisions for market rate products | 1,456 | 1,687 | 1,636 | 1,855 | 2,112 | 45.0 | 13.9 |
Table 3: Key Figures
| Key figures (percent unless stated otherwise) | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return on equity, post-tax | 4.59 | 9.13 | -3.77 | 5.45 | 7.29 |
| Return on customer funds after expenses, pre-tax | 5.54 | 5.29 | -14.39 | 7.04 | 5.65 |
| Return on surplus capital with return allocated as equity | 5.07 | 9.71 | -2.82 | 4.55 | 6.59 |
| Return ratio related to with profits products | 5.79 | 6.65 | -12.96 | 8.80 | 7.23 |
| Return ratio related to market rate products | 6.69 | 14.02 | -10.26 | 9.60 | 10.96 |
| Expenses per policyholder (DKK) | 755 | 776 | 802 | 839 | 862 |
| Expense ratio of provisions | 0.20 | 0.18 | 0.20 | 0.21 | 0.20 |
| Expense result | -0.04 | -0.06 | -0.08 | -0.04 | 0.05 |
| Risk of return related to market rate products | 4.60 | 4.56 | 5.01 | 4.50 | 4.56 |
| Risk result | -0.26 | 0.04 | -0.17 | 0.17 | 0.95 |
| Solvency coverage | 269 | 246 | 244 | 247 | 244 |
About the Statistics
Life insurance companies and pension funds offer life insurance products, etc., and thereby manage a very large share of Danish pension savings. The companies are subject to the Solvency II regulation which includes rules in the Danish Insurance Business Act.
“The Financial Sector in Figures: Life insurance companies and pension funds” summarizes financial statements and key figures for life insurance companies and pension funds under Danish supervision. Company pension funds are not included in the figures. In total, 27 active companies are included.