In 2005 premium income of licensed insurance intermediaries exceeded BGN 195 million
In 2005 premium income of insurance brokers reached BGN 195,123,060, figures published by the Financial Supervision Commission show. In comparison, in 2004 premium income of the licensed insurance
intermediaries amounted to BGN 128 million, i.e. premiums went up by 52.34% over the last year. Another issue that must be taken into consideration except for the considerable growth of the
insurance brokers’ activities is the increasingly growing importance they attained on the Bulgarian insurance market. For example, insurance brokers accounted in 2004 for a little over 15% of the
income within the sector, while according to preliminary figures the rates for 2005 are expected to reach 18-19%. That tendency of growth of insurance intermediaries’ income has been observed over
the last few tears and everything shows that it will be maintained in the future as well. Furthermore, recently more and more people have sought the professional advice of insurance intermediaries
when choosing insurance products they need and companies offering the most beneficial terms and price for them.
Another interesting tendency outlined by the figures provided by the Financial Supervision Commission is the increase of market shares of big insurance brokers and the restricted market presence of
the smaller ones.
The largest licensed insurance intermediary in 2005 – Eurolife Bulgaria registered premium income of BGN 25.7million accounting for 13.17% market share. The fact that the company offers only two
types of insurances - Life and Annuity and Accident insurance shows really promising for the development of the life insurance in the country. The rest of the big insurance brokers sell both
general insurance and life insurance products.
The largest broker in 2004 – Marsh Ltd. held 9.65% of the market share, having registered BGN 12.2 million in income. In 2005 the company ranked second having BGN 21.93 million in premium income
and 11.24% in market share. The company is the biggest international insurance broker operating in the country.
Showing more humble results, I&G Insurance Brokers Ltd. ranked in 2005 third. The company went up two places higher, having registered premium income amounting to BGN 13.89 million, which
constitutes 7.12% market share. It was closely followed by the Phohe Agency accounting for BGN 13.08 million in premium income and 6.71% market share. In 2004 the agency was second amongst the
insurance brokers in Bulgaria.
Tetra Insurance Ltd. ranked fifth with its BGN 10.13 million in premium income and 5.19% market share. In 2004 the company was sixth amongst insurance brokers Bulgaria.
Both the Phohe Agency and Tetra Insurance are brokers that mainly render services to importers of new motorcars. That explains the sizable growth in their incomes and the rise of their market
share. Of course, we should bear in mind the high qualification of the employees of the two companies which, moreover, are trying to develop other business activities in addition to the motor
insurance.
Except these two companies, the list of the top 20 insurance brokers includes also brokers of the other large motorcar importers. They reported sizeable premium income (and correspondingly growth
in income) and considerable market shares which is attributable to the upsurge in the sale of new motorcars during the last year.
Higher incomes, realized by insurance brokers in 2005 are also due to the fact that they provide services to the big leasing companies as well. We have all witnessed that over the last 1-2 years
increasing numbers of the Bulgarians have begun to resort to different types of leasing systems when buying goods. That has, naturally, led to rise in income of relevant brokers rendering services
to leasing companies.
Except for intermediaries offering service to motorcar importers and leasing companies there are also other brokers playing an important role on the insurance market in the country.
Those of them which may attract the interest are the representatives of international insurance brokers operating in Bulgaria. These are, in addition to Marsh Ltd., AOH Bulgaria, AVVI Co. Ltd. and
Cargo and Hull Ltd. ranking correspondingly 14th, 17th and 19th in the top 20 list and having market shares constituting 1.88%, 1.35% and 1.03% of the market.
The 20 leading companies held nearly 73% of the market, while the other 121 shared the rest 27%, registering average income amounting to approximately BGN 435 thousand each. The analysis did not
include 37 insurance brokers that did not submit the required financial information. In the vast majority of cases these are licensed intermediaries subject to liquidation procedures or are not
actively occupied within the market.
