Bulgaria's insurance business managed assets of over 4,400 million leva in end-March, up 16 per cent on year, the Bulgarian National Bank reported. The bulk of those assets are owned by general insurance companies, which posted the biggest year-on-year increase in the assets managed at slightly over 16 per cent.

In March the general insurance companies' assets totalled 3,300 million leva, life insurance companies managed assets of over 1,000 million leva, and private health insurance funds owned a mere 73.5 million leva.

The increase took place against the backdrop of a general downward trend in the market. Premiums plummeted in the last few quarters, with growth registered only in private health insurance due to a spike in major corporate contracts.

Nearly one third of assets were invested in securities other than shares, including bonds and other financial instruments which do not entitle their holders to ownership rights. Compared with March 2009, the proportion of both this type of securities and of shares increased.

Deposits in the portfolios of insurance companies and health insurance funds increased by 110 million leva in absolute terms, but fell slightly as a percentage of the total to 22.6 per cent.

Interestingly, the proportion of funds denominated in currencies other than the lev, the euro and the US dollar increased from 9 per cent in March 2009 to over 22 per cent in 2010.

In addition, the insurance companies invested heavily in other EU countries since March 2009.

In the January-April the reported premiums in general insurance equalled 460,113,000 leva and in life insurance, 83,882,000 leva, the Financial Supervision Commission said. Compared to the like period of last year there was a drop of 8.9 per cent in general insurance and a 5.1 per cent growth in life insurance. Motor third-party insurance and auto casco accounted for the largest share of general insurance premiums with 37.3 per cent and 35.9 per cent, respectively.

Source: BTA