A 2024 Wealth Management Market Study for Utmost Group, performed by NMG Consulting, a global financial services advisory business, has for the first time identified the size of the global HNW international life insurance market.
Highlights of the Market Study include:
- In 2024, HNW international new business sales grew 25% to £41bn, primarily caused by a sharp uplift in UK HNW sales following changes in the UK tax regime and increased European wealth planning sales in both linked and non-linked business.
- Long-term tailwinds forecast to increase annual new business sales to £67bn by 2030, delivering an additional £90bn of new business sales cumulatively between 2025 to 2030.
- Tailwinds include: a growing and internationally mobile HNW/UHNW population; the significant wave of intergenerational wealth transfer; and an increasing interest in advisory and solution-based outcomes to meet client needs.
- Due to limited product awareness, insurance-based wealth solutions currently account for around 2%, or £543bn, of the £28trn HNW investible asset market.
- By increasing penetration of insurance-based wealth solutions by 1% to 3%, the global HNW international life insurance market could add over £240bn of additional assets, growing the market by 50% and surpassing £800bn.
Mark Fairbairn, Head of Strategy and Corporate Affairs at Utmost, commented: “This landmark Market Study unveils for the first time the size of the rapidly growing HNW and international life insurance market. It is a market that is set to grow quickly in the coming years as wealth transfer accelerates and the HNW population both expands and becomes more internationally mobile. Insurance-based wealth solutions are currently a small part of the market but are expected to play an increasingly important role in an adviser’s toolkit when serving HNW and UHNW clients over the coming years.”
