News release 12 March 2015 – 4/2015

Survey of compliance with the principle of equity by life insurance companies in 2013: Bonuses given by companies have remained more or less stable during the past few years

According to the survey of compliance with the principle of equity by life insurance companies, life insurance companies have complied quite well with the principle of equity, despite fairly large variations between company bonus policies. The companies complied with the principles of distribution of bonuses in 2013. The principle of continuity was also complied with by these companies during the review period.

The principle of equity means how the company distributes surpluses between customers and between customers and company shareholders. The principle of equity also requires compliance with the principle of continuity, in other words, the company must seek to maintain the level of bonuses for their customers. The same requirement does not apply to dividends or interest on the guarantee capital. The definition of objectives for the principle of equity is based on provisions of the Insurance Companies Act.

FIN-FSA annually collects insurance-related statistical information from life insurance companies, and this information is used in connection with surveys on compliance with the principle of equity. The survey compares the objectives for distribution of bonuses and reports on achievement of these objectives, as published on the companies' websites. Swedish summary of the survey available.

For further information, please contact

  • Jari Niittuinperä, Chief Actuary, tel. +358 10 831 5517

Annex