Skandia’s asset under management (AUM) dropped by SEK 28bn in the first half of 2020, falling from SEK 692bn to SEK 664bn, with falls in AUM seen across the group.

Its life insurance company saw a drop in AUM down from SEK 508bn to SEK 492bn. The solvency ratio in the life insurance company amounted to 163 per cent, compared with 175 per cent at the turn of the year.

Total AUM in the traditional life portfolio amounted to SEK 483bn, compared with SEK 498bn at the turn of the year. The total return amounted to -2.6 (6.6 – H1 2019) per cent during the first half of the year. However, its five-year average was 5 per cent. In terms of its mutual funds, AUM in unit-linked and custodian insurance amounted to SEK 157bn, compared with SEK 170bn at year-end.

Skandia CEO and President, Frans Lindelöw, said that the development with coronavirus dominated movements in financial markets in the first half of the year.

“The stock markets fell sharply at the end of the first quarter and then recovered large parts of the fall during the second quarter. There are many indications that economic activity bottomed out in the late spring and that the world's economies have begun to recover.”

Skandia has also sought to help its customers that have been impacted by the coronavirus crisis. It has temporarily halved current premiums relating to sickness and premium exemption insurance for all corporate customers, which applies to more than 20,000 Swedish companies with the occupational pension solution. The reduction is valid for one year and took effect from 1 June 2020.

“We have also launched a market-leading digital advisory tool in pensions that offers our customers a new level of digital customer meetings. The tool takes into account general pension, occupational pension and private pension savings. It is unique in that it sheds light on the customer's financial situation from a pension perspective and at a level that has not previously existed in the market,” Lindelöw said.

In addition, he stated that the pandemic continues to affect operations into the second half of the year.

“Skandia undertook activities early to ensure the continuation of operations and we are stable with good preparedness to handle the situation. We do not yet know how long the corona crisis will last and it is too early to say what the long-term consequences may be. We continue to have a long-term perspective and run the business in a responsible manner to ensure good returns, contribute to sustainable value creation and create security for generations.”

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