The best secure investment in 2020 is still life insurance. Life insurance is definitely back to its pre-crisis routine: savers have again paid more money into their contracts than they have withdrawn. Net inflows stand at 1 billion euros for March 2021, according to the French Insurance Federation. This is a little less than in February (1.4 billion), but this confirms a return of policyholders to this envelope which had suffered greatly in 2020. Net inflows indeed fell for last year to -6, 5 billion euros.
On the other hand, it already amounts to +4.4 billion euros for the first quarter of 2021. The total outstanding life insurance crosses the symbolic bar of 1,800 billion euros (to 1,812 billion precisely), again a historic record after that of February (1.795 billion euros)
Units of account continue to gain ground
The most notable changes compared to the pre-crisis period are occurring on the unit-of-account (CU) side. In March, we see that a significant portion of payments was dedicated to them: 37%, compared to around 34% in 2020 and 27% in 2019. This gradual increase confirms the more significant role of risk supports ( unlike euro funds) in contracts. Some investors may be looking for better performance against euro funds that hardly achieve an average return of 1.3% (in 2020). It is also very likely that they will be forced to direct part of their premiums towards the CUs at the request of the companies. They are indeed more and more numerous to claim this to avoid raising too much money on funds in euros whose guarantee and availability of capital cost them dearly.