The global high-net-wealth ( HNW ) international life insurance market is a fast-growing and sizeable market. In 2024, the HNW and international new business premium value of sales reached £41 billion ( US$55.43 billion ), experiencing a 25% growth from 2023, according to a recent report.

This growth was driven by a sharp uplift in United Kingdom's ( UK ) HNW sales, following changes in the UK tax regime, and increased European wealth planning sales ( in both linked and non-linked business ), finds Utmost Group’s 2024 Wealth Management Market Study.

The market covers life insurers based in international financial centres serving HNW and internationally mobile affluent clients, and its products include both unit-linked ( notably private placement life insurance and single premium bonds ) and non-linked solutions ( fonds en euros and permanent insurance ) designed to support HNW individuals and families in wealth structuring and preservation, inheritance tax planning, risk management and diversification.

Due to the nature of these solutions, often high in complexity and value, distribution to clients is primarily via specialist financial advisers or brokers working with private banks, family offices or professional service firms.

Market tailwinds

Long-term tailwinds, the study notes, are forecast to increase annual new business sales to £67 billion by 2030, delivering an additional £90 billion of new business sales cumulatively between 2025 to 2030.

Tailwinds, identified by the study, include the:

• growing and internationally mobile HNW/ultra-HNW population
• significant wave of intergenerational wealth transfer
• 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 £543 billion, of the £28 trillion HNW investible asset market.

By increasing penetration of insurance-based wealth solutions by 1% to 3%, the global HNW international life insurance market, the study shares, could add over £240 billion of additional assets, growing the market by 50% and surpassing £800 billion.

“The size of the HNW and international life insurance market is set to grow quickly in the coming years,” says Mark Fairbairn, Utmost’s head of strategy and corporate affairs. “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 ultra-HNW clients over the coming years.”