Insurers have remained profitable despite nearly every large economy experiencing slowing momentum, while emerging markets are benefitting from insurtech investments, the Insurance Information Institute says.

“Global premium growth has been steady,” Vice President and Senior Economist Michel Leonard says, referring to insurers in all lines of business.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development sees gross written premium growth of 5.1% this year compared with 4.7% in 2018 and 4.1% in 2017.

The New York-based institute, in a macro and insurance outlook, says traditionally insurers have mostly invested in fixed income, but non-life insurers in France, Japan, Sweden and the US have performed well with equity exposures around 25%.

For the first time global insurtech deal volume has topped $US1 billion ($1.5 billion) for three quarters in a row, and technology is now a major growth driver in emerging markets where demographics have traditionally been the key factor, Dr Leonard says.

“A lot of the ways that emerging market carriers have been able to drive growth is by looking at insurtech channels, looking at digital improvements and processes and custom products and so forth,” he said.

Globally, second-quarter gross domestic product data has confirmed a downward economic growth trend this year, while political risks from Brexit, trade wars, and tensions in Hong Kong are adding to volatility.