There’s a new Guinness World Record for the most valuable life insurance policy ever sold, and it’s worth $250 million.
Issued and fully underwritten by HSBC Life, global banking giant HSBC’s insurance business in Hong Kong, the record-breaking policy was taken out by an unnamed individual customer earlier this year, the company announced on Feb. 28.
The plan, a whole-of-life protection policy, will pay out US$250 million to the insured person’s named beneficiary after the policyowner’s death.
It includes features aimed at protecting the individual’s wealth for future generations of the family.
“Asia is home to the fastest growing ultra-high-net-worth population in the world, and as such we are seeing a substantial increase in demand for insurance solutions to address business succession, estate management and legacy planning needs,” said Edward Moncreiffe, CEO, HSBC Life, Hong Kong and Macau. “The issuance of these high-value life insurance policies reaffirms Hong Kong’s position as both a preferred destination for wealth management and a leading international insurance hub.”
In the past 12 months, HSBC Life has issued 10 other life insurance policies valued at US$50 million or higher to individual customers.
“The Hong Kong life insurance market has deep talent pools across intermediaries, underwriters and actuaries, strong competition amongst international banks, brokers and insurers, well capitalized insurance companies with strong credit ratings and a sound regulatory regime,” added Moncreiffe.
“As the market-leading insurer in Hong Kong, HSBC Life is well-positioned to capture its fair share of the demand and we will continue to invest in our people, products and services in this segment accordingly.”
The previous Guinness World Record, for a US$201 million life insurance policy, was certified in California, in the US, in 2014, on the life of an unnamed but apparently well-known U.S. billionaire.
That policy was sold by Dovi Frances, Managing Partner of SG LLC, a company based in Santa Barbara, Calif. That policy features a combined death benefit to be paid upon the death of the single insured that more than doubled the previous record, set by Peter Rosengard from the UK, whose record-breaking insurance sale in 1990 sold at $100 million on the life of a U.S. entertainment industry figure.
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