China is home to half of the ten most valuable insurance brands, led by top-ranked Ping An, according to an annual report from consultancy Brand Finance.

Ping An, which means “safe and sound” in Mandarin, held on to the number one spot despite recording a 26% drop in brand value to $US44.8 billion ($57.5 billion) this year.

China Life came second, on $US22.6 billion ($29 billion), overtaking Allianz, which slipped to third, on $US20.2 billion ($25.9 billion).

Other Chinese insurers that made the top-10 list are fifth-ranked China Pacific Insurance Company, on $US15.4 billion ($19.8 billion), sixth-ranked AIA, on $US14.1 billion ($18.1 billion), and People’s Insurance Company of China, which came placed ninth on $US8.8 billion ($11.3 billion).

The rest of the top-10 insurance brands are Axa, which came in fourth on $US17.4 billion ($22.3 billion), while Geico and Progressive of the US placed seventh and eighth respectively on $US11.1 billion ($14.3 billion) and $US9 billion ($11.6 billion). Life Insurance Corporation of India came tenth, on $US8.7 billion ($11.2 billion).

The annual report from Brand Finance lists the world’s top 100 most valuable insurance brands based on factors such as a brand’s impact and strength. It then applies a score and calculates the forecast brand value.

It says brand value refers to the present value of earnings specifically related to brand reputation.

QBE is the best performer from Australia, coming in at 52nd.

Brand Value says the pandemic fallout impacted the industry, causing the overall value of the top-100 list to decline 6% to $US433 billion ($556 billion) this year.

Overall there are 12 Chinese brands featured in the list with their cumulative brand value accounting for 30% of the total valuation.

“With access to a market as immense as China, this offers these brands huge potential to leverage a significant volume premium over many other markets,” Brand Finance says.