Australian life insurers have lifted their total assets during the 12 months ending June 30 2011 to $235 billion, compared to $234 billion in the 12 months ending December 2010.

In the latest Australian Prudential Regulation Authority figures, the regulator found insurers held $210 million in investments, $17.5 million in cash and $7.4 billion in other assets during the 12 months.

During that period net premiums were down from $39.5 billion in 2010 to $38.4 billion in this latest reporting period.

Net policy payments also fell from $37.4 billion in the December 2010 period to $34.7 billion during the 12 months ending September 2011.

Commissions for the September 2011 period were $1.2 billion for new business and $1.7 billion for ongoing policies.

This resulted in the total life industry making a $2.6 billion profit for the 2011 September year and a net return on assets of 15.1%.

All life insurers in Australia made a profit during the September 2011 reporting period, with AMP recording the largest return of $593 million.

Challenger was second with a net profit of $360 million, and CommInsure earned $295 million.