Asia’s household balance sheets do not look like North America’s. Singapore is an extreme case of that difference. Allianz Research places insurance and pension assets at 47.2 per cent of Singaporean household financial portfolios, roughly double the global average and far above North America’s share near 11 per cent. Compulsory CPF savings and the long role of life insurance products in Asian household wealth sit behind that figure.

Singapore ranked fourth globally in net financial assets per capita in 2025, at about €192,840, with financial assets growing 9.1 per cent, slightly above the global average. Across Asia excluding Japan and China, financial assets grew 9.8 per cent in 2025. China grew faster on assets but saw household liabilities almost stall as property stress weighed on borrowing. Japan’s insurance and pension inflows jumped sharply from a low base.

Allianz’s broader projection is for global financial assets to grow around 9 per cent in 2026 before settling into a mid-single-digit path as fragmentation, inflation and public debt constrain returns. For Asia the structural point is not the one-year print. It is whether households continue to channel savings through insurance and pension wrappers, or whether the global drift toward securities accounts and direct market exposure erodes the insurance-heavy model.

For life insurers and pension-linked asset managers that is a product and ALM problem. A high insurance and pension share supports long-duration general-account and CPF-linked flows. A shift toward securities can raise demand for unit-linked, investment-linked and discretionary products while pressuring traditional savings margins. It also changes the competitive set: banks, brokerages and digital platforms compete more directly for the same household dollar.

Wholesale coverage should separate two conversations. One is institutional: CPF, insurers and pension pools as asset owners with liability constraints. The other is household: whether Singapore and peer Asian markets retain an insurance-centric savings culture as wealth and financial literacy rise. Allianz’s composition data say the starting point is still insurance-heavy. The test is the next decade of household choice, not a single growth year.