From life insurance to insurance for living 

Rethinking relevance for the under 40s 

Long-term demographic changes, macroeconomic challenges, and shifting consumer expectations are transforming the life insurance industry. Over the past 15 years, the share of life insurance assets within individual investment portfolios has fallen by 23%. Looking forward, our forecasts indicate that global life insurance premiums will grow at only a 0.9% compound average growth rate through 2040.

The World Life Insurance Report 2026 reflects the views of 6,176 insurance customers under the age of 40, and 200 interviews conducted with senior executives from leading life insurers. Both of these groups included individuals from across 18 countries and spanning three regions – the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. In addition, the report draws on macroeconomic forecasts developed in collaboration with a leading global macroeconomic forecaster. 

Today, the greatest growth opportunity for the life insurance market involves insurance for living – offering benefits that add immediate, tangible value throughout customers’ lives. This focus is especially important for insurers who want to engage the under-40 demographic – a segment who will build wealth as they age and represent an attractive risk profile due to their lower incidence of claims. 

To help ensure future business and revenue growth through this cohort, Capgemini’s World Life Insurance Report 2026 recommends concentrating on three key areas: 

  • Navigate new competitive realities to keep pace with other financial institutions and wellness platforms, who are already offering solutions with the immediate value and control that under 40s want. 
  • Reinvent products as solutions by embedding living benefits and flexibility into both retail and group offerings. 
  • Reimagine insurance distribution as engagement through hybrid advisory models – ones that combine the convenience of digital interactions with human expertise.

The life insurance transformation imperative is clear. First movers and early adopters who address customer expectations, organisational capabilities, and competitive differentiation will recapture market share from all types of competitors. Not only that, but they’ll lead the industry by building long-term insurance customer engagement with under-40 consumers as they accumulate wealth.

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