Insurers have criticised proposed EU rules requiring them to give simple price comparisons in their product information sheets to help consumers choose between investment products, saying buyers in the 10 trillion-euro ($11.4 trillion) market could be misled. Industry trade body Insurance Europe added its voice on Friday to criticism from other investment managers that regulators' plans for a Key Information Document (KID) failed to provide truly comparable information for retail investors.
"Consumers will receive incorrect information about insurance products, which will wrongly appear more expensive and more risky than they actually are," said Michaela Koller, director general at Insurance Europe. She said insurance-based investment products include insurance protection that is not present in other types of investment products, making them appear more expensive under the draft KID rules, which were finalised jointly by the EU's insurance, banking and financial market supervisors this week.