ActivityTracker

Glossary

Persistency ratio meaning: the share of your cases still paying a year on

A persistency ratio is the share of policies, or of their premium, that are still in force and being paid a set time after they were sold, often measured at the 13th month, once the second year's premium is due.

How it's worked out

Take the policies sold in a period. Count how many are still in force at the checkpoint, divide by how many were sold, and multiply by 100. You can count policies or count premium, and the two give different answers. Actuaries in the US report persistency both ways. Life insurers in India publish it on premium at the 13th, 25th, 37th, 49th and 61st month, under a rule from their regulator.

Worked example: say you sold 40 policies in 2025, worth S$120,000 of annual premium. By the 13th month, 6 have lapsed, and between them they carried S$24,000.

  • By policy count: 34 of 40 still in force, so 85%.
  • By premium: S$96,000 of S$120,000, so 80%.

Same book, two figures. The lapses were bigger than average cases, so the premium figure comes out lower.

A lapse costs you twice. Renewal commission on that policy stops, and a policy that lapses on or before 31 December doesn't count toward MDRT at all, unless it ended through death or a term conversion.

We couldn't find one public Singapore formula, from MAS or anyone else. Ask your agency how yours is measured and what level it rewards.

Where it shows up in your week

Persistency is set at the sale and kept by the follow-up, usually before a missed premium turns into a lapse. ActivityTracker for financial advisors keeps every WhatsApp chat on the client's record, so the history is there when you call. The life insurance commission calculator shows what lapses do to your renewal commission, with a still-paying rate for each year.

Questions advisors ask

Sources

The case you keep counts twice.

Follow up before the premium date.

Book a walkthrough See pricing