If you were to rank the top 5 insurance companies in Singapore, how would you rank them and why?

It's pretty hard to rank the companies unless you have a metric to go by. Every company would have their strengths/ weaknesses and the top company / best products usually won't stay there forever.

Rather, consider finding an agent you feel comfortable with since financial planning is a lifelong process. Try speaking to different agents from different companies and get a sense of whether they could be trustworthy, professional and able to give you unbiased advice. During your discussion you might be disclosing sensitive personal information (eg. your health condition, family, income etc) so its not so much of the company.

Products wise, one company may have a seemingly better advantage than the other at one point in time, but in a highly competitive environment, the rival companies will just copy and improve the product making it cheaper, cover more benefits etc.

Hi anon,

Congrats on graduating!

Although I do not know what coverage amount or type that you are looking at (I am guessing CI and hospitalization for starters), know that the payout from your policy is protected by the policy owner's protection scheme (POPS). (More information here: https://www.sdic.org.sg/public ) In summary, your payout is guaranteed by MAS (up to certain limits), even in the unlikely event of the failure or exit of an insurer. So, if your sum assured is within the limits of the POPS, there is no worry there.

Next, would be on your question of 'top'. This probably depends on what you are looking at. All insurers offer similar products, the only difference is pricing and features. So if you are looking for a term plan plan for death/TPD, the top insurer should be the cheapest one since it is a very straightfoward product. If you are looking for CI coverage, the top insurer might be one with a decent (but not necessarily lowest) premium, with a wide scope of coverage and other benefits that are relevant to you. And the top insurer for CI plans could be different from the top insurer for term plans.

Note that I bolded 'you'. This is a discussion about your needs. As products evolve, what is the top insurer today for say, CI coverage, may no longer be top next year. And on top of that, the top insurer is actually the insurer that offers the product that suits your requirements at this point in time. So, there isn't a definitive 'top' in my view, rather, knowing what you need would enable you to then understand the options for you, and subsequently choose the plan that you want.

Thus, I would suggest that you can spend some time working with an independent advisor to understand the various types of coverage and what you need, the various insurers that offer solutions, their pros and cons, before committing to a plan. An insurance contract is a long term commitment and you want to be making the best decision in your interest, at the point of buying. What the future holds, we won't know, and if your needs change, then you have to address them later on. But work on your current situation first.