Economic and market predictors of solvency of family takaful in Malaysia

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to empirically study firm-specific and economic factors affecting solvency of family takaful companies in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach - Data are extracted from the annual reports of six family takaful companies and Bloomberg for the period from 2008 to 2012. Equity-to-asset and equity-to-technical reserve ratio are used to measure solvency and thus become the dependent variables. Meanwhile, profit rate, Islamic index, company size, risk retention, contribution growth, investment income, takaful leverage, liquidity and expenses are the independent variables. Findings - The determinants that are positively related to equity-to-asset ratio (EAR) of family takaful include contribution growth, investment income, takaful leverage, liquidity and Islamic equity index. Meanwhile, company size, risk retention, expenses and profit rate are negatively related to EAR of takaful. Equity-to-technical reserves ratio (ETR) of takaful are positively related to risk retention, contribution growth, investment income, takaful leverage, profit rate and Islamic equity index. The other variables including company size, liquidity, and expenses are negatively related to ETR of takaful. Originality/value - This study explores factors affecting the solvency of family takaful, which to the best of the authors’ knowledge is still lacking empirical research which may improve the understanding of this issue.