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LocalTapiola Group’s half-yearly report for 1 January–30 June 2026: Uncertainty is no longer paralysing Finland – the next growth leap will come from active ownership, says LocalTapiola Group President

LocalTapiola Group recorded a strong first half of the year in an evolving market. The group’s operating result increased to EUR 317 million, income from investments at fair value was 4.0 per cent and net investment sales were EUR 190 million. President Sari Heinonen says Finns have learned to navigate an uncertain world, but economic growth now requires a new phase: bolder investments, more active and value-increasing ownership and accelerated business ownership transitions. LocalTapiola supports growth by investing EUR 200 million in Finnish businesses.
Två anställda går i lobbyn på LähiTapiolas huvudkontor med bärbara datorer i händerna.
Key Figures, LocalTapiola Group, January–June 2026 (actual January–June 2025)
  • Operating result, EUR million: 317 (190)
  • Total result, EUR million: 529 (162)
  • Number of customers, thousand: 2,101 (1,829)
  • Customer bonuses, EUR million: 93 (88)

Non-life insurance

  • Premiums written, direct non-life insurance, EUR million: 1,146 (1,019)
  • Combined ratio, %: 93.5 (95.2)
  • Risk ratio, %: 61.5 (65.3)
  • Cost ratio, %: 32.0 (29.9)

Life insurance, investment, motor vehicle finance

  • Premiums written, term life insurance, EUR million: 86 (85)
  • Net investment sales, EUR million: 190 (143)
  • Client assets under management (net), EUR billion: 19.1 (16.2)
  • Finance portfolio, EUR billion: 2.6 (2.5)

Comment by President Sari Heinonen:

Uncertainty is no longer paralysing Finland

The recent years have shown that households, businesses and markets have learned to navigate an uncertain world. Private consumption has picked up, although there is great concern about employment. Businesses are seeking growth in an unpredictable operating landscape, and new growth sectors are emerging. Markets recover from crises quickly, even though geopolitical tensions are fuelling uncertainty. Finland is not waiting for a return to balance but acts in spite of this uncertainty.Living with uncertainty is reflected in the way Finns are building their financial protection. The long decline in house prices has reminded us that an owner-occupied dwelling is not a surefire way to wealth. Housing comes at a cost, and a home is an asset that carries risks related to value fluctuations, interest rates and liquidity. However, in a changing Finland, people have not simply remained waiting for the value of housing wealth to recover. Finns have learned new approaches to ownership and building wealth. Nearly one half of households invest in shares or funds, and a new study shows that Finland has become the second most active investor nation in Europe after Sweden. Increasingly often, people are building financial protection through an extensive combination of saving, investment and insurance.

LocalTapiola recorded a strong first half of the year in an evolving market

Finns’ need to build financial protection is also reflected in LocalTapiola owner-customers and in how the group fared in the first part of the year. The inclusion of Turva Mutual Insurance Company in LocalTapiola Group’s reporting has a material impact on the figures for the first part of the year, but non-life insurance premiums written also increased comparably without Turva. Without the impact of Turva, direct premiums written increased 3.1 per cent, and including Turva they increased 12.4 per cent. Client assets under management increased in the investment business to EUR 19.1 billion (+10.2% compared to the start of the year), and net sales in January–June were EUR 190 million. The volatility seen in the investment markets in spring ended with a strong rally, and LocalTapiola Group’s investments generated a fair-value profit of 4.0 per cent. During the first part of the year, the group’s customer numbers grew by about 260,000 customers to 2.1 million, after including Turva’s and LocalTapiola Finance’s customers in the figure reported by the group.LocalTapiola Group’s strength stems from our nationwide scale and local presence. In the first part of the year, this was witnessed on the west coast, as the merger of LocalTapiola Länsi-Suomi and LocalTapiola Pohjanmaa was formally completed. The fusion of these two market leaders of their respective areas strengthens our position in the area, creating, from the start of 2027, the biggest LocalTapiola Group regional company measured by premiums written.Furthermore, in the early part of the year, we also witnessed an important change in the non-life insurance market, as the taxation rules of financial-sector customer bonuses were clarified by reforming the Income Tax Act. According to the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority, the previous taxation practice encouraged to spend bonuses accruing from investments and credits on insurance premiums in particular, which weakened consumers’ opportunities to select their insurance policies freely.The protracted profitability challenges plaguing health insurance eased somewhat in the early part of the year. The number of claims covered under medical expenses policies decreased, and the price increases implemented previously began to have an impact on profitability. However, it is not possible to draw overly far-reaching conclusions from the moderate claims development seen in the early part of the year, and the Kela reimbursement reductions made in the fees of private doctors at the beginning of the year continue to put pressure on profitability.

Strained government finances do not mean a poorer future

Amidst risks, it is important to also look at where new momentum is emerging. In Finland, economic policy debate is often dominated by government finances, debt and fiscal adjustment. This is understandable, but debt must not distract us from the vision of a prosperous Finland. Even as public spending is being adjusted for justified reasons and services are being scaled back, businesses can grow, consumer confidence can strengthen and economic sentiment can improve. The key is to get employment moving in the right direction.In the corporate sector, the overall picture remains moderate, but the future outlook and confidence of businesses have improved significantly. Economic growth is often reflected in an insurance company’s key figures with a time lag, but there are encouraging signs in the operating conditions of businesses. This development is strong particularly in industries linked to the defence sector. Elsewhere in sectors of industry, rising insurance needs are also an indication that some companies are already preparing for new investments and broader business operations.

Finland needs the courage to grow and reform

Creating economic growth is the single most important ingredient in the formula for a prosperous and successful Finland. Growth will not be created through government decisions, but above all by businesses, the decisions made by owners and people’s willingness to take entrepreneurial risks. In February, LocalTapiola decided to invest EUR 200 million in Finnish businesses that have the ability to grow, employ and regenerate Finland. We will be investing LocalTapiola Group insurance companies’ investment assets on an equity basis in the form of direct investments, parallel investments as well as through funds.New growth companies are vital for the economy, but alone they are not enough. Growth is also created when an existing business finds a new owner and direction. In Finland, approximately 40,000 companies are facing an upcoming ownership transition. At the same time, many people dream of stepping on the entrepreneurial path but do not want to start from scratch. When a young, ambitious leader with a growth mindset meets a company looking for a successor, a restartup may emerge where an established business gains a new owner, a higher level of ambition and a fresh direction for growth. Facilitating ownership changes is a concrete way to bring about future growth stories, employment and regional vitality in Finland.In addition to new owners, we need a more active kind of ownership. In Finland, people value entrepreneurship, but ownership is not always regarded in the same way as a skill or a form of work, even though it is often precisely the owner’s perspective and approach to the company that drives it forward. In SMEs, entrepreneurs should increasingly see themselves as owners as well, whose role is not merely to manage day-to-day operations but to increase the company’s value well into the future. If this expertise is lacking, it can be brought in from outside to the Board of Directors, or as advisors or new owners. In this regard, family-owned businesses often provide a good example: they measure ownership by whether the company’s value also continues to grow for the next decade and for the next generation.Active ownership is needed in larger companies as well. It was estimated that the Helsinki Stock Exchange paid nearly EUR 13 billion in dividends this spring. Dividends are an important component of shareholder returns, but owners should also demand credible growth plans from companies. A shift in focus to growth investments, product development, technology, skills and international markets could boost Finland’s growth significantly.Finns have already shown that it is possible to function in an uncertain world. The next step is to transform our capacity to function into regeneration: into new business acquisitions, a more active kind of ownership, bolder investments and new jobs. Growth is not created by hankering for the certainty of the past, but by making decisions amidst uncertainty.Read the full half-yearly report and business function-specific details here.

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