Phoenix Financial reported a 48% year-over-year increase in asset management core income for the second quarter of 2026, accelerating from 36% growth in the first half of the year.
The company’s H1 2026 core income reached 1.45 billion shekels, up from 1.06 billion shekels in the same period of 2025, while comprehensive income totaled 1.57 billion shekels. Return on equity stood at 26.1% for the first six months, with Q2 alone recording 29.7%. Core ROE improved to 23.8%, compared with 8.7% in 2020. Shareholders’ equity rose to 13.1 billion shekels as of June 30, 2026, with consolidated total equity at 13.6 billion shekels after minority interests.
Assets under management expanded to 658 billion shekels by mid-2026, up 19% on an annualized basis from the prior year. The asset management division generated 579 million shekels in core income for H1, with Q2 contributing 328 million shekels alone. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 29% year-over-year to 903 million shekels, while Q2 growth accelerated to 40%. The division’s digital platform now serves 1 million app users, including approximately 100,000 securities traders.
Insurance segment performance showed resilience, with core income of 873 million shekels in H1, including 415 million shekels in Q2. Property and casualty insurance pre-tax comprehensive income reached 590 million shekels, while health insurance recorded 637 million shekels. Life insurance and savings core income declined 39 million shekels year-over-year to 282 million shekels due to Q2 risk claims, though the company expects a stochastic model implementation in 2027 to add roughly 100 million shekels in pre-tax core income annually and boost the Contractual Service Margin by 1.2-1.5 billion shekels.
Phoenix distributed nearly 1 billion shekels to shareholders in H1, comprising 720 million shekels in dividends and 252 million shekels in buybacks. The annualized dividend yield stood at 3.6%, with total calendar-year dividends reaching 680 million shekels or 2.9 shekels per share. The company increased its 2026 buyback authorization from 300 million shekels to 400 million shekels. Cash remittances from subsidiaries totaled 1.01 billion shekels for H1, including 660 million shekels from the insurance unit and 351 million shekels from asset management.
The insurer’s Solvency II ratio, including transitional measures, was 177%, while the holding company maintained 1.3 billion shekels in Tier-1 capital notes for deployment. Strategic initiatives included the acquisition of Ocean Investment House’s six funds with 2 billion shekels in assets under management, the purchase of Fidelis for wealth management capabilities, and a stake increase in El Al’s frequent flyer program from 20% to 25%. Phoenix also launched an AA-rated international property and casualty reinsurance facility with approximately 150 million shekels in investment.
Looking ahead, Phoenix set a 2028 core income target of 3.3-3.5 billion shekels, representing a 10% compound annual growth rate from 2025. Insurance core income is expected to reach 1.9-2.1 billion shekels, while asset management is projected to grow at a 20% CAGR to 1.3-1.5 billion shekels. Assets under management are targeted to expand to 700-800 billion shekels by 2028, already tracking ahead of guidance with 658 billion shekels reported at mid-year 2026.
