The article considers the position and meaning of insurance in the social-economic system of Russia. Insurance is associated primarily with protection of the property interests under risky events. There is a large classification of risks, which is closely related to the insurance institution, and the authors analyze some types of risks providing relevant contemporary examples. Insurance is a means of the risk management system; however, the current economic, political, and social situation has a direct impact on the insurance system. Thus, in periods of instability, insurance companies have to adapt to the economic situation and financial possibilities of people to purchase insurance products. Insurance as a type of activity performs two groups of functions — economic and social. The main task of insurance is to implement effective measures of insurance protection from risky events. The article also considers activities of insurers in Russia from 2012 to 2018: the number of insurance companies, the authorized capital, the peak volume of foreign deposits, insurance payments, reinsurance operations, etc. The authors present two types of insurance — voluntary and compulsory — and consider the features of each type. The data of sociological surveys allows to analyze these features and to identify the role of voluntary and compulsory insurance in the social-economic system (tasks, functions, and so on). ∗ © Zh.V. Puzanova, M.A. Trifonova, 2020.