ALLIANZ EYES SRI LANKA’S LIFE MARKET

Germany-based insurer Allianz is set to establish a life insurance operation in Sri Lanka following comments made by Allianz Insurance Asia Pacific executive vice president Heinz Dollberg who was visiting Sri Lankan capital Colombo. Dollberg said of his reconnaissance mission: “We see market potential for life insurance and we will bring in another company to the market if the regulator confirms.” Currently Allianz has a non-life insurance business in Sri Lanka and has a 2% share of the market but Dollberg also spoke of growing this share to 10%. Allianz is also examining the feasibility of entering Sri Lanka’s microinsurance market, adding to its current activity in the Indian and Indonesian microinsurance markets. Dollberg did also highlight the political risk of entering a new market and hinted that it will not be entering the health insurance market in Sri Lanka for now due to its immaturity and will have health cover as an embedded part of its life policies rather than as a standalone product.