ALLIANZ MALAYSIA CONSIDERS TAKAFUL

Allianz Malaysia would consider entering the Islamic insurance (takaful) sector if it made business sense for the company, according to Allianz Malaysia CEO Alexander Ankel. Speaking in a local interview, Mr Ankel said that “takaful is not new to the Allianz group. Our companies in Indonesia have the experience in similar operations and are very successful in that segment of the market”. Mr Ankel noted that, unlike the conventional insurance sector, the takaful market was not subject to a tariff regime. With five new takaful players entering the market in coming months, including some foreign-owned entities, Mr Ankel said that “it will be interesting to see how the market fares in months to come with the advantages that the new players bring to the local market”. He added that “we are also monitoring whether this new branch of our industry will be subject to the same regime of financial supervision from the relevant authorities”. Meanwhile, Mr Ankel said that Allianz Malaysia hoped to grow by 10% in terms of gross written premiums this year, compared with a growth rate of 7.8% between 2004 and 2005. Allianz Malaysia generated gross written premiums of 507.4m ringgit last year. Net premiums were 289.7m ringgit and the underwriting profit was 21.6m ringgit.