Joint venture operations confronted with solvency challenges

Foreign partners under pressure to increase financial support for joint ventures

Foreign insurers including UK’s Aviva and Germany’s Allianz have reported reduced solvency margins for their Indian operations, according to new figures from the insurance regulator. Among the foreign players, Aviva Life Insurance saw the biggest slide in solvency from 6.31 times the value of its business in 2007 to 2.37 in 2008, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) said. Four other Indian insurers partly owned by Allianz, ING, MetLife and AIG have also recorded sharp reductions in solvency.