Oman Insurance acquires Generali’s UAE life insurance portfolio

The transfer is expected to be completed by the end of August 2022

The transfer, which covers Generali's unit-linked life insurance policies, is expected to be completed by the end of August 2022, subject to regulatory approvals. Reuters

Oman Insurance acquired the UAE life insurance portfolio of Italian insurance company Assicurazioni Generali for an undisclosed sum.

The transfer, which covers unit-linked life insurance policies, is expected to be completed by the end of August 2022, subject to regulatory approvals, Oman Insurance said in a statement on Monday.

The agreement is in line with Generali’s strategy to rationalise its business model in the UAE by strengthening its ecosystem of partnerships.

“This transaction … further strengthens our market position, reaching more than Dh1.2 billion of individual life assets under management,” said Emmanuel Deschamps, Oman Insurance’s executive committee member and head of life insurance.

“It is also in line with our strategy to accelerate the growth of our life portfolio and become the regional reference in life insurance.”

A move to hasten the country’s digital transformation during the Covid-19 pandemic is placing renewed importance on scale among insurers, whose profits are under pressure because of the slowdown.

In October 2020, the UAE Insurance Authority unveiled regulations to streamline life and family takaful insurance. This decision is expected to encourage consolidations in the UAE insurance industry, analysts said at the time.

The Insurance Authority capped the overall commission that can be paid on a policy over its entire duration. Financial advisers are also required to include a mandatory 30-day free-look period in the policy and allow customers to cancel it free of charge within the first month of the policy.

In addition, the regulatory body has imposed increased disclosure requirements on financial advisers, who must provide customers with a benefit illustration before the policy begins and a policy statement every six months.

The terms and conditions of Generali customers' policies will remain unchanged after the transaction, Oman Insurance said.

Both parties have agreed to ensure a smooth transition for existing policyholders and to continue providing them with access to insurance services and systems, the statement added.

“With this transaction, we are capitalising on our high digital capabilities and our multi-channel approach through bancassurance, life brokers’ partnerships as well as our 150 consultants in our proprietary channel,” Mr Deschamps said.

With a solvency of 275 per cent as of December 2021, Oman Insurance’s solvency is among the highest in UAE, the statement added.

Life insurance penetration has been historically very low in the UAE. In 2018, it was 0.67 per cent, Frederic De Melker, RAKBank’s managing director of personal banking, said in 2020.

The global average for life insurance coverage is 6.1 per cent.

The UAE is vastly underserved in terms of life cover because a vast majority of foreigners come from regions in Asia where penetration rates are even lower than in the Emirates, Mr De Melker said.

The UAE’s low insurance penetration can be attributed to poor awareness, lack of trust in the market and the transient nature of expatriates, he added.

“There are way too many insurance companies in the UAE. As the market evolves and digital transformation takes place, scale becomes crucial. This will lead to more consolidation among general players,” RAKBank chief executive Peter England said during a webinar in 2020.

Generali pulled its contractual savings plans Vision and Choice, which it distributes to investors through financial advisers, from the UAE market in 2019.

The company also sold its entire shareholding in its unit, Generali Worldwide Insurance, to the Guernsey-based Utmost Group.