Germany’s Allianz Group, the world’s second largest insurance firm, is setting up an Islamic insurance (takaful) arm in Bahrain.
Allianz Takaful (Bahrain) is being established as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Allianz Group. The company will undertake family takaful with a focus on life insurance and investment-linked insurance as well as health and medical insurance.
Ahmed Al Bassam, Director, Licensing & Policy, Central Bank Bahrain (CBB) ,said “Robust economic growth, renewed government investment in large infrastructure projects and strong private sector investment in real estate and other economic sectors are contributing to the expansion of the insurance sector. In addition, increasing public awareness and acceptance about the need for insurance is also contributing to the growing demand for insurance products, both conventional and Islamic.”
“Public perception on life insurance, in particular, has changed considerably with the introduction of takaful and now represents a huge, fairly untapped opportunity,” he added. “The entry of a global insurance player, such as Allianz, in the takaful arena also points to the tremendous potential of this line of business.”
The licence for Allianz is the third to be granted by the CBB in recent months to an international insurance firm to establish a takaful or re-takaful operation in Bahrain.
The Munich-based Allianz Group, founded in 1890, is today the largest insurer in Europe and the second largest in the world, with premiums of nearly US$52bn. Allianz is also one of the world’s largest asset managers, with assets in excess of US$1tr under management. The Group posted a net income of US$9.2bn for 2006.
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