Swiss Re scouts for life and health partners

Reinsurance giant Swiss Re is looking for an Indian partner for its proposed venture into life and health insurance. The group is also keen on developing a market for its insurance-related offerings, which include agricultural cover and capital management solutions to help companies fund their new business strain.

According to Michel M Lies, member of the executive committee and chief marketing officer, apart from further growing its traditional reinsurance business in India, Swiss Re will continue to pursue joint ventures on both life and health direct insurance business in India, upon finding a right partner, right business model, and right opportunities.

Swiss Re is also keen to develop more innovative risk transfer solutions such as agricultural solutions where we are a major player and we also see other good opportunities such as offering capital management solutions to help clients in funding their new business strain, he said. Swiss Re continues to be interested in the health and life business although the reinsurer sold its third-party administrator business and broke up with Religare with whom it had tied up for a health insurance venture. The sale of the 26% shareholding in TTK Healthcare TPA Private allows Swiss Re to fully concentrate its resources on growing its reinsurance and insurance business in India. This deal also allows Swiss Re to strengthen its commitment to the Indian insurance market, by directing its global expertise to provide tailor-made solutions in supporting our client needs, said Mr. Lies. He added that the health venture did not work out as the two partners could not agree on key terms and conditions. Swiss Re will continue to pursue JVs on both life and health direct insurance business in India, upon finding the right partner, right business model, and right opportunities, he added. Speaking on the state of the reinsurance market in India Reto Schnarweiler, global head of Swiss Republic sector business, the pricing in the Indian insurance and reinsurance market has been very competitive and that may not always be commensurate with the risk taken. Globally, the historically low level of interest rates and the weaker underlying underwriting performance is battling against excess capital in the market. As a consequence, the global reinsurance market environment is likely to remain choppy in the short term, he added.