Leading regional and international bancassurance and insurance experts are discussing the impact of changing regulations and market trends at the Bancassurance Mena Summit, currently taking place in Dubai, UAE.

Banassurance, whereby insurance companies and banks collaborate to provide insurance products through a bank’s existing customer base, is significantly contributing to the steady growth of the GCC insurance market, said a statement.

The event which kicked off yesterday will run until February 25, at The Address Hotel Dubai Mall.

The summit opened with a critical regulatory update by Prasanna Seshachellam, director, supervision at Dubai Financial Services Authority and Ahmed Al Mamari, acting director general, Directorate of Insurance Supervision at Oman’s Capital Market Authority, who assessed the major regulatory developments in the industry and discussed future policy initiatives, it added.

Successful bancassurance strategies need strong regulatory frameworks in place according to the 2015 Bancassurance Mena Summit Report, commissioned by Informa, organisers of the Bankassurance Mena Summit.  In the GCC, these frameworks need to accommodate both local companies as well as multinationals that play a crucial role in shaping the regional market, it added.

First Gulf Bank has reported that GCC insurance markets mirror the region’s macroeconomic fundamentals and have grown quickly with varying degrees of sophistication and fierce competition.  The GCC insurance industry has almost tripled in value between 2006 and 2013, with insurance premiums increasing from $6.4 billion to $18.4 billion.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the largest insurance markets in the GCC, with nearly 80 percent of gross written premium (GWP).  The UAE is the biggest and fastest-growing insurance market, accounting for almost 45 per cent of the region’s GWP and has witnessed strong growth momentum with a 17 per cent CAGR over the past six years.

David Harris, director – Direct & Affinity, UAE & Bahrain, RSA Insurance, said: “As a growing insurance industry continues to remain vital to sustainable economic development, the bancassurance model offers a unique avenue to address the low penetration rates in the market.”

“While we have already seen promising progress in this sector, there is still a lot of potential to better align the industry with global best practices.  Particularly as a well-defined framework will help all stakeholders effectively address the changing demographics and evolving insurance needs we are seeing in the market today.
 
Damien Hitchen, CEO of Swissquote Bank UAE, Middle East and Asia, said: “The event provides access to a focused audience of key stakeholders in the bancassurance landscape, an opportunity to leverage collective knowledge and take a look at forthcoming trends and priorities.”

Chandra Sekhar, AIG Mena Zone Head of Consumer Insurance, added: “It is imperative that insurance companies, together with banks invest on product innovation, cross-selling strategies, customer services and call centres to provide quality insurance service to end-users, which will in turn enhance quality of life of our insureds and their loyalty in our brands.”

Organised by Informa, the Bancassurance Mena Summit brings together leading regulators, insurers, banks, consultants and IT providers to identify market growth strategies as well as models to improve the returns and profitability of this growing channel, it added. – TradeArabia News Service