Malaysia: Allianz Life still keen on takaful
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Nov 2015
Allianz Life Insurance Malaysia remains interested in the takaful business although it is not in any acquisition talks currently, said media reports.
Allianz Life CEO Rangam Bir said it sees the opportunity to offer takaful products. “We don’t have a takaful business and licence, although we have in the past been interested and we continue to be interested in getting a takaful licence whenever the right opportunity is available to us,” he told SunBiz in an interview recently.
Allianz Life is a subsidiary of Allianz Malaysia, a unit of Allianz SE which had failed in an attempt to buy a local takaful operator in 2011. Last year, a member of the board at Allianz SE told SunBiz that it was not economically viable to enter into the domestic takaful market just yet.
Mr Bir said Allianz Life is currently not in talks with any company but will certainly look at such a possibility if the right partner comes along. He added that since the central bank is not issuing any new takaful licences at the moment, acquisitions would be the only way to get into the takaful market.
However, Allianz Life does not have a particular timeline for having a takaful business, as the products that it is offering today are able to meet the requirements of a large segment of the Malaysian population.
“We have a lot of opportunities in terms of reaching out to fulfil the needs of the customers and offer them suitable solutions. Of course, we would like to expand into a new segment (takaful) if possible but, at the moment, we haven’t defined a timeline for ourselves.
“We might not be able to offer precise solutions when it comes to takaful, but many clients also have other product requirements, which they can get from us. From this perspective, we feel comfortable being able to meet most of the clients’ needs,” said Mr Bir.