AGCS expands in China, Indonesia

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) is expanding its presence in China and Indonesia, the insurer has announced.

AGCS has set up a Beijing division, its third in China after Guangdong and Shanghai.

The commercial lines subsidiary of German insurer Allianz said its move in the Chinese capital “marks full network coverage across China’s tier-one cities”.

The new division set up in Indonesia operates under Allianz Utama in Jakarta, the insurer said.

The moves follow AGCS opening a South Korean branch in June.

“The Asian market is of utmost importance to AGCS, and in 2016 contributed 5% to our overall global premium volume of €7.6bn,” said Carsten Scheffel, AGCS board member and its chief regions and markets officer for Asia.

“We see a number of significant opportunities in Asia, with the increasing number of large infrastructure projects in railways, ports, subway lines, and a growing focus on environment liability,” Scheffel said.

AGCS noted in its press release that China is already the world’s second-largest insurance market, and in 2016 accounted for close to half of global insurance growth.

In China, the government’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) trade and overseas investment strategy is driving corporate insurance opportunities, AGCS noted, particularly in engineering, entertainment and environmental impairment liability (EIL) business.

The insurer cited some $7bn of potential premium from OBOR-funded infrastructure construction projects. The AGCS engineering team for Greater China is led by Mark Chan.

Entertainment is another growth sector cited by AGCS in China: China’s domestic film production has tripled from 2005-2015 and is now ranked third in the world behind USA and India, the insurer said.

Patrick Zeng, AGCS CEO Hong Kong and Greater China, said: “The growing interconnectivity and complexity of risks affecting businesses have also led to the rising demand for newer offerings such as EIL, crisis management, entertainment and cyber as recent high-profile cases have increased the awareness of the necessity of such coverage.”

In Indonesia, acceleration of the country’s GDP growth to an expected 5.3% rise by year-end 2017 is anticipated to boost insurance premium growth, led by property and engineering, in part driven by government infrastructure spending.

The insurer said it would initially focus on financial lines and engineering products in Indonesia.

ACGS appointments in Jakarta include Megasari Manurung as an underwriter for financial lines, and Indrajaya Wardhana, as an engineering underwriter.

“We have seen an increase in demand for global insurance programs in Asia, and China and Indonesia are no different,” said Mark Mitchell, regional CEO for AGCS Asia.

“As risk exposures grow in multitude and complexity, having a global partner for international insurance coverage can really facilitate smooth and efficient operations for businesses worldwide,” Mitchell added.