By: Amr Adel

Dubai – Mubasher: AXA Green Crescent Insurance Company is targeting the acquisition of 7% or 10% of the life insurance market in the United Arab Emirates within the next 10 years, The company’s CEO, Hassan Bennour, said on Tuesday during a press conference.

“The company provided life insurance for institutions last year, and looking forward to offer the service for individuals in the third or fourth quarter of 2016,” Bennour added.

Bennour refused to disclose the company’s current market share, noting that “it’s hard to be determined especially with bringing new products in the local market”.

Life insurance premiums in UAE amounts to AED 8 billion ($2.17 billion), of which 19% is owned by national companies and the remaining 81% is owned by foreign ones, according to new statistics by UAE Insurance Authority.

“The company will continue its strategy in reducing exposure to equities in the shadow of market volatility as the investing volume in local stocks is less than 6% of the total portfolio by the end of 2015,” The CEO said.

Bennour asserted that AXA Green Crescent doesn’t has any expansion plans at this time, adding that “it will not hesitate to expand externally in the rest of the GCC states later”.  

“We recently signed an agreement with Muscat Bank to provide life insurance in the Sultanate of Oman,” he noted.

The company’s deputy chairman, Mishal Kanoo, said that the strategic coalition with AXA Green Crescent offers an opportunity to invest in an untapped sector in the UAE.

Translated by: Elwy el-Manzalawy