alliance in Poland
UK insurer Aviva and Polish bank Bank Zachodni (BZ) have entered
into an exclusive 15-year bancassurance partnership that includes
the establishment of 50:50 joint venture life and general insurance
companies. Each partner will contribute equally to the total £13.2
million ($27.2 million) in working capital for the new companies,
which will have access to BZ’s 1.4 million customers through its
network of more than 400 branches across Poland.
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“The bancassurance arrangement will significantly enhance Aviva’s
distribution network in Poland, complementing our well-established
direct salesforce and the direct motor insurance service which will
launch later this month,” said Aviva group finance director Philip
Scott. “The Polish economy is booming and this partnership will
give us a significant competitive advantage in this rapidly growing
market.”
Aviva’s existing life and general insurance operations in
Poland are conducted via its wholly owned unit, Commercial Union
Poland (CUP), established in 1992. According to Aviva, CUP ranks as
Poland’s market leader for individual life products and unit-linked
insurance products, and is number two overall with a market share
of about 12 percent based on premium income. CUP has 1.1 million
customers and manages assets of more than £1 billion.
CUP is also the largest provider of private pensions in Poland with
more than 2.5 million customers and over £2 billion of assets, the
latter representing a 27 percent market share. It launched its
pension operation in 1999, the year Poland introduced private
pension funds to supplement the state scheme.
The provider distributes principally through its direct salesforce
of 3,000 tied insurance agents. It also has distribution agreements
with BZ and the Polish unit of Germany’s Deutsche Bank.
