FT Adviser (03/06/2019) – Insurance giants are moving away from general insurance to pump funds into their pension and life business instead, FTAdviser has learnt.
LV announced last week (May 31) that it has sold its GI business to German insurer Allianz, while L&G has done the same.
Aviva is also considering a split of its pension and life arm from its other insurance business.
LV sold its remaining 30.1 per cent stake for £365m, completing a process that started in December 2017 and saw the insurer pocket a total £1.078bn to invest in its pensions and life insurance business.
Alan Chan, director of IFS Wealth and Pensions, welcomed life insurers’ move away from GI, saying it could have a positive effect overall.
He said: “The days of IFAs doing GI for clients are long gone […] These products are commercialised now, in a very competitive market, and can often be found cheaper online either direct with the insurers or via comparison websites.
“I see this trend as a good one because it means that these insurers can now dedicate more resources to their core businesses, such as protection insurance and pensions, which would be better service overall for clients and IFAs alike.”
Full article link: https://www.ftadviser.com/your-industry/2019/06/03/industry-turns-back-on-general-insurance/
