Corporate and specialty insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), is to open a branch office in South Korea that will offer marine insurance along with its other products to clients. AGCS is the first foreign non-life insurer in almost a decade to receive regulatory approval from South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) to open a branch in Seoul operating with a local insurance license.
AGCS has been active in the South Korean market for several years providing reinsurance capacity for local insurers. AGCS Asia’s current regional footprint includes Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, China, India, Brunei and Myanmar. Asian business contributed 5% to AGCS overall global premium volume in 2016. AGCS said that it saw significant opportunities for growth in the corporate and specialty insurance segment in South Korea. “The country’s rising number of large infrastructure projects in railways, ports and subway lines, and a focus on environmental liability require tailored insurance solutions with significant capacity”, the Allianz-owned insurer said.
AGCS South Korea branch will focus on serving companies with multinational operations extending beyond the country. In 2016, AGCS led 2,500 such programs with approximately 19,000 local policies. It will offer a variety of product lines, including Engineering, Financial Lines, Property, Marine, MidCorp and Liability.