Standard Chartered to distribute Allianz general insurance products under 15-year agreement

German insurer Allianz has teamed up with Standard Chartered Bank for a 15-year bancassurance agreement under which the bank will sell all Allianz’s general insurance products, the two banks jointly announced on Thursday.

The agreement would mean Standard Chartered bank will sell all Allianz products including travel, personal accident, fire and motor insurance products to the bank’s clients in five key markets across Asia including Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and mainland China from this year.

Asia’s demand for non-life insurance is expected to grow at 10.8 per cent per annum over the next four years to reach a total market size of approximately US$280 billion by 2020, driven by emerging markets growth and Asia’s rising insurance penetration rates.

“Allianz and Standard Chartered Bank have a lot of common values in terms of services to our customers. We both have invested a lot in technology and our digital platforms. We believe the two firms are a good fit,” Lars Heibutzki, chief distribution officer of Asia Pacific of Allianz, told the South China Morning Post in a telephone interview.

Allianz has also teamed up with several other banks to sell its products across Asia.