Munich Re to Set up Brazilian Subsidiary

Munich Re announced that, following the opening of the Brazilian reinsurance market (See IJ web site – https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2007/12/27/85928.htm), it plans to establish a subsidiary in São Paulo.

The reinsurer noted that choosing this site “is the solution that secures the best possible market access for the Group.”

Georg Daschner, whose responsibilities on Munich Re’s Board of Management include Latin America, indicated the Group was “very pleased that the Brazilian market has been opened for foreign reinsurers. Now we can offer reinsurance protection to primary insurers in Brazil in all lines of business and provide them with the Munich Re Group’s entire range of services. This creates promising new business opportunities for us.”

Munich Re has had a representative office in São Paulo for ten years and is therefore familiar with market conditions there.

Daschner explained that a local subsidiary “will enable us to give the market the best support possible and make our capacity extensively available to clients from the outset. And we will succeed in participating appropriately in the expected expansion of the market.”

Munich Re also noted that Brazil’s $27 billion premium income from primary insurance makes it “by far the largest insurance market in Latin America.” Reinsurance premium income was roughly $1.4 billion in 2006.

However, Munich Re said that it expects the “liberalization of the reinsurance market coupled with the country’s overall economic development…to make demand for reinsurance solutions in Brazil increase markedly.”

Source: Munich Re – www.munichre.com