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Qatar Insurance Report 2012
Business Monitor International, Nov 2011, Pages: 330
Business Monitor International's Qatar Insurance Report provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, insurance associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Qatar's insurance industry.
In the context of the Middle East & North Africa (MENA), Qatar’s insurance sector stands out for three reasons. First, the spectacular growth prospects of the overall economy provide opportunities for insurers that are even greater than they are elsewhere. Second, the organisations that are involved with Islamic finance (including takaful) are varied, active and inventive – notwithstanding that Qatar is not a particularly large market (yet) for Islamic financial products. Third, the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), which plays a key role in the government’s plans to diversify the economy, has a very strong regulatory regime and is clearly attracting regional/global multi-national insurance companies (as well as other financial institutions and service businesses such as law firms).
For the time being, the non-life segment is dominated by the five locally listed groups, of which Qatar Insurance Company (QIC) is by far the largest. Two of the five are structured as takaful operators, and a third has a takaful subsidiary. The main challenge in the short term is that the Qatari insurance companies are relatively small relative to the risks that they are underwriting: cession rates are high. The government has correctly recognised that reinsurance and captives are opportunities that can be developed through the QFC.
The main challenge for the life segment – as is the case across the GCC countries – is that the local population does not need to provide for long-term retirement (and other needs) through life insurance (or, indeed, other vehicles). The social security benefits that are available are extremely generous. This means that the opportunity for life insurance companies comes mainly from distributing products to expatriates. For the time being, Qatar’s life segment is significantly smaller than its counterpart in the UAE; however, the gap may reduce over the long-term.
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