Swan Insurance plans to boost gross premiums

Swan Insurance Co., Mauritius’s second-largest insurer by market value, plans to boost gross premiums as much as 15 percent in 2011 by selling more policies to consumers, Chief Executive Officer Louis Rivalland said.

“The corporate risk market is reaching saturation,” Rivalland said in an April 7 interview in Port Louis, the capital. “In the personal-insurance segment, there’s still progress in margins, which is why the group has positioned itself to be more visible on that side. Through a more consumer- friendly approach, we estimate growth to be between 10 to 15 percent.”

Mauritius’s insurance penetration, calculated using premiums as a percentage of gross domestic product, was 2.1 percent in 2009, according to data from the Financial Service’s Commission’s2010 statistical bulletin. That compares with 8.4 percent in the European Union, according to the Organization of Economic Co-Operation and Development’s website. About 29 percent of Mauritius’s population has life insurance.

Swan is the oldest insurance company on the Indian Ocean island nation, having started operations in 1854, Rivalland said. The company provides household and vehicle insurance, while its Anglo-Mauritius Assurance Society Ltd. unit deals with life insurance, pensions, actuarial and investment business. Mauritius Union Assurance Co. (MUA) is the nation’s biggest insurer.

Swan’s gross premium income advanced 14 percent to 2.9 billion rupees ($103.9 million) in the year through December 2010, while profit rose 5.2 percent to 203.7 million rupees, according to a statement published on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius’s website on March 31.

The insurer plans to expand in Africa following a venture in the Seychelles, an Indian Ocean archipelago, where it operates in partnership with the state-owned pension fund.

“We’re working to reduce dependency on our domestic market, by scouting for opportunities in mainland Africa, India and Europe to some extent,” Rivalland said, without giving further details as talks are still ongoing.