Research and Markets: Qatar Insurance Report 2011

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/bccaf6/qatar_insurance_re) has announced the addition of the "Qatar Insurance Report 2011" report to their offering.

The 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.

The global financial crisis, which reached its critical phase in late 2008, appears to have had little impact on the development of Qatar's insurance sector. The results that have been published by the five locally listed Qatari insurance companies al-Khaleej Takaful Insurance & Reinsurance, Doha Insurance, Qatar General Insurance & Reinsurance, Qatar Insurance Company and Qatar Islamic Insurance Company indicate that total premiums rose at a measured pace from 2006 to 2008, before falling slightly in 2009. On the basis of the results that the companies have reported in relation to H110, BMI are looking for premiums to achieve single-digit growth this year.

BMI believe that total premiums in 2010 amounted to QAR4,554mn. This includes non-life premiums of QAR4,337mn and life premiums of QAR217mn. In 2015, the corresponding figures should be QAR9,035mn, QAR8,319mn and QAR716mn. In terms of the key drivers that underpin the authors forecasts, they are looking for non-life penetration to rise from 0.83% of GDP in 2010 to around 1.10% by 2054. They are looking for life density to grow from US$39.72 per capita in 2010 to US$115.71 in 2015. Because of the small absolute size of Qatar's insurance sector, BMIs proprietary Insurance Business Environment Rating (IBER) for the country is a relatively low 45.8.

In short, much of the growth in the insurance sector is being driven by the rapid expansion of the economy. Rapid economic growth is, in turn, being driven by the rise of, and officially-sanctioned diversification away from, gas. BMI see the development of the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) as a very positive factor. In mid-2010, the QFC Regulatory Authority began discussions with interested parties in relation to the promotion of captive insurers. However, they note that, in advancing ambitions to turn Qatar into a regional financial centre, the authorities face significant competition from nearby rivals such as Bahrain and Dubai. BMI projections assume that life insurance, which is not a major business for the five national companies, will grow quickly. If their confidence is vindicated, a beneficiary will be ALICO, formerly a subsidiary of AIG but now of MetLife. However, the authors would emphasise that the life segment is a small part of the Qatar insurance sector and that Qatar is a (very) small part of ALICOs overall business.

Al-Khaleej Takaful's renaming and re-orientation from a conventional insurer to a takaful operator (with effect from the beginning of 2010) is indicative of that company's recognition of the opportunities from Islamic finance in general and takaful in particular. BMI accept the proposition that the decade 2010-2020 will be the period in which Islamic and takaful move to the mainstream. In the short-term, though, takaful will account for a (small) minority of total insurance premiums in most predominantly-Muslim countries. Qatar is no exception to this.

Key Features of This Report

This report is structurally similar to its predecessor. However BMI have updated information to take into account developments that have taken place over the course of 2009. In particular, they have incorporated the various press releases issued by the Qatar Financial Centre Authority and the financial results of the five listed local insurance companies in periods ending 30 June 2010.

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