Zurich Insurance Group has announced that its subsidiary, Zurich Investments Life S.p.A., has completed the sale of its life and pensions back book.
The back book, composed of both traditional and unit-linked policies, was sold to Portuguese insurance company GamaLife – Companhia de Seguros de Vida, S.A. (GamaLife).
The deal, first announced back in January 2022, aims to free up around US $1.2 billion of capital, and the disposal of these legacy Italian policies is expected to add eight percentage points to Zurich’s Swiss Solvency Test ratio.
It also significantly reduces Zurich’s exposure to credit risk and the company called it the “first step in a series planned to significantly improve capital allocation across the Group.”
In the Italian marketplace, Zurich now intends to focus on underwriting and selling protection and unit-linked solutions. The insurer also said there will be no change to its contractual obligations toward policyholders and distributors.
Zurich assured that the transaction does not change contractual obligations toward policyholders and distributors, and confirmed that it will continue to offer protection and unit-linked solutions to customers in Italy.
