GIC Re to have a syndicate in Lloyd's market

PUNE: Country's sole reinsurer General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) is all set to have a syndicate in London-based Lloyd's market.

The company has also identified quite a few branches in some other countries so as to open its branches in the future.

GIC Re had recently acquired South African reinsurer Saxum Re.

"We will have a syndicate in Lloyd's (market), but I can't give you any timeframe for this as it's a continuing process," GIC Re's outgoing chairman and managing director A K Roy told PTI.

Roy, who will be retiring on July 31, was speaking on the sidelines of an event jointly being held by National Insurance Academy and Federation of Afro-Asian Insurers and Reinsurers here.

"Moreover, we will expand to some other countries. We have identified quite a few other countries to open our branches in future," he said without divulging any further details.

Replying to a query on how does he see the competition being posed by global reinsurers, he said that "We are already competing. The entire GIC Re team is ready to face any international competition."

When asked to comment on what were the measures that had been taken by him to strengthen GIC Re during his tenure, he said that,"young blood, training and exposure."

He explained that any stress in the global economy has an impact on the domestic reinsurance market and it was visible by the crisis in Greece, conflict in the Middle East and the recent development in China.

"These ongoing global developments will impact re-insurance market in India too," he said. He pointed at the oversupply of the capacity in the re-insurance market and the entry of alternate capital.
However, he sounded a positive note on the availability of data and experience by saying that "it can be employed for innovation and creating new areas of revenue generation."