QBE sets sail for growth; expands in Europe’s booming marine market
Australian insurer QBE is strategically expanding its marine division within Europe, tapping into the region’s significant growth opportunities.
QBE has launched a marine offer that will insure international trade for European customers who want to be serviced locally.
The marine insurance market has seen a strong performance from Europe while Asian growth appears to be slowing, according to the latest statistics from the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI). Marine premiums increased 8.3% to $35.5 billion in 2022 and almost half of this amount (47.7%) originated in Europe.
QBE said this line of business is offering a growth opportunity in Europe. As an international insurer with local presence in 28 countries, QBE aims to seize the opportunity offered by the European marine market and wants to position itself as a nimble actor in the sector.
A team of underwriters based across the continent is leveraging international expertise while delivering local service, under the management of Tania Bensoussan-Arthur, Marine practice lead – Europe.
To launch the marine product, QBE has been strengthening its underwriting teams in several European countries. It started writing marine in France in October 2022 and in the Nordics in April 2023. It is now launching in Germany after hiring Lars Habersaat as marine underwriter and Philip Specht as senior marine underwriter, both based in QBE’s Hamburg office. Other European countries are expected to follow in due time, with the Netherlands as a top priority, the company said.
Since marine is an international business, this European roll-out will support intelligence exchange while enabling a local approach, it added.
Tania Bensoussan-Arthur, marine practice lead – Europe, commented: “QBE has a long-standing marine business and it is very exciting for me to expand and roll out the product line locally into Germany after France and the Nordics. Trade routes are changing, cargo risks are evolving and our product aims at supporting the marine sector’s resilience. International trade requires international expertise combined with local knowledge and the European team will deliver this cross-border competence tailored to country-specific needs.”
Andrea Brock, general manager, QBE Deutschland, added: “We’re delighted to further expand our wide product range in Germany to cover most business risks. While marine is an international business, many customers in that industry are based in one country, where they want to be serviced. They prefer this local approach and that’s what we want to offer them. We hope brokers are as enthusiastic as we are.”
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