The 18th “Quaderno” dedicated to the analysis of the relationships between Banks and Insurance Companies in Italy has been published on the IVASS website.
From reading the document, the following emerges in a nutshell:
- a) Cooperation between banks and insurance companies has 30 years of history and is a significant phenomenon now: in Italy over 40 per cent of life insurance products are sold through the banking channel, a value similar to that found in other European countries;
- b) The expectations in terms of expected profitability were initially high, but did not translate into positive results on average;
- c) the insurance companies more closely linked to the banking sector showed greater operational efficiency, measured in terms of a synthetic expense indicator, in the management of the life classes, but a worse operational efficiency in the management of the non-life classes;
- d) The legislation on capital (Basel III – Solvency II) has changed the related benefits (agreements vs equity investments).
To the question whether there has been a clear advantage for consumers from the Bancassurance phenomenon, it is not possible to give an answer to date.
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