Axco Insurance Information Services (Axco), a leading provider of business information services to the insurance industry, has announced its debut into the Mena market in partnership with Dubai-based RefPoint Business Consultants.
UK-based Axco has been providing country and region-specific critical information services to global insurance players for the last 50 years and will offer its research and data services to the Mena market through the RefPoint partnership.
“With an optimistic outlook for premium growth, Mena offers significant expansion opportunities for the insurance industry. Regulatory improvements, population expansion and the removal of sanctions in Iran all lend themselves to an increased appetite for insurance across the region,” said Tim Yeates, Axco’s managing director, on the rationale of the company’s entry into the Mena market.
He said the introduction of compulsory insurances means the take-up of medical insurance is rapidly increasing, as well as motor penetration as regulations around third party liability improve and car ownership grows. Through an increasing awareness of risks around critical illness and early death, life insurance also has significant potential.
The partnership will focus on the markets of the UAE, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt.
“Markets in the Middle East vary greatly with many of their inherent challenges, opportunities in waiting. Such obstacles can include geopolitical instability, differing levels of local insurance regulation, a general lack of awareness of insurance and insurance products as well as the need to adhere to EU and US sanctions. The opportunities that the Mena region offers can only be realised if relevant market players are aware of the challenges they face when expanding their operating models,” said Ken Maw, a leading regional insurance market expert and chairman of RefPoint.
He said that via its information servicing model, Axco is committed to supplying the business critical intelligence necessary to facilitate the identification and understanding of opportunities and risks across the region as well as any barriers to entry.
“The newly formed Dubai based partnership is a demonstration of their commitment to working from within the region to develop Axco’s range of services to meet the specific information requirements of Mena based users,” Maw added.
The new regional presence will provide an augmented understanding of in-country issues and RefPoint will assist Axco in developing regional specific solutions to complement their existing range of services which are currently utilised by leading (re)insurers, brokers and consultants across the globe.
Also relevant to Middle Eastern users, Axco's existing offering of territorial reports, data services and compliance tools will provide subscribers in the Mena region with a unique level of business intelligence and insight. – TradeArabia News Service