The operation will, said the underwriter, target business opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region through a new branch office in Dubai.

“The company will be represented in this region by a new branch of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Allianz Risk Transfer AG,” it added. “This branch will be led by Sanjeev Badyal, with a total staff of 17 employees, and will form part of AGCS’s Asia Pacific & MENA region, which is under the overall leadership of Lutz Fullgraf, based in Singapore. “

The branch will offer “the full range of AGCS products as a facultative reinsurer, including Property, Engineering, Marine and Casualty, as well as specialist services such as Energy, Aviation, and Financial Lines,” it added.

“We‘ve set up this Branch of Allianz Risk Transfer AG as the best way to service our MENA clients by offering them local access to AGCS’s global products and best in class service, supported by our worldwide network,” said AGCS CEO Axel Theis.  

The statement added: “Allianz has been active in the MENA region for more than 30 years, and this move is a continuation of AGCS’s strategy of developing local teams in core client markets to focus on major corporate and specialist risks, having announced new operations in Japan, Brazil, Mexico and Hong Kong within the last 6 months.”

The branch has obtained its license from the Dubai Financial Services Authority and will be based in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

It will effectively take over Allianz’s facultative reinsurance operations in the DIFC which were previously carried out by Allianz SE Reinsurance Branch Dubai (Allianz Re Dubai). Under the new structure the existing facultative team from Allianz Re Dubai will now move to Allianz Risk Transfer AG’s Dubai Branch.