DIFC welcomes leading Indian insurer HDFC Life to its fold

Dubai / Emirates Business

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the global financial hub connecting businesses and institutions with emerging market opportunities across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, welcomed one of India’s leading insurers HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited (HDFC Life) to its diverse portfolio of clients.
HDFC International Life and Re Company Limited (HDFC International Life & Re), a wholly owned subsidiary of HDFC Life, has received a license from the independent regulator, Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to operate in the DIFC, the first Indian reinsurance firm to do so.
The incorporation of HDFC Life’s first international subsidiary aligns with its objective to serve as a reinsurance partner to life insurers in the UAE and across the GCC, a region with a growing insurance and reinsurance market set to reach US$62.1 billion by 2020.
This comes at a time when the reinsurance sector is well poised to boost and impact the future growth and investment climate of the region.
Through its presence in DIFC, HDFC International Life & Re will use DIFC as a specialist centre to provide a wide range of reinsurance services, including bespoke risk-transfer solutions and prudent underwriting solutions among other value added services. The move further cements DIFC as a top insurance and reinsurance hub with over 75 firms, more than 200 underwriters and premiums worth US$1.27 billion.
Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai International Financial Centre Authority, said: “We are pleased to welcome HDFC International Life & Re to DIFC, the first Indian insurance company to set up operations within our Centre. Built on the basis of a clear, stable and international competitive regulatory and legal system, we are confident DIFC’s supportive infrastructure and diverse client cluster will enable India’s leading insurer to access the region’s key markets and expand its growing business portfolio.
‘Serving as a hub for large
underwriting platforms, including Lloyd’s, DIFC offers a variety of services which we are confident will benefit HDFC Life as it expands its operations. With the recently established DIFC Insurance Association, for example, we offer a platform that enables collaboration among the Centre’s insurance cluster and encourages the development of innovative products for the market – a key focus of our 2024 growth strategy,” he added.
Commenting on the newly formed subsidiary, Sameer Yogishwar, Chief Executive Officer of HDFC International Life & Re, said: “While HDFC Life continues to go from strength to strength in India, we felt that this was the right time to expand our global footprint. Dubai continues to serve as a gateway for global business and investment into the
region. DIFC’s world-class legal and regulatory frameworks combined with Dubai’s unrivalled connectivity make it an ideal platform to access finance and investment across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. Dubai International Financial Centre was thus our natural choice as the jurisdiction from where we intend to offer niche life reinsurance capacity in the UAE market and then extend our reach across the GCC region.
He added: “Over a period of time, HDFC International Life & Re not only looks forward to becoming the life (re)insurer of choice in the region, but also plans to leverage its wealth of experience in the insurance space by writing direct insurance contracts in other jurisdictions in GCC with regulatory approvals.”