{"id":13657,"date":"2022-08-31T15:53:52","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T15:53:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asquarepartners.com\/?p=13657"},"modified":"2022-08-31T16:13:00","modified_gmt":"2022-08-31T16:13:00","slug":"keeping-up-with-the-market-jul-aug-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asquarepartners.com\/en\/keeping-up-with-the-market-jul-aug-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Up With The Market – Jul\/Aug 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every month we help you keep up with the Belgian and Luxembourg insurance market.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mergers and Acquisitions<\/h2>\n

AXA & Monument<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a>          \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Back in December 2021, AXA<\/strong> was announcing the selling of a part of its life insurance portoflio to Monument<\/strong>‘s Belgian subsidiary. The regulator approve this deal in early August. In terms of technical reserves, the deal involved \u20ac2.6 billion of technical reserves.<\/p>\n

Previously, Monument had already bought similiar  portfolio in Belgium from Allianz Benelux, ABN AMORO Life Capital Belgium and Alpha Insurance. Also, the Bermuda-based insurer Monument acquired last year the company Integrale.<\/p>\n

Integrale<\/h4>\n

Appointed liquidator of former insurer Integrale last January, lawyer Nicholas Ouchinsky wishes the valuation of Integrale to make sure that there were no breaches of duty by Integrale’s former directors. To do so, he would like to appoint a panel of experts to analyse both Integrale and Monument Immo Management’s assets and liabilities.<\/p>\n

On 1 september 2022, Integrale’s shareholders and bondholers received a notice to exhcange during two generale meetings at The Merode. This event might be stormy given that in April’s general meeting, the closing of the 2021 accounts did not happen given the tensions between former administrators and temporary administrators appointed by the NBB. Eventually, the provisional administrators did the closing which will be submitted to the vote of Integrale’s shareholders.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Regulation<\/h2>\n

EU regulation: sustainable investment products<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a>        \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The EU issue a new regulation, based on MiFId and IDD directives, which came into force on 2 August 2022<\/strong>. From now on, banks, fund managers and insurers have to offer sustainable investment products<\/strong>. Federations representing the financial and insurance sectors welcome the objective of the text. Its implementation, however, will be complicated and time-consuming, according to Febelfin<\/strong> and Assuralia.<\/strong> However, Hein Lannoy – CEO of Assuralia, said: “This is the beginning of a very important evolution, which will have an impact on the whole society”, underlines Hein Lannoy, CEO of Assuralia.<\/p>\n

Base on sustainability criteria, new customers will be able to choose between three product categories, based on sustainability criteria. The new scheme applies to new customers. Existing customers will receive this information when their profile is updated.<\/p>\n

Despite this noble initiative, Assuralia & Febelfin mentioned several issues such as a “complex” and “incomplete” regulation. Indeed, the nomenclature for measuring the sustainability of investment products has not yet been established. “European regulations are moving at different speeds. This makes it difficult for insurers and financial institutions,” says Hein Lannoy, CEO of Assuralia.<\/p>\n

The two federations also critic that lack of reliable data which makes insurers and bankers currently unable to assess the sustainability of a company accurately. “This data is either lacking or not yet available in sufficient numbers. Companies will only be required to report on their sustainability performance from 2023 onwards”, points out Karel Baert, CEO of Febelfin, in a joint statement by the two federations.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Second pillar insurance: tax reform<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Ministry of Finance (FPS Finance)<\/strong> plans to reform second pillar insurance<\/strong>. The main objective is to extend access to all employees and progessively cancel the preferential treatment of a capital payment compared to an annuity payment and another tax rate on the capital payment following the 80% rule.<\/p>\n

According to De Tijd, Assuralia<\/strong> is apparently concerned about this new plan. The federation understands the desire for simplification but reminds that the second pillar requires trust. People set up their pension plans for the long term and therefore make an agreement with the tax authorities.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

News of the market<\/h2>\n

Ageas<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite the current context regarding inflation, Ageas<\/strong> stays confident about the second semester. For the first time, the board decided that the company would pay interim dividend. This is part of Ageas\u2019s strategy which aims at increasing dividend promise over the three years. Paying interim dividend allows them to reinforce this message to the shareholders who ask to distribute the available surplus capital.<\/p>\n

CEO Hans de Cuyper confirms Ageas\u2019s annual net profit target of one billion but agrees that it will require hard work given the inflation effect on the financial market. They expect to stabilize in Europe but less in the UK.<\/p>\n

As for life insurance, the sales in China jumped by 35% during the second quarter. This is explained among other things by the lockdowns and long-term quarantines, especially in Shanghai.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

FSMA<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dashboard on investment fraud<\/h5>\n

One of the main missions of the Financal Services and Market Authority (FSMA) is to combat illegal activities in the financial investments field. Early July, the authority published its biannual dashboard on investment fraud and illegal offers. It provides statistics and an overview of the main trends . this first edition highlights several elements for the first half of the year 2022:<\/p>\n