BMI's Executive Summary for the Israel Insurance Report

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As a moderately high-income country with a sophisticated financial services sector and a favourable regulatory regime that is presided over by the Ministry of Finance, Israel should be an attractive market for the world's insurers. Recent growth has been steady, if not spectacular. There are no legal barriers to participation by foreign insurers: indeed, the local subsidiary of Italy's Generali is one of the five largest players in both the non-life and the life segments. Israel's Insurance Business Environment Rating (IBER) – which is a new feature of this report – is high, relative to most other countries whose insurance sectors are covered by BMI and, in particular, relative to other countries in the Middle East.

However, the overall picture is unexciting. In the non-life segment, most of the growth has been in health insurance and personal liability insurance. Elsewhere in the segment, premiums have been stagnant. After a long wave of mergers and acquisitions, both the non-life and the life segments are dominated by five locally listed composite insurers. Some – such as Clal Insurance Pension & Finance Group, which recently bought the USA's Guard Financial – have expanded by buying niche insurers overseas. In general, though, the five leaders – Clal, Harel, Phoenix Insurance Company, Menorah Mivtachim and Migdal Insurance and Finance Holdings (the Generali subsidiary) – have little room to expand within Israel.

Competitive conditions have been brutal. Through 2007 growth in gross written premiums – of 9-10% in both the non-life and the life segments – has not been accompanied by anything like a similar growth in operating profit. In the first three quarters of 2007, each of the five leading insurers suffered a fall in operating profit from non-life and/or life insurance operations. AIG is the only international insurer other than Generali to participate in the Israeli insurance sector. It would be surprising if any other major sought to enter the market.

Competitive Landscape for The Middle East and Africa Insurance
    Reports: Sample of Companies Ranked

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A cross-border overview of key players and their insurance market share across the Middle East and Africa. Tables and graphs show country presence of multinationals across the region. Comparative company analyses and rankings by premium income (life and non-life). Company SWOTS for leading life and non-life insurers, covering network of offices, presence of foreign stakeholders, strategic relationships, joint ventures; portfolio of clients; diversity of product range; profit growth, investment strategy and risk exposure.

Network of Insurance Sources

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BMI's Middle Eastern and African Insurance Reports are based on an extensive network of multilateral organisations, government departments, insurance industry associations, chambers of commerce and company reports. Information sources include:

Read about our other Insurance Reports