Talanx strengthens its market position in Chile through cooperation with BancoEstado

The partnership thereby contributes to the strategic goals of Talanx. Besides securing the Top 5 position in one of Latin America’s core markets, Talanx expects further growth and diversification of its international retail business. The collaboration will also drive digitalisation forward.

“We are proud to have concluded this agreement with BancoEstado and we are looking forward to work together. BancoEstado has a strong sales network and it is the biggest and most established banking brand in the Chilean market. This cooperation therefore takes us a great step forward in our strategic target region of Latin America – we are confident that the partnership will contribute to the further growth and success in Chile and in the International Retail Division,” commented Dr Wilm Langenbach, Member of the Board of Management of Talanx AG responsible for the International Retail Division and Chairman of the Management Board of HDI International AG.

“At the same time, the collaboration gives additional momentum to our digital transformation. We will merge the expertise of HDI in digital sales with the great wealth of experience held by BancoEstado in this area,” added Nicolas Masjuan, board member at HDI International AG responsible for Latin America. “With 9 million digital customers, BancoEstado has already a very strong digital reach.”

BancoEstado is the only state-owned bank in Chile. It is the market leader by deposits, sales network and number of customers in Chile. The sales network has more than 520 branches and more than 32,000 service points. This allows the bank to reach 91 % of the population.

Talanx has already been represented in the Chilean retail customer business through the HDI brand since 2008. In 2015, the insurer acquired the majority holding in insurance group Inversiones Magallanes and this made it one of the country’s leading composite insurers. Up to now, the focus in the non-life sector has been on motor products, some of which were already being marketed through banking partners. The aim now is to expand the P&C insurance portfolio with the new banking partnership – now the biggest partner for HDI Seguros – to further products such as unemployment insurance.

The cooperation is expected to generate a boost in premium volume to HDI’s business, adding a portfolio of CLP approximately 84 billion (EUR 93 million). HDI Seguros in Chile achieved gross written premiums of EUR 283 million in 2020. Talanx will finance the transaction from its existing equity capital and expects a slightly positive effect on earnings per share from 2023.