Allianz SE, the holding company of the German insurer Allianz Group, is strategically aiming to drive their business growth by targeting the insurance markets of China and India, boosted by revenue generated by the sale of both life and non-life insurance products.

Chinese Insurer, Taiping Life Insurance Co., has been given approval by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) to set up its newest provincial branch in Hainan Province. With approval from the CIRC to open the new branch office, Taiping Life Insurance will now have 35 provincial branches throughout China. Hainan Province's insurance market brought in RMB 2.94 billion (USD 433 million) in…

CNA insurance company has recently entered into an agreement with RSA, formerly known as Royal & SunAlliance, to provide companies based in the US with access to the global distribution network of RSA. Through this agreement, CNA will be able to expand its reach to India, South Africa, Australia and a good number of countries in Latin America. This new agreement with RSA does not discontinue the current 16-year alliance that CNA has with Assicurazioni Generali.

After having received approval from Britain's Financial Services Authority and the South African Reserve Bank, the acquisition of Standard Life's health insurance division, Standard Life Healthcare, by Discovery Holdings has been completed, putting PruHealth in a strong position for growth. The finalized acquisition and integration of the companies over the next few months will make PruHealth…

The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) of Taiwan has recently announced it has rejected the planned purchase of the life insurance unit of AIG in Taiwan by Primus Financial Holdings Ltd. It is believed the FSC had concerns about Primus, which is based in the Cayman Islands, may be backed by funds from mainland China, thus in violation of the Taiwan law that prohibits Chinese investment in the financial sector.

Philadelphia-based health insurance company CIGNA has announced the recent acquisition of privately owned Vanbreda International, a leading international health insurance company headquartered in Belgium.  The deal between the two companies gives CIGNA unprecedented access to the larger international expatriate health insurance market; the two companies have an estimated 700,000 policyholders…

China Life Insurance Company Limited (China Life), the largest life insurance company in China by premium, has started to shift its sales strategy towards the bancassurance distribution channels. As a first for the company, the bancassurance channel has contributed more than 70% of the company's insurance premiums for the first half of 2010, becoming a vital premium generator for the company.

Stuart Leatherby has been appointed as the Managing Director to head up Aetna's expatriate health insurance business, Aetna Global Benefits, in the Middle East and Africa. Leatherby has been working with Aetna Global Benefits since 2000, and prior to his promotion he has been working as the head of Aetna Global Benefits' International Markets Development team where he was responsible for expanding…

Allianz Group, the German insurer, has reported a profit of US$4.95 billion (EUR 3.9 billion) for the first-half of 2010, equivalent to a 22% increase over the same period last year. Revenues during the first half of 2010 increased to US$71 billion (EUR 56 billion) from US$63.4 billion (EUR 49.9 billion) during the same period in 2009.

Ping An Insurance, the second largest insurer in the world, achieved a 27.9 percent increase in net profit in the first half of the year, reaching US1.65 billion (EUR 1.3 billion), attributing it to a steady growth in sales of insurance products and banking services.