BCR Asigurari de Viata doubles business

BCR Asigurari de Viata (BCR Life Insurance) posted sales worth 60.5 million RON (18.3 million euros) in the first three quarters of the year, almost double the level registered during the same period in 2006 (up over 89%). The value of the company’s assets increased 41%, to 141.3 million RON (over 44 million euros). BCR Asigurari de Viata registered a 3.7 million-RON (approximately 1.1 million-euro) gross profit during the same period. “There was an increase in gross underwritten premiums for all the company’s products. There was a significant rise for pension-related savings products,” explained company officials. BCR Asigurari de Viata is also present on the voluntary pensions market and is preparing to launch unit-linked products. These are life insurance products linked to investment funds, which cover the risk of death and place a portion of the premium paid by the insured party with funds managed by the insurer, or by an external manager. Other life insurance companies that have published financial results for the first nine months of the year are Omniasig Life (a 28% rise, to 10.9 million euros), Aviva (up 36%, to 17.9 million euros) and Grawe (a 30% rise, to 16 million euros). At the end of September, BCR Asigurari de Viata had 92 employees and 800 insurance advisors operating in 43 agencies. The company was set up at the end of 2005, when it took over the life insurance portfolio of BCR Asigurari.