MILAN:
Italy’s top insurer Generali on Wednesday said it is aiming to become a top player in asset management after confirming its 2021 financial targets despite the pandemic.
At an investor day on Wednesday, the insurer said asset management allowed it to expand its customer base and diversify revenues which it said remained resilient in the face of the health emergency.
The group’s long-term ambition is to position Generali among the top five multi-boutiques in the world by profits, it said. These are usually specialized investment divisions operating under the umbrella of a larger company.
“We have 2.5 billion euros for further acquisitions,” the insurer’s general manager Frederic de Courtois said in a presentation.
Slim, or even negative, yields are prompting insurers to expand asset management businesses to diversify investments that were traditionally focused on government and investment-grade bonds.
Chief Executive Philippe Donnet told the Financial Times newspaper on Wednesday the insurer was happy with its majority stake in Italian asset manager Banca Generali and was not in talks to sell it.
Europe’s third-biggest insurer confirmed dividends totaling 4.5-5.0 billion euros in 2019-2021 and a dividend payout of 55%-65%, subject to the regulatory outlook, after it delayed the second tranche of 2019 dividends to next year as requested by Italian regulators.