Italy’s Generali has agreed to acquire 100% of Polish asset management company Union Investment TFI from Germany’s Union Asset Management, subject to regulatory approval.
Union Investment is Poland’s sixth-largest asset management company, with assets under management of €3.3bn (£2.9bn, $3.8bn).
The firm has approximately 135,000 retail investors and 550 institutional investors and offers equities, fixed income and absolute return funds.
Growth opportunity
Timothy Ryan, chief executive of Generali Asset Management, said: “In addition to our multi-boutique initiative for Europe announced in May 2017, we seek to benefit from the growth opportunity of central and eastern Europe, especially in Poland, the largest market in the region.
“We will be leveraging on the strong position of Generali Poland and Union Investment, combining our own expertise with that of experienced local investment professionals who have an excellent performance track record, to deliver the best possible investment solutions to customers.”
Luciano Cirinà, Austria, central and eastern Europe (CEE) & Russia regional officer and chief executive of Generali CEE, said: “The Austria, CEE & Russia region is pressing forward with the development of joint activities that combine insurance and asset management lines. We have already seen this process in Slovenia.
“The company will be supervised by our regional office in Prague as part of the asset management line. Going forward, we will be combining the skills and know-how of the Generali Group and the company to offer customers and business partners best-in-class insurance and financial products and services.”
Generali has been operating in Poland since 1998 and now has 1,300 local employees.
Steps towards asset management
The announcement marks the latest move by the Italian group to shift its core priorities towards asset management and away from life insurance, which saw the sale of Generali Worldwide to Utmost Wealth Solutions.
Generali Group has also sold its PanEurope business to Utmost, as well as offloading its life operations in Germany and Belgium.
Axa exits Ukraine
Elsewhere, Axa has entered into an agreement with Fairfax Financial Holdings to sell all its insurance operations in Ukraine and exit the Ukrainian market. Axa Insurance in the country is a joint venture between Axa and Ukrsibbank.
Under the terms of the agreement, Fairfax will acquire 100% of the non-life entity (Axa Insurance) and the life entity (Axa Insurance Life) in Ukraine. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.
