Winterthur and Skandia sign cooperation
Winterthur and Skandia sign cooperation agreement Winterthur and Skandia have today signed a cooperation agreement whereby Winterthur's sales force will in future sell Skandia's unit linked products in Switzerland, in addition to Winterthur's own unit linked life insurance. Winterthur and Skandia are thereby creating an even stronger position in the rapidly growing unit linked insurance market. Skandia is an established leader in the area of unit linked life insurance. It was the first company to offer unit linked insurance in the Swiss market in 1990, and continues to be Number One in the Swiss broker market (distribution through independent insurance brokers) for this product. Overall in the unit linked insurance market in Switzerland in 1998, Skandia gained third place behind Winterthur and Providentia (Swissca/Cantonal Banks). "Skandia conducts its operations worldwide under the Specialists in cooperation concept. Winterthur fits very well into our strategy of working together with the best fund managers and distribution partners", stated Börje Denter, General Manager of Skandia Leben. With a premium income amounting to SEK 43 billion in the first six months of 1999, Skandia is one of the largest provider of unit linked life insurance worldwide. Winterthur estimates that, in the medium term, around one third of new business in the individual life insurance sector will be unit linked life insurance. With an optimistic view of the future, Hansjörg Frei, Head of the Group Area Switzerland at Winterthur, comments: "Our insurance and financial advisors now have the combined Winterthur and Skandia range of unit linked products at their disposal, and are therefore able to cover very different customer needs". Further information, please contact: Peter Frick, Head Multidistribution Leben, Winterthur Versicherungen, telephone: 052 261 25 10 Toni Künzli, Director Marketing & Sales, Skandia Leben, telephone: 01 388 28 40 Ruedi Steiner, Media Relations, Winterthur Versicherungen, telephone: 052 261 60 10 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/10/08/19991008BIT00390/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/10/08/19991008BIT00390/bit0002.pdf