Last week, Triglav announced that, in cooperation with the well-established partners Prima Assicurazioni and Ageas Re, it is entering the Italian motor insurance market. This move is expected to yield significant top-line growth in 2025 and an increase in 2026, leading to Triglav also announcing that it should record a 33% increase in its business volume in 2025 over its previous 2025 target.
Triglav, the largest insurance provider in the Adria region, announced some significant news last week regarding its growth this year and next. According to the news published last week on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange, Triglav has, in cooperation with its well-established partners Prima Assicurazioni and Ageas Re, entered the Italian motor insurance market.
Triglav Group is strategically expanding its international footprint through innovative partnerships and reinsurance-driven models. This approach aligns with its ambition to grow beyond existing markets and enhance global recognition. There, Triglav is operating under the Managing General Agent (MGA) model, which is a type of intermediary between an insurer and the customer, often with broader authority than a typical agent or broker. In this model, the MGA acts on behalf of an insurance company, issuing policies, collecting premiums, and handling claims. The insurance risk is still underwritten by the insurer, but the MGA performs most of the operational duties. Reinsurance is also involved, where part of the risk is passed on to a reinsurer. In 2024, Triglav’s business model is exemplified by its collaboration with Trasti in Poland. There, the Group operates via an MGA model through Trasti, an InsurTech company that commenced operations in March 2021. Here, Swiss Re is also involved as a reinsurer, with which Trigav shares risk in a 50%-50% share. Now the same business model is being applied to the Italian market.
Going into more details, Triglav aims to partner with insurance agency Prima Assicurazioni and with Ageas Re, the reinsurance arm of one of the largest European insurance groups, the Belgian Ageas Group. Furthermore, Triglav noted that “Prima is a fast-growing Insurtech company that has been operating for ten years, serves more than four million clients, and is the market leader in direct motor insurance sales in Italy.”
The Group estimates that in 2026, it will generate app. EUR 400m in business volume through Prima, representing up to 20% of Prima’s insurance portfolio in Italy. In 2025, this share will be temporarily higher, supported by an 80% quota share reinsurance agreement with Ageas Re. This new business volume is expected to increase Triglav’s business volume in 2025 by app. one third above the original target of over EUR 1.8bn, to app. EUR 2.4bn.
The Group noted that this move is aligned with the Group’s strategic ambition to diversify its operations internationally, both in terms of business volume and profitability. According to initial estimates, this new business is expected to significantly increase Triglav’s planned total business volume in 2025, while its impact on Triglav’s earnings will become materially significant in the coming years. Under IFRS 17, the impact of reinsurance ceded (like 80% share of reinsurance ceded to Ageas Re) is not shown in the gross revenue or expenses, only in the “Net reinsurance service result” section of the income statement. Of the EUR 400m total (of Prima business), only 20% or EUR 80m retained is recognized in insurance revenue. Therefore, we expect Triglav’s insurance revenue to increase by a high double-digit percentage in 2025, while net income is expected to increase by at least a high single-digit percentage in 2025.
The entry into the Italian motor insurance market will significantly contribute to Triglav Group’s strategy to 2030, by enabling significant international diversification of its profitability and business volume. In the medium term, the Group expects the new business to deliver solid underwriting profitability, supported by additional returns on investment from an increased insurance portfolio.
Impact of this deal on Triglav’s business volume (2025 new estimate vs. 2025 plan and 2024 actuals, EURm)
Source: Triglav, InterCapital Research
We also included the following commentary from Triglav’s CEO, Andrej Slapar: “Our strategic ambition is to grow beyond existing markets and enhance Triglav Group’s international recognition. The Italian motor insurance market presents a strong opportunity to support this goal, and we are pleased to be working with well-established partners Prima and Ageas Group. Triglav Group will continue to explore opportunities for further growth and for delivering on the other objectives set out in our strategy.“
As well as the commentary from the CEO of Ageas, Hans De Cuyper: “The agreement with Triglav Group aligns well with many aspects of our newly launched strategy, Elevate27. This collaboration enables us to enter a promising European growth market in Non-Life insurance and achieve profitable growth through a partner with a strong market position.”
And lastly, the commentary from Joachim Racz, CEO of Ageas Re: “I am pleased to announce this partnership. Along with the entire Ageas Re team, I look forward to establishing a successful collaboration, offering high-quality insurance products to the Italian customer distributed by Prima. We would also like to thank Howden Re for the excellent management of the process and the transaction.”