At Swiss Re, we recognise the increasingly important role that Islamic reinsurance, or Retakaful, plays.
In October 2009, as a sign of our clear commitment to Islamic insurance, we opened a dedicated Retakaful operation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and are extending to Takaful operators worldwide our Family Retakaful solutions, which have been available in the Middle East since 2006, and introducing General Retakaful solutions.
Clients can trust our solutions, backed by Swiss Re’s global expertise, financial strength and Shari’a (Islamic law) credibility.
We look forward to deploying our expertise and capacity to meet the needs of existing and new clients for Retakaful that is fully-Shari’a-compliant while contributing to the growth of Takaful worldwide.
Takaful is a form of insurance that complies with the fundamentals of the Shari'a (Islamic law). It is a system based on the principles of mutual assistance and voluntary contribution, where risks are shared collectively and voluntarily by a group of participants. Takaful has been developed as a Shari’a-compliant alternative to conventional insurance which contains impermissible elements such as uncertainty and interest.
In sigma report no 5/2008 “ Insurance in emerging markets: overview and prospects for Islamic insurance”, Swiss Re revealed that the average annual growth rate for Takaful between 2004 and 2007 was an estimate 25% (adjusted for inflation), versus 10.2% in the conventional market.
Takaful premiums of approximately USD 1.7bn were written in 2007, and it is estimated that the global Takaful market could reach USD 7bn by 2015. The 1.5bn Muslims around the world, and also non-Muslims interested in the principles underpinning Shari’a-compliant products, represent a growing client segment for the insurance sector.
As a full-service provider, we offer our products and services in all the business lines usually available to Takaful, including:
