Income should walk away from Allianz

THE bombshell announcement last week that the government would block the proposed purchase of a majority stake in Income Insurance by Allianz has raised a number of questions.

Many of these relate to projections by the German insurer that Income could return S$1.85 billion in cash to its shareholders within three years of the transaction.

This, in turn, has raised questions about whether the deal – if that left Income with a much lower capital base – is consistent with Income’s social mission of providing accessible and inclusive insurance.