Life Insurance Search

Barclays has finally ended speculation about its future in the life insurance sector by announcing it will sell all of its life cover operations to Swiss Re.

Swiss Re is believed to have paid £753 to take control of all Barclays’ life insurance business, including critical illness cover and both level and decreasing term life insurance plans. Despite being closed to new business since 2000, Barclays Life still managed around 760,000 policyholders.

Chris Lucas, group finance director at Barclays, commented, “Barclays Life is an attractive, high quality business which is not core to Barclays. 

“We are confident that Swiss Re, with its expertise in this area, will offer policyholders continuity of service and support.”

An analyst at investment bank Cazenove described Barclays’ sale of its life insurance business as “a sensible transaction that will benefit the group's regulatory capital without material earnings dilution.”