Austrian insurer Wiener Stadtische to enter Polish life insurance market

Wiener Stadtische, an Austrian life insurer has made its debut in the Polish life insurance sector. Its newly created Towarzystwo Ubezpieczen na Zycie Vienna Life is expecting its first profits in three years and in the long run would like to control up to 5% of the life insurance market. "We want our company to become one of the ten leading life insurers in Poland," said chairman Kurt Ebner and added that in order to achieve that goal a purchase of another company already operating in the sector is planned. The new life insurer will offer five types of protective insurance, capital and time limited insurance and a new investment fund will be launched within a few weeks. The company is planning to open from five to ten agencies throughout Poland before the end of the year. Wiener Stadtische has been present in Poland for two years and has invested around zl. 73.3 million on the market, mainly in capital company Heros in which it holds 71%. This year, the firm will spend zl. 37 million mainly in Vienna Life. (Puls Biznesu, page 8)