Generali Group

The Generali Group (known in Italy as Assicurazioni Generali) is one of the most significant players in the global insurance and financial products market. Founded in 1831 in Trieste, Italy, the Group operates a multichannel distribution strategy through a global proprietary sales network of agents, financial advisors and brokers, supported by bancassurance and direct channels (internet and telephone) where it is Europe’s leader.

Now present in more than 60 countries, Generali has consolidated its position among the world’s leading insurance operators, with significant market shares in western Europe – its main area of activity – and particularly in Germany, France, Austria, Spain, Switzerland and Central and Eastern Europe. The Group has also set up offices in the main markets of the Far East, including India and China.

Its Brazil arm was in the news in mid-2019 after launching 'Smart Auto', a flexible motor insurance proposition that analyses and scores how a person drives, offering insurance discounts of up to 30% to safe drivers. The app is powered by MyDrive Solutions, a UK venture that was acquired by the Generali Group in 2015.

In its core insurance business, the Generali Group is primarily focused on the life segment, where it is the European leader. Its offer ranges from savings and family protection policies to unit-linked policies and complex plan for multinationals. In the non-life segment, its portfolio ranges from mass-market coverage such as Car, Home, Accident & Health, to sophisticated commercial and industrial risk coverage.

Generali is a leader in the retail segment and it is increasing its contribution to the commercial and corporate business, in which it serves medium and large companies at international level leveraging the Group’s global reach and its strong ties with international brokers. In addition, Generali is among the world’s major players in the field of assistance, through the Europ Assistance Group, which provides worldwide services in the motor, travel, health, home and family lines of business.

In 2019 Generali announced a strategic partnership with Google, through which the companies will create and innovate a cloud-based platform of customised products and services. Though originating in the Italian arm of the company, the partnership will ultimately extend to and benefit the entire Generali Group.

Generali launched an Innovation Fund in January 2020 to help foster a culture of innovation across Generali, with Group Chief Digital Officer Steven Zuanella leading the project. Anyone at Generali is eligible to apply; the only requirement is "a good idea".

Generali strategically partnered with Ticinum Aerospace in November 2020 to develop Deep Property, a new solution which provides satellite data and street-level images. When combined with Generali's AI-powered risk modelling processes, it extracts property information to enable Generali help end-customers mitigate natural catastrophe risks, and further strengthening Generali's underwriting and claims capabilities.

In March 2021 it was announced that a new €24m healthtech ecosystem would be launched by Generali Sanofi, Capgemini, and Orange in June 2021 to promote and accelerate new solutions in Europe. The project will focus on selected themes for 1-2 year periods, and aims to bring together the founding companies, as well as other organisations and startups from across the healthcare, insurance, technology and education sectors. The ecosystem will promote knowledge and technology sharing and will develop new solutions from scratch.

Also in March 2021, Generali partnered with YAS Digital for Hong Kong's first passenger microinsurance product, RYDE, which includes coverage for public transport like buses, taxis and ferries. The on-demand cover, which can be activated through one tap of the app, aims to help better protect people on busy roads - Hong Kong has an average of 44 traffic accidents a day.

That same month, Generali France announced a multi-year partnership with insurtech Akur8, to leverage the latter's proprietary transparent AI-powered pricing solution in Generali's rate-making capabilities. The move will enable Generali France to increase their modeling speed by 5x, significantly reducing time-to-market.

In October 2021 it was revealed that Cattolica had been acquired by Generali for €1.17 billion, to strengthen the latter's position in its domestic market. Generali now holds a 84.5% stake in Cattolica, taking into account shares previously owned.

In April 2022 Generali and virtual bank ZA Bank launched a bancassurance partnership. The collaboration, the first of its kind in Hong Kong, will provide a new innovative life insurance products which covers different stages of a customer's life. The in-app experience aims to be simple and seamless, and help ZA Bank in their mission to provide their 500k+ customers 360 protection.

In July 2022 Generali partnered with flood insurtech Previsico to increase their UK flood emergency response readiness. Customers will be able to receive email alerts and access a flood dashboard which can predict the time and depth of flooding up to 48H in advance by leveraging hydrodynamic modelling, drawing on data sources like satellite imagery and weather data from MET.

Airbnb launched its travel insurance product in 2022. The new offering was launched in the US in collaboration with global insurer Generali and will be made available in markets outside of the US. The new travel insurance product will offered at checkout and will enable users to buy extensive travel insurance covering a variety of different risks. The new policy also offers a 100% refund of the reservation costs if the trip gets cancelled.