Insurance companies in Lebanon may have a future filled with potential but their presence is also stacked with risk. Although sector growth in 2011 to date has not been bad at all — data for the second quarter imply 17 percent expansion of premiums in the first half of the year (see story on sector statistics page 56) — growth in key segments of domestic insurance demand raises questions and interaction with global partners is also set for some challenging times. In an interview with Executive, Assaad Merza, the president of the Association of Insurance Companies in Lebanon and chairman of Capital Insurance, said that although the sector shows good numbers in terms of the underwritten premiums that represent the industry’s turnover, “all insurance companies do not write large profits.” He added that a majority of people in the population tend to buy only medical insurance because of its importance
