Brookfield Corp. plans to build its property and casualty insurance business as it looks to exploit a corner of th
e insurance industry in which the firm has a competitive edge an
d hasn’t been crowded by other private equity players.
The firm is seeking “a relatively low-risk” area of property and casualty insurance “where we can become glob
ally dominant and create float to invest into our strategies,” particul
arly its higher-earning equity strategies, Chief Executive Officer Bruce
Flatt said in an interview Tuesday at the Goldman Sachs Financial Services Conference.
Brookfield is focused on areas “where we have something special,” including underwriting insurance for rea
l estate construction and warehouses, he said.
Read more: Brookfield Turns Focus to Insurance as Source of Fresh Capital
While annuities remain Brookfield’s largest business within insurance, the firm wants to grow the property an
d casualty insurance business, which currently makes up a small portion of its book.
Watch More Image Part 2 >>>
P/C accounted for just $3.5 billion of equity as of the second quarter, but Brookfield aims to grow that to $30 billi
on to $50 billion in the long run by writing policies for real estate construc
tion, industrial warehouses and renewable power facilities.
The Canadian firm has been aggressively expanding its insurance and wealth business, snapping up co
mpanies in the US, pushing into the UK market and, more recently, expa
nding into Japan’s reinsurance market.
Flatt also said Tue
sday that he expects asset sales to accelerate in the US as interest rates drop.
“You’re going to see a lot of more monetizations in the United S
tates and that’s good for us — but it’s also good for the industry in gene
ral,” said Flatt, who’s also the CEO of New York-based Brookfield Asset Management.