The board of a $17 billion bancassurance firm will soon issue its verdict on the fate of its floundering life insurance unit.

Reports suggest that the Suncorp board, headed by Ziggy Switkowski, will resolve as early as next month whether to proceed with the auction of its life insurance operations.

The review of the company’s life insurance business has already been communicated to investors by Suncorp CEO Michael Cameron, according to Street Talk; but so far, no statement has been issued with regards to the timing of any moves to commence a sale.

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Luminis Partners and Nomura had been hired to conduct said review.

Suncorp had organised meetings with industry players to gauge their appetite with regards to acquiring the life division.

Sources suggested that while interest levels were varied, a number of industry players were lukewarm on the acquisition as it required a turnaround and had pulled back from distribution, Street Talk reported.

This tepid response may also have been partly due to some local and offshore industry players getting distracted by the impending sale of ANZ Banking Group’s wealth unit.


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