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* Wants to expand proportion of non-life business
* Acquisition possible across countries where it operates
* Insurance partnership with Tesco unharmed by retailer'stroubles
By Carolyn Cohn
LONDON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Belgian insurer Ageas wants to increase its focus on non-life business - whichincludes motor, home and travel insurance - and could do sothrough acquisition, its chief executive said on Friday.
The medium-sized European insurer, which started business in2010 as a result of the break-up of Dutch-Belgian lender Fortis,has previously said it has an end-2015 target to have 40 percentof its business in the non-life market and 60 percent in thelife and pensions sector. The breakdown is 33 percent and 67percent currently.
"First we try to increase our presence organically," Bart deSmet told Reuters in an interview, though he added thatacquisitions could be a faster way to grow business.
"Where we look to acquisitions, it would first be incountries where we already are, we know the market."
De Smet said moving further into the non-life sector wouldincrease diversification for the company - a holy grail forEuropean insurers with the arrival of new Solvency II regulationnext year that penalises those with a narrower focus.
Non-life business is also shorter term than the life andpensions insurance market, giving the company more agility toswitch from underperforming products, de Smet added.
Ageas's biggest markets are Belgium and Britain, but it alsohas operations elsewhere in Europe, including Portugal andItaly, and in emerging markets in Asia and Turkey.
Acquisitions were possible in any of these markets, de Smetsaid.
Ageas UK has partnerships with household names such as Tesco and Virgin Money to offer insurance, and is one of thelargest motor insurers in Britain. Ageas UK bought the Britishinsurance unit of French firm Groupama two yearsago.
Mergers and acquisitions have become a hot topic forinsurers after three big deals in recent months - Britishinsurer Aviva's $8.8 billion acquisition of Friends Life, XL's $4 billion purchase of Lloyd's of London'sCatlin and Axis Capital's $11 billion mergerwith PartnerRe.
Other companies that have aroused M&A speculation includeLloyd's insurers Lancashire and Novae, andU.S.-listed firms Aspen and Endurance.
British pension reforms have heightened speculation aboutfurther mergers in the life sector, while stricter rules underSolvency II are also expected to drive consolidation in Europe.
In Britain, Ageas UK Chief Executive Andy Watson said thefirm's partnership with Tesco was not affected by recenttroubles at Britain's largest retailer, which is beinginvestigated after overstating its profits last year.
"The Tesco insurance business does not appear to have beenimpacted at all," he said.
Ageas reports its annual results on Feb. 12. (Editing by Simon Jessop and Susan Thomas)
