Trade Republic Sets Up Its Own Life Insurer in Liechtenstein
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First a broker, then a bank, now an insurer: Trade Republic has set up a life insurer of its own in Liechtenstein. Justinian Versicherungs AG, based in Vaduz, recently received a license for life insurance (in German) from Liechtenstein’s financial regulator, the FMA. The industry publication Versicherungsmonitor was the first to report the news. Until recently, the company was called Trade Republic Assurance AG.
A Guarantee for Germany’s New Pension Account
The license covers traditional life insurance as well as unit-linked life insurance. However, Trade Republic does not plan to sell classic policies such as disability insurance, according to WirtschaftsWoche (in German). Instead, the insurer is “a means to an end” for the Altersvorsorgedepot, Germany’s new state-subsidized pension investment account, which is set to replace the Riester pension from 2027.
Specifically, it is likely to be about a third option: a pension account with a contribution guarantee. Savers who choose it get back at least 80 or 100 percent of their contributions when they retire, but give up returns in exchange. Unlike the two options announced so far, the guaranteed version at Trade Republic will reportedly not be free, and its cost is unknown. Trade Republic itself has not yet commented on the plans.
The target group is mainly security-minded savers and people close to retirement who no longer want to risk major market swings. And there are plenty of them: More than 15 million people in Germany pay into a Riester contract, for which a guarantee was mandatory until now.
A Price War Over Riester’s Successor
Just last week, Trade Republic announced that it would offer its pension account completely free of charge, with no custody fees, no costs for savings plans and dozens of E.T.F.s whose fund fees the neobroker credits back to customers. With that move, Trade Republic responded to its Munich-based rival Scalable Capital, which had started the price war.
With its own insurer, Trade Republic is now moving into a field that has so far belonged to Allianz, Ergo and their peers. Scalable, by contrast, is deliberately betting on accounts without a guarantee. “Anyone saving for retirement should not be held back by fees or guarantees,” Erik Podzuweit, Scalable’s founder and co-chief executive, said recently.
Trade Republic can afford the expansion: The neobroker generated €754 million in revenue in its 2024/25 fiscal year and increased its profit almost sevenfold. More than 10 million customers use the app, and Trade Republic was valued at €12.5 billion in its most recent secondary transaction.
