Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings

Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd. is an Israeli financial holding company whose principal businesses are insurance, long-term savings and credit cards. Its group includes Clal Insurance and Finance and Max. The company’s shares trade on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the symbol CLIS and are included in the TA-35 Index. ^[1]

Group structure

The distinction between the holding company and its operating businesses is important. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings is the listed parent; Clal Insurance Company Ltd. is the group’s principal insurance company. The group’s 2025 periodic report identifies Clal Insurance Company as its primary material company and describes other insurance, pension, provident-fund and payments businesses within the group. Consequently, a figure reported for the listed group should not automatically be treated as a figure for the insurance company alone. ^[2]

Clal Insurance Company’s activities encompass life, health and general insurance, alongside long-term savings. The group also includes Clal Credit Insurance Ltd. and pension and provident-fund management companies. These businesses have different customers, liabilities and sources of income: an insurance policy creates an obligation to pay covered claims, whereas a savings product involves managing assets for savers under the terms of that product. The group reports on these activities within a consolidated corporate structure. ^[2][3]

The other principal business is Max, a credit-card company acquired in March 2023 from Warburg Pincus and its partners. Max operates in card issuance, merchant acquiring and payment processing, and provides credit and other financial products to private and business customers. Its inclusion gives the holding company a substantial activity outside insurance and retirement savings. Clal’s 2025 report identifies Max It Finance Ltd. as an acquirer holding a permanent acquiring licence under Israel’s Banking Law (Licensing), 1981. ^[2][3]

Insurance and long-term savings

Clal offers several forms of insurance for households and businesses. Its general-insurance products include cover for cars, homes and other property; it also operates in health and life insurance. Credit insurance is another group activity. These categories should not be conflated: property cover concerns specified losses to insured assets, health cover concerns covered medical-related costs, and life insurance concerns benefits payable under a life policy. Each category has its own claims experience and insurance obligations. ^[2][3]

Long-term savings is a separate but closely connected part of the group. Clal describes its products as including pensions, provident funds, training funds, life insurance with a savings component and other financial savings arrangements. In the Israeli context, its provident-fund and training-fund activities connect the company to the markets for kupot gemel and keren hishtalmut. Clal Pension and Provident Funds Ltd. is among the group companies identified in its periodic report. ^[2][3]

Assets under management measure the scale of assets managed on behalf of customers and in relevant group activities; they are not interchangeable with shareholders’ equity. This distinction matters for an insurance and savings group because a large managed-asset figure does not mean that the listed holding company owns all those assets for the unrestricted use of its shareholders. Clal’s investor-relations page reported NIS 456 billion of assets under management at June 30, 2026, and NIS 11.5 billion of shareholders’ equity at that date. The two figures describe different aspects of the group. ^[1]

Clal’s investment activity also creates a connection between its insurance obligations and financial markets. The group identifies Canaf, or Clal Financial Management, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Clal Insurance that functions as its investment arm. Investment management is relevant both to long-duration insurance commitments and to assets managed in savings products, although the applicable rights and obligations depend on the particular product. ^[4]

Max and the group’s diversification

Max’s acquisition changed the range of activities represented in Clal’s consolidated accounts. Before considering group-wide results, a reader therefore needs to recognise that those results combine an insurer and long-term savings businesses with a card issuer, acquirer and lender. Clal reported that Max’s operating results were included in its financial statements from April 1, 2023, subject to the acquisition-related accounting matters described in its 2023 interim report. ^[2][5]

Card issuance and merchant acquiring occupy different positions in a payment transaction. The issuer serves the cardholder, while the acquirer provides services to merchants accepting payments. Max participates in both activities and also extends credit. Its lending business introduces credit risk alongside the insurance, investment and operational risks arising elsewhere in the group. The group’s interim reporting accordingly contains a separate review of risks at Max rather than presenting every risk as an insurance risk. ^[2][6]

The acquisition does not make Max an insurance subsidiary in the ordinary sense of that term. Clal’s disclosures identify it as a credit-card business within the wider holding group, with activities and reporting requirements distinct from those of Clal Insurance Company. This separation is relevant when comparing Clal with other Israeli insurers: differences in group-wide income or assets can reflect the contribution of payments and lending, not solely differences in insurance operations. ^[2][6]

Ownership and public listing

Clal states that its shares are publicly held and that it has no controlling shareholder core. Its investor-relations materials identify several substantial shareholdings, including holdings associated with Alrov, the Phoenix Group, Harel, Menora and Meitav. Those disclosed percentages are a snapshot rather than fixed characteristics of the company; ownership can change through trading and corporate transactions. ^[3]

The company’s listing places its financial reports and other corporate disclosures in the public securities market. Clal identifies CLIS as its Tel Aviv trading symbol and states that the share is included in the TA-35 Index. Its English financial reports say that they are unofficial translations provided for convenience and that the Hebrew versions submitted to the exchange and the Israel Securities Authority are legally binding. Readers comparing figures or wording across disclosures should therefore note both the reporting date and the status of the document used. ^[1][2]

Regulation and financial reporting

Different parts of Clal’s group are subject to different forms of supervision. Its insurance and long-term savings activities operate within Israel’s insurance and savings framework, associated with the Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority. The group’s periodic report separately discusses reporting requirements applicable to Max’s credit-card activity. The holding company’s consolidated results bring these businesses together for financial reporting without erasing their distinct regulatory positions. ^[2][6]

Insurance-company solvency measures and holding-company equity should likewise be read separately. A solvency ratio concerns the insurer’s available capital relative to applicable requirements; it is not the same measure as the listed group’s shareholders’ equity. Clal’s investor-relations page labelled a 180% solvency ratio at March 31, 2026 as an estimate for Clal Insurance during a transition period. The qualification and the entity to which the ratio applies are essential parts of that disclosure. ^[1]

From January 1, 2025, Clal Insurance adopted IFRS 9 and IFRS 17 for the first time, with January 1, 2024 identified as the transition date for reporting under those standards. Its interim financial statements explain this accounting change. Comparisons spanning the transition require attention to the reporting basis and to any restated comparative figures; an apparent change in a reported line item need not arise entirely from a change in underlying business activity. ^[7]

Scale and interpretation of results

For the first six months of 2026, Clal’s investor-relations page reported NIS 1.318 billion of group pre-tax core income and NIS 1.050 billion of comprehensive income. The same page presented separate indicators for Clal Insurance and Finance and for Max, including a NIS 14 billion Max credit portfolio at June 30, 2026. These are dated measures, not permanent attributes of the company, and they use different accounting or managerial definitions. ^[1]

A consolidated assessment of Clal therefore involves more than one headline number. Insurance premiums describe the scale of written or earned insurance business; managed assets describe investment and savings activity; the card portfolio describes a lending exposure; and equity describes a balance-sheet interest attributable to shareholders under the applicable accounting presentation. Clal’s reports provide segment information, capital disclosures and a separate Max risk review to make these differences visible. Using each measure for its stated purpose avoids treating insurance liabilities, customer savings, card loans and corporate capital as though they were the same kind of asset or obligation. ^[1][2][6]