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World insurance stock prices
Company/group
Currency
2000 year-end
12/07/01
09/08/01
Change from 12/07/01 %
Capitalisation US$ mn
* Adjusted three-for-two split: 26 July 2001
Source: iiudata
Ace
US$
42.44
35.70
35.50
(0.6)
8,238
AIG
US$..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Munich Re Group
Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurer, reported a consolidated net profit of €1.75bn for 2000, up by 54.5% on the previous year.
The result was greatly helped by the first-time consolidation of investment funds qualifying as..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Nonlife sector overshadowed by rapid expansion of life market
The size of the Polish insurance market has more than tripled over the last five years.
The market’s gross premium income increased by 19% to Z18,476mn (US$4,656.8mn) in 1999, the most recent year for which the Polish supervisory authorities..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Global market continues to consolidate
A busy half-year of mergers up to 30 June 2001 saw no less than 359 insurance-related merger announcements, according to research conducted by Insurance Mergers Alert
newsletter. The reinsurance sector provided several significant deals:
Benfield..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
China: land of opportunity?
J
ohn Cook, head of International Relations at the Association of British Insurers (ABI), outlines the opportunities and challenges that membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) poses for foreign insurers in China. This article is based on a..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Munich Re/Ergo deal
Munich Re has increased its holding in Ergo Versicherungsgruppe to 91.7%, surpassing the earlier provisional published figure of 90.1%. The HVB group (HypoVereinsbank), which is allied to Munich Re, holds a further 5% of Ergo, leaving 3.3% in the..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Reinsurers’ right to decide settlement upheld
David MacLoughlin
, an insurance and reinsurance lawyer based in the London office of law firm Beachcroft Wansbroughs, says the recent Court of Appeal judgment in
Gan Insurance Co Ltd v Tai Ping Insurance Co Ltd has significant implications for..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
CGNU looks to European countries for growth
CGNU continues to sell assets to finance its growth in Europe. At the beginning of August the company sold its Brazilian subsidiary to Royal & SunAlliance. This follows the sale of its US nonlife operations to White Mountain in June.
The..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Groupama seeks banking partner
French mutual insurer Groupama is reported to be seeking a strategic partnership with a bank. The company’s board – which comprises the representatives of the 36 regional units that make up Groupama – is due to meet on 6 September..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Swiss Re boosts US presence with deal
Swiss Re has paid US$2bn in cash for US reinsurer Lincoln Re from Lincoln National. The deal boosts Swiss Re’s share of the US life and health reinsurance market to 29% from 18%, putting it ahead of such rivals as Munich Re and General Re.
The..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
China Insurance to merge in Singapore
The Singapore branches of China Insurance and Tai Ping Insurance will merge by the end of this year to make better use of resources and provide improved services, according to Yang Chao, chairman of China Insurance Group.
Tai Ping, a member of China..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Generali buys Chilean fund manager
In a rare Italian incursion into the Chilean financial markets, Generali has taken over fund management company AFP Planvital through its subsidiary Banca della Svizzera Italiana OBFI. The firm was sold by the Inverraz group, holding company for..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Sampo not giving up on Storebrand bid
Norwegian insurance group Sampo is expected to continue with its bid for Storebrand. Sampo has so far still only received acceptances for 83.5% of the shares in the Norwegian company. This is not enough to comply with the Norwegian law that requires..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Axa’s acquisitions in 2000 impact on embedded value
French insurer Axa has calculated that its embedded value (adjusted asset value plus current value of expected future profits) stood at €35.35bn in 2000. This is a rise of 26.6% from 1999 levels.
But the embedded value per share rose by a far..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Allstate achieves full US banking licence
Allstate Corporation has been cleared by US regulators to set up a full service federal savings bank that will offer a wide range of new products through a telephone call centre and over the internet.
The US car and home insurer has suffered heavily..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
24 July–6 August 2001
Property and business interruption
27.7, crane collapse
Australia: the Queensland state government’s troubled bid to build a A$23mn pedestrian bridge over the Brisbane River took another blow when a massive crane working on the structure..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Company profile: GE Frankona Re
After achieving its best-ever result in 1999, Danish reinsurance company GE Frankona Re saw a 23% fall in pretax profit to DKr456mn last year.
The decline was largely due to a deteriorating underwriting result, which cancelled out a strong..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Arson expected to rise in Caribbean
After a 20-year lull, arson may again be becoming a feature of property fire claims in the Caribbean, according to the region’s leading insurance fraud investigator, Patrick Zoe. In recent weeks there have been major fires in three urban..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Former policyholders to miss out on shares
Around 140,000 former Tower policyholders in New Zealand and Australia are running out of time to claim NZ$49mn (US$22mn) of shares in the investment and insurance company. Following the demutualisation of the former Government Life NZ office in..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
NRMA New Zealand subsidiary to restructure
State Insurance, New Zealand’s largest fire and general insurer, has announced it will reorganise its operations by the end of the year, with the loss of about 240 jobs. State, now part of Australia’s largest general insurer, NRMA..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Floods hit Asia hard
Though recent weeks have seen a series of floods and water logging causing havoc in vast parts of Asia – across Taiwan, China, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and South Korea – general insurance companies have by and large escaped the need..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Vietnam opens up
The government of Vietnam is in the process of laying the ground rules for opening up the insurance market to foreign companies according to provisions in its trade agreement with the US and in line with rules laid out by the Asia Pacific Economic..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Taiwan wants higher premiums for bad drivers
The authorities in Taiwan are planning to use insurance premium rates to check traffic violations. Insurance companies have been asked to charge higher premium rates for vehicle and motorcycle drivers who break traffic rules, beginning in..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
European commercial rates rise sharply
Premium rates for industrial risks have risen sharply in Europe recently. In the past year commercial rates have risen by between 10% and 20% for property cover, and by between 5% and 15% for third-party liability.
Two main factors have contributed..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Australia may reform marine insurance market
The Australian marine insurance market could undergo legislative changes in the parliament following the Australian Law Reform Commission’s report to the Australian government.
ALRC president Prof David Weisbrot said the country’s..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Asbestos claims rise
There has been a substantial increase in asbestos claims filed against property/ casualty insurers in the US after several major asbestos manufacturers filed for bankruptcy protection. As a result of this the US insurance industry is expected to set..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Indian government urged to consolidate state insurers
An Indian parliamentary committee has advised the government to merge the four state-owned general insurance companies into one strong entity.
The committee argued that the resulting entity will be better placed to compete with the private and..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Captive havens resist OECD
The regulatory regimes of offshore tax havens in the Caribbean and elsewhere, which have attracted scores of international insurers, particularly captives, seem likely to survive more or less intact in the long run, despite the severe pressure..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Third way for insurers
One of the major changes in recent years has been the willingness of sophisticated commercial litigants – the insurance industry in particular – to embrace the possibilities of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). ADR is receiving..
Online Published Date:
17 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
669 - 17 August 2001
Proportional versus excess-of-loss
Mr Watson said there was some truth to the perception that US reinsurers (in contrast to their European counterparts) are much more insistent on detailed information before committing themselves to a risk.
He said it was largely a cultural..
Online Published Date:
28 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Donald S Watson: inserting a financial imperative into underwriting
The 11 September terrorist attacks on the US, which occurred right in the middle of the annual reinsurers’ rendez-vous in Monte Carlo, cast a dark shadow over the industry’s most prestigious gathering and more or less brought an end to..
Online Published Date:
28 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Reserving
Mr Watson said the industry had recognised the need to reserve for the 1997, 1998 and 1999 years. ‘So far no one is talking about 2000, which saw a very meagre price increase and very little contraction of capacity. The fact of the matter is..
Online Published Date:
28 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
World insurance stock prices
Company/group
Currency
2000 year-end
09/08/01
23/08/01
Change from 09/08/01 %
Capitalisation US$ mn
* Share split 20-for-1 with effect 17th August, 2001
Source: iiudata
Ace
US$
42.44
35.50
34.74
(2.1)..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Company profile: HCC
HCC Insurance Holdings recorded a pretax profit of US$93mn last year, up 148% from the $37mn achieved in 1999. HCC’s highly impressive results stemmed from improved underwriting performance, an increase in investment income, the effects of a..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Company profile: Arig
These are tough times for Arab Insurance Group (Arig), the largest reinsurer in North Africa and the Middle East. The group reported a net loss of US$91mn for its consolidated operations in 2000. This compared with a deficit of $98mn in 1999.
The..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Mapfre
Corporación Mapfre is the largest insurer in Spain and probably the most influential foreign insurance group in Latin America.
Although the group has steadily increased its pretax profits over the last decade, last year’s performance was..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Market focus: Portugal
Big groups emerge as winners in changing market
The six largest insurers in Portugal closed 2000 with record profits of Esc345bn, 10 times higher than in 1999. This performance was greatly helped by the capital gains derived from the breakup of the..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Chile life insurance
Underwriting losses offset by steady growth in premium income
The results for Chilean insurance companies for the first half of 2001, published by the Superintendency of Securities and Insurance on 31 July, showed good progress in both premiums and..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Market frustrated by failure to impose adequate increases in 2000
Should have done better’ must be the end-of-year report for the international reinsurance industry’s performance last year.
Many of the companies in our eighth annual survey of the market produced better results than in 1999 but they..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Rob Bredahl: matching product innovation to adoption rates
Inreon, the most recent attempt to set up an online trading exchange for insurers and reinsurers, comes with two clear advantages over its rivals: the support of the major players in the industry and a capital base of US$37.5mn. This figure is way..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
NCM/Gerling merger
Credit insurers NCM Group and Gerling Credit are to merge to form Gerling NCM Credit and Finance AG. This has led to speculation that Swiss Re, which has hitherto held 90% of NCM Group, has effectively decided to pull out of the credit insurance..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Generali ups stake
Italian insurer Generali was expected to buy 9.98% of the shares in German bank Commerzbank from German investment fund Cobra, according to reports in the German press. This would effectively double Generali’s stake in Commerzbank, since the..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Cigna Corp faces policy transfer charges
American International Group (AIG) subsidiaries brought charges against the Insurance Company of North America (INA) of fraudulently moving unprofitable policies to another company without the permission of INA’s California policyholders.
A..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Foreign players continue to pile into India
Germany’s Allianz and its Indian partner, Bajaj Auto, are close to receiving a licence for general insurance business in India.
Housing Finance Development Company, India’s largest housing finance company, has announced that it has..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Allianz forecasts
Germany’s Allianz Group forecast total premium income for the full year at slightly more than €72bn, a growth rate of 5%. This represents a cautious extrapolation of the first half result, which saw total premium income rise by 7.1% to..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
CGNU benefits from reduced exposure to general insurance markets
CGNU, the UK’s largest insurance group, reported a strong set of results for the first half of this year, with operating profits up 42% to £977mn from £679mn in 2000. CGNU continued to capitalise on thriving long term savings market..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
More obstacles placed in path of Sampo/Storebrand merger
Finnish insurance group Sampo is facing more difficulties in its efforts to merge with Norway’s Storebrand. The latest setback is that the Norwegian financial and insurance market regulator, Kredittilsynet, has recommended that Sampo should..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Reinsurers struggle for profits during first half of 2001
The impact of firmer rates was reflected in substantial increases in premium income for US and Bermudian reinsurers in the first half of the year. But catastrophe losses, reserve strengthening and poorer investment results meant that profitability..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
US more at risk from hurricanes than ever
The US has experienced the most active period of hurricanes on record over the last six years, with the number of storms and hurricanes striking the Atlantic this year expecting to be 20-30% above the 1991-2000 average, according to the Tropical..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
CGNU restructures New Zealand operations
CGNU is retrenching in New Zealand by closing several branch offices and all district offices of NZI, its NZ subsidiary. NZI is the second-biggest general insurance company in the country with about 19% of the general insurance market just behind..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Indian market braced for sharp rise in non-life premium rates
Contrary to expectations that opening up of the Indian insurance market would push down prices because of increased competition, premium rates in the general insurance business is set to rise sharply in the coming weeks.
A variety of factors,..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Premium rates set to rise in South Korea
Non-life insurers in South Korea have announced plans to bring about a rise in long term insurance products and lower interest rates on fixed deposits collected by them from the customers.
Insurers are seeking higher premiums from September because..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Korean general insurers stage recovery
A reduction in the number of car accidents has helped improve Korean non-life company results for the first quarter (April-June 2001). Ten of the eleven non-life insurers operating in the Korean market recorded net profits of Won210bn..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Swiss Re sets sights on Lincoln Re
Swiss Re is set to buy US insurer Lincoln National Corporation’s reinsurance business, Lincoln Re, for $2bn, consolidating its position as a market leader in the world’s largest life and health reinsurance market. To finance the deal,..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Aegon sees income growth in major markets
The Dutch group Aegon has increased its forecast for earnings growth this year to between 12% and 17%. This was up from between 10% and 15% last year. Executive board chairman, Kees Storm, talked of excellent new production in a slower economic..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
The case for reform
The biggest challenge facing the London insurance market today is to create service standards that match the level of the skills to be found there.
Steve Higginson,
managing director (reinsurance) at brokers BMS Harrison & Dixon and a member..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
World loss log 7–20 August 2001
Property and business interruption
10.8, diamond theft
Netherlands: an employee of a diamond firm disappeared with gems worth $8mn. The 25-year-old man, a former army cook who had worked for the firm since April, arrived for work at..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Company profile: ESG Re
Speciality reinsurer ESG Re saw a further decline in its result last year, recording a pretax loss of US$57mn, compared with a deficit of $41mn in 1999.
Poor underwriting results for the company’s core accident and medical expenses accounts,..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
ING reports surprise increase in profits
ING Group reported operational net profit up by 16% in the first half of this year to €2.40bn. Of this, insurance contributed €1.46mn, up 28.4%, while banking activities contributed €0.94 bn, up 0.9%. Nevertheless, it was the..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Battle over motor rates in Malaysia
Faced with stinging criticism of its move to raise premium rates on motor insurance, the General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM) has come out with a new formula. It has said that premium rates will now be based on the risk exposure of each..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Mutuals
Legislation transposing the European insurance directives of 1998 into French law is currently being considered by the government in France.
One of the most important provisions would be to allow mutual insurers to form groups – something that..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Injury cover rate rise sparks off fierce row
A major row has erupted in New Zealand over plans by the Accident Insurance Corporation (ACC) to substantially increase premiums to the injury insurance scheme which has hundreds of thousands of members. Those most affected are motorists,..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Rise in reserve cover for asbestos claims
There has been a substantial increase in asbestos claims filed against property/casualty insurers in the US after several major asbestos manufacturers filed for bankruptcy protection. As a result of this the US insurance industry is expected to set..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Vietnam sees a big jump in premium growth
The general insurance business in Vietnam has seen dramatic growth, with the first seven months of 2001 accounting for a total premium collection of Dong1trn.
This works out to be a 67.5% increase over the premium collection in the same period last..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
RSA commits its global future to non-life News
Royal and Sun Alliance posted good results for the first half of 2001 with operating profits totalling £375mn, up 17% on the corresponding figure for 2000. The company has especially shown strong growth in its general insurance business with..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Chinese firms opt for stock listing
Taking a lead from banking firms, several Chinese insurers have now announced that they plan to list their shares on the domestic stock market. The idea is to ensure capital operation efficiency and strengthen public supervision. More importantly,..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Bermuda supervision changes
A new law currently before the Bermuda Senate will transfer the responsiblility of regulating the Bermudan insurance sector from the Ministry of Finance to the newly created supervisor of insurance. The Insurance Amendment Act 2001 is set to make..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Private cover for Caribbean public sector risks
A pioneering project to insure government assets against risk for the first time in the Caribbean is being undertaken by the World Bank.
Public sector property, such as schools, hospitals, buildings, bridges and so on, have traditionally never been..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Taiwan’s Fubon teams up with Citigroup
Fubon Insurance, Taiwan’s largest property and casualty insurer, has made plans to create one of the country’s strongest financial services groups, consisting of five separate insurers under one holding company.
The group will have..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Concern over new Australian premium tax
New Australian premium tax hikes will take policyholders into unchartered waters, according to Mr Rod Hill, an insurance industry tax specialist with management consultants, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. For the first time in Australia’s history,..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001
Reinsurers’ prospects constrained by reserves
Reinsurers gather in Monte-Carlo this month for the annual start of renewal season discussions with one main objective: keep rates moving upwards. Results have been poor since the heavy catastrophic losses of 1999, and rating agency Standard &..
Online Published Date:
31 August 2001
Appeared in issue:
670 - 31 August 2001