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World loss log 9–22 January 2001
Late reports
1.1, collision, fatalities
Greece: more than 50 people died after mv Pati,
carrying illegal immigrants to Greece, hit rocks and broke in 2 during a storm. Only 10 bodies were recovered. Some 33 people were saved but cold seas and high..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
Samsung Fire & Marine
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, South Korea’s largest non-life insurance company, saw its pre-tax profit rise by 35% to Won198.4bn during 1999. A strong investment result helped offset a deterioration in the company’s underwriting..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
Sewing the seeds of change
Preliminary evidence from the end of the renewals season suggests that, even with plentiful capacity, reinsurers have held the line on pushing up rates as pressure to improve bottom lines increases. This determination to break the nexus between low..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
The quest for scale
T
he life reinsurance sector has been responsible for much of the growth in the broader reinsurance industry in recent years. And nowhere else is that growth happening faster than in the US. Paul Rutledge III, president of Transamerica Reinsurance,..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
Latin American round-up
Motor, hospitalisation, medical expenses and fire policies are causing losses to insurers in Panama
, said the country’s Insurance Superintendent, Ana Lorena Broce. Rates are so low, she added, that selling policies “is no longer a good..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
Shortage of actuaries in India
Two of the newly-licensed non-life companies in India have not been able to launch operations because they have not found actuaries.
Royal Sundaram Alliance and IFFCO-Tokio Marine & Fire obtained licences on 23 October and 24 December..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
NRMA quits reinsurance
NRMA, Australia’s largest general insurer, has announced it is to quit the reinsurance business less than two months after the company said it had decided to renew its business for this year.
The company said the book was to go into run-off..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
Irish flood losses weigh on 2000 results
Insured losses from flooding in Ireland last November are estimated at €50.8mn by the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF).
The 5,256 household claims accounted for IR£21mn of the total and 844 commercial property claims for the remaining..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
Munich Re buys cat bonds
The catastrophe bond market has received a strong boost with the news that the world’s largest reinsurer, Munich Re, has bought US$300mn in three-year multi-territory protection to cover its high-level earthquake and windstorm exposure.
Rather..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
World insurance stock prices
Company/group
Currency
2000 year-end
11/01/00
25/01/01
% change from 11/01/00
Capitalisation US$mn
* cap price for the year end in the last issue should have read US$3,495mn not US$495mn
source: iiudata
Ace..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
World currency values (year end 2000)
Country
Currency
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Algeria
Dinar
56.01
58.52
60.75
68.16
73.42
Argentina
Peso
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.998
Australia
Dollar
1.26
1.53
..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
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655 - 02 February 2001
Australia moves to close gap in health insurance funding
One of the most politically contentious issues in Australian private health insurance is the gap between the cover provided by private health insurance funds and the actual cost of hospital care to the insured patient. The Australian government has..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
Export credit cover to go private
Private insurance companies are hoping for a share of a new export credit insurance scheme to be set up by the New Zealand government in April.
The NZ$350mn (US$140mn) scheme will provide credit insurance for small and medium-sized exporters who..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
Insurers see internet growth
General insurers, along with fund managers, are reporting greater growth in internet sales than any other sector of the UK financial services industry, according to the latest Confederation of British Industries (CBI)/PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
Indian life market to triple
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the largest industry body in India, has predicted that the size of the domestic life insurance market could treble to Rs600bn (US$13.2bn) by 2005. This estimate is based on the strength of an 18% annual..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
NZ trauma payments
The New Zealand government is considering making compensation payments, through the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), to people suffering trauma or mental injury through witnessing ‘horror’ situations.
It may set up a special fund..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
Indian Re expands abroad
Indian Re-insurer, formerly known as the General Insurance Corporation, plans to expand its global inward reinsurance business. It intends to almost triple inward reinsurance income to US$150mn in the first year.
So far GIC’s main focus was..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
Guyana repairs sea wall
Guyana, which is home to the 15-nation Caribbean Community & Common Market (Caricom) headquarters, is plugging holes in the 35km sea wall that has long protected its economy from the potential ravages of the Atlantic Ocean. Guyana is located on..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
The prudential carve-out
Edward Forshaw,
manager of international relations at the Insurance & Friendly Societies Division of the UK’s Financial Services Authority, comments on the inter-relationship between the prudential and competitive demands of world trade..
Online Published Date:
02 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
655 - 02 February 2001
Company profile: Bavarian Re Ireland
Founded in 1992, Bavarian Re Ireland now contributes more than 20% to the overall premium income of Bayerische Rück Group. Geared towards European insurer’s treaty reinsurance needs, the company concentrates on mainly large-scale covers,..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Company profile: Tunis Re
The Société Tunisienne de Réassurance (Tunis Re), formerly Tunisia’s state reinsurer, had one of its toughest years in 1999. The company, whose shareholders (in addition to the Tunisian government) now include the..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
E+S Re
The Hannover Re Group has written its German business exclusively through its subsidiary E+S Rückversicherung (E+S Re) since 1997. This puts E+S Re in the unique position of a reinsurer whose operations are exclusively confined to one country...
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Responding to outside pressure
J
apan’s non-life insurance industry continues to struggle in the face of market liberalisation, a stagnant local economy and increased competition. The latest report on the market by the Marine & Fire Insurance Association of Japan..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
The calm after the storms
L
ast year may have ended with continued flooding in the UK and heavy snowfalls in the US, affecting many southern states as well as the Midwest and Northeast of the country. However, catastrophe claims data recently released by Munich Re and the..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
P&I clubs: Here to stay
L
ast week, insurance rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) published the 2001 edition of its
Marine Mutual Report. Rowena Potter, managing director of S&P’s Financial Services Group talks to
WIR about the current state..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Skandia increases sales
Swedish insurance group Skandia’s sales amounted to SwKr197.7bn (US$20.8bn) in 2000, a rise of nearly 50% from SwKr133.9bn the year before.
Sales of unit-linked insurance rose to SwKr140.2bn from SwKr93.0bn in 1999, while those of mutual fund..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Lloyd’s outperforms companies market
Forecasts by Lloyd’s analyst Chatset suggest that Lloyd’s syndicates outperformed their counterparts in the London companies market for the 2000 underwriting year.
Chatset predicts an overall underwriting loss of only £168mn or 2%..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Pohjola/Skandia
Finnish insurance group Pohjola has for the time being decided to hold on to its 10.5% holding in Swedish insurer Skandia. Pohjola said the current Skandia share price was too low for it to dispose of its stake.
Skandia shares were trading around..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Keen interest in MEBIT sale
The sale of Hungary’s fifth-ranked life insurer, Mebit, currently wholly owned by ABN-Amro Bank, is attracting a great deal of interest as both the Hungarian life insurance market and Mebit itself are generating impressive growth.
Preliminary..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
ZFS expands in Argentina
The Buenos Aires office of Zurich Financial Services (ZFS) plans to increase its range of life, non-life and annuity insurance products it has on offer. ZFS also announced plans to enter the investment fund market and with a number of strategic..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Renewals positive
Swiss Re turned away a large amount of business at the recent renewals season. Despite a distinct hardening of rates in some lines, the company has reduced its capacity in a number of lines.
For the business it so far renewed, Swiss Re’s..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Share sale
The Hungarian Post office sold its 10% share of the country’s third-ranked insurer, Generali-Providencia to the Austrian holding company Generali Holding Vienna, which already owns 90% of the insurer. However, the Post Office will continue to..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Ace probes life market
Bermuda-based insurer Ace has announced a significant alteration of its management structure. The company has promoted two of its senior executives into roles that focus on broadening its policies and responsibilities to a worldwide rather than..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Irish liability rates to rise
Steep increases of up to 40% in renewal premiums for liability cover have provoked Ireland’s Small Firms Association (SFA) into a vigorous attack on what it calls the country’s “excessive compo culture”. It claims that small..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Swiss Re consolidates Bavarian Re
Swiss Re is to consolidate the business of Bayerische Rück (Bavarian Re) into the rest of its German operations and rename it. The move is among a host of structural and management changes announced by the company last week. The company will..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Let the market dictate
Chris Barnes
, former manager, Privatisation at the Insurance Council of Australia, calls for the end of government participation in the workers’ compensation and the third-party accident insurance systems in Australia.
‘Much attention..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
World loss log 23 January–5 February 2001
Late reports
17.1, cyanide spill, health hazard
Romania: toxic waste containing cyanide spilled into a river in the northeast of the country killing fish and posing a health hazard to the general population. The incident occurred when the contents..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
World insurance stock prices
Company/group
Currency
2000 year-end
25/01/00
08/02/01
% change from 25/01/00
Capitalisation US$mn
source: iiudata
Ace
US$
42.44
38.94
37.53
(3.6)
8,330..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Company profile: Gerling Global Re South Africa
A strong investment performance offset Gerling Global Reinsurance Company of South Africa’s worsening underwriting losses in 1999 and produced a sharp improvement in the company’s pre-tax result: a R51mn profit against the previous..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Premium up in Chile
Preliminary results from Chile’s insurance sector, released on 25 January by the Association of Chilean Insurers, point to an improvement in premium revenue in both the life and general insurance sectors.
Total premium revenue was up by 14% to..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Tower looks to China
New Zealand and Australian insurance and financial company Tower wants to break into the burgeoning Chinese insurance market. It is looking for a Chinese partner to establish a joint venture operation in the country.
The company is spending NZ$2mn..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Fall in burglaries fails to halt premium rise
New Zealand insurance premiums will rise – reversing a five-year downward trend – despite a big drop in the number of reported burglaries last year.
The New Zealand Insurance Council reporting on insurance trends for 2000 said that..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Montserrat volcano declared active
The bad news for Caribbean insurers is that the Chances Peak volcano in Montserrat’s Soufriere Hills will continue to be active for several more years, according to Dr Steve Sparks of Bristol University.
Dr Sparks, who is attached to the..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Sampo’s new broom
Finnish financial services group Sampo Leonia will stop selling international non-life insurance products, according to its new management. In future the company will focus on life insurance, savings, capital and fund management, and banking and..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
…and Handelsbanken brings in deposit fees
Meanwhile, Handelsbanken, which bought the SPP Fonder business, is planning to introduce deposit fees for the funds in question. It says the fund management company is making large losses. Some observers, however, dispute the size of these..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
SPP becomes Alecta…
Swedish pension fund manager SPP, which sold its brand to Handelsbanken along with the SPP life insurance and SPP Fonder investment businesses, will now call itself Alecta.
Managing director Lars Otterbeck estimated it would cost between SwKr70mn..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Swedish pension losses
Sweden’s market-oriented state pension funds suffered a public relations disaster as the PPM system lost some SwKr3bn (US$308mn) in December. The system, which allows members to choose their own fund managers, had just got into its stride just..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Australia’s medical indemnity crisis
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has criticised the rising cost of medical indemnity insurance, saying doctors might stop operations if the system was not reformed.
Association president Dr Kerryn Phelps said already some doctors in New..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Kazakhstan reforms law
News has emerged of changes made by Kazakhstan’s parliament late last year to increase supervision of the country’s insurance industry. The new set of regulations strictly defines the role of foreign firms in the market and restricts the..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
If results
Pan-Nordic insurer If improved its performance last year by charging higher premiums and relying more heavily on individualised pricing. According to chief executive Bo Ingemarson, this approach significantly improved the company’s risk..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
Winterthur fined
Hungary’s fifth-largest private pension provider, Winterthur Voluntary & Private Pension Fund, was fined Ft2mn (US$7,000) by the country’s financial supervisory authority due to 25 separate regulatory transgressions. These include..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001
EU votes to cut marine accidents
European Union legislation approved at first reading by the European Parliament on 13 February aims to reduce marine casualties involving bulk carriers. Between 1990 and 1999, 146 of these vessels were lost, along with 780 crew members, according to..
Online Published Date:
16 February 2001
Appeared in issue:
656 - 16 February 2001