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Combating climate change in the credit crunch
Over the last few years the financial services industry has started to understand the risks of failing to address climate change and none more so than the insurance industry. The increasing number of extreme weather events has impacted on insurance..
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
Mutuals to be forced out of liability insurance lines
Some companies may opt to de-mutualise in order to side-step the legislation
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
Reinsurers full of hope
But few companies were willing to quantify the extent of the predicted market hardening or to say which lines of business would take the lead. Others hailed current market conditions as an historical precedent comparable with the hard market created by the stock market collapse in the 1970s
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
Industry will operate at a loss for next two years
Companies only imposed meaningful price increases recently; claim denial assumes role in industry’s loss mitigation strategy
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
Balance sheet pressures likely to transform pricing trends
Loss events in isolation may not be market changing, but their collective impact could be greater than the sum of the parts
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
Variable life insurers face competition in meeting market demand
If insurers do not rise to the challenge posed by variable risk, other financial institutions – both public and private – soon will
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
Supervisors and rating agencies blamed for crisis
The IAIS conference heard that the AIG rescue and fears over toxic assets have put supervisors in the spotlight
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
Regulator threatens action over “unacceptable” PPI sales
A mystery shopping exercise discovered that few customers applying for a loan were told PPI premiums would be added
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
Rating agency takes negative view of both life and non-life sectors
Even the market’s capital adequacy (as measured by Solvency I) is expected to decline as credit spreads increase, as equity markets performed poorly, and as the business mix shifted to euro-denominated products
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03 November 2008
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849 - 03 November 2008
Chairman resigns after fines for regulatory infringement
Penalty imposed on Quinn Insurance after failure to disclose loans made to other businesses in the group
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
European life companies dragged down by Asian market turmoil
These are challenging times for insurance and reinsurance sector stocks. After suffering one of the worst declines in value over the previous period, most of the stocks tracked by WIR, deteriorated further over the two weeks ending 23 October,..
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
Business slowdown underway in local markets
Early signs of a reduction in insurance spend in Chile do not bode well for the rest of the Latin America region
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
Government proposes compensation scheme to protect retail funds
Finance houses that have frozen funds will not be eligible • Nervous investors reduce Axa New Zealand fund levels
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
Late reports
3.10, Clemenceau ruling
UK: Able UK, the Hartlepool ship dismantler, welcomed a court ruling which clears the way for it to break up Clemenceau, the former French aircraft carrier, at its Teesside environmental reclamation and recycling centre. The..
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
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849 - 03 November 2008
Axa Group
The impairment of financial instruments was largely responsible for the 20.0% reduction in Axa’s net investment result
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
Small market with big potential in TPL and PMI sectors
Because of its common law legal system, third party liability premiums in Fiji are at a higher level than in many other developing economies. Fiji is unusual in having a large private medical insurance market, stimulated by limited state health care and a practice of evacuating surgical cases to private hospitals in Australia and New Zealand. Despite these positive factors, however, insurance penetration is almost entirely limited to the urban population: the majority of Fijians are subsistence farmers with little to insure and no money for non-essential purchases
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
Aviation
7.10, crash, fatalities
South Africa: nine people, including four children, were killed when their light aircraft, a Britten Norman BN 2A-26 Islander, ZS-OSD, crashed in the mountainous province of Mpumalanga. The aircraft was returning from..
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03 November 2008
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849 - 03 November 2008
Natural catastrophes
7.10, volcanic eruption
Indonesia: a volcano in central Indonesia erupted, shooting clouds of smoke and flames into the sky. Indonesia’s vulcanology centre said Mount Soputan on Sulawesi island, roughly 1,350 miles northeast of Jakarta,..
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
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849 - 03 November 2008
Marine
8.10, vessel adrift
Taiwan: Pontoon Transtar 2501 (1941 gt, built 2005), carrying more than 30 pieces of heavy machinery but no crew, was spotted adrift north of Green Island, Taiwan by the coast guard. The vessel floated in a northerly direction..
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03 November 2008
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849 - 03 November 2008
Property damage and business interruption
7.10, computer system failure, flight delays
Australia: local airline Jetstar said that passengers would be delayed for another day after being caught up in check-in system failure. The airline’s computer system crashed for two and a half..
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03 November 2008
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849 - 03 November 2008
Asia
RMS opens Beijing office
The US risk management and catastrophe modelling firm, Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has opened a new office in Beijing. The office will be headed by Zifa Wang, a well-known earthquake engineer who has joined RMS from the..
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
Europe
Warning to brokers
Financial services advisory firm BDO Stoy Hayward LLP issued a warning to insurance brokers to take all necessary steps to ensure that money they deposit with banks on behalf of their clients is safe if the bank were to fail...
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
North America
Outlook bleak for title insurers
The significant slowdown in the housing market and increased claims activity from higher home foreclosures means that, within the US industry, title insurers are among the hardest hit. Indeed, according to a special..
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
International
Tough times, but not too bad for insurance industry
The global insurance industry is facing difficult times but the sector is not undergoing a systemic crisis, according to market research firm, Datamonitor. Jonathan Steiman, an analyst on..
Online Published Date:
03 November 2008
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849 - 03 November 2008
Natural catastrophe losses and reinsurance claims: the legal issues
With hurricanes Gustav and Ike, and tropical windstorm Hannah, having battered much of the Caribbean and southern United States, 2008 will be the most active hurricane season for the (re)insurance industry since hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma..
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03 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
849 - 03 November 2008
Hull underwriters and classification societies
Simon Stonehouse, Marine Hull Underwriter at Brit Insurance, recently delivered the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) Stanley Gray Lecture in London. Mr Stonehouse addressed several issues in his lecture: the..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Market turmoil hits Euro reinsurers’ capital
Referring to the litany oflosses being reported by competitiors, Odyssey Re’s chief executive Andrew Barnard said: “Reaching for (investment) yield to enhance operating performance has been revealed as a costly practice and, at some companies, utterly destructive of value.” Odyssey Re was the only company able to report an increase in pre-tax profits for the nine months to September
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
P&C industry turns back on government rescue package
Companies say they have more than enough capital to weather the current financial market crisis without federal assistance
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Cost of cat losses double in third quarter as “Ike” estimates rise
In the first three quarters of this year, 36 catastrophe events, costing insurers a total of $22.1bn, were officially declared
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18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Avoiding ‘gaps’ in the insurance of infrastructure projects
Avoiding ‘gaps’ in insurance cover is essential in any project. Where a project comprises a number of plant units which are completed, tested and commissioned in advance of completion and hand over of the whole project, the risk of such gaps arising increases significantly. Below, Peter Hall, infrastructure finance partner, and Mary Greenhow, senior associate, at London law firm, Norton Rose LLP, outline the main issues that need to be considered
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
Insurers granted limited access to state health statistics
The government will make available medical data to insurance associations, but not to individual firms
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Reinsurers see opportunities to offset investment losses
Now that access to other means of capital is restricted, direct insurers will be more dependent on well established reinsurers
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18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Rebranding in an economic downturn
The US based Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) generated $1.5bn in revenue providing IT services to the global insurance sector during the last financial year. Patrick Molineux, Head of Market Development at CSC, says the takeovers and acquisitions that are happening in the banking and insurance sectors creates tremendous opportunities for merger and acquisition work for the company, a leading player in systems consolidation. He also believes that the current crisis in the financial services market is going to be a real challenge for the smaller IT services companies which do not have the capacity or flexibility to offer a multi-layered service solution to their customers
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
MAPFRE reins in regional expansion plans
International insurance groups are concerned about the devaluation of regional currencies on their bottom lines
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
AXA freezes investors’ funds to avoid run
Funds that do not qualify for the government guarantee face customer withdrawals
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
Friendly societies report 20% fall in net income
However, mutual organisations’ premium income of around £1.4bn in 2007 was little changed from the previous year
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
White Mountains Insurance
The underwriting losses and underwriting related expenses at Esurance, the group’s US based online motor insurer, comprehensively wiped out whatever underwriting profits were generated at OneBeacon and White Mountains Re
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Visible and effective regulation seen as critical to growth of market
The Albanian insurance market has developed only since the fall of the Communist regime in the early 1990s. The political and economic history of the country had left a legacy of problems that were reflected in the insurance market: not least a culture of corruption and the absence of a tradition of insurance among the population. But since the new Financial Supervisory Authority replaced an earlier, largely ineffective supervisory institution in 2006, a comprehensive new insurance law has been passed. The industry is now effectively policed and there is an increasing number of foreign equity participants
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Sector stocks resilient in face of catastrophe and investment losses
The two week period ending 6th November represented something of a recovery for the insurance and reinsurance stocks tracked by WIR, despite a spate of dismal third quarter results marked by an almost standardised mixture of catastrophe, equity and..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
Liability, awards and settlements
23.10, Queen of the North, jury trial
Canada: a British Columbia Supreme Court justice began to untangle the mess of litigation resulting from the loss of life, possessions and the trauma suffered by passengers of sunken passenger ro/ro Queen of..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
Property damage and business interruption
26.10, gas pipeline explosions
Canada: two EnCana sour gas pipelines attacked with explosives earlier in the month have been repaired and put back into service. RCMP anti-terrorism officers continued a probe into the blasts near Dawson Creek,..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
Late reports
14.10, aircraft grounded
Indonesia: Indonesia grounded four airlines and it has given them three months to improve safety standards or face a ban, according to the country’s Transport Ministry. A safety audit found airlines Pura Wisata..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
International
Marsh creates binding authority division
Broker Marsh has established a new business division to house a dedicated binding authority and consumer placement service, bringing together expertise and administrative functions from across its various..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Aviation
23.10, crash, fatalities
Mexico: five people were killed when a light aircraft crashed in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Four of the five victims were public notaries who were heading to Nuevo Laredo city in Texas to take part in a..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
Natural catastrophes
21.10, Hurricane Ike
US: a preliminary estimate released by the Harris County Housing Authority showed that Hurricane “Ike” damaged $8.5bn worth of homes, apartments and mobile homes in the Texas county. The hurricane wrought the..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
Marine
21.10, Princess of the Stars sinking
Philippines: the retrieval of bodies inside the sunken passenger ro/ro Princess of the Stars, which was scheduled to resume, did not take place because the salvor failed to apply for a salvage permit with the..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Asia
Tokio Marine branch converts to subsidiary
Japan’s Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co has received regulatory approval to incorporate its Shanghai branch as a wholly-owned subsidiary in China. The Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Europe
Insurers eyed for takeover
European insurance companies are shaping up to be attractive takeover targets for cash-rich Japanese insurers and private equity houses, according to merger & acquisition advisers at KPMG. Japanese firms are starting..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
US
Hayward Fault quake could cost over $200bn
Catastrophe modelling firm Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has estimated that a 6.8 magnitude earthquake on the Southern Hayward Fault in San Francisco would cause economic losses of between $112bn..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Local alternative to foreign reinsurance capacity
However, the company’s capital was scaled down in view of the financial crisis
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
Health levy divides market
An important motive for the levy is to maintain the profitability of Irish state health insurer, VHI, without the need to impose massive premium increases as it is required to meet the minimum solvency standard for insurers by the end of the year
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
German broker protests against hostile take-over by Swiss Life
Pension products worth €20mn of annual business will be affected by MLP’s boycott • Groupama consolidates Romanian firms
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
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851 - 01 December 2008
Doubts cast on capital raising potential of AIG’s asset sell-off
AM Best said the sale of some of AIG’s businesses to improve liquidity will be lengthy under current market conditions
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
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851 - 01 December 2008
Insurance in France: market and information technology overview
In a recent report, technology research and advisory firm Celent estimates IT spending in the French insurance market to be about €8.0bn. Here, Nicolas Michellod, a senior analyst with Celent’s insurance group and the author of the report, Insurance in France: market and IT overview, identifies distribution and sales, product design, and claims management as the top investment priorities that IT is due to support in the eyes of French CIOs. In an environment where French insurers’ IT budgets will not increase drastically in the next five years, Mr Michellod believes that the optimisation of client service will be the main concern influencing new IT investments. In the extract below, he looks at distribution models, administration structures, the identification of profitable risks and innovative products, and the compliance challenge of Solvency II as IT drivers in the French insurance market
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
Forum shopping in the European Union
Forum shopping involves claimants (or defendants) choosing the jurisdiction in which they pursue or defend their claim. The ‘choice’ when forum shopping is the result of jurisdictions being prepared to adjudicate claims arising..
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28 November 2008
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851 - 01 December 2008
A viable long term care insurance market is still some way off
Despite favourable trends to generate demand, the growth in LTC insurance provision has been difficult in most EU countries
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
Competition regulator proposes PPI point-of-sale ban
Tighter supervision of PPI sales coincides with a boost in demand driven by fears about the UK economy and unemployment
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
Solvency II directive faces delay after disagreement on group rules
Controversial rules for a group support regime have failed to survive protracted political negotiations
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28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
Insurance stocks in steep slump as US fundamentals deteriorate
The insurance and reinsurance stocks tracked by WIR came under renewed pressure over the two week period ending 20th November. This was particularly the case for US, Bermudian and Asian companies. European sector stocks proved quite resilient;..
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
Chilean government called to account over pension fund crisis
The value of the assets of some pension funds in Chile have halved over the course of the last few months
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
International players begin to lose ground in Asia
Prudential Financial Inc, AIG, MetLife and Allianz are looking at ways to protect market share as policy redemptions rise
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
Hanover Group proposes to repay investors’ money
Finance houses are starting to return money to investors under five year plans
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
Liability, awards and settlements
13.11, Exxon Valdez, compensation
US: a federal judge issued a ruling that could clear the way for a multi-million-dollar payout of punitive damages to thousands of commercial fishermen and others who claimed harm from tanker Exxon Valdez oil spill..
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
Property damage and business interruption
4.11, piracy
India: Indian shipping firms are losing hundreds of thousands of dollars every month as fears of piracy in the Gulf of Aden hold up ships and delay consignments. Around 20 foreign ships, including the India-bound chemical tanker Stolt..
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
Central Reinsurance Corporation
High levels of competition and rate cutting across most classes of business and the market’s vulnerability to catastrophe events, particularly earthquakes, means that non-life business in Taiwan is a challenging proposition for foreign reinsurers
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
Opportunities for foreign companies despite domination of BSE
Uruguay’s stable and growing economy is allowing consumers to look at savings instruments again following the crisis years at the beginning of the decade. People are starting to put their trust once again in local financial institutions. Although no great changes are expected in the near future, some significant developments are about to happen: one major foreign insurer is to introduce a new universal life savings policy in dollars and it has also concluded a deal with a major credit card company in Uruguay according to which it will market low cost risk covers to its customers
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
International
Buyers braced for uncertainty: Lockton
Property and casualty insurers face a number of challenges in 2009, according to broker Lockton in its most recent market update. On the bright side, premium rates are expected to harden next year. Lockton..
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
Aviation
5.11, crash, fatalities
Mexico: a Learjet 45 operated by the Mexican government, crashed at Lomas de Chapultepec, Mexico City killing 13 people, including interior minister Juan Camilo Mourino and two other top government officials. Eight..
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
Natural catastrophes
6.11, floods
Yemen: last month’s floods in Yemen caused about $1bn in damages to roads, houses and agriculture, according to a World Bank estimate. The estimate was part of a report, presented to a meeting of donors to the poor Arab..
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
Marine
4.11, sinking, fatalities
Philippines: forty three persons, including 11 children, were confirmed to have died when a ferry boat capsized off Masbate province. About 105 others were rescued. The ferry Don Dexter Cathlyn was five kilometres from..
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
Middle East
Arig reports net loss
Arig, the Middle East based reinsurer, has announced a US$10.8mn loss for third quarter 2008. Arig said that the bulk of the loss was due to investment losses despite the company’s conservative investment strategy..
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
Asia
Takaful presents competitive threat
The Malaysian non-life market is one of the most overcrowded in Asia, according to the latest report by rating agency Fitch. The existing tariffs in the motor and fire insurance markets and the absence of risk..
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008
North America/Bermuda
Ace appoints risk officer
Sean Ringsted, currently chief actuary for the ACE Group of Companies, has been given the additional responsibility of chief risk officer. Mr Ringsted will be responsible for the continued development and implementation of..
Online Published Date:
28 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
851 - 01 December 2008