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Company Profile: Arig Re
Last year saw a major refocus for Arig Re. The company ceased underwriting operations in its UK subsidiary, Arig Insurance after a string of unprofitable results. The subsidiary, which ceased underwriting in December, contributed a net loss of..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Caisse Centrale de Reassurance (CCR)
A succession of natural catastrophes in 1999 gave French state-owned reinsurer Caisse Centrale de Reassurance (CCR) one of its worst results with pre-tax profit for the company slipping to €38mn (US$35.5mn). The result was a fall of 53% on the..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Reinsurance ratings review
Ratings activity over the last two months has seen downgrades affecting three main groups. Arig Re was downgraded from A to A- by Standard & Poor’s which said that outlook remained negative. S&P said that the action resolves the..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
IUA company figures 1999: the slide continues
Part 1 of our look at the annual report of the International Underwriting Association (IUA) shows that London market companies writing international insurance and reinsurance found 1999 a tougher year, with growth in premium income outstripped by..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Hannover Re’s African dream
WIR talks to
Jürgen Gräber
, the Hannover Reinsurance Group’s executive board member responsible for Africa, Asia and Australasia, about the group’s operations in Southern Africa.
The recent consolidation of Hannover..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Vesta turns to markets
Vesta has completed a US$50mn insurance securitisation transaction protecting it against hurricanes in the northeast of the US and hurricanes and tropical storms in Hawaii. The deal, involving direct insurance subsidiary Vesta Fire Insurance, was..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Scor
Scor has strengthened its presence in Japan. The French reinsurer has had a presence in the notoriously parochial market for 30 years and will cement relationships by opening a services company for its clients.
The new company will help clients in..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Odyssey Re downgraded
A downgrade by Standard & Poor’s is likely to see Odyssey Re and its affiliates removed from the security lists of many insurers; the ratings agency lowered the company’s financial strength rating to BBB+ from A-.
S&P said that..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Leucadia gets cold feet
The takeover of the Reliance insurance Group by Leucadia National (WIR639/03
) has been thrown into doubt following an announcement by Leucadia that it is unwilling to proceed on previously agreed terms. The decision follows a process of due..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
The rise and rise of a bancassurer
To find out why Allianz is so keen to gain control of a retail bank, one does not need look further than R+V Versicherungsgruppe, the insurance group controlled by the German co-operative movement.
In the late fifties, the company, owned by the..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
If only
Skandia and Storebrand appear to have settled their differences with Pohjola over If – the joint venture that Finnish Pohjola finally decided not to join. The three announced on 30 June that their dispute had been resolved. But details of the..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Internet poses challenge to regulators
The two major challenges facing insurers today are keeping track of the changes in the industry and using that knowledge to drive their companies to the top, according to Aegon chairman Kees Storm. Mr Storm introduced the theme of the International..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Prudential buys IFC Holdings
The UK’s Prudential has bought an insurance and investment marketing company in the US. IFC Holdings was bought from AmSouth Banking Corporation by National Planning Holdings, the marketing and distribution operation owned by..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
ING still first choice for Aetna
It now seems that Dutch insurance group, ING still remains the most likely contender to buy Aetna Corporation’s financial services operations in the US and its overseas insurance businesses.
Negotiations between the two broke down in June when..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
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642 - 21 July 2000
Lloyd’s closes case
The case of Lloyd’s v Jaffray
in which Lloyd’s defended itself against a counter action for fraud by 200 names recruited in the 1980s has finally drawn to a close. The High Court is expected to reach a verdict over the next four to five..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Tax reform only for majors
Not everyone in German insurance is happy about last week’s surprising deal over the German tax reform. “I always hear that insurers are benefiting,” said the chairman of a medium-sized insurer. “The only insurers benefiting..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Incredible eCredible
Swiss Re, along with its Netherlands-based export and credit guarantee subsidiary NCM and management consultants McKinsey, is to launch a rival internet credit management and payment guarantee service to that announced by French counterpart, Coface..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Tougher regulation at Lloyd’s
The size of syndicate losses for the 1997, 1998 and 1999 underwriting years and the inability of managing agents to anticipate the scale of the losses has pressured the Lloyd’s regulatory authorities to put a range of preventive measures in..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
World Loss Log 30 June – 11 July
Late reports
13.6, crash, fatalities
Canada: Cessna 180E crashed near McIvor Lake, north of Cambell River BC. Aircraft sustained substantial damage. The 3 persons on board were killed.
24.6, crash, fatalities
Sweden: Beechcraft Bonanza V35B on..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
World Insurance Stock Prices
Company/Group
Currency
1999 year end
29/06/00
13/07/00
% change from 29/06/00
Capitalisation US$mn
1. CGU
Ace
US$
16.69
28.00
31.13
11.2
6816
AIG
US$
108.13
122.38
120.25
(1.7)
188071
Allianz..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Company Profile: WR Berkley Corporation
US property/casualty insurer and reinsurer WR Berkley increased its premium income by 6% in 1999. However, a severe deterioration in loss experience pushed the company into the red. By the end of 1999, the company had recorded a pre-tax loss of..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Company Profile: Odyssey Re (Bermuda)
Odyssey Re (Bermuda) is to cease trading following a ratings downgrade by ratings company Standard & Poor's (see page 10). The company hinted in its annual report for 1999 that trading conditions might move Canadian parent Fairfax into a sale:..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Company Profile: Vietnam National Reinsurance Company (Vinare)
Increased competition hit the Vietnamese insurance market as the sector began to open up in 1999. Despite a fall in premiums in the market generally, however, Vietnam National Reinsurance Company (Vinare) reported a small boost in pre-tax profits to..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
St Paul Re reorganises
St Paul Re has announced the formation of a new division to write non-traditional lines of reinsurance business. The unit is to operate out of St Paul’s offices worldwide, combining staff that had worked for the previous non-traditional..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Nürnberger
Nürnberger Versicherungsgruppe, one of the few insurers in Germany which are not part of a larger group, is skilfully fighting for its independence.
This is under threat from Versicherungskammer Bayern (VKB), the regional public-law insurer in..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Sampo in China
Finnish insurer, Sampo is considering whether to set up a representative office in China prior to entering into an insurance joint venture with a Chinese company.
Sampo has been active in the Chinese market since the mid 1990s.
Its strategy is to..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Fall in Indian premium growth
Premium growth of the four non-life companies in India has fallen drastically in 1999-2000, fuelling fears of a further decrease in the current year and the next. The financial results that have just been declared indicate that average premium..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Insurance scheme for English football
The English Football Association (FA) has denied that it is to force clubs to pay for a compulsory insurance scheme for players. In a letter to Insurance Day
, a spokesman for the FA said that earlier reports that local clubs would foot the bill..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
EC spells out dirty money rules for insurers
An overhaul of EU money laundering legislation will update and clarify application of the law to the insurance sector. Current legislation dating from 1991 covers only financial services and is aimed at the proceeds of drug trafficking.
The European..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
India shuns foreign reinsurers
The insurance regulator in India has finally announced guidelines for reinsurance clearly favouring Indian reinsurance companies by placing restrictions on non-life players wanting to pass on business overseas (WIR640/01
).
The guidelines announced..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Insurance indispensable to UK economy
The UK insurance sector is set to remain the biggest in the EU despite the problem of financial exclusion and falling business confidence among life insurers.
WIR looks at three reports on the sector published in same week.
British insurance..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
AIR and RMS expand weather modelling
Two risk modelling firms, best known for their work in the catastrophe risk area, have extended their data services to provide information for the weather risk trading market. Applied Insurance Research (AIR) and Risk Management Solutions (RMS) have..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Italy’s premium freeze unlawful
After a week of confusion in Brussels, the European Commission confirmed last week that it is going ahead with a challenge against the Italian government’s price freeze on premiums and other restrictions on motor insurers.
The Commission..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
New India Assurance
India’s largest non-life player, the state-run New India Assurance, has offered to share business with foreign insurers once they launch operations at the end of this year or early next year.
“We will be happy to share our business with..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000
Committed to liberalisation
Australian Prime Minister John Howard recently visited London to promote stronger business ties with the UK and Europe. The nation, though, stands accused by the EU and the US of obstructing financial services liberalisation at the World Trade..
Online Published Date:
21 July 2000
Appeared in issue:
642 - 21 July 2000