- Home/Publications/World Insurance Report
20 March—2 April 2001
Late reports
16.3, train crash, fatality
US: 1 person died and 90 were injured when an Amtrak train carrying 210 people from Chicago, Illinois to Emeryville, California derailed between the towns of Brooks and Nodaway, Iowa. The cause was unknown...
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
World insurance stock prices
Company/group
Currency
2000 year-end
22/03/01
05/04/01
% change
from 22/03/01
Capitalisation US$mn
* cap price for the year-end in the last issue should have read US$3,495mn not US$495mn
source: iiudata
Ace
US$
42.44..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Company profile: Lion of Africa
Nigerian composite insurer Lion of Africa Insurance Company saw its pre-tax profit jump by 96% to N57mn (US$478,800) in 1999 as both underwriting profit and investment income rose sharply.
On the downside, non-life gross premium income fell 11% to..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Scor
Scor Group s pre-tax profit rose by 16% to 148mn (US$129.8mn) in 2000 as improved life reinsurance and investment returns offset heavy losses suffered by the group in the non-life sector.
Scor s consolidated net income reached 111mn, an increase of..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Market focus: Hong Kong
Bearing the brunt of uncertainty
Figures released by Hong Kong insurance commissioner continue to show the decline in the local insurance and reinsurance markets, reflecting the downturn in the economy in general.
Premium income for both direct..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Kuwait
Premiums static as market reforms
The Kuwaiti insurance market s non-life direct premium income fell by almost 4% in 1999 to KD49.4mn (US$162.2mn).
In contrast, life premiums went up by 10% to KD10.3mn. No figures were provided for ceded premiums..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Costs and claims contained, but uncertain road ahead
US reinsurers recorded a marginally worse combined ratio last year, but as
WIR reports the modest deterioration masked some unhealthy market fundamentals.
Reinsurers are hoping that the improved picture for 2001, characterised by stronger rating,..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
reinsurance and the internet
Don t throw out the relationship with the lineslip
Direct insurers have never really doubted the marketing potential of the internet, but it took a long time before they were convinced of its effectiveness as a sales tool. Reinsurers, on the other..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Allianz/Dresdner merger transforms financial services landscape
The October beer festival with its carousels and other fair equipment is still six months away, but the Munich-based management of Allianz AG — or Allianz Group as it will in future be called — is getting used to the feeling of a..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Forget the past
Dean O Hare,
chairman and chief executive of Chubb Corporation, believes now is the time for Europe and the US to step back from the escalation of damaging bilateral trade disputes and consider the broader economic and strategic interests involved..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Company profile: Ohio Casualty
Ohio Casualty Corporation suffered a US$130mn pre-tax loss in 1999. This was not only the company s worst financial result in 40 years but was in stark contrast to the $137mn profit it produced in 1999.
The company attributed the poor result to the..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Company profile: Zep-Re
PTA Reinsurance Company (Compagnie de R assurance de la Zone d Echanges Pr f rentiels, known as Zep-Re) was established in 1990 by heads of state of the Common Market for Eastern & Southern Africa (Comesa). Comesa comprises 19 African..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Parliament to pass PCC law soon
Two years after it was first mooted, Gibraltar is set to pass legislation formalising the formation of protected cell companies (PCCs).
Chief minister Peter Caruana said he expected legislation, which was currently in the hands of parliamentary..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Gibraltar threatens to walk away from OECD tax regime
The offshore finance centre of Gibraltar has said it will pull out of any agreement to co-operate with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) on information exchange and harmonisation of tax practices unless other..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Chile life and pensions: 2000 results
Chile s eight pension fund management companies, the administradoras de fondos de pensiones
(AFPs), whose assets totalled nearly US$37bn at the end of February 2001, have published their results. These show that they performed somewhat better for..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Another Japanese life insurer fails
A seventh Japanese life insurer has hit the wall. Plagued by bad economic conditions and a falling stock market, Tokyo Mutual Life Insurance has filed for protection from creditors in the Tokyo District Court under a special section of the country s..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Suramericana expects 20% revenue increase
Suramericana de Seguros, the biggest insurer in Colombia, expects to increase its premium income to CP1trn (US$430mn) in 2001, an increase of 20% over 2000, confirming its dominance of the local market.
Much of this income will come from..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Indian state insurers stick together
India s four state-run general insurers are in the process of not only restructuring but also reorientating themselves in a vastly more competitive environment.
No longer operating under the aegis of their erstwhile holding company General Insurance..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Australian health insurance premium rebate questioned
There are increasing signs of dissatisfaction with Australia s private health insurance rebate from the country s left-of-centre politicians.
The third major force in Australian politics, the Australian Democrats have called on the Federal..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Further delays to Holocaust-era payouts
A second refusal by a US judge to dismiss cases against German companies for Holocaust-era slave labour claims has been criticised by survivors groups. The decision means payouts to survivors will be delayed as companies seek clarification on their..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Liberty Mutual buys Panamerican
Liberty Mutual, owner of Venezuelan insurer Seguros Caracas, has purchased a 99.8% stake in insurer Seguros Panamerican for US$56mn.
For the time being, Liberty will keep Caracas and Panamerican as separate, independent companies, and it denied..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
Eureko to take control of PZU
Eureko is to take control of Poland s largest insurer, PZU, ending a battle with the Polish government that has lasted almost two years. With agreement from the new treasury minister Aldona Kamela-Sowinska, Eureko will take an extra 21% when the..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001
IRDA sets commission rates
India s Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA) has begun finalising the commission structure for general insurance agents. It has proposed a 5% commission for agents doing tariff business. This includes fire, engineering, marine..
Online Published Date:
13 April 2001
Appeared in issue:
660 - 13 April 2001