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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
Company profile: GE Frankona Re
Last year saw significant changes at GE Frankona Re, the European operations of Employers Re Corp (ERC).
As well as a change of name from ERC Frankona Re, the Munich-based company restructured its operations by creating nine business units, each..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Hannover Re Group
Hannover Re’s pretax earnings fell by €26mn to €304mn last year but the group’s net income jumped by 81% to €365mn, reflecting the impact of a reduction in German corporate tax on its deferred taxes.
As a result the..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Panama
Small but resilient market weathers local and regional storms
Panama has the distinction of being the market with the highest level of insurance penetration (premiums as a percentage of GDP) in Central and South America in 1999, according to Swiss..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
China to increase number of foreign insurer licences
China’s entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO), subject to WTO ministerial approval in November, is expected to increase the number of licences issued to foreign insurers.
The UK’s largest insurers, CGNU and Standard Life..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Commonwealth Bank repositions in Asia
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has announced it will sell its 48% stake in the Thai life insurance group Ayudhya CMG to Germany’s Allianz.
This sale is part of CBA’s plans to reposition itself in Asia by shifting its investments..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Australian insurers struck by liability claims
Australian public liability and professional indemnity insurers have seen a sharp increase in the cost of claims, according to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).
ICA executive director Alan Mason said from every dollar collected for public..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Berkshire Hathaway loses its CEA business
The California Earthquake Authority (CEA), a leading provider of earthquake insurance in the state, has decided to move the second layer of its excess-of-loss reinsurance cover from Berkshire Hathaway and CNA Financial Corporation to an insurance..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Insurers overexposed in fire-prone US states
The homeowners’ insurance market has become heavily concentrated in the US, with eight insurers exposed to 74.5% of the risk in seven western fire-prone states, according to insurance research consultancy Weiss Ratings.
State Farm Group tops..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
P&I club manager expands range of insurance services
Charles Taylor Consulting (CTC), the manager of the Bermuda-based Standard Protection & Indemnity Club, is to pay US$7.8mn for HCC Insurance Holdings’ aviation loss-adjusting business.
CTC will pay $5.6mn in cash on completion of the deal..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Zurich rebrands its Canadian business
The Zurich Financial Services Group has changed the name of its Canadian subsidiary to Zurich North America Canada to reflect the integration into the group’s North American business.
This change in name is part of the company’s efforts..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Indian regulator reprimands insurance firms
The Indian regulator has pulled up two insurance companies for not giving sufficient information and choice to investors and violating its advertising and disclosure guidelines. The insurers are Tata-AIG and Royal Sundaram. The Insurance Regulatory..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
South Korean unions protest at AIG share deal
Financial sector workers in South Korea have gone on strike as a result of the planned sale of Hyundai’s security broking business and investment units to a consortium led by AIG and including US equity firm WL Ross.
The consortium is looking..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Insurance firms in Peru struggle under weight of earthquake claims
Pacífico-Peruano Suiza, the largest insurance group in Peru, has said it expects to see premium growth of 8% in its general insurance and 14.5% in life insurance business for this year. Pacífico is part of local financial services group..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
US industry fears mould damage claims could reach asbestos levels
Major insurance companies in the US, including Allstate and Farmers, have stopped selling new homeowners’ policies because of fears over the rise in mould-related claims.
Several multimillion-dollar lawsuits against insurance companies,..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
India and China drive regional market growth
India and China are driving the growth of the regional insurance market in Asia as a result of deregulation measures and the presence of cheaper and more effective distribution channels, according to Swiss Re’s most recent sigma
report on..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Australia’s HIH collapse hits markets in Asia
Failed Australian insurer HIH Insurance has revealed it has a total of HK$1.05bn in outstanding claims in Asia and the insurer’s Asian liabilities currently exceed assets by HK$660mn (US$842.6mn). As new claims emerge, this figure could hit..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Munich Re income up
Munich Re, which estimated its exposure to the damage caused by the terrorist attacks in New York at US$1.9bn, achieved further price increases in its treaty renewals during the first half of this year without losing desirable business, according to..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Reinsurers review damage
The reinsurance industry is facing up to the financial implications of the worst disaster in its history.
Reinsurers’ capital bases, already weakened by years of underpricing and by the more recent deterioration in investment income, will be..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
4–17 September 2001
Late reports
1.9, fire, fatalities
Japan: at least 44 people died and dozens were critically injured in an explosion and fire in a building in a busy Tokyo entertainment district. The cause at what appeared to be a gambling den is under..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
World insurance stock prices
Source: iiudata ©
Company/group
Currency
2000 year-end
06/09/01
20/09/01
Change from 06/09/01 %
Capitalisation US$ mn
Ace
US$
42.44
33.78
20.95
(38.0)
4,861
AIG
US$
98.56
75.55
68.90
(8.8)..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Company profile: Kenya Re
Kenya Re Corporation, Kenya’s government-owned reinsurer, saw its pretax profits fall by 45% from KSh298mn (US$4mn) in 1999 to KSh165mn in 2000. But the company’s net profits improved from a loss of KSh808mn to a profit of KSh165mn.
The..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
US tropical storm losses increase to $2.5bn
Insurance claim estimates for the damage caused by tropical storm Allison in April this year have nearly doubled from US$1.3bn to $2.5bn, according to Property Claim Services (PCS), the agency that collects claims and other data for the US insurance..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Latvia reverses trend
Latvia, with a premium income of US$163mn in 1999, is not only one of the smallest insurance markets in Europe but also one of the most arbitrary.
While most insurance regulatory authorities issue their interim market results on a six-monthly basis,..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Sun Life sells shares to fund US expansion
Sun Life Financial Services of Canada is intending to purchase a US life insurer and a marketing group by selling C$500mn (US$318mn) worth of common shares in the US and Canada. Sun Life will use part of the proceeds of the share offering to acquire..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Caribbean insurers prepare for rise in cat reinsurance rates
The days of soft catastrophe reinsurance rates for many Caribbean island markets appear to be over and insurers in the region are bracing themselves for a possible backlash from policyholders.
The last time there was a hike in reinsurance costs for..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
US reinsurers factor in Allison damage cost
US reinsurers, facing massive losses from the attack on the World Trade Center, are also in the process of establishing their exposure to damage caused by tropical storm Allison in April. This is expected to be in the region of $2.5bn. The industry..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
New Zealand bank forced to compensate mortgage protection client for exclusions
National Bank, one of New Zealand’s ‘big four’ and a subsidiary of the UK-based Lloyds Bank group, has been ordered by a court to pay a woman NZ$250,000 (US$105,000) because it did not warn a couple that the life insurance policy..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Euler turns to risk quality in financial downturn
Credit insurer Euler is feeling the cold wind of recession sweeping the world’s economy. It has seen its technical result, before equalisation provisions, drop to €16.4mn for the first six months of this year from €49.1mn over the..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Europe debates antiterrorist priorities for financial sector
Decisions on financial services legislation at the 21 September emergency EU anti-terrorism summit in Brussels involved identifying priorities rather than taking immediate action.
Amid claims that the 11 September terrorist attacks in the US may..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
New India enters deal
New India Assurance, one of the four state-run general insurers in India, has announced it will enter into a joint venture with German insurer Gerling Credit for reinsurance and technical support on a new product, Business Credit Shield.
This..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001
Future of fund management
As the dust settles and life returns to a semblance of normality, it is time to consider the likely impact of the human tragedy that took place in New York City on 11 September on commerce and, more specifically, the future of the investment..
Online Published Date:
28 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
672 - 28 September 2001