World Insurance Report

Slovenia is one of the biggest insurance markets in the central and east European transition economies. One reason for the market’s high premium income is the large size of the healthcare account. Slovenian health insurance is a voluntary supplement to the state health insurance system and the high growth rates in 2006 and 2007 were largely the result of structural reforms in this particular sector of the market, which accounts for nearly 30.0% of non-life market premiums. However, competition is intense in most lines of business and growth is likely to be slower in the future. According to preliminary results for the first half of 2008, non-life premiums grew by 8.5% on a year-on-year basis. But the market finally began to harden (with motor casco rates rising by 5% and household and commercial property rates up to 15%) as a result of a series of costly hail and windstorm losses in the summer of 2008. There is also the prospect that the formal privatisation of the Triglav and Sava Re groups will lead to a greater emphasis on shareholder value. There is also the hope that the impact of the global economic crisis locally will encourage insurers in the market to increase the level of their retained profits

Survey found that compensating agents on a fee basis results in significant savings over commission-based payments

The newly elected government is widely expected to lift the limit on foreign direct nvestment in the Indian insurance sector to 49%

Move to merge financial services regulator with the French central bank

Company is major player in both life and non-life markets • Vinare reports 2008 loss • Slower growth forecast for market

Management of European subsidiary said clients stuck with the firm despite difficulties of parent company in the US

There was an increase in large fires in France in 2008, pushing up the loss ratio of the insurance market by by 15 points

As part of this trend of asset diversification, four funds in Uruguay are planning to enter the local mortgage lending market

The proportion of insurance policies offering flood cover has risen from 8% in 2006 to 32% last year

The treasury sees a federal charter as a way of addressing the systemic risks posed to the US financial system by insurers

All firms with an export turnover of US$2mn or more can now obtain export credit cover, usually at subsidised rates

There is currently an uneasy relationship between the UK government, the insurance industry and property owners who have insured their homes against flooding. One in six homes in England and Wales is at risk of some form of flooding and home owners are seeing property prices and insurance premiums affected by flood risk. The government has urged the insurance industry to reduce premiums and excesses for those property owners who have put measures in place to secure their homes against flooding. Currently, homeowners in flood risk areas face higher premiums and excesses but have not seen a similar reduction where they have invested in protecting their properties and reducing their risk. At the same time, estate agencies are now reporting that homeowners will find it much easier to sell houses that have flood defence measures “built in” already. Here, in an edited extract from his speech to the Flood and Coastal Risk Management Conference in Telford, chairman of the UK’s Environment Agency, Lord Chris Smith identifies the impact of climate change - more frequent severe weather and rising sea levels - as particular challenges for the government, the insurance industry and the communities at risk of flooding. In particular, he looks at the lessons learned by the government from the 2007 floods and reviews the measures that have been put in place to defend those at risk. In terms of the future, he outlines, among other developments, the government’s expectations for the Floods and Water Management Bill which is included in the draft legislative programme for the fifth session of Parliament

Insurers will be able to impose a levy on policies to fund the compulsory scheme

CNP will pay Barclays €140.0mn in cash on completion of the sale

Reports of data loss and security breaches are frequently in the news. Over the past couple of years there have been stories of mislaid laptops and hackers getting hold of transactional data. In this regard, the insurance sector is no exception: in May this year, US health insurance provider Aetna contacted 65,000 current and former employees whose Social Security numbers were at risk of theft by hackers following a data breach on its job application website; life insurance provider Aviva USA recently announced that a data breach caused by malware on an Aviva computer had affected 550 customers who opened accounts in the US, making Social Security numbers and other personal information vulnerable; and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, another US health insurance firm, compromised the personal data of around 1,700 brokers via an email exposing information such as Social Security numbers, phone numbers and addresses, when a document containing the data was accidentally attached to a general email notifying brokers of a software upgrade. According to Christine Andrews, Director, Data Quality Management Group Limited (DQM), insurance firms are holding increasing volumes of customer data, which is vital for sales activity, marketing campaigns, customer service and transactional processes. However, Ms Andrews points out that most financial services organisations do not know how to keep this data secure. A recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers revealed that over half of financial services firms do not know where all their customer and employee data is stored.

However, life insurance premiums fell by 22% in 2008 after four consecutive years of growth

The group’s sure-footed negotiation of the trading environment last year was in marked contrast to the struggles and crises experienced by an earlier incarnation in the late 1990s and early years of this decade, the venerable but constantly beleaguered, Royal & SunAlliance, the oldest insurance company in the UK. RSA, which celebrated its 250th birthday in 2004, is now a much more streamlined entity after one of the most intensive restructurings in the history of the insurance industry which included disposing of its life insurance operations, exiting a number of loss making non-life markets, most notably the US market where among other challenges it was exposed to asbestos liabilities as a result of business written years earlier by subsidiaries, and a change in senior management. This radical transformation, together with the much more intense focus on bottom line issues, was perfectly symbolised three years ago when the group’s previous name, with all its historical layers and associations, was reduced to just three initials, RSA

Original IPO of China’s third largest insurer was thrown off course by the financial crisis

The Jersey based private investment firm, Cevian Capital has increased its shareholding in Old Mutual to 5.01% of the company’s voting rights. The latter corresponds to 64,362,994 shares. At the beginning of June, Cevian Capital disclosed a..

Reinsurance broker Aon Benfield has selected RMS as its main provider of risk modelling advice and strategies. A particular focus of the new relationship will be catastrophe risk analytics and interpretation of results. Bryon Ehrhart, chief..

Broker Lockton claims to have introduced the first After-the- Event Insurance cover in Singapore. The product will be underwritten by First Capital Insurance Limited which is owned by Odyssey Re. ATE Insurance is a form of legal expenses insurance..

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), at the conclusion of its Triannual Meeting in Taiwan, reaffirmed a number of actions being taken to reinforce insurance regulation and improve the resilience of the global insurance..

The insurers and reinsurers tracked by WIR suffered another marked decline iin their stock values for the period ending 25 June. But, despite the figures, it was not all gloom for the sector over the two weeks in which the broader market was..

AIG has appointed Alain Karaoglan to head up the team within the company charged with disposing of the group’s assets, the proceeds of which will be used to pay down the money owed by the group to the US federal government. In a statement,..

Late reports 5.6, aircraft grounded Mexico: authorities grounded the Aviacsa airline temporarily after officials reported irregularities in the maintenance of 25 aircraft. Mexico’s Transportation and Communications Department said the low cost..