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Allianz unit in Egypt
Middle East
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Aegon to shut Manila office
Asia-Pacific
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Victoria to outgrow market
Europe
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Anderson insurer insolvent
North America
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
CGNU
CGNU is the leading general insurer in the UK and Ireland.
The group also has a significant presence in the Netherlands, Canada, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia.
The group’s strategy is to concentrate on leadership in personal lines..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
South Africa
Primary insurers increase gross income at expense of the bottom line
The gross premium income of the South African nonlife primary insurance market grew by 8.6% in 2000, according to the latest annual report issued by the Registrar of Short-term..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Health sector takes off
The private health insurance sector seems finally set to take off in India. Four private nonlife insurance companies have tied up third-party administrators (TPAs) to help service policyholders. They are Iffco Tokio General Insurance, ICICI Lombard..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Tenet Insurance seeks organic growth
Singapore-based Tenet Insurance, part of giant Hwa Hong Corporation, has announced plans to double its gross premium income to S$45mn within two years.
The company was known as Hartford Insurance until last year, when it produced a gross premium..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Thai bancassurance set for rapid expansion
The recent deregulation of the financial services sector in Thailand has given rise to huge opportunities in the area of bancassurance.
The Bank of Thailand, the country’s central bank, has recently allowed commercial banks to broker and..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
News roundup
• Colombia
: Liberty Seguros had 15.1% of the local motor market, with Col$132.8bn (US$57.7mn) in premium income. The company reported pretax profits of Col$20.2bn on an overall premium income of Col$320.2bn. Claims costs spiralled by 93% from..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Chilean Isapres show slow earnings growth
Chile’s private medical insurers, known as Isapres, saw their earnings grow by only 0.3% to US$18.92mn in 2001.
Premium income increased by just 2.6% to US$1,064mn. Although administrative costs were cut by 7.8%, claim payments rose by 7.2%..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
RI3K
Trading ambivalence for conviction in the London market
RI3K, the London-based reinsurance online settlement and trading service provider, has only been in business for just over two years. But during that period it has rethought its strategy and..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Generali moves east
Generali Group is buying the central European operations of Zurich Financial Services in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.
No price was given for the deal. Zurich’s insurance operations in these four countries generated gross..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Mapfre to extend holdings in Latin America
Spanish insurer Sistema Mapfre plans to make more acquisitions in Latin America and will invest between €150mn (US$131mn) and €185mn in the privatisation of Mexican insurer Hidalgo.
The acquisition would be made in collaboration with..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
French bank takes majority stake in Coface
Natexis Banques Populaires, the investment bank of France’s Group Banques Populaires, has made a bid to buy the 35.26% stake in credit insurer Coface until now held by French reinsurer Scor.
Since Natexis already has a holding of 19.14% in..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
New insurer offers terrorist cover to business
Six of Europe’s biggest insurance groups – Allianz, Hannover Re, Scor, Swiss Re, XL Capital and Zurich Financial Services – have set up a specialist terrorist insurer.
The new company, Special Risk Insurance & Reinsurance..
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12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Aviation insurers call for an end to backstop
Graham Nichols, who retired this month as chairman of the Aviation Insurance Offices’ Association (AIOA), has said governments should stop or reduce their support in supplying backstop terrorist cover to airlines.
The aviation world is awash..
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12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Loss development and insurance accounting
Insurance holding company Berkshire Hathaway includes General Re, one of the biggest reinsurers in the US, among its subsidiaries. Like other major reinsurers, the company had significant exposures to the events of 11 September. In the following..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Assurex adds new partners
Latin America
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Road and rail
24.03, train deaths
Egypt: 11 Railway Authority workers have been charged with gross negligence for a train fire that killed 361 people in Egypt’s worst train disaster. The workers allegedly failed to ensure the train was equipped with..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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19 March – 1 April 2002
Late reports
14.03, helicopter crash
Germany: five passengers of a rescue helicopter were killed when their Bell UH-1D crashed in a suburb north of Hamburg. The helicopter was on its way to the scene of a car accident when the crash took place...
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
World insurance stock prices
Company/group
Currency
31/12/01
21/3/02
4/4/02
Change from
21/3/02 %
Capitalisation US$ mn
Ace
US$
40.15
41.91
43.00
2.6
11,222
AIG
US$
79.40
72.40
73.15
1.0
191,103
Allianz
€
266.00
277.70..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
Appeared in issue:
685 - 12 April 2002
Company profile: Ghana Re
Composite (life and nonlife) reinsurer Ghana Re posted pretax profits of C28.2bn (US$3.9mn) in 2000, compared with a C14.6bn surplus for 1999.
The profit increase stemmed from exchange gains of C18.1bn, due to the depreciation of the Ghanaian cedi,..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
India backtracks on motor rate rise decision
India’s Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA) has issued another ruling bound to disappoint foreign companies looking to enter the motor insurance market. Foreign insurers are currently deterred by the extremely low motor..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
Appeared in issue:
685 - 12 April 2002
Brazilian funds increase by 4.8% in January
In a survey published by Thompson Financial Investment Tracker (TFIT) on pension funds in Latin America, Brazil once more tops the list for the country with the fastest-growing funds.
According to the TFIT’s January 2002 figures, the value of..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
Appeared in issue:
685 - 12 April 2002
Bolivia experiences drop in unpaid pension contributions, but delinquency issue remains
The latest figures from Bolivia’s Superintendency for Pensions, Securities & Insurance (SPVS) indicate a relatively low rate of non-payment by employers into these pension schemes. This is possibly thanks to a system of close monitoring..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Argentinian insurers gain permission to approach banks for loans to pay claims
Argentinian insurers have until 7 June to file their first-quarter results after a special ruling by the country’s Insurance Superintendency. Although news of the ruling has only recently surfaced, the decision had already been made by the..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
$8.8bn underwriting loss puts a strain on sector’s capital resources
The figures in the Reinsurance Association of America’s (RAA) 2001 fourth-quarter underwriting report not surprisingly confirm last year as the most traumatic ever for US reinsurers’ bottom lines.
But although the sector’s..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
Appeared in issue:
685 - 12 April 2002
Fire tariffs change
All holders of fire and engineering insurance policies in India will now have to pay an additional premium towards terrorism cover.
This follows a clarification from the Tariff Advisory Committee (TAC) that any insurance policy issued earlier than 1..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Belarus directive threatens survival of private insurers
Viktar Khamyarchuk, president of the Belarusian Insurance Union, has warned that a recent directive by the country’s president, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, may lead to the ‘total nationalisation’ of insurance business in..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Caribbean sets about creating disaster fund
While the World Bank is proceeding slowly with its proposed catastrophe insurance fund for Barbados and the seven members of the subregional Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Trinidad-based Association of Caribbean States (ACS) is..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Chilean insurers set to move into consumer credit market
In a surprise move, Chile’s Superintendency for Securities & Insurance has announced that both life and nonlife insurance companies will be able to operate in the consumer credit market in competition with banks and other entities already..
Online Published Date:
12 April 2002
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685 - 12 April 2002
Davison heads Dubai body
Middle East
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
Sun Life enters Tianjin
Asia-Pacific
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
Hiscox joins capital markets
Europe
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
Chubb predicts expansion
Latin America
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
Silverstein settles dispute
North America
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
2–15 April 2002
Late reports
31.03, train collision
China: seven people were killed and three severely injured when a train collided head-on with a farm truck in northeast China’s Liaoning province. The train was travelling from Chengde in China’s..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
Appeared in issue:
686 - 26 April 2002
World insurance stock prices
Company/group
Currency
31/12/01
4/4/02
18/4/02
Change from
4/4/02 %
Capitalisation US$ mn
1: Formerly NRMA Insurance Group • 2: Tokio Marine & Fire delisted from Tokyo stock exchange on 26 March and replaced with..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
Appeared in issue:
686 - 26 April 2002
Scor Group
French reinsurance group Scor increased its gross premium income by 41% to €4.9bn (US$4.3bn) in 2001. On a comparable basis – after restatement for the first-time consolidation of the results of recently acquired subsidiaries Scor Life..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
Pakistan
Regulators step up implementation of new rules to stimulate growth
The gross premium income for Pakistan’s general insurance market grew by 12% to PRs10.2bn (US$216mn) in 2000, according to the latest figures issued by the Securities &..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
China prepares to become second-largest insurance market in Asia
China is about to embark on the next stage in the process of reforming the domestic insurance market. The authorities have opened up some segments of the market to foreign insurers and have made a number of other structural changes as part of..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
Japanese life insurers see policy retention and new products as key
These are eventful times for the besieged Japanese life insurance sector and the last two weeks have been no exception. The most recent attempt to fathom the state of the market was a special report by rating agency Fitch, the findings of which were..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
Appeared in issue:
686 - 26 April 2002
Swiss Re suffers historic net loss
The published figures did not look so bad after months of fervent speculation about Swiss Re’s 2001 loss figures.
The reinsurer’s net loss for the year was SF165mn (US$100mn), which was below the SF200mn forecast earlier this year. This..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
Munich Re expresses an interest in Fondiaria
Munich Re is in talks with La Fondiaria, the Florentine insurer that is also being pursued by the Italian group SAI (Società Assicuratrice Industriale). Munich Re confirmed press reports that it has also been in contact with SAI.
For the time..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
Appeared in issue:
686 - 26 April 2002
MAAF stays in profit but Executive Life allegations will not go away
French mutual insurer MAAF has surprised the market by producing a respectable set of results for 2001, with total premium income up by 11.1% to €2.18bn (US$1.94bn).
Profit was up to €81mn from the equivalent of €74mn a year..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
Allstate increases its mould reserves
Operating income recorded by Allstate Corporation was 12% down during the first quarter of this year at US$488mn following an increase in reserves for its property and liability businesses.
Reserves were strengthened by US$148mn during the first..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
Pressure mounts for government backstop
The US Senate is coming under increasing pressure to pass terrorism insurance legislation that would provide a federal backstop for the reinsurance of such risks, over seven months after the 11 September attacks.
Since its return from spring recess..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
Indian market faces rate war
India’s 11 private life insurance companies, competing among themselves for the business not currently written by the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), are about to engage in a fierce rate war.
Contrary to expectation, the Indian..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
Appeared in issue:
686 - 26 April 2002
Company profile: Malaysian National Re
Malaysian National Re (MNRB), the main reinsurer in the Malaysian market, saw its pretax profits slump from M$117mn (US$30.8mn) to M$45mn for its fiscal year ending 31 March 2001.
The profit decline stemmed from falling investment returns and an..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
Appeared in issue:
686 - 26 April 2002
Company profile: Oil Casualty
Bermuda-based Oil Casualty Insurance (OCIL), which celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2001, reported a net loss of US$19mn for the year ending 30 November 2001.
The company, which writes umbrella general liability (UGL) and directors’ and..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
Catastrophe losses drive property/casualty sector into red for first time
The US property/casualty industry suffered a net loss of US$7.9bn last year, its first annual loss ever. The result compared with a net profit of $20.6bn in 2000.
The result was heavily impacted by the terrorist attacks in the US in September and a..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
Insurance will top the agenda in EC study on marine safety
The European Commission (EC) is to study insurance issues relating to ships in distress as part of the latest EU moves to curb marine hazards.
A key question is whether port authorities should be entitled to deny entry to a ship in distress, in the..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
Long-awaited industry report takes the side of Irish motor insurers
The final report of Ireland’s Motor Insurance Advisory Board (MIAB) has been less harsh on insurers than its interim report suggested it would be. It does not accuse them of profiteering although it questions their efficiency and rating..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
M&A activity slips
The predicted increase in insurance merger and acquisition (M&A) activity for the first few years of the new century has fallen short of expectations, according to a new report by Conning & Co.
Last year the number of M&A transactions..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
Chilean motorists increasingly opt for cover
Since 1997 Chile’s once-booming economy has slowed down to a third of its historical levels. GDP growth averaged 7.6% per annum in the period 1986 to 1997 but has since dropped to around 2.4% over the following five years.
The market for new..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
EU court rules in favour of broker
Businesses are increasingly turning to the European Court of Human Rights to challenge decisions handed down in their national courts. Rulings by the Strasbourg court in recent months have involved issues ranging from tax and competition affairs to..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
Caribbean market set to consolidate
The Caribbean general insurance industry is in the throes of ‘fundamental change’, according to the Caribbean regional office of international financial services company Ernst & Young. The change will lead to ‘more innovative..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
EU sees recycling insurance as the solution to Europe’s problem of environmental waste
The European Parliament is proposing ‘recycling insurance’ as a way of ensuring manufacturers meet their liabilities under new legislation on waste. Environment commissioner Margot Wallstrom wants manufacturers of electrical household..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
Air China crash will cause further rate rises
The recent crash of an Air China plane will have a crippling effect in terms of increasing premiums on aviation insurance.
Although the exact nature of increases will be known only after some time, some experts feel it will be at least 20% over and..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
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686 - 26 April 2002
Managing the customer
The insurance market today is facing a number of challenges. Regulations have made it increasingly difficult for insurance industries to determine what information can be shared with what customer at what time. With customers comparing prices on the..
Online Published Date:
26 April 2002
Appeared in issue:
686 - 26 April 2002