- Home/Publications/World Insurance Report
World Loss Log 18 April – 1 May
Late reports
15.4, mine explosion, fatalities
China: a gas explosion in the Yongcai coal mine in central Shanxi province buried 44 miners with only 1 survivor. 40 dead, 3 missing presumed dead.
Property and Business Interruption
20.4, car..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Company Profile: Chubb Corporation
With assets in excess of $23.5bn, New Jersey-based Chubb ranks among the five largest publicly listed insurance stocks in the world – an impressive achievement for the company that listed on the New York stock exchange in 1984.
Chubb can trace..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Swiss Re grows
Swiss Re has announced its sixth successive year of double-digit profit growth with group 1999 earnings climbing 12% to SwFr2.81bn (US$1.71bn). The board has proposed a dividend of SwFr50, up from SwFr48 the previous year.
The strong result was due..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Bids please
Keen not to be left behind, reinsurers are venturing into the world of e-commerce. Some are offering capacity on-line, others assessment of risks. But very few reinsurance companies will admit to not having a future e-commerce plan.
Cedants, though,..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Weathering the storms
With a costly year now behind them, French reinsurers are looking to see if the events of last December are the truly the final nails in the coffin of the soft market.
Some of the answer should come in July this year. Due to concerns over the Y2K..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Steffey resigns from ReAC
Faced with a hostile upcoming annual general meeting, ReAC’s chief executive Nick Steffey has resigned. In a brief note to the Australian stock exchange, the company said that both it and Mr Steffey has “retained their rights.” Mr..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
JL Jones
Innovating Lloyd’s marine-underwriting Syndicate 329, JL Jones & Others is to terminate its relationship with the US-based Markel group. The decision follows Markel’s recent takeover of the Terra Nova group, JL Jones’ original..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Iffco-Tokio
Close on the heels of Royal & SunAlliance finding a general insurance partner in India, Tokio Marine and Fire Insurance of Japan and Indian Farmers’ Fertiliser Co-operative (Iffco) have announced a new non-life partnership.
Iffco, the..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
NRMA
NRMA has revealed that the investment bankers Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), Macquarie Bank and UBS Warburg will act as joint global co-ordinators for the company’s float in July. Deutsche Bank, JB Were, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Amlin merges syndicates
The managing agency of insurer Amlin is to consolidate its managed syndicates 902 and 1141 into Syndicate 2001.
Amlin became the managing agency for the two syndicates after Amlin Underwriting Limited (AUL) merged with Angerstein Underwriting in..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
SVB turns profit
SVB Holdings turned in a profit of £23.8mn (US$37.8mn) for 1999 compared with a loss of £2.3mn for 1998. SVB Holdings, which owns five syndicates through its subsidiary SVB Syndicates, said the result included a £13.3mn write off of..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Over the peak
Rating’s agency Moody’s has forecast that Lloyd’s market losses will peak in 1999, but that year 2000 operations will still produce a deficit of almost £500mn (US$800mn).
Moody’ noted that previous years’ forecasts..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
US New voices oppose tax reform
The war of words over a bill designed to close a perceived ‘loophole’ in US tax law has heated up with the Bermudian premier and a cross-industry body both raising their voices in opposition to the move.
The bill in question, HR 4192, is..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Australia Reinsurance deregulation rejected
Proposals to deregulate the Australian reinsurance industry have collapsed following industry consultations by the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (Apra). The regulatory body said that submissions to its proposed reforms of prudential..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
No insurance for wild virus
Companies with computers attacked by the ‘ILOVEYOU’ virus are unlikely to find any solace for damages caused from their insurers. While policies in the field of e-commerce are developing, there is little chance of rogue viruses gaining..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Football failures seek cover
English football club Chelsea was recently reported to be considering the purchase of an insurance policy to cover against the possibility that it would fail to qualify for the European Champion’s League competition next season. Spanish club..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
An independent option
Lloyd’s has unveiled a new cover to protect US firms against the cost of hostile takeover bids. The new Strategic Defence Insurance (SDI) has been developed by UK-based TOI Corporate Services (TOI) and provides protection for the cost of..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Superior National files for bankruptcy
Superior National Insurance Group (SN), the holding company for four California-domiciled insurers, has filed for bankruptcy protection after a Superior Court upheld the rehabilitation plan proposed by the California Department of Insurance (CDI),..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Berkshire buys
Berkshire Hathaway is to acquire United States Investment Corp, a small commercial, professional and personal lines insurer. The company, based in King of Prussia, PA, sells its policies through agents in all 50 states and the District of..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
QBE throws down gauntlet
Australian insurer QBE has launched a counter bid for Limit, the largest Lloyd’s listed insurer. The provocative move came just days after Limit and fellow Lloyd’s insurer Wellington published details of their own proposal to form a..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
German giants swap stakes
Munich Re and Allianz have announced that they will cut their mutual stakes from 25% to 20% in several steps up to 2003. The programme will start in 2001, when – according to the Berlin government’s plans – proceeds from the sale..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Ace and Willis in bold PCC move
Ace and Willis have joined forces to form a Protected Cell Company (PCC) in Guernsey. Ace, which will own company Ace PCC Insurance (Ace PCC), has allocated $200mn of capacity to the venture with the aim of becoming the largest PCC in Guernsey...
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
ERC Frankona
ERC Frankona chief executive Bernhard Fink has claimed that 1999 was the worst year since the war for reinsurers. He said he expected higher prices at the end of this year, since storms Anatol, Lothar and Martin came too late to have an impact on..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Gerling reports ‘best year’ ever
Björn Jansli, chief executive of Gerling-Konzern Allgemeine (GKA), the main non-life vehicle of the Gerling group, reported the “best year of our history”, but was decidedly unhappy about events last year. The main reason: the high..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Dai-ichi
Japan’s insurance regulator has ordered Dai-ichi Mutual Fire & Marine to cease trading after the insurer abandoned efforts to increase its reserves. The Financial Supervisory Agency (FSA) said it had no alternative but to shut down the..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Pohjola
Pohjola has commissioned a report from consultant Fox-Pitt Kelton to outline the options for Pohjola’s shareholders notably its two largest ones, the group led by Ilmarinen and Osuuspankki, and the still merging Sampo-Leonia. The objective is..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
NIA
New India Assurance (NIA), India’s largest non-life player, has obtained permission from the Chinese authorities to open a representative office in Beijing. NIA chairman SK Kanwar said the company is seeking a license to operate in the..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Sampo
Finland’s Financial Supervision Authority and Competition Authority have finally approved the plan to merge Sampo with the state-owned bank Leonia. But the approval of the Insurance Supervision Authority, which is also necessary for a final..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
India IRDA shortens application procedure
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is expected to begin receiving applications for registration and licensing of new companies for three months from 15 June. It plans to complete the scrutiny of applications, choosing which..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
US P/C insurers call in the feds
The property/casualty business in the US has, for two decades, been debating the benefits of state versus federal regulation of insurance. Smaller, regional companies that do not operate nationally prefer the state-by-state approach because it is..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Hacker warning
The New Zealand Insurance Council has warned that companies and website providers will have to introduce adequate security standards before the New Zealand insurance industry provides insurance cover against attacks by computer hackers. These..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
Brokers and the internet: survival of the e-fittest…
Ted Blanch
, chairman and chief executive officer of EW Blanch Holdings, argues that the ‘e’ revolution is a new start, not an end, for the reinsurance broker.
‘Throughout history, the development of commerce has been accelerated..
Online Published Date:
12 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
637 - 12 May 2000
1—14 May 2001
Late reports
28.4, storms, fatalities
Bangladesh: at least 21 people were killed and more than 100 injured in a series of storms that lashed parts of the country. The tropical storms, with windspeeds of up to 80 kmph, also damaged homes and rice..
Online Published Date:
25 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
663 - 25 May 2001
Scor Group
France’s largest professional reinsurer Scor is also one of the worlds most innovative. The company is one of the many expanding capacity in life and health reinsurance as well as its specialty book.
The company writes a worldwide book of risk..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
ERC flies single banner in Canada
Employers Re (ERC), the reinsurance subsidiary of General Electric (GE), is to begin marketing and underwriting property /casualty reinsurance risks in Canada both directly and through reinsurance brokers.
Two other GE businesses that have provided..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Arig Re downgraded
Standard & Poor’s has downgraded Arig Re from A to A- with negative outlook. The move follows the company’s declining operating performance and a significant decrease in reinsurance premium volume. The fall mostly relates to the..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Unipol
Italian insurer Unipol has acquired northern Italian retail insurer Duomo Assucurazioni from Vecchia Mutua Grandine ed Eguaglianza and France’s Mutuelles du Mans in a L260bn (US$125mn) deal. The latest acquisition follows Unipol’s April..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Allianz Church & General
Recently announced results from Allianz Church & General, Ireland’s third-largest non-life insurer, indicate a considerable improvement in the market in 1999. The company halved its underwriting losses to IR£27.3mn..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Amlin reports profit
Lloyd’s insurer Amlin has posted a pre-tax profit of $18.3mn (US$27.7mn). The figure for 1999 was an increase on the £18mn recorded for the seven months to the end of 1998. Operating profit for continuing operations in 1999 was..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Moody’s offers new rating service
Moody’s is to become the first ratings agency to offer insurance financial strength ratings to each of Lloyd’s syndicates. Moody’s already assigns performance and volatility ratings to the 123 syndicates.
Moody’s said it..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Kiln remains confident
Kiln has reported a pre-tax loss of £6.7mn (US$10.4mn) for 1999 – compared to a profit of £8.38mn for the 15 months to December 1998 – but denied it had any plans to consolidate with other Lloyd’s insurers.
Chairman David..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Hiscox turns corner
Hiscox, the integrated Lloyd’s vehicle, saw its profits slump to just £112,000 (US$170,000) in 1999, down from £15.3mn in 1998, in what chairman Robert Hiscox termed “an exceptionally challenging period”. But Hiscox has..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Lloyd’s publishes new Principles
Lloyd’s, the International Underwriting Association of London (IUA) and the Lloyd’s Insurance Brokers Committee (LIBC) have finally published London Market Principles 2001
, a consultation document designed to make doing business more..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
India Central bank sets entry requirements
Foreign insurers planning to join hands with non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) in India will need to be more careful now that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country’s central bank, has announced stiff regulations on NBFC entry to the..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Total Loss Only cover re-emerges
Lloyd’s syndicate 609 (M E Denby & Others) has launched an interactive facility that enables marine hull insurers and brokers to purchase TLO (Total Loss Only) reinsurance covers online. Denby believes the new facility will enable the..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Lame duck for insurers
Governments and companies are not doing enough to make the case, publicly, for further liberalisation of world trade, claimed speakers at a recent London conference on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the liberalisation of financial..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Poland little opportunity for expansion
France’s president Jacques Chirac believes that Poland can be a member of the EU by 2003. Many would disagree, citing differences over agriculture or the need to reform a number of industries. But insurance, at least, is not an area likely to..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Swiss Re hedges weather online
Swiss Re is launching an online weather derivative facility that offers businesses the opportunity to hedge against the business impact of temperature fluctuations.
The new product is aimed primarily at utilities and energy companies. Weather..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Florida prepares for big blow
The new hurricane season officially starts on 1 June and it is set to be more bumpy than average for the residents of the Caribbean and the US east coast. But windstorm underwriters can derive some comfort from new steps taken by the Florida..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
US Motor insurers feel the pinch
New data from the Insurance Information Institute (III) show that US motor insurance rates fell last year for the second year in a row – and insurers are starting to feel the pinch. With claims expenses rising and investment income stagnating,..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
German insurers joint effort fails
Germany’s public-law insurers have failed in their attempt to set up a joint asset management company. The public-law groups, 18 of them in all, had been negotiating for the last two years to bring together this core activity.
“We will..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Nordic alliance falters
The future of pan-Nordic insurer If has been thrown into doubt following the decision of Finnish insurer Pohjola to pull out of the non-life alliance.
At an extraordinary shareholder meeting on 16 May, about 60% of the shareholders in Pohjola,..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
A misconceived measure
David Fox
of the Bermuda Insurance Institute argues the case against US House Resolution 4192.
‘Anyone believing the hype of a few American insurers, who mis-directed US legislators into tabling House Resolution 4192, has not been paying..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Data Update
Stock name
Number of shares
Closing
price US$
Market capitalisation
% weighting
XL
121,373,000
55.25
6,705,858,250
35.69526%
Ace
217,018,000
27.1875
5,900,176,875
31.40662%
Partner Re
..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
World Loss Log 2 May – 15 May
Natural Catastrophe
4.5, rainstorms, fatalities
China: at least 15 people were killed during a week of heavy rains that swept through southern China. The storms caused landslides which destroyed about 1,000 homes and caused damage estimated at..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Rhine Re acquires Imperial Re
Rhine Re, the Basel-based subsidiary of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), has announced that is to acquire small UK reinsurer Imperial Fire & Marine Re. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.
Imperial Re is licensed to transact insurance..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
EW Blanch says 2000 renewals flat
Hopes for the first signs of rate turn in the property catastrophe reinsurance market have been dashed by revelations that, in the US market, prices fell for the sixth year in succession according to figures released by Paragon Reinsurance Risk..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Self-help
A new online facility is offering the 3 million US road users who suffer accidents each year a cost-effective way to seek a settlement of their claim without resorting to a lawyer.
The St Louis-based MyClaim.com offers provides subscribers with the..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Cybersettling
The US-pioneered system of online dispute resolution is to debut in the UK from the summer. Cybersettle.com offers a claims settlement procedure for cases in which a claim is agreed but dispute remains regarding the amount. The facility enables the..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
ISO/NAM
Insurance Services Office (ISO) has paid $4mn to acquire a 16% stake in New York-based NAM Corporation, a global provider of web-enabled and in-person dispute resolution services. Besides investing in the company, ISO will also market NAM’s..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Parion
German mutual Parion is establishing a separate specialist industrial-risk insurer. The new unit will operate internationally within the Eureko group. Parion will initially locate its business as an independent unit of Eureko group company Gothaer..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Ohio Farmers
Ohio Farmers Insurance company, a unit of the Westfield Companies, is purchasing Old Guard Group of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for $45mn. If the deal proceeds, Westfield will emerge with assets of $2bn and $1bn in written premiums. It will operate in..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
QBE
QBE insurance has acquired the remaining 25.1% of trade credit insurer QBE Trade Indemnity (QBETI) from the Euler Group. The purchase price was not disclosed but is understood to be around A$20mn (US$11.6mn). The decision to buy the balance of QBETI..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Sampo
Sampo, Finland’s largest insurer, has said its year 2000 result will be swollen by E318m (US$290mn) in dividends from the sale of its Pohjola shares to fellow Finish insurer Ilmarinen (this issue, page 1
). Sampo purchased its Pohjola shares..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
AM Best Downgrades Frontier
For the second time in six weeks, AM Best has downgraded the financial strength rating of Frontier Insurance Group, this time to C++ (marginal) from B (fair). The downgrade also affects the subsidiaries Frontier Insurance, United Capitol Insurance,..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
SVB invests
SVB Continuation, a subsidiary of SVB holdings, has acquired an investment stake of undisclosed proportions in insurance software development firm eNterprise Internet Services.
eNterprise was formed last year to help insurers and brokers develop and..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Watkins moves east
Marine syndicate Watkins has opened a new branch office in Singapore following approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Watkins Syndicate Singapore will focus on hull, cargo, specie and energy classes of business. Watkins has already been..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
New Zealand Levy revision
The newly elected president of the New Zealand Insurance Council, John Balmforth, has urged the government to change the way the fire services levy, which funds New Zealand’s fire service, is collected.
The levy is currently based on a..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
New Zealand New ACC row
A new row has broken out over the imminent re-nationalisation of New Zealand’s workplace accident insurance.
As of 1 July, all workplace insurance will again come under the control of the state owned ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation). A..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Australia Australians pay most insurance tax
A new global research study has found that Australians are paying punitive state and federal taxes on general insurance premiums in comparison to consumers in other international markets. The rates appear to be affecting general insurance take up in..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
EU …and Parliament eases motor claims settlement
European Union legislation designed to ease settlement of non-resident motor accident claims received final approval from the European Parliament 16 May. The draft directive will now be rubber stamped by the Council of Ministers, representing the 15..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
EU Commission mulls competition reform…
The European Commission is taking soundings in preparation for an overhaul of the way EU competition rules are applied to the insurance sector. One issue is whether anti-trust rules should be further relaxed to allow insurers to conclude agreements..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
EBRD admits it needs to do more
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has admitted that it could have done more to help the emerging economies in Eastern Europe develop their insurance sectors. The confession was made by the EBRD’s director of non-bank..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
NAMIC calls for collaboration
The US National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) has called on state insurance regulators, state legislators and insurance industry leaders to commit to a collaborative “systematic strategy” to help enact uniform..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
NRMA cleared to float
The New South Wales Supreme Court has cleared the way for the A$3-5bn float of NRMA, Australia’s largest general insurer. The decision is the final step in a two-stage process for approving a scheme of arrangement for the demutualisation of..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000
Euro insurers focus on e-service
A new survey has found that European insurers are using the internet to enhance customer service and to support their existing distribution strategies, but are not trying to use the web to create a separate distribution channel.
The survey by..
Online Published Date:
26 May 2000
Appeared in issue:
638 - 26 May 2000