World Insurance Report

As in previous years, currency exchange rate factors impacted year-on-year premium increases for many companies in our survey, with Munich Re reporting that its overall reinsurance premium volume rose only marginally by 1.2%, mainly because of negative currency translation effects. If exchange rates had remained unchanged, the reinsurer’s premium income would have risen by 7.3%. However, other companies, insulated from the vicissitudes of year-end foreign exchange rates, recorded above-average premium growth in 2008. These included India’s state reinsurer General Insurance Corporation of India (up 29% in local currency, up 41% in US dollars) while Bermudian newcomers Validus, Maiden, and Flagstone generated net premium increases of 35%, 194% and 32%, respectively

Premiums were down but overall life earnings multiplied by 16 times during first half 2009

After the Australian insurance market enjoyed something of a golden age between 2005 and 2007 (when return on equity exceeded 20% for three years in succession), local insurers found themselves relatively unprepared for a rapid succession of external shocks, the most damaging of which is a change in the climatic cycle which has so far produced the Newcastle floods of June 2007, the Sydney hailstorm of December 2007, the Brisbane storm of November 2008, the Queensland floods of January 2009 and the Victoria bushfires of February 2009. These events, most of which have penetrated insurers’ catastrophe protections, have not only produced significant net retained losses but have also led to large increases in catastrophe reinsurance costs. These exceptionally heavy weather losses have been largely responsible for an increase in the market’s net combined ratio to 105% and an underwriting loss of A$1.1bn (US$924.37mn) in the year ending 31 December 2008

A record $8.6bn in crop insurance indemnity payments were made to US farmers for losses in 2008 because of droughts and flooding in parts of the country along with substantial price declines for some of the major commodities. Most of the claims came..

Investors are confident the government’s drive to stimulate domestic growth will support the market for much of this year.

Property and business interruption 8.8, fire US: ashes and charred pieces of boats were all that remained after a dock caught fire at Starkey Marina, Beaver Lake. The dock and 12 boats were destroyed. Two boats were damaged in the blaze. A faulty..

After investment returns diminished rapidly in the credit crunch there has been a significant shift in focus towards more effective risk management and underwriting profitability by insurers and reinsurers. Risk can take a number of forms including exposure, regulatory compliance, counterparty credit and market forces. However, an area of risk that has yet to be fully investigated, according to Ian Forwood, account director at Eurobase Insurance Solutions, is the operational constraints placed on underwriting staff due to the lack of business critical information in real time

The sharpest contraction was seen in the life account which was reduced by 16% in nominal terms and by 11% in real terms

Liability insurance was the one bright feature for Irish insurers in 2008 even though premium volume fell by over 13%. The fall was most pronounced in employers’ liability reflecting Ireland’s severe economic contraction which has particularly affected construction activity. There were fewer new employers’ liability claims in 2008 and overall claims costs also fell significantly but the trend in public liability was adverse with claims rising both in number and cost.

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has granted a licence to a private company to enter the local insurance market for the first time. Bhutan Insurance Ltd will compete with the state-run Royal Insurance Company of Bhutan (RICB) in the areas of..

Excess workers’ compensation profits paid by insurers to Florida businesses so far this year total some $100mn, more than three times higher than the amount paid in 2008, according to the state’s Office of Insurance Regulation. Hartford..

India’s insurance agents may soon have to disclose to clients the amount of commission they earn from different products. The move is being considered by a high-level government committee. A panel comprising officials from the finance..

Investors do not seem at all convinced that a general hard market is imminent to judge from their rating of reinsurance company shares: most are standing at discounts to book value, and only Arch Capital, Hannover Re and RenaissanceRe are considered worth more than their book value

India’s insurance regulator has strengthened know-your-customer (KYC) rules to reduce policy fraud. “While carrying out the KYC norms, special care has to be exercised to ensure that the contracts are not anonymous or under fictitious..

The tough market conditions are leading to the reshaping of the country’s insurance distribution system which has seen a marked increase in the number of independent agents obtaining authorisation

European risk managers say they are concerned about the implications of a recent ruling in the US on broker commission transparency. The European Federation of Risk Management Associations (FERMA) said: “The contingent commission discussion in..