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Assessing opportunity and risk in the Costa Rican market
*M. Machua Millett considers the prospects and challenges of the Costa Rican market since the end of the government monopoly in August last year
Online Published Date:
14 September 2009
Appeared in issue:
870 - 14 September 2009
Paris Re
Following an underwriting loss of $11.0mn in 2008 (compared with an underwriting profit of $110.1mn the previous year), the combination of unfavourable exchange rate movements and the deterioration in ‘intangible assets’, which collectively represented a direct charge of around $225.0mn on Paris Re’s consolidated income statement, had quite a significant impact on the company’s net loss result of $34.2mn
Online Published Date:
14 September 2009
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870 - 14 September 2009
World loss log 18 – 31 August 2009
Late reports
17.8, sinking, fatalities
Taiwan: rescuers continued the search for the 22 seamen on bulk carrier Chang Ying who had been missing for nine days in the waters off Taiwan following typhoon “Morakot”. Authorities in the eastern..
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14 September 2009
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870 - 14 September 2009
Prospect of higher capital requirements improves market prospects
Relative political stability has returned to Lebanon, following an agreement concluded in May 2008 between the various pro-western and pro-Syria factions to form a unity government. There appears to be cautious optimism that the political situation will be maintained. In addition, a new insurance law is in the process of being drafted and even though this law may not be introduced until 2010, the move is seen as positive, particularly by foreign investors. The draft law is said to contain provisions entailing a 500% increase in minimum capital for insurance companies and the mandatory separation of life and non-life operations into separate corporate entities. Such measures would lead to the reduction of the number of companies in the marketplace to a more sustainable level
Online Published Date:
14 September 2009
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870 - 14 September 2009
RMS issues new models to cover regional earthquake risks
Catastrophe modeller Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has issued 16 new and updated earthquake models for Latin America, which it said bridges the gap in demand for detailed risk analysis in the region. The models focus on countries with the highest..
Online Published Date:
14 September 2009
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870 - 14 September 2009
Foreign insurers well-positioned for market growth
Changes to compulsory classes of business and growing wealth are expected to drive the market over the next four years
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14 September 2009
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870 - 14 September 2009
Investment losses drain first half profits
Underwriting profits were up, but realised capital losses threatened to wipe out pre-tax profits
Online Published Date:
14 September 2009
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870 - 14 September 2009
Lowering the cost of compliance
Insurers are facing pressures on margins and competitive threats are growing especially from international or new market entrants. According to Christoffel Klimbie, UK Sales Director for Aia Software, a reliance on manual methods of working and legacy systems that require constant patching up has left the insurance industry several steps behind other markets such as banking, where the concept of and projects to implement automated straight through processing (STP) have been commonplace for years. One such area where operational efficiency can be improved is the process of Document Composition which allows business users to create and manage the output for business critical documents and supports templates, intelligent text production and efficient multi-channel communications. It automates key processes as a means to achieve efficiency and compliance. Here, Mr. Klimbie addresses the critical issue of why, if the benefits of document composition software are so clear, are insurers not falling over themselves to sign up for these projects?
Online Published Date:
14 September 2009
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870 - 14 September 2009
Munich Re focuses on regional life insurance market for growth
• Bolivian insurer suspended for failing policyholders • Insurers pay out in Chile copper mine claim • Venezuela to vote on bill
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14 September 2009
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870 - 14 September 2009
Insurers record slowdown in premium growth
While direct premiums experienced some slowdown, reinsurance increased by 17.3% to €241.7mn
Online Published Date:
14 September 2009
Appeared in issue:
870 - 14 September 2009
Reinsurers return to positive capital
Reinsurers have started to rebuild their capital, according to reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter. As measured by the broker’s Global Reinsurance Composite, reinsurers’ capital rose by $4.6bn in the first half of this year, a significant..
Online Published Date:
14 September 2009
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870 - 14 September 2009
Generali opens office in Vietnam
The Generali Group has been allowed to open a representative office in Hanoi, in Vietnam, and the company is hoping to obtain an operating licence in the course of next year. The Vietnamese insurance market, which has a population of 85 million, has..
Online Published Date:
14 September 2009
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870 - 14 September 2009
US life sales hit 1940s low
Premiums took another double-digit hit in the second quarter of 2009
Online Published Date:
14 September 2009
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870 - 14 September 2009
New capital rules need fine-tuning to reflect crisis, Fitch
The equity risk charge may need to be increased, and correlations between various risk modules may need to be adjusted
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14 September 2009
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870 - 14 September 2009
Health insurance troubles small businesses
Small business owners in the US are struggling to provide health insurance for their staff and do not feel confident in determining the health insurance that best fits their employees’ needs, according to a new survey by the National..
Online Published Date:
14 September 2009
Appeared in issue:
870 - 14 September 2009
Novae Re launched
UK insurer Novae Group Plc has established an international reinsurance unit to take advantage of improving conditions in the reinsurance market. Novae Re will offer reinsurance products including specialist classes such as agriculture and..
Online Published Date:
14 September 2009
Appeared in issue:
870 - 14 September 2009
Insurers’ direct debit interest charges under fire
New report suggests that practise by car insurance providers in the UK to charge interest on monthly repayments of car insurance premiums may not be sustainable in the long term
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14 September 2009
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870 - 14 September 2009
Economy weighs heavy on insurance potential
The economic growth picture which averaged over 10% a year from 2005 to 2007 and is now expected to be minus 10% in 2009
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14 September 2009
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870 - 14 September 2009
Investments offset heavy catastrophe bill at Suncorp Metway
The group’s natural catastrophe bill more than doubled in the year to June
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14 September 2009
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870 - 14 September 2009
Lexington V Wasa & AGF: the importance of governing law provisions
On Thursday 30 July 2009, the House of Lords handed down their long awaited decision in Lexington Insurance Company v Wasa International Insurance Company Limited & AGF Insurance Limited (2009). It is perhaps fitting that such a keenly anticipated judgment should also earn historic status for being one of the last seven rulings by the House of Lords prior to its demise to make way for the Supreme Court.In a dramatic conclusion to the long running saga, the House of Lords unanimously overturned the Court of Appeal’s decision and allowed the appeal of reinsurers, Wasa and AGF. Their Lordships held that reinsurers were not liable to indemnify Lexington under the terms of the facultative reinsurance. Ling Ong*, a Partner in the London Market Team of law firm, Weightmans LLP explains why the case highlights the importance of the governing law provisions in insurance and reinsurance contracts and why both reinsurers and reinsureds should take particular care in considering the wider ramifications of these clauses when entering into the reinsurance contract
Online Published Date:
14 September 2009
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870 - 14 September 2009
Dr. Jochen Messemer, chairman of the management board, Ergo International
Within the Ergo Insurance Group, the operations of the International Division are not only the fastest growing but also the most profitable. However, despite its undoubted potential, Ergo International faces a number of challenges, mainly related to the global financial crisis. Here, Dr. Jochen Messemer, who took charge of the Group’s international operations at the beginning of this year, comments on the tougher trading environment that now prevails in the bancassurance sector, on the challenges of identifying appropriate joint venture partners in the life insurance markets of India and China, on the impact of negative exchange rate movements, particularly on Ergo’s flourishing business in the CEE region and on the restructuring of the Group’s operations in Italy, the only market where Ergo International wrote less business in 2008 than it did in 2007
Online Published Date:
14 September 2009
Appeared in issue:
870 - 14 September 2009
Investor confidence up as AIG ends August as top performing stock
The two week period ending 3 September represented something of a recovery for US and Bermudian insurance and reinsurance stocks which, with some exceptions had seen a sharp deterioration in their value over the preceding period. For the most part..
Online Published Date:
14 September 2009
Appeared in issue:
870 - 14 September 2009