i-law

World Insurance Report

World insurance stock prices

Company/group Currency 2000 year-end 29/11/01 13/12/01 Change from 29/11/01 % Capitalisation US$ mn © iiudata Ace US$ 42.44 38.78 37.12 (4.3) 8,614 AIG US$ 98.56 83.15 79.61 (4.3)..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

Le Mans Ré

Established in 1999, French reinsurer Le Mans Ré is jointly owned by Mutuelles du Mans Assurances (MMA) with a 51% shareholding and Bermuda-based XL Capital with 49%. MMA’s nonlife and life reinsurance businesses were transferred to Le..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

Country profile: Kenya

Underwriting losses force insurers to agree on premium rates The impact of local currency fluctuations on the Kenyan insurance market is immediately obvious when any attempt is made to place it within a global context. While the market’s..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

Colombia

Foreign insurers remain undeterred by high crime rate and civil conflict Since the market was deregulated at the beginning of the last decade, Colombian insurers have become used to operating under challenging conditions, but the last two years..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

Manulife buys Cigna’s life business in Taiwan

Manulife has acquired part of Cigna’s life operations in Taiwan for an undisclosed sum. Cigna claims the transaction will help it focus on its bancassurance operations in the country. The deal is subject to the approval of Taiwan’s..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

New Zealand health insurance costs soar

Premiums for private health insurance in New Zealand have more than doubled in the past 10 years. The biggest provider, Southern Cross, with 800,000 members, has increased premiums 8% annually over the last decade. With compounded inflation this..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

Insurers focus on underwriting profits

The dismal performance of the stockmarkets over the past year is causing more problems for insurers than the terrorist attacks of 11 September. This was one of the conclusions reached at the recent seminar organised by Crédit Lyonnais..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

Winterthur sells its Austrian subsidiary

Credit Suisse Group’s insurance subsidiary Winterthur has sold its Austrian insurance and pension business to Zurich Kosmos Versicherungen, part of Zurich Financial Services Group. The sale price was not revealed. The companies being sold are..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

French government issues terror guarantee

The French state has finally accepted to be the reinsurer of last resort for terrorism claims. An agreement reached between local insurers (represented primarily by the industry association, the FFSA) and the finance ministry on 10 December sets up..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

Aon invests $200mn in new Bermuda insurer

The world’s second-largest insurance broker, Aon Corporation, and Zurich Financial Services will each invest US$200mn in Endurance Specialty, a new $1.2bn capitalised insurer and reinsurer based in Bermuda. Aon set up the company in an attempt..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

US insurance groups resort to cost cutting

CNA Financial Corporation has announced plans to restructure its US insurance operations. The group blamed a weak economy, rising reinsurance claims and poor stockmarket performance for the decision. It will cut 1,850 of its staff in an attempt to..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

Prudential America raises $3bn in IPO

Prudential Insurance of America, the second-largest life insurer in the US, ended 86 years as a mutual insurer to become a publicly listed company with an initial share offering of US$3bn – the biggest ever for the insurance sector. Prudential..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

52% rise in premium income mitigates companies’ third-quarter losses

As expected, the Reinsurance Association of America’s (RAA) report for the first nine months of this year confirmed the catastrophic impact of the 11 September terrorist attacks on US reinsurers’ balance sheets. The US$2.8bn..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

Axa issues profits warning

Axa surprised the industry when it warned that its profits could be down by as much as 52% by the end of 2001. The group is forecasting net cash earnings of €1.2bn for 2001, noticeably lower than the analysts’ estimates of €2bn and..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

27 November – 10 December 2001

Late reports 24.11, club fire Brazil: a fire killed at least six people and injured 340 after an indoor fireworks display ignited a wooden stage at an overcrowded dance club in southeastern Brazil. People panicked as the flames spread through the..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

Company profile: Egypt Re

The gross premium volume Egyptian Re derived from the local market declined by 12% to E£316mn (US$74mn) in 2000. This was a direct result of measures taken by the Egyptian Insurance Supervisory Authority in 1999 to reduce the amount of legal..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

Company profile: Gothaer Re

Gothaer Rückversicherung, part of German mutual group Parion, saw a 33% fall in pretax profits to DM20mn (US$9mn) in 2000 as increased claims and business acquisition expenses hit the underwriting result, which deteriorated from a loss of..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

Chile: insurance industry development in the age of democracy

N ext March, Chile will have completed 12 years of democracy following the nearly 17 years of military government under General Augusto Pinochet. Though the three elected administrations that have followed him have been unwilling or unable to..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

Bank Negara agrees four-way Idris merger

The Malaysian insurance regulator Bank Negara has given the go-ahead for the four insurance subsidiaries of the Idris Hydraulic industrial group to merge. The four are Talasco Insurance, People’s Insurance, Tenaga Insurance and Malaysia Nippon..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

China to introduce insurance league tables

China has tightened its regulation of the insurance industry to coincide with its entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Many of the new rules focus on the operations of foreign insurance groups. China’s Insurance Regulatory Commission..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

EU marine safety bill receives final reading

EU maritime safety legislation prompted by the 1999 loss of the Erika cleared its final stages in the European Parliament on 13 December. But a followup ‘Erika II’ package of measures, including a proposal for a European maritime safety..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

ESG Re lifts profits

In stark contrast to the fortunes of the rest of the global reinsurance sector, Bermuda-based speciality reinsurer ESG Re reported a greatly improved performance for the third quarter ended September 2001. The company net operating profit of..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

New EU directive to streamline debt will apply to insurers

European Commission (EC) proposals to streamline European regulation of debt management through a new directive on financial collateral arrangements have been welcomed by the European Parliament. The Parliament voted on 13 December to clear the..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

Singapore cracks down on health insurers

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is planning to restructure the health insurance sector. Healthcare costs in Singapore are among the highest in Asia and although this is a cause of considerable concern at home, it makes the market highly..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

EU rules favour UK insurers

British insurers with branches or operations in the euro zone stand to benefit from legislation adopted almost unnoticed in the runup to the 1 January completion of European monetary union. A new EU regulation on payments in euros will make it..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

Arbitrage or risk transfer?

After four-and-a-half years of preparation, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) finally took over as the UK’s single financial services regulator on 1 December. Except for an increased focus on the responsibilities of senior management of..
Online Published Date:  21 December 2001
Appeared in issue:  678 - 21 December 2001

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