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Third-quarter US reinsurance results
US reinsurers’ results after the first nine months of 2000 show that companies are continuing to show strong increases in premium income, according to figures released by the Reinsurance Association of America. The sector has recorded a 19%..
Online Published Date:
01 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
Le Mans Ré raises equity
Seeking to capitalise on strengthening rates in Europe, French reinsurer Le Mans Ré has lifted its capital by 50%, taking it to Fr1.5bn (US$199mn).
But the increase will not change the split in the company’s ownership. French insurer..
Online Published Date:
01 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
New Scor website
Scor has launched a new website dedicated to ‘substandard’ risks especially for life insurance covers including death, total and permanent disability and short-term disability. Scor expects to add medical expenses and long-term care in..
Online Published Date:
01 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
AMP set to combine reinsurance run-offs
Australian insurer AMP is set to consolidate its general reinsurance run-offs under the team that has successfully taken GIO’s reinsurance woes out of the headlines and into insignificance in the balance sheet. The largest run-off the country..
Online Published Date:
01 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
German company launches flood bonds
German bank Westdeutsche has confirmed that it is contemplating the launch of flood catastrophe bonds next year. The bonds would cover losses from flooding from areas around the Rhine, Elbe and other rivers.
The small team at the bank – part..
Online Published Date:
01 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
Overseas Partners takes Stockton business
Bermudian finite reinsurer Stockton Re has ceased seeking finite business and will source all future deals through Overseas Partners (OPL) following that company’s acquisition of around eight of Stockton Re’s underwriters.
An alliance..
Online Published Date:
01 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
Caribbean merges supervisors
The failure of Caribbean insurance regulators to protect consumers from company failures, especially in Jamaica where the government had to assume control of several life insurers that became insolvent, has prompted Caribbean governments to merge..
Online Published Date:
01 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
NZ government reforms after outcry
The New Zealand government has announced two important changes to the recently renationalised workplace accident insurance system, which operates under the Accident Compensation & Insurance Corporation (ACC). The changes are calculated to..
Online Published Date:
01 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
NZ short on IT
New Zealand insurers have identified a shortage of trained staff in the information technology and technical areas of business in their industry.
In response, the New Zealand Insurance Council has come out in support of prime minister Helen..
Online Published Date:
01 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
Peru merges bodies
The merger between Peru’s Banking & Insurance Superintendency (SBS) and the Pension Fund Managers Superintendency (SAFP) has been completed. SBS also modified the minimum financial requirements for insurance companies.
The solvency margin..
Online Published Date:
01 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
Company profile: GeneralCologne Re
By most standards, Cologne Re did alright in 1999. The group increased its net premium income by 20%, its investment income by 16% and reduced its underwriting losses by 14%. This enabled Cologne Re to improve its pre-tax result from a loss of..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
Axa Re
Last year was the final reporting year for Axa Re as a separate entity within the Axa group. From the beginning of this year, Axa Re, Axa Cessions and Axa Global Risks merged under the umbrella of Axa Corporate Solutions.
The move is part of a trend..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
Convergence and concentration
WIR reviews the latest Swiss Re
sigma report on the Japanese insurance market, the world’s second largest.
Japan and the US represent an astonishing 55% of global insurance premium income. But apart from their size, the two markets have..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
Colseguros
Colombian insurer Compañía de Inversión Colseguros is to receive a capital injection of US$55mn from its partners, which include Allianz AGF. “These resources will be used to strengthen the insurers’ operative capacity in..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
German losses continue across both property/casualty and life business
The German insurance market is bracing itself for a round of difficult result announcements early in 2001. It will show another year of high underwriting losses in property/casualty lines.
Life insurance also suffered in 2000 – but only..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
London market reforms
Braced for change
A report on the UK insurance industry published last week by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has highlighted the steady decline of the London market’s share of world premium income as a result of business lost to..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
AGF launches cat bond as rates increase
Concerns that more storms of the size of Martin and Lothar may hit France or that an earthquake could strike the south coast have prompted French insurance group Assurances Générales de France (AGF) to buy a US$129mn multi-year catastrophe..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
NYSE rejects Frontier plan
Efforts by the management of the Frontier Insurance Group to stop the New York Stock Exchange delisting it have failed. The exchange has applied to delist the company after rejecting the plan to increase its capitalisation over the next 18 months...
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
AIG buys in Egypt
American Insurance Group (AIG) has extended its presence in the Egyptian market. The company has purchased 90% of Pharonic Insurance, which provides insurance and reinsurance for fire, marine, motor and accident risks in Egypt.
While the company is..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
Insurers go in for hybrid capital
Insurance companies are increasingly looking to raise capital through the issue of hybrid instruments to fund merger and acquisition activity. A number of large issues were completed this year and increased consolidation in the industry is likely to..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
Reinsuring the internet
Bill Kaplan,
assistant secretary at CNA Re, says directors’ and officers’ (D&O) liability insurance for internet companies can be underwritten properly and profitably despite the sector’s volatile record.
‘Let’s..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
World loss log 14–27 November
Late reports
11.11, fire, property damage, fatalities
Austria: 159 people were killed when an Austrian funicular train packed with skiers was trapped in a tunnel and destroyed by a fire. 14 passengers survived the fire, believed to have started at..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
World insurance stock prices
Company/group
Currency
1999 year end
16/11/00
30/11/00
% change from 16/11/00
Capitalisation US$mn
1. CGU
Ace
US$
16.69
39.81
39.50
(0.8)
8,836
AIG
US$
72.09
98.13
96.94
..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
Company profile: NRMA Insurance
Controversy has dogged NRMA, Australia’s largest general insurer, since it decided to demutualise several years ago. The process was finally completed this year when the company listed on the Australian stock exchange in August.
The move ends..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
Company profile: ESG Re
Dublin-based reinsurer European Specialty Re (ESG Re) finds itself in the kind of spiral from which many companies struggle to recover. A number of large losses across its books have attracted the inevitable attention of the ratings agencies.
In..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
Company profile: Kenya Re
Besides its role as Kenya’s national reinsurer, Kenyan Reinsurance Corporation (Kenya Re) also acts as a regional life and general reinsurer to insurance companies in East, Central and West Africa. It was established in 1970 and is currently..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
SPP allocates capital
Swedish mutual SPP is proving to be a cash cow for its customers. The company, which administers some SwKr400bn (US$41bn) of ITP (compulsory) pension funds for some 43,000 employers, is set to allocate a further SwKr20bn to disposing of..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
Parion looks at float
German insurance mutuals grouping Parion has announced a far-reaching restructuring that could mean the group is exploring a ‘German’ way of demutualising. And the move will be watched closely by other mutuals.
Parion chief executive..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
Dodd takes over ICA
NRMA chief executive Eric Dodd has taken over as chairman of the Insurance Council of Australia. He replaces QBE chief executive Frank O’Halloran.
Mr Dodd takes on the presidency of the organisation at a crucial time. Australia has been hit by..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
EBRD to help Ukraine nuclear plants
The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) is to help fund the completion and safety upgrade of two nuclear power stations in Ukraine. The project is to make US$19mn available for insurance for risks associated with completing..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
Insurers unexcited by reform
Although it is just over one year since the US Congress passed the Gramm Leach Bliley Act,
there has been no significant move on the part of insurance companies and banks to merge or set up joint operations. And according to a new survey by..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
Sweden’s PPM comes under fire
Sweden’s complementary premium pension plan (PPM) continues to be subject to criticism. Some of the latest complaints include inaccurate daily reports of actual yields supplied to customers. PPM’s general manager Hans Jacobson pointed..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000
India sets broker rules
After deciding to open the market, India’s insurance regulator has now released the rules for four categories of brokers that will be allowed to operate.
They are: insurance, reinsurance, composite brokers (who can undertake both insurance and..
Online Published Date:
08 December 2000
Appeared in issue:
652 - 08 December 2000