Turbulence ahead

The American Club has voted to take action to strengthen its balance sheet in the face of turbulent times. It said premium requirements for 2009 reflect its desire to maintain strong underwriting results and below explains its strategy.

In a recent meeting in Istanbul, the Club directors took some difficult but important decisions after reviewing the club’s performance in the current economic climate and continuing turmoil in global financial markets. The paramount objective, they decided, was to safeguard the club’s capital adequacy and to improve surplus levels over the previous year to secure the future. The board’s decisions affected the closing of the 2005 policy year, the development and further funding of open policy years, and the setting of premium levels for 2009. Briefly, they were: