All articles by Iona Serrapica
Iona Serrapica
Empire life appoints new VP of retail insurance distribution
Daniel Dessureault has been appointed vice president of retail insurance distribution at Canadian-headquartered insurer Empire Life. Dessureault will be responsible for increasing Empire Lifes profile and building relationships with its key distribution partners. Drew Wallace, executive vice-president for retail at Empire Life, said: Daniels keen understanding of our industry and strong relationships with many of our distribution partners will serve him well in his new role.
LV= launches ‘G-Day guarantee’
LV will switch its protection business to gender neutral rates on 1 December 2012 and is offering advisers a G Day Guarantee ahead of the forthcoming EU gender directive The EU gender directive means that from 21 December 2012, which is known as G Day,premiums and benefits for all new insurance contracts will have to be calculated on a gender-neutral basis.
Gloomy outlook for Italian insurance sector
Fitch Ratings has indicated that most Italian life insurers could be downgraded in the next 12-24 months as the countrys insurance sector rating outlook remains negative. The ratings agency said the eurozone debt crisis, despite showing signs of stabilisation, will continue to exert negative pressure on Italian insurers’ ratings in the short to medium term. Fitch Ratings said the Italian insurance industry is highly exposed to the eurozone debt crisis through its significant holdings of Italian sovereign debt
Critical illness gap facing women with full-time jobs
Although an increasing number of women are taking financial control of the household, over 10 million of full-time female workers are not covered by a critical illness policies, says a report carried out by Scottish Provident However, 84% of the employed women included in the study do not hold a critical illness policy with 57% of them say they could not justify the costs for taking out the insurance policy
Employer-sponsored family health coverage rises in the US
Annual premiums for employer-sponsored health coverage in the US reached $15,745 in 2012, a year-on-year (YoY) rise of 4%, with workers paying on average $ 4,316 towards their coverage, according to research released by the non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation.
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ING U.S. study reveals life insurance ‘disconnect’
has found that 78% of its respondents viewed life insurance as a valuable financial tool yet 51% of respondents said purchasing a life insurance policy was not their priority, while 61% had never calculated their life insurance needs
John Hancock Life Insurance launches new iPad apps
John Hancock Life Insurance, the US unit of Canadian insurer Manulife Financial, has launched two new iPad applications for intermediaries: JH Life Briefcase and JH Market The JH Life BriefCase app is designed for intermediaries to store, organise and manage illustrations and information about clients for John Hancocks universal life, survivorship universal life and term life products
CNP Assurances appoints Frédéric Lavenir as CEO
Jean-Paul Faugre, chairman of the CNPAssurances Board of Directors, said that thanks to Lavenirs experience as chairman and CEO of BNP Paribas Lease Group, he has acquired an in-depth understanding of a business model based on a partnership with distribution networks.
Maltese insurer selects BSB’s Solife software
Commenting on the acquisition, Bashar Khatib, CEO of GlobalCapital said: We have an ambitious expansion strategy for our life insurance business and Solife will support its effective implementation both in Malta and abroad.
Life insurers urged to draw on product design
New life insurance products should be designed in a way that interest rate risks, can be effectively hedged, according to the latest sigma study from Swiss Re. The study notes that interest rates have been falling over the last 30 years, with yields on 10-year government bonds falling below 2% recently in many markets