All articles by LII editorial
LII editorial
UK enhanced annuity sales rising
Indicating the growing interest in enhanced annuities, professional services firm Towers Watson reports that sales in the second quarter of 2011 came in at £774.5m ($1.28bn), the highest quarterly sales figure since enhanced annuities were introduced in the UK in 1995
Top communications award for Guardian Life
Guardian Life Insurance Company of America has walked off with the top honour in the annual reports category of the Insurance & Financial Communications Associations (IFCA) 2011 annual adjudication of communications excellence in the US insurance industry
UK property tops Axa Real Estate’s buying list
French insurer Axas property investment unit Axa Real Estate Investment Managers (Axa Real Estate) was particularly active in the first half of 2011, completing 80 transactions worth a total of 2.13bn ($3.1bn) on behalf of clients compared to 2.7bn of transactions during the whole of 2010
US lawmakers act to stop double-digit rate hikes
Under a new regulation required by the Affordable Care Act, health insurers seeking to increase their rates by 10% or more must now submit a request to state or federal reviewers who will determine whether the request is reasonable or not
Mid-market America is US life insurers’ big hope
In 2004, financial services organisation LIMRA estimated that life insurance sales in the US would increase by $9.5trn if the 48m then underinsured households bought the amount of life coverage they needed
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Get industry leading news, data and analysis delivered to your inbox
Private equity firm buys Aegon’s UK closed-book business
The cash deal is worth £275m ($450m) and comes three months after Aegons announcement that it is selling its US-based reinsurance unit Transamerica Re to French reinsurer SCOR for $912.5m (see SCOR snaps up Transamerica Re).
Ping An gains ground in China
Ping An, Chinas second largest life insurer, romped home in the first half of 2011, reporting a net profit of CNY12.998bn ($2bn), up 32.7% compared with the first of 2010
GCC faces a $60bn headache
Governments of the Gulf Cooperation Councils (GCC) six-member countries face a monumental financial headache in the health care space, warns the World Economic Forum (WEF) The combined annual health care bill of the six countries Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) will, predicts the independent international organisation, rocket from $12bn at present to $60bn by 2025
Global broking giants scramble into Africa
Significantly expanding its reach in Africa, US professional services and insurance brokerage group Marsh & McLennan Companies (Marsh) is to acquire the brokerage business of Alexander Forbes of South African financial services company Alexander Forbes (AF)
No quick recovery in sight
After a precipitous plunge in 2008 and 2009, life insurance premium income in the UK stabilised in 2010 However, pressure on disposable incomes is likely to prevent any meaningful recovery until at least 2013, with even this being placed in doubt by the potential negative impact of the Retail Distribution Review. Although the UKs life insurance industry will continue to face challenging market conditions for some time to come there is some light at the end of the tunnel