All articles by LII editorial
LII editorial
Singapore market’s mixed recovery in first half of 2010
Singapores life insurance industry continued to recover in the first half of 2010. The Singapore Life Insurance Association (LIA) reported new business of S$2.608bn ($1.92bn), an increase of 33.9% compared with the S$1.948bn reported same period in 2009. However, the recovery came off a very low base resulting primarily from extremely depressed new business of S$818m in the first quarter of 2009
Bold plan to boost American retirement savings
A significant step towards auto-enrolment of employees in individual retirement accounts (IRA) has been taken in the US with the introduction of the Automatic IRA Act of 2010 by Democrat senator Jeff Bingaman and by Republican congressman Richard Neal. The concept of auto-enrollment in IRAs was developed by US think tanks the Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation as part of their Retirement Security Project and is intended to benefit nearly two-thirds of American workers who have no employer-based retirement plan
Delta Lloyd sets out transformation strategy
Following its listing on the NYSE Euronet Amsterdam stock exchange in November 2009, Delta Lloyd Group, the Netherlands sixth-largest insurer, has announced restructuring that will “transform its organisation and the way in which it serves its customers”
Financial pressure taking its toll on UK pensioners
Caught between rising costs and low investment returns, pensioners in the UK are under pressure to make ends meet reports Axa. Dubbed the Money Sickness Syndrome it was first identified four years ago by mental health expert Roger Henderson and, according to Axa some 9m pensioners are displaying SMS symptoms
Standard Life Canada honoured for excellence in communications
Standard Life Assurance Company of Canada (SLC) has excelled in the 2010 Insurance and Financial Communicators Association (IFCA) annual awards competition, scooping eight awards The IFCA awards are for excellence in marketing and communications creativity, design and writing in the North American insurance and financial services industry. The top honour garnered by SLC was a Best of Show award for its recruitment advertising: “When we see the potential for growth, we invest
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US bank brokerage sets new high
US bank holding company (BHC) insurance brokerage income set a cracking pace in first quarter of 2010, rising 9.6% compared with the same period in 2009 to $3.32bn, reports research firm Michael White Associates (MWA) Brokerage income in the first quarter of 2010 set a new record for the second consecutive quarter, noted MWA.
Retained asset accounts come under increased fire in the US
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomos announcement in July that he had launched a fraud investigation into the withholding of proceeds of policies of deceased military personnel and veterans (see LII 250) by certain life insurers continues to make waves
Data breach lands Zurich a hefty fine
Zurich Financial Services UK unit Zurich Insurance plc (Zurich UK), been fined £2.275m ($3.5m) by the UKs Financial Services Authority (FSA) following the insurers loss of 46,000 policyholders’ personal details Zurichs data security failings resulted in the loss personal details including identity details, and in some cases bank account and credit card information, details about insured assets and security arrangements
Legal technicality saves AIG a packet
This follows US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York overturning of a judgment by the Southern District of New York in April In the April judgement, a jury found that AIG was liable for $34.4m on claims of fraudulent inducement relating to reinsurance facilities entered with the Axa Versicherungs predecessor, reinsurer Albignia, in 1996
Prudential Financial extends global property reach into Abu Dhabi
Prudential Financial, the second-largest US life insurer, has set its sites on significant growth in the Middle Easts property market with the formation by its unit, Pramerica Real Estate Investors, of a joint venture (JV) with the Abu Dhabi governments Mubadala Development Company (MDC)