All articles by LII editorial
LII editorial
Caution dominates investor sentiment
With global financial markets still in turmoil gauging investor attitude towards various asset classes is of particular significance UK insurer Friends Provident has tackled this subject with the first of a series of studies undertaken by its Friends Provident International (FPI) unit. The objective, according to FPI director and general manager Jonathan Hall, is to build up an index that will become a reliable indicator of investor attitudes.
The costly downside of being healthy
Who will incur the highest post-retirement health care costs: a healthy person or an unhealthy person That answer is wrong, for American retirees at least, according to a Does Staying Healthy Reduce Your Lifetime Health Care Costs
Rothesay clinches £1.3bn BA buy-in deal
In one of the most significant defined pension (DB) scheme buy-in deals yet, UK risk transfer specialist Rothesay Life has insured £1.3bn ($2bn) of pension liabilities of the Airways Pension Scheme, one of the two DB schemes sponsored by British Airways (BA).
Bright future predicted for insurance in UAE
Research firm Bharat Book Bureau paints an optimistic picture of the potential of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) insurance market in a new report, UAE Insurance Market Forecast to 2012. According to Bharat, the UAEs insurance enjoyed a CAGR of around 30.5% between 2006 and 2009, and can be expected to remain buoyant, driven by the UAEs strong economic growth
Allianz see value in European property
Highlighting the attraction of European commercial property, insurer Allianzs global property unit Allianz Real Estate (ARE) is pursuing an aggressive expansion strategy with seven major deals announced since the end of 2009 worth a total of 1.4bn ($1.8bn). Largest of the acquisitions was Porta di Roma, a shopping centre in Rome, bought in a 50:50 joint venture between ARE and Dutch property company Corio in May for 440m. The largest shopping centre in Italy, Porta di Roma has a gross let-able area of 97,000 square metres and, according to ARE, was bought on an initial yield of 6.4%.
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Insurers shoulder huge World Cup risks
With the FIFA Soccer World Cup underway in South Africa and set to run until 11 July, insurers and reinsurers covering risks directly related to the event will be hoping that nothing goes seriously wrong Indicative of what is at stake, Lloyds of London estimates total risk covered at £6.2bn ($9bn) with the broad breakdown of risk covered being property and contingency at £3bn each and liability at £200m.
Zurich Financial gains Indonesian foothold
Swiss insurer Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) has taken its first tentative step into Indonesias life insurance market with the purchase of an 80% stake in Mayapada Life from Mayapada Group, an Indonesian conglomerate
US health insurers prone to costly admin errors
US health insurers could slash costs by $15.5bn annually by eliminating errors, reveals the American Medical Associations (AMA) third annual study of commercial health insurers The AMA estimates that $777.6m in unnecessary administrative cost could be saved if the health insurance industry improves claims processing accuracy by 1%
US health insurance industry’s reputation takes another knock
WellPoint, one of the largest health insurers in the US, is under scrutiny following a request from Department of Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius to governors and state insurance commissioners to re-examine recent insurance rate increases. Her call follows an investigation by the California Department of Insurance (CDI) carried out at her request which found a proposed 39% premium increase in California by WellPoints Anthem Blue Cross unit was based on unreasonably high assumptions about the rate of medical cost increases.
Life insurers set US industry capital raising pace
Capital-hungry US insurers went to the capital markets in droves during 2009 and the first quarter of 2010, raising a total of $38.6bn, reports rating agency Fitch Ratings Equity accounted for $8.5bn (22%) of capital raised during the five quarters while $30.1bn (78%) was raised through fixed-interest securities of which senior notes represented $29bn.