All articles by LII editorial
LII editorial
Legal & General throws down HNW gauntlet
A price war could be brewing in the UKs high net worth (HNW) protection market following Legal & Generals (L&G) announcement it is now guaranteeing to match like-for-like competitor quotes for HNW business Burns continued: With dedicated support from our high net worth teams, fast and efficient case processing, and the backing of one of the largest underwriting teams in the UK, advisers will be hard pressed to look elsewhere for their high net worth business.
Insurer tastes defeat in life settlements lawsuit
A lawsuit brought by Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York (LLA) against the owner of a $5m life policy bought under a life settlement contract has ended in defeat for the insurer, a unit of Lincoln Financial. The policy owner defended the legitimacy of the policy, and also contended that LLAs post-litigation conduct which included the acceptance of over $100,000 in additional premium payments which LLA sought to retain in its lawsuit barred LLAs claims.
Dai-ichi makes grand entrance on Tokyo Stock Exchange
Thursday 1 April was a momentous day for Dai-ichi Life when, in its new guise as a public company, it listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange following the worlds biggest initial public offer (IPO) in two years, and Japans biggest in 11 years In the IPO, Dai-ichi Life, Japans second-largest life insurer listed 10m new shares, 2.9m going to policyholders, 5m to Japanese investors and the balance of 2.1m to foreign investors
Northwestern and Nippon Life bolster ties
Further expanding its ties with US insurer Northwestern Mutual, Nippon Life, Japans biggest life insurer, has invested $250m in 30-year surplus notes issued by the mutual insurer
IPO to accelerate Eureko’s exit from Poland
Joining a worldwide surge in initial public offering (IPOs), PZU Group, Polands largest composite insurer, has filed a prospectus ahead of a listing scheduled for May. The IPO of state-controlled PZU is anticipated to see Polands State Treasury offer between 5% and 10% of PZUs issued shares and Dutch insurer Eureko, 17% For Eureko, which has a 33% stake in PZU, the IPO marks the next step in the unwinding of an unhappy relationship with Polands government
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Majority of UK women risk retirement disaster
Women in the UK are likely to live on average nine years longer than men in retirement yet most women pay scant attention to their private pension needs, warns Standard Life.
Primerica IPO marks end of bancassurer road for Citigroup
Marking the beginning of the end of its 12 years as a fully-fledged bancassurer, Citigroup has completed the initial public offer (IPO) of a portion of Primerica, its life insurance and financial products distribution arm Citigroup raised $320.4m in the IPO, which saw it sell 21.4m Primerica common shares at $15 per share The price represented a price-to-earnings ratio of only 7.8 based on Primericas reported net profit of $495m (1.93 cent per share) in 2009 on total revenue of $2.2bn
Aviva enters Indonesia’s life and pensions market
Marking its entry into Indonesias life insurance market, Aviva has acquired a 60% take in Asuransi Winterthur Life Indonesia (AWL), a unit of Indonesian general insurer Asuransi Wahana Tata (AWT)
Merger creates third-largest insurer in South Africa
A merger between two of South Africas mid-size life insurers, Momentum and Metropolitan, is set to create the countrys third-largest life insurer and end banking group FirstRands direct involvement in insurance
Life insurers take two-year pounding
Australian life insurers will be hoping for better times as they emerge from a two-year period of sharply falling premium income Australias life insurance industry was riding the crest of a boom in 2007 as it reveled in premium income which had surged 37.2% compared with 2006