All articles by LII editorial
LII editorial
Online shoppers remain wary of life products
Despite the rapid growth in popularity of internet shopping, insurance agents in the US are in no immediate danger of redundancy as a result of consumers flocking online to buy insurance, reveals a study by consulting, technology and outsourced services company, Accenture When it comes to buying life insurance products, Accenture found that 75 percent of consumers still prefer to buy their life products from an agent or other trusted source, such as an employer or financial adviser .
Improving global regulatory cooperation takes step forward
The Bermuda Monetary Authority, Taiwans Financial Supervisory Commission and the Bundesanstalt fr Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht, Germanys financial supervisory authority, have become the first three regulators to sign the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU) aimed at strengthening international cooperation efforts between regulators According to IAIS, the MMoU will assist insurance supervisors improve the effectiveness of cross-border supervision of insurance companies and contribute to the global effort to ensure that systemically important financial institutions are appropriately regulated.
Aviva bids farewell to ‘challenging’ Australian market
Australias top-heavy life insurance market is set to become even more concentrated with Avivas decision to sell its Aviva Australia Holdings (AAH) unit to National Australia Bank (NAB) The deal with NAB, the second largest player in Australias life market, follows the sale of Avivas general insurance operations in Australia and New Zealand in 2002, and marks the UK insurers exit from the Australian insurance market.
State lawmakers back life settlements
The US states of Maine and Washington have set a legal precedent by enacting laws which compel life insurers to advise senior consumers about life settlement as an alternative to the lapse or surrender of a life insurance policy
A breakthrough for bank branch sales in Canada
Canadian legislators have long stood firm in rejecting banks demands to be permitted to sell insurance in their branches But things could be changing, as the province of Newfoundland and Labrador has adopted a bill permitting credit unions to sell insurance directly from their branches. The provinces move has provoked a negative reaction from Advocis, Canadas largest voluntary membership association of financial advisers
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EU reform focuses on cross-border supervision
Three new regulatory bodies are set to make their appearance in the European Union (EU) in 2010 following the European Commissions (EC) acceptance of proposals put forward by a study group chaired by Jacques de Larosiere, a former governor of Frances central bank and former chief executive director of the International Monetary Fund. Charged by EC president Jos Manuel Barroso in 2008 to make recommendations aimed at improving supervision of cross-border financial markets, the de Larosire Group as it is known proposed establishment of three new EU supervisory authorities: the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Securities Authority (ESA).
The big allure of China’s bank channel
Though bancassurance has already grown to become a major source of new business for Chinas life insurance industry, research commissioned by Allianz China Life suggests strongly that it remains a marketing channel offering considerable potential for expansion. Bancassurance in China remains in its infancy and presents life insurers with enormous growth potential as a distribution channel, believes Wilf Blackburn, CEO of Allianz China Life (ACL).
India’s first insurance IPO mooted
Financial services group Reliance Capital, a unit of Indian conglomerate Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, is to reduce its stake in its wholly-owned life insurance subsidiary Reliance Life Insurance (RLI) by 26 percent, according to numerous reports in Indias media
An industry under attack from all sides
Facing the looming possibility of a major upheaval of the status quo, the US health insurance industry continues to come under increasing pressure as it stands charged by its critics of multiple abuses.The first salvo in the attack came in March this year when Senator John D Rockefeller, chairman of the US Committee on Commerce, delivered a scathing condemnation of the industrys reimbursement practices.The health insurance industry has been promising to pay a certain share of consumers medical bills, but then they have been rigging health charge data to avoid paying their fair share, Rockefeller commented (see LII 234).In parallel with Rockefellers condemnation of health insurers President Barack Obama and Congress began an aggressive campaign aimed at implementing radical reform of the US health insurance structure
US fixed annuity sales continue to roar ahead
Fixed annuities continued to attract US investors in droves in the first quarter of 2009, reveals data released by consulting and research organisation LIMRA International. Based on LIMRAs data, fixed annuity sales in the first quarter of 2009 soared by 74 percent compared with the same quarter in 2008 to $35.6 billion In the process, fixed annuities outsold variable annuities which registered sales of $30.7 billion for the second consecutive quarter.