All articles by Peter Johnstone
Peter Johnstone
Solvency II: The cost of delay
A new report from Deloitte has highlighted a 54.2% increase in the number of respondents who are concerned about the European Unions insurance industrys ability to achieve compliance with Solvency II by the end of 2013 According to the Deloitte report, which involved 60 insurers with UK operations, 37% of respondents were concerned about the industrys ability to meet the Solvency II deadline up from 24% last year.
Insurers missing Solvency II risk opportunities
The survey, from global consulting firm Protiviti, said whileinsurers are continuing to invest in risk technologies to help meet compliance demands, a general tick-box attitude to risk means UK insurers aremissing out on the enterprise-wideopportunities presented by regulation such as Solvency II. The survey found that almost two thirds of survey respondents report that chief risk officers or heads of risk are are still not on insurance companies boards of directors,
Cambodia officially inaugurates first life insurance company
Cambodia has reportedly launched its first life insurance company, with the official inauguration of Cambodian Life In September 2011, Life Insurance International reported that the new company is an initiative of the Cambodian government which will retain 51% of Cambodian Lifes equity following its establishment. The remaining 49% will be divided between four foreign insurers: Indonesian insurer PT Asuransi, Thai insurers Bangkok Life Assurance and Bangkok Insurance Public, and Hong Kong-based Asia Insurance Group.
UK retirement savings ‘deficit’ exposed
Less than half of all Britons are not saving enough for their retirement, according to a new report by Scottish Widows The Scottish Widows Pensions Report 2012 said that based on this year’s new low average savings levels, an average saver retiring at 65 would receive just over half the amount they feel they need It said the total pot for an average saver is around £150,000 in today’s terms which would only provide an annual pension of £5,700
Telco enters South African insurance market
Telco Vodacom, which is part of the Vodafone Group, has been granted regulatory approval to underwrite and sell insurance products in South Africa As part of the strategic decision to enter the South African insurance market, Vodacom has appointed life insurance provider FRANK.NET, which is owned and capitalised by Liberty Holdings, has been appointed to provide administrative and claims support for the offering Vodacom said the business case for entering the South African insurance market is based on it being able to leverage the direct links it has with its more than 30m customers, and dramatically reducing the costs traditionally associated with acquiring and serving customers.
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Get industry leading news, data and analysis delivered to your inbox
Death search’ ruling hits NY life insurers
New York state governor Andrew Cuomo announced the new rules on 14 May 2012, which will require all life insurers in New York to cross-check their policies at least every three months with recent deaths using the Social Security Master File of deaths or another database acceptable to the Superintendent of Financial Services The ruling comes after an investigation by the DFS in July 2011 resulted in $262.2m worth of claims being delivered in 32,715 payments to consumers in the US including 7,525 payments totaling $95.9m to New Yorkers
Education needed on long-term disability insurance
A report released by Sun Life Financial has found 33% of full-time workers surveyed in the US lack long-term disability insurance The report, which was based on a survey of over 2,000 workers across the US, suggests that many workers are unprepared about how they will be affected by changes to workplace benefits involving life or disability insurance
UK investors take long-term view
UK investors are less likely to make long term investments compared to counterparts their in the Middle and Far East, according to research by Friends Life. The survey of almost 3000 investors in Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) found that 20% of Singaporeans favoured an investment period of more than three years, with the number rising to 31% in the UAE
Samsung Life and Dubai SWF set for alliance
Samsung Life Insurance is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) as part of a partnership to sell life insurance in emerging markets, according to media reports
Irish health insurer confirms rebranding
Laya, an acronym for Looking After You Always and QUINN-healthcare said it is currently in the process of transitioning to the new brand Dnal Clancy, managing director of QUINN-healthcare, explained that as from 1 May its new underwriter would be Elips Insurance Limited, a wholly owned subsidary of SwissRe.