All articles by Stafford Thomas
Stafford Thomas
FSA steps up war against mis-selling
Cracking its regulatory whip, the UKs Financial Services Authority (FSA) has reached an agreement with Royal Liver Assurance under which the mutual life insurer will pay between £5m ($7.5m) and £7.8m to compensate customers who were victims of mis-selling by its independent financial adviser (IFA) unit, Park Row.
Private equity boost for microinsurance
LeapFrog, the worlds first private equity firm focused on investment in the microinsurance sector, has got off to a flying start, attracting solid, high-profile funding support Principal Doug Lacey provides LII with insight into the firms investment strategy in its African and Asian target markets. Taken for granted in developed economies, life insurance remains an illusive necessity for the t majority of people in developing economies
Axa’s Asia-Pacific ambitions thwarted
Putting at least a temporary end to Axas ambitions to grow its Asia Pacific footprint substantially, a deal that would see the French insurers 64%-owned Axa Asia Pacific Holdings (APH) effectively split in two has met with unanimous rejection by the APH board. Under the proposed deal, Axa would acquire 100% of APHs Asian businesses while Australian insurer AMP would acquire 100% of Axa APHs Australian and New Zealand businesses.
UK advisers see growth in VAs
Independent financial advisers (IFA) in the UK have a generally positive attitude towards the future of variable annuities (VA), a study by Sun Life of Canada reveals According to Sun Life, 46 percent of IFAs believe the VA market is gradually gaining support, with 17 percent thinking it is up and coming
Dutch bancassurer SNS Reaal lives to fight another day
SNS Reaal was kept afloat in December 2008 by an injection of 750 million ($1 billion) by the Dutch state and 500 million by its controlling shareholder, Stichting Beheer SNS Reaal, by way of the issue of core tier 1 securities.
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Prudential rejigs strategy in Asia
In Prudentials first major deal under the leadership of recently appointed CEO Tidjane Thiam, the UK insurer has acquired United Overseas Banks unit UOB Life Assurance (UOB Life) in a cash deal worth S$428 million ($306 million). UOB Life complements Prudentials existing life unit in Singapore, which in 2008 recorded premium income on an annual equivalent basis of £109 million ($175 million), making it as Singapores largest foreign life insurer by market share.
UK sole traders shun protection
The entrepreneurial spirit lives on in the UK, with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) estimating there were 3 million sole traders operating in the country at the start of 2008. However, while many of these small entrepreneurs may be adept at creating wealth few are doing much to protect it, reveals a study by life insurer Scottish Widows, a unit of Lloyds Banking Group. Specifically, Scottish Widows found that sole traders are generally reliant on one or two people to run the business.
AIG took financial system to ‘brink of collapse’
Countering criticism of the Federal Reserves $85 billion bailout of the American International Group (AIG) in September 2008, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has told the Congressional Oversight and Government Reform Committee of inactions dire consequences.
Symetra breaks six-year US listing drought
In the first listing of a life insurer in the US since 2004, Symetra Financial Corporation made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange on 22 January, following an initial public offer (IPO) of shares at $12 each. Symetra shares traded as high a $13 per share in its first day, giving it a market capitalisation of about $1.4 billion. In the IPO, 20.7 million new shares were sold, raising $248 million in new capital for the Washington-headquartered insurer
Lloyd’s chairman heaps praise on former AIG chief
Maurice Hank Greenberg found himself the focus of praise at the St Johns University School of Risk Management Insurance and Actuarial Sciences 15th Insurance Leader of the Year award dinner held in New York last month. Praise for the former head of American International Group came from Lloyds chairman Lord Peter Levene during a speech in which he accepted the schools 2009 Insurance Leader of the Year award.