Insurance Journal » Insurers

Court: California City May Proceed With Bankruptcy

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:51:25 +0000

A U.S. federal judge on Monday approved the city of Stockton’s petition for bankruptcy in a case that sets the stage for a lengthy battle between bondholders and the California pension system. In a case being studied by other cash-strapped …

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Double-Digit Returns Absent From Year-End, 2013 Financial Forecasts

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:28:38 +0000

Although analysts following the property/casualty insurance industry expect underwriting results for 2012 to be better than 2011 when full-year numbers are tallied, double-digit overall returns-on-equity are still not visible on the near-term horizon, they say. Industry analysts who supplied combined …

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Fitch Downgrades Argentine Insurers Ratings after Sovereign Downgrade

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:03:14 +0000

Fitch Ratings has downgraded the long-term National Scale ratings of 12 insurance companies in Argentina, and has also revised the companies’ rating outlooks to negative from stable. Fitch said it took the rating actions following its Nov. 27 downgrade of …

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Insurer Says It Won’t Cover Armed Arizona Posse

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:11:51 +0000

An insurance pool that covers sheriff’s volunteers in 11 of Arizona’s 15 counties is changing its policies to exclude an armed volunteer posse that the state’s second most famous sheriff plans to deploy to scan the desert for smugglers. Following …

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Verisk Insurance Solutions Enhances Foreclosure Alert Product

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 16:30:34 +0000

Verisk Insurance Solutions – Underwriting, a unit of Verisk Analytics has added an enhancement to its Foreclosure Alert that identifies if a property has previously been in foreclosure at the point of sale. Foreclosure Alert provides actionable information to help …

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Global Federation of Insurance Associations Launched

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 15:30:41 +0000

Thirty-one of the world’s most important insurance associations, who represent 87 per cent of worldwide insurance business, formally established the Global Federation of Insurance Associations (GFIA) on October 9. Members include the American Insurance Association (AIA), Property Casualty Insurers Association …

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Brokers Report Keen Direct Line Interest; But Some Investors Wary

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 10:35:41 +0000

Stockbrokers involved in the planned stock market listing of British insurer Direct Line reported good interest from private investors in London’s first big retail share offering for six years, although some potential investors are unconvinced. “The appetite has been really …

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EU Insurers’ Capital Charges May be Cut to Boost Loans

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 15:27:33 +0000

Capital charges for insurers in the European Union could be cut to encourage lending for long-term projects and help boost the flagging economy, the bloc’s executive body said in a high profile policy shift. The European Commission has written to …

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AAIS Releases New Policy Forms for Insuring Infrastructure

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 10:00:56 +0000

The American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) has released a series of new policy forms, endorsements, and corresponding schedules for covering public or private infrastructure facilities. The forms were recently released under the miscellaneous forms section of the AAIS Inland …

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Bank Group Warns of Heightened Risk of Cyber Attacks

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 11:10:59 +0000

A financial services industry group warned U.S. banks, brokerages and insurers on Wednesday to be on heightened alert for cyber attacks after Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase experienced unexplained outages on their public websites. The Financial Services Information Sharing …

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Geneva Association’s Fitzpatrick Warns against Mixing Bank and Insurance Regs

Charles E. Boyle — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 13:23:34 +0000

After 39 years of gathering, collating and disseminating the facts and figures relevant to the global insurance industry the world’s leaders and shakers are finally paying attention to the findings and recommendations of the Geneva Association. “There’s now a growing …

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China Drafts Rules for Insurers to Raise Private Equity Stakes; Trade Derivatives

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 10:46:05 +0000

China plans to double the amount insurers can invest in private equity and allow them to trade financial derivatives both at home and abroad as part of efforts to broaden their investment scope, according to a set of draft regulations …

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EU under Pressure to Delay Solvency II Insurer Capital Rules

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 09:41:30 +0000

The European Union may be forced to put back the January 2014 start date for its Solvency II capital regime for insurers after talks to agree a final draft of the strict new rules collapsed, Europe’s top insurance sector lobby …

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EIOPA Releases Final ‘Own Risk and Solvency Assessment’ Report

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 10:15:33 +0000

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has published its Final Report on draft Guidelines for Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA), which “underlines the purposes of the ORSA,” and provides “additional details on how the guidelines are to …

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Willis Exec: Industry Will Respond w/ ‘New Tools’ to Growing Disaster Risk

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 09:17:15 +0000

The insurance industry plays a pivotal role in integrating new tools, technology and solutions to protect populations and assets against growing concerns about natural disasters and, in the process, helps ensure a sustainable future, according to Rowan Douglas, CEO of …

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UK’s ABI Warns Metal Theft Crime Wave Costs Insurers over $1.6 Million a Week

Mon, 21 May 2012 10:17:51 +0000

“The victims of the UK’s metal theft crime wave are now being paid out over £1 million [$1.58 million] every week by insurers,” according to the Association of British Insurers. Thieves are making off with everything from “train cables to …

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Geneva Association Reminds Federal Reserve Insurers Aren’t Banks

Wed, 02 May 2012 10:16:58 +0000

The Swiss-based insurance think tank Geneva Association has followed up on its recent report as to whether or not some insurers should be considered as G-SIFI’s (globally systemic important financial institutions). The Association has sent a letter to the Federal …

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Microinsurance in Rapid Expansion Says ILO, Munich Re Report

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:16:41 +0000

According to the Microinsurance Innovation Facility of the International Labor Organization and the Munich Re Foundation, “the number of microinsurance schemes worldwide has increased substantially over the past five years and now reaches an estimated 500 million worldwide.” Microinsurance has …

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Celent Survey Forecasts Insurers to Spend $140.6 Billion on Technology in 2012

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:05:59 +0000

Global information technology spending by insurance companies is expected to reach $140.6 billion in 2012, an increase of 6.3 percent over 2011, according to a new report from Celent, part of the Oliver Wyman (MMC) group. The figure is substantially …

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Allianz Teams with Experts to Assess Climate Change Impact on Insurers

Charles E. Boyle — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:12:37 +0000

Europe’s largest insurer, Germany’s Allianz SE, posed the following question: “How does climate change affect the business model of a large insurance company?” In order to find the answers Allianz announced that it’s now part of a “unique consortium including …

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ABI Warns of Increased Flood Risks in England and Wales

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:27:05 +0000

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has warned that the flood risk faced by communities in political constituencies across England and Wales presents a “worrying”‘ situation. It selected “Boston and Skegness in Lincolnshire as the constituency with the most homes …

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Cruise Liners Need Tighter Safety Rules Say Marine Insurers

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:47:21 +0000

Passenger ship operators should tighten up safety procedures and crew training standards to prevent a repeat of the Costa Concordia shipwreck, potentially the costliest marine insurance loss on record, shipping insurers said on Tuesday, “In the past, we have raised …

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Best Performs Added Stress Testing Due to Europe’s Economic Uncertainty

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:29:29 +0000

A.M. Best Co. announced that it has performed additional stress tests of the balance sheets of insurers’ exposure to euro zone debt as economic conditions within the region continue to worsen. Best has published the results of the findings in …

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Insurers Bracing for Thai Flood Claims over $10 Billion

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 11:30:55 +0000

Insurers are bracing themselves for claims in excess of $10 billion after floods in Thailand disabled major foreign-owned manufacturing operations there, adding to an already record-breaking natural catastrophe bill this year. Analysts and industry executives say it is too soon …

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IAIS Calls for Greater Scrutiny over Non-traditional Insurance

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:42:19 +0000

Regulators should focus on insurers’ role in markets outside their traditional sphere, as such activities could worsen the economic impact of companies in the sector going bust, the International Association of Insurance Supervisors said in a report on Tuesday. The …

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AIR Updates Analysis of Thai ‘Historic’ Flooding; BI Will Impact Insurers

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:45:31 +0000

According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, “historic flooding in Thailand continues to damage residential properties and has interrupted operations for numerous businesses. At the start of this year’s monsoon season in late July, Tropical Storm Nock-Ten brought high precipitation …

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Broker/Analyst Cheuvreux Urges Buffett to ‘Come to Europe’

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:18:07 +0000

Warren Buffett should come to Europe to tap regional champions at knock-down valuations, including in his favored sectors, Cheuvreux analysts said in an open ‘letter’ to the billionaire U.S. investor detailing their seven top picks. The firm, CA Cheuvreux, a …

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ABI Assures UK Flood Victims Insurers Ready to Help

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:47:44 +0000

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has issued a bulletin advising “anyone who has suffered flood damage as a result of the heavy rain that has so far hit Northern Ireland, Wales and south-west England to contact their insurer as …

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Weak Markets to Hobble Canadian Insurer Results

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:20:52 +0000

Canadian insurers are looking at a bleak quarter of financial results due to a sharp drop in stock markets and bond yields, and analysts are staying cautious on the stocks even at rock-bottom valuations. Sun Life Financial , Canada’s No. …

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Best’s Managing Director-Europe: Solvency II is Coming to an Insurer near You

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:02:31 +0000

Stefan Holzberger, A.M. Best’s managing director-analytics, recently moved to London from the U.S. He is well placed to analyze the impact of the European Union’s Solvency II regulations, not only on the Europeans, who are directly affected, but also on …

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