The Asia Pacific region, excluding Japan, will likely surpass Western Europe this year as the world’s second largest wealth market behind North America, according to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Asia Pacific will probably have wealth assets of about US$42.3 trillion at the end of 2107, compared to $41.9 trillion for Western Europe.
SMEs remain an easy target for cyber criminals to get to bigger companies in the supply chain, experts have warned.
Most life insurance product comparison websites (PCWs) receive a similar commission level to qualified financial advisers, according to a study by financial services consulting firm Rice Warner.
As a result of regulatory dynamics and the market environment, participating business has a great chance to reclaim its once dominant position in the Chinese market, according to independent actuarial and consulting firm Milliman.
GIC Re, India’s national reinsurer, is on a growth trajectory, having achieved an impressive growth of 82.2% during the fiscal year ended 31 March 2017 (FYE17).
India will see at least six (re)insurance companies in both the private and public sectors float their shares on the stock exchange this year or next.
Recent regulations requiring insurers to cede risks to domestic reinsurers has led to a change in the counterparty risk landscape for a number of insurers, said reinsurance advisory firm JLT Re.
South Korea’s major insurers have emerged as big players in the country’s online life insurance market, with a focus on savings-type policies that life planners shun due to low commissions.
MPI Generali Insurans has launched a new business line that will further expand its position in the corporate and commercial segment.
Nepal’s life insurance market is set to witness intense competition with a slew of new companies entering the sector. The government has given the go-ahead to 10 life insurance companies to begin operations, bringing the total number of these insurers in the market to 19.
New Zealand’s largest general insurer, IAG, wants overseas insurers with local business to be required to hold a certain amount of assets in the country.
Insurance industry veteran, Muhammad Ishaque Khan, has urged the government, insurance companies and educational institutions to conduct insurance courses to train manpower for the insurance industry.
Pru Life Insurance Corp of the UK, the Philippine subsidiary of British insurer Prudential, and German government development agency Gessellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) intend to bridge the protection gap among Filipinos by distributing microinsurance via online community portals.
Singapore Life Pte Ltd has been approved as a fully licensed direct life insurer by the MAS, thus making it the first local insurer to be licensed since 1970.
Transglobe Life Insurance plans to auction off an office building in downtown Taipei to better allocate its assets in what is likely to be the biggest commercial property deal this year.
A group of inter-city bus operators is protesting against a new Land Transport Department rule requiring them to buy motor third-party insurance in case of accidents.
Vietnam Social Insurance (VSI) has agreed to share with the Ministry of Health (MoH) its database of more than 24 million households.
Announcement
RNA Analytics announced it has acquired the assets and technology of IBM Algo Financial Modeler, an actuarial, risk and financial modeling software solution suite.
Global
Insurance Europe has advised the European Commission to ensure that regulation on FinTech is future-proof and supportive of innovation that benefits consumers.
American International Group Inc (AIG), together with IBM and Standard Chartered Bank plc, have successfully piloted the first multinational, “smart contract” based insurance policy using blockchain, a distributed ledger technology.
There were 85 large ships lost worldwide in 2016, a decline of 50% over the past decade, said the Allianz Safety & Shipping Review 2017, a report published by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS). The review also noted the South China and Southeast Asian waters as top loss location, with East Mediterranean replacing the British Isles as the top incident hotspot.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published an Opinion setting out general principles aimed at fostering consistency in authorisation, supervision and enforcement related to the relocation of entities, activities and functions from the United Kingdom. The opinion is addressed to national competent authorities (NCAs), in particular of the 27 Member States that will remain in the EU (EU27).
Corporate Risk Management
A global cyber crime reporting portal for the shipping industry has been created through a collaboration of several maritime entities. This was announced by Mr Mark Sutcliffe, founder of CSO Alliance, an online community of maritime company security officers driving best practices to combat maritime crime.
The global insurance industry’s ability to confront structural and technological changes is now the greatest risk it faces, according to a new survey of insurers and close industry observers.
Agents and Advisers
On 12 July, the winners of the 2nd Asia Trusted Life Agents and Advisers Awards will be feted at a Gala Dinner held in conjunction with the 1st ever International Training Summit in Singapore.
Our agents are professional. Yet their thirst to get better is never quenching. Hence we take pride in responding to this with our 1st ever International Training Summit, holding it in conjunction with the Gala Dinner of the 2nd Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards.
Product Bytes
APAC: XL Catlin launches real estate environmental protection solution
Asia: New critical illness products in Hong Kong and Singapore
Singapore: MSIG and Etiqa Insurance launch usage-based motor insurance
Events Page
Hosted by ANZIIF, the South Australia Charity luncheon saw insurance professionals from over 30 Insurance companies from across the state, as well as from Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland, come together to raise much needed funds for SIDS & KIDS South Australia for the second year in a row.
Life insurers have to prepare themselves to manage disruptive forces that are bombarding their businesses today, said Mr Gan Leong Hin, management committee member of the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM) in his keynote address at the 16th Asia Pacific Life Insurance Congress (APLIC) that was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in May.
Uniphore, a speech recognition solutions company, has been named as the winner in LumenLab’s inaugural corporate-startup engagement programme, collab.
FAIR Curtain-raiser
As the Federation of Afro-Asian Insurers & Reinsurers (FAIR) prepares to host its biennial conference in Bahrain from 9 to 10 October, we bring you the highlights of the last FAIR meeting in Cairo where members were urged to cooperate more closely to develop the Afro-Asian insurance markets for the future.