Delegates at the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Conference 2018 in Bangkok were treated to a sneak peek at Swiss Re’s soon-to-be-published health protection gap in Asia study. The forthcoming study, due to be published in July, will show that the overall size of Asia’s health protection gap is a massive $1.8tn.
In the sharing economy with the empowered connected employee, the fight for talent is critical for success. Employee benefits is a game-changer in making companies become employers of choice. And many global MNCs have admitted that runaway employee benefits costs need to be controlled. A huge chunk of employee benefits is health costs and the recent headlines on Aetna, Apple, Amazon, JP Morgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway moves in the healthcare arena is a sign of the times.
Actuarial Partners Consulting has become the first non-MNC firm of actuaries outside of the UK to receive accreditation under the Quality Assurance Scheme (QAS) from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries UK. The award was presented during the IFoA Asia Conference 2018 in Bangkok in May.
The 2018-19 federal budget, announced on 8 May, seeks to protect Australians’ superannuation savings from ‘undue erosion by fees and insurance premiums’. The move could save those aged below 25 up to A$522 ($377) per year, said the financial comparison site, Canstar.
The Asian Development Bank has called on the government to scale up sustainable agriculture insurance in Bangladesh.
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has warned that it would take a ‘high pressure’ stance to impose strict penalties and press for strict accountability in cases of violations of laws and regulations.
Sales of traditional life insurance products are predicted to be flat this year, the Indonesian Life Insurance Association (AAJI) has projected. Premiums from this segment are expected to grow marginally or remain at around the 2017 level.
Japanese insurance companies are mulling limits on coal-fired power financing, reported Bloomberg.
Employers in Malaysia can now purchase insurance for foreign workers via a new online integrated system.
The insurance sector is looking forward to more business as banks are opening more branches in new areas in Myanmar to chase market share.
New Zealand’s largest bank, ANZ, and IBM are working with Suncorp New Zealand to develop a blockchain solution for the insurance industry that will help make the data transfer and payment reconciliation process faster and more transparent between brokers and insurers.
The life sector in Singapore posted S$925.1m ($694.1m) in total weighted new business premiums for 1Q2018, a remarkable 14% growth from the corresponding period the previous year, says the Life Insurance Association (LIA) Singapore.
South Korean life insurers are increasingly challenged to maintain capital soundness as they grapple with regulatory capital reforms. Several have turned to issuing debt and seeking M&A options to broaden their capital base, said Fitch Ratings.
The Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) will set up and administer the Insurtech Centre of Thailand (ICT) soon for data collection, technology exchange and insurance product development.
Farmers from poor or near poor households will receive support of up to 90% for agriculture insurance premiums from the government, according to a new resolution issued by the authorities.
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Lloyd’s of London has said it will direct underwriters to terminate all insurance offered, marketed, endorsed or otherwise made available through the National Rifle Association (NRA) of America.
As historic flooding caused by climate change devastated communities in Canadian states of New Brunswick and British Columbia, new research from the University of Waterloo revealed that the insurance industry has not considered a changing climate in their practices, putting homeowners at financial risk.