Cover Story - CFO's in Asia: High exposure to equity risks – A Japanese case study
Special Feature on Preferred Life Risk Insurance: Preferred life insurance in Asia
News - Asia: Lack of positive risk management culture contributes to global financial crisis – RMIA
News - Japan: Reinsurance rates rise for Japanese catastrophe risks
High-equity investment has been, and still is, a very characteristic feature among Japanese non-life insurers. Mr Megumi Ugai of Clifton Consulting Inc explains why it is crucial for stakeholders in Japan to think about the importance of having balanced investments in fixed income and equity investment.
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Preferred risk life insurance products have been in the US since the 1980s and were introduced in many other insurance markets in some form. Preferred term products have also been promoted as solutions in the Asian markets for some time; however, the success of these products has been limited. Mr Louis Rossouw, Regional Chief...
Many organisations have failed to adopt effective enterprise-wide risk management cultures and behaviours, adding fuel to the global financial crisis, said Mr Brian Roylett, President of the Risk Management Institution of Australasia Ltd (RMIA) at a Lloyd’s of London business briefing in March.
The cost of reinsuring Japanese catastrophe risks, which dominated the recent 1 April renewals period, is higher than a year ago, said Aon Benfield in its latest update to its Reinsurance Market Outlook report.
Asia is experiencing an increasing number of natural catastrophes, no doubt, partly due to the changing climatic conditions. Typhoons, cyclones, windstorms, floods, massive mud slides, earthquakes and drought are all taking their toll in the region.
A leading success story of the Class of 2001, Bermuda-based Allied World Assurance Co opened a branch office in Hong Kong at the end of March while looking forward to future expansion in Asia. In an interview with Asia Insurance Review, Mr Scott Carmilani, President and CEO of Allied World Assurance Company Holdings,...
With recent moves towards a ‘flight for quality’, the term ‘flight for efficiency’ has sprung out as companies try to better manage their processes. After two-years of development, UK-based Pacific Life Re has launched its new online underwriting manual called Ocean. Mr Warren Copp, Chief Underwriter and...
For countries whose financial industries have been developing on their own steam and are relatively removed from the international financial market, these are times to count their blessings. Thailand’s insurance industry is one of them. Mr Winyou Chaiyawan, Executive Director and also co-founder of Thai Cardiff Life...
Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan are seeing growth, but like their larger neighbour India, their economies are chugging along despite the disruptions caused by political instability. Our regional correspondent, Mr Jimmy John, talks to key players in the three markets who all echo the view that with greater political stability and...
The Bangladesh insurance market has been witness to a large number of players fighting over a small pie but with the election of a stable government, insurers in the country are optimistic that the country will be able to climb out of its economic doldrums. They also look forward to the passing of insurance regulations which will promote growth...
With a GDP growth of 3.25% in 2008, the Nepal insurance industry is seeing growth numbers declining. Eight industry practitioners from six companies tell us what is needed to continue the growth of this small market, and regulatory guidance tops that list. By Mr Jimmy John
In an exclusive interview with Asia Insurance Review, Prof Dr Fatta Bahadur K C, Chairman of the Beema Samiti (Insurance Board), Nepal, talks about the challenges and priorities of the insurance industry in Nepal. By Mr Jimmy John
Pakistan has many things going for it although terrorist fears seem commonplace. Nonetheless, the insurance industry is actively playing a crucial role in the country’s economic growth and progress. By Mr Jimmy John
Malaysia’s economy recorded decent figures last year. The Bank of Negara Malaysia (BNM) reported a growth of 4.6% in 2008 – this, amidst the international financial turmoil and rapid deterioration in global economic environment. For the insurance sector, total net premium and contribution income of this industry grew by 2.4%,...
In just seven months, Takaful Ikhlas had won three awards – Best Takaful/Retakaful Provider 2008 and two relating to its individual medical product, IKHLAS Medic Assist Takaful (IMAT). In an exclusive interview with its CEO, Mr Syed Moheeb Syed Kamarulzaman, we find out about the company’s achievements and plans to...
Malaysian Reinsurance Berhad is on track in its plan to become the fifth-largest reinsurer in Asia in 2009, said Mr Hashim bin Harun, its President and CEO. Although it has yet to attain the target of being in the top-five slot, he said that its overseas premium has registered tremendous growth of about 60% for the nine months...
Tough times are here and CFOs are being called to help steer the helm alongside the CEOs. In this feature on the indispensable CFOs in conjunction with our 3rd Asian Insurance CFO Summit, experts discuss about the increasingly demanding role of the CFO, how they are moving centre stage, looking at capital and liquidity management, operational...
With growth slowing down in Asia, insurers are facing challenges that previously did not exist or were hidden. It is in times like these that the role of the CFO moves centre stage, said Mr Alan Leslie, Partner of Ernst & Young’s Financial Services Office and Mr Jeff Malatskey, Insurance Practice...
Asia may be facing an oncoming corporate debt maturity crisis: will Asian CFOs be held responsible? Mr Steven Dewhurst, Partner, Insurance & Reinsurance, Stephenson Harwood, sounds a strong wake-up call for Asian CFOs to work on pro-active debt management urgently and to put in place an efficient internal controls system,...
The current global economic crisis shows signs of being the most problematic and unpredictable one since the Great Depression. Mr Tony Hobrow, Whittington Group CEO and Ms Chen Xia Ling, CFO, Whittington Asia, examines the growing pressure on CFOs today and what it takes to be a ‘Super CFO’.
To implement integrated risk management takes time, knowledge and resources. The methods and systems needed to steer an insurance company effectively have to involve more than a good understanding of technical results. Dr Annett Rittershaus, Munich Re Greater China and Southeast Asia CFO, came to Asia from Munich to set up a...
On 24 March, over 180 senior executives from 14 countries descended on Hong Kong to attend the 9th CEO Insurance Summit in Asia. Organised by Asia Insurance Review and The Geneva Association in conjunction with The RFP Company, this year’s theme focused on “Getting CEOs to Harness the Power of Integrated...
This month we hold our 10th instalment of the “Asian Conference on Bancassurance and Alternative Distribution Channels” and we celebrate a decade of coming together to discuss about this all-important channel which now seems threatened by the current economic doldrums. As the delegates gather, we recap highlights from the past nine...
Prior to the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, bancassurance was essentially immaterial in business terms across the Asian insurance markets as a whole. However, post-crisis, bancassurance started to emerge as banks became keener to receive the fee income they could earn from distributing insurance products. Mr Mark Saunders,...
Allianz has recorded around 21 million customers in the Asia Pacific by end of June 2008. This figure represents more than one fifth of its customers worldwide and the company attributes the increase to its strengthening of sales and distribution channels. Mr Rod Shay, Regional General Manager for Bancassurance of Allianz Asia...
The next generation will be more likely to buy insurance from an avatar than an agent and bancassurers need to get a new take on reality. Mr David Piesse, Global Head of Insurance at Sun Microsystems, tells how they have developed an Open Source environment where banks can create virtual worlds to meet their customers. He...
The current financial meltdown is having drastic effects on the retirement savings of millions of people around the world. This raises important issues in terms of pension financing. In this article extracted from The Geneva Association, The Four Pillars, Research on Social Security, Insurance and Retirement, March 2009, Dr Christophe...
With the IIS Annual Seminar set to take place next month in Amman, Jordan, with the theme “Maintaining Sustainability in a Changing World,” Mr Patrick W Kenny, President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Insurance Society Inc, looks back at the many years he has been in the industry and...
Today’s tumultuous world economy is placing enormous demands on financial services companies. It is difficult times for our industry, yet, they provide a unique opportunity for transformation.
The 24th Pacific Insurance Conference (PIC) in Bangkok, to be held from 1-4 November, 2009, will provide an outstanding forum for life insurance, retirement savings and wealth management executives from the Asia Pacific region and all over the world to meet and to present their perspectives on current and future industry concerns and...
Two disparate elements. Two different facilities. Two months apart. And yet, for global manufacturing and technology company Emerson, one very desirable outcome: business as usual. Mr Peter Madeley, Vice President, Asia Operations from FM Global, shares how one client’s investment in loss prevention was especially...
The procedure for bringing a legal action for personal injury is now well established and appropriate laws are in place for an injured person to claim compensation for property and income loss, and for psychological and physical injury damage. Ms Wendy Ding, Research Assistant, Deacons, Shanghai, examines the various types of...
Technology has entered every aspect of our lives today and we have embraced its use and even taken it for granted. Asian countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan have ushered significant technological advancement in healthcare. Dr Rajeshree “Gina” Parekh, Regional...
Companies are urged to be prepared for the unexpected. Mr John Solomon, Head of Terrorism Research, World-Check, looks at the increasing use of networked violence and the access to technology by terrorists. He advocates that it is important for businesses and insurers to understand the minds of these terrorists and adopt the...
AIU for the second time in a row, has been named the Best Insurer in Asia in the second annual Euromoney Insurance survey, conducted between 27 October 2008 and 19 December 2008. AIU in Asia also swept top honours this year in the ‘innovation’, ‘price’ and ‘product range’ categories.
Allianz remains a committed partner of Formula One™ in the coming two Grand Prix years with the current season that started in March 2009 on the street circuit of Melbourne, Australia. The company has prolonged its global engagement for another two years until the end of 2010. Allianz sponsoring approach consists of a contract for...
Figlo, the leading developer and supplier of financial advice software in the Netherlands, with a global distribution network, has set up its Asian head office in Singapore.
Australia’s biggest health insurer, Medibank Private, has formally merged with Health Services Australia (HSA) as part of a federal government plan to improve health services, both government-owned companies said in a joint statement. The merger, which took place on 1 April, followed an announcement by the federal government in December....
China plans to let the country’s four biggest state banks to set up insurance units in a pilot programme as regulators liberalise rules to allow financial institutions to diversify their investment and to form financial conglomerates, according to the local media.
China should establish a single body that can co-ordinate the activities of the country’s numerous regulatory authorities, according to a paper published by the European Union business chamber in China.
ERGO Insurance Group and Indian HERO Group have decided not to pursue the intended life insurance joint venture. The HERO Group will not diversify into life insurance business at this time. ERGO, however, still sees good potential in the Indian life insurance market and will actively seek market entry.
National reinsurer, General Insurance Corp of India (GIC Re), has introduced profit sharing with general insurers so as to encourage more prudent underwriting, according to reports from the local media. The scheme was launched on 1 April, when reinsurance contracts are renewed annually.
Hana HSBC Life Insurance Limited, the insurance joint venture between HSBC Insurance (Asia-Pacific) Holdings Ltd and Hana Financial Group has marked its first year this March and has launched the Hana SAFE Annuity product to address the retirement and long-term savings needs of Korean consumers as by 2030, close to half of the population in...
The number of life insurance policies cancelled by subscribers or that became invalid due to premium payment defaults of over two months totalled 2.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2008, a rise of 15.6% from the previous year, according to a local report.
New York State Insurance Superintendent Mr Eric Dinallo and Mr António José Félix Pontes of the Board of Directors of the Autoridade Monetária de Macau (AMCM), Macau’s insurance regulator, have executed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) allowing for closer co-operation between the two regulatory bodies....
The Paris-headquartered global insurance group, AXA, has officially launched the AXA University Asia Pacific Campus in Singapore, the first in the region. The new campus is AXA’s regional hub of learning and development for employees and agents.
Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) Pte Ltd and QBE Insurance (International) Ltd have launched the first Rent Protection Insurance (RPI) programme for landlords in Singapore. The product, jointly developed by the two companies, transfers the risk of loss of rental income suffered by a landlord to the insurer.
The danger which laid-up ships can present to ships navigating in the area is the subject of an alert that the American P&I Club has issued to its members.
Amana Takaful Insurance has recorded LKR1,024 million (US$8.9 million) in gross written premiums (GWP) and significant improvement to the bottom line in 2008.
Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) will propose a plan to provide microinsurance to a sandwich class of people who hover near the poverty line but do not qualify to receive government subsidies. Estimates are that 970,000 people fall within this bracket.
The Taiwan Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) is planning to draft rules under which companies in the financial sector, including insurers, will be required to disclose the remuneration of board directors and executives, in line with international norms, according to a local report.
The Vietnamese life insurance sector saw total premium income increase by 9.3% to over 10.3 trillion dong (US$581.8 million) last year, said the Vietnam Insurance Association.
On 20 February, 17 representatives from the Lloyd’s market in London left for a two-week, five-match tour of Singapore (where they were joined by an 18th who is a local resident, working for a Lloyd’s syndicate) and Malaysia. The party was, however, reduced by one when the Club Chairman, Mr James Skinner (Talbot Underwriting), was...
Catastrophe risk modelling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that insured losses from 6 April’s 6.3-magnitude (M) earthquake in the Abruzzo region of Italy, are likely to range between €200-400 million (US$259-518 million). These estimates include losses to residential, commercial and industrial buildings and contents. They do not...
Shipowners navigating the Gulf of Aden are seeing insurance premiums for kidnap and random (K&R) increase tenfold as piracy escalates, according to Aon Risk Services. This means shipowners could be paying US$30,000 premium for US$3 million of cover for one journey through this piracy hotspot. However, more are opting for cover to protect...
The recent Group of 20 (G20) summit failed to make any distinction between insurers and banks, said Mr Patrick Liedtke, Secretary General and Managing Director of The Geneva Association in a letter to the Financial Times.
Separately, the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) said it strongly supports the G20 declaration on strengthening the regulation of the global financial system.
IPC Holdings and Max Capital Group have announced federal backup supporting its amalgamation, cutting off the counter – ‘Superior proposal’ offered by Validus Holdings.
The International Insurance Society (IIS) announced that Dr Harold Skipper, Georgia State University, USA, is the 2009 winner of the prestigious John S. Bickley Founder’s Award. He will be honoured during the gala dinner at the 45th IIS Annual Seminar, this year to be held at the Grand Hyatt Amman, Jordan, 7-10 June.
A multi-faceted approach is the best way to enhance adviser performance, according to a recent study on distribution in the life insurance industry by LIMRA and McKinsey & Company.
From this month, bowing to popular demand, we launch a ratings page tracking the ratings on the move for insurance and reinsurance companies.