The proportion of third-party funds from outside the insurance industry handled by insurance asset management companies has been growing and is expected to expand further. This will be driven by new regulations on insurance asset management that broaden the customer segment and sales channels – which will take effect from 1 May.
The IRDAI has rejected a request from general insurance companies for a blanket relaxation of solvency margins in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it said specific cases would be considered on merit.
The COVID-19 pandemic will cripple the growth of the conventional insurance and takaful industry this year before any rebound can be anticipated in 2021, said RAM Ratings.
South Korean insurance firms’ combined net profit fell to the lowest level in a decade last year primarily due to increased auto insurance losses according to preliminary data from the Financial Supervisory Service.
The Financial Supervisory Commission has approved a pilot project involving a joint blockchain platform by a group of 11 life and P&C insurers which seeks to make insurance services more convenient for customers. The project will start on 1 July and last for six months according to a report from local publication Liberty Times.
Risk
China’s global project Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) runs the risk of remaining incomplete or being abandoned if uncertainties around the COVID-19 pandemic persist.
A news report by Thomson Reuters Foundation says leading health experts are of the opinion that the coronavirus pandemic is a preview of the types of global health threats that will emerge as the planet becomes hotter and how it is tackled will have implications for dealing with climate threats as well.