Asia Insurance Review invited 11 highly respected Australian insurance industry senior executives to share their views during a breakfast roundtable hosted by law firm Clyde & Co in Sydney. Their wide-ranging discussions covered a raft of topics. Kate Tilley reports
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The bushfires, floods and cyclones Australia has experienced in early 2013 have put the insurance industry's catastrophe response back in the spotlight, only two years after the worst season of natural disasters on record. Mr Rob Whelan of the Insurance Council of Australia emphasises the importance of government efforts to mitigate known risks, particularly flood risks, as well as the need to eliminate or reduce taxes and levies on insurance.
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Low interest rates, increased regulatory oversight and excess capacity are challenges facing the reinsurance industry in Australia and Asia. Mr Pietro Toffanello from General Reinsurance Australia is however still positive and optimistic about its prospects following increased awareness of insurance in the primary markets as well as a growing middle-class in the region, all of which will ultimately mean an increased demand for reinsurance.
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Mr Grant Robson of Berkley Re Asia Pacific says the reinsurance industry has hardly addressed the need for underwriting returns, with lines most exposed to lower investment returns showing little price change. But as profits go down at a time when bottom line support from reserve releases is running low, reinsurers will face a growing pressure to push rates up.
By Manuelita Contreras
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Breast and prostate cancers are two of the most topical areas in Critical Illness (CI) insurance in Australia. Not only do these two represent the most common cancer claims, these conditions - together with heart attacks for males - represent the highest proportion of all CI claims paid by Munich Re in Australia.
Mr David Wright and Ms Geetha Singam, members of the Research & Development team at Munich Re in Australia, examine the challenges and opportunities after the reinsurer hosted a client seminar featuring two of the leading Australian experts in these fields.
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The insurance industry in Australia very much reflects the changes affecting the rest of the local and global economies and geographies. In Australia, we have experienced our fair share of natural disasters and the associated insurance costs.
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