Technical Feature - Financial Solutions to Weather Risks
Insights - Enterprise Risk Management: What is Your Definition?
News - China: FP Marine Risks to Open Representative Office in Beijing
“Weather risk derivatives give our clients a predictable way to manage unpredictability – and us an opportunity to diversify risk,” says Mr Juerg Trueb, Head Specialties and Environmental & Commodity Markets, Globals & Large Risks Division, Swiss Re. He looks at ways to tackle climate...
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Part of implementing a good ERM programme includes having good business continuity management. FM Global examines the science of ERM and finding an ERM model that suits your needs.
FP Marine Risks Ltd, a Hong Kong-based Lloyd’s broker, has received approval to open a representative office in Beijing.
The installation lunch in January to salute the achievements of outgoing Chairman Hwang Soo Jin and welcome the new Chairman Ramaswamy Athappan was, indeed, a major moment in the 35-year history of local reinsurer Singapore Re, which grows from strength to strength with successive years of record profits. It...
Ranking 69th among world reinsurance companies based on 2005 data of retained premiums, Milli Re started placing more emphasis on its international business lines. Mr Cahit Nomer, General Manager & Director of Milli Re since 1981, shares the past achievements and targets of the company as well as the importance of Milli Re...
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) was opened in 2004, and since then, it has succeeded in wooing over 500 companies, including leading global names. Mr George Oommen, Executive Director, Insurance, DIFC, charts its growth, aims and achievements in an interview with Asia Insurance Review.
Indonesia is a huge country with tremendous opportunities. It is also a country that is exposed to numerous natural catastrophes. Tackling these exposures are not only the Government's and scientists' concerns, insurers and reinsurers are also working to protect people and businesses from the catastrophes. While natural perils are key concerns...
Mr Isa Rachmatarwata, Head of the Insurance Bureau of the Ministry of Finance for the Republic of Indonesia, has been supervising the insurance industry for about 18 months since May 2006. He has been very busy looking at both the macro and micro aspects of the industry. Energetic and seemingly tireless, Mr Rachmatarwata is...
Non-life insurers in Indonesia continue to be confronted by perils – both natural and man-made. Natural perils in the likes of earthquakes such as the ones in Yogyakarta and Central Java recently, volcanic eruptions such as the Merapi volcanic explosion, mud attack in Sidoarjo, tsunami in Pangandaran and not forgetting the devastating...
As one of the world’s most populous countries with more than 200 million people, there are certainly lots of opportunities and potential for life insurance as the penetration rate stands at a mere 3%. Ms Shakun Ashoka Raj, our Journalist, talks to several life insurers and learns that the difficulty of distribution in a country...
The four domestic reinsurers in Indonesia wish to go regional as they seek to spread their wings and be more established reinsurers. Of course, to do so, they will need to increase their capitalisation fairly substantially, and all four are seeking to do that now. Ms Irene Yeo, our Deputy Editor, speaks with PT Reasuransi...
With takaful premium still very small, estimated to be about 1% - 2% of total premium income of the life and general insurance businesses, the industry is excited about the tremendous potential in the nascent market, with companies forming takaful windows or applying for takaful licences. Asia Insurance Review speaks with several...
In a country which is very exposed to numerous natural catastrophes, especially earthquakes, as it sits in the Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia needs to focus on protecting itself from these catastrophes. Together with the insurers, the Government is now working on a scheme to protect every citizen in the country against these events. Asia...
The theme for Indonesia Rendezvous in Bali held in November 2007 – “Are We Prepared to Face the Global Warming Resulting in Greater Severity of Catastrophe” – was a timely one in the wake of the severe floods that hit Jakarta last February and as scientists warned of the imminent eruption of Mount Kelud in early November....
A series of highly publicised aircraft crashes have turned the spotlight onto the Indonesian aviation industry. Indonesian airlines have no choice now but to take a hard look at their insurance and risk management practices. Mr Arman Juffry, President Director of JLT Indonesia, discusses the implications.
As a special cover story on CEOs in conjunction with our 8th CEO Summit held in Jakarta this month, we speak to the movers and shakers of the insurance industry to find out what rocked their world in 2007 and what will rule in 2008. They share their plans for their companies as they navigate the minefields and leverage on the...
The insurance industry is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to combating the emerging threats of weather risks. Read about what the industry is doing to cope with its two-fold responsibility of preparing itself for the negative effects that climate change may have on its business and on its customers, while at the same time...
In this interview on the threats of climate change in the region, Dr Ludger Arnoldussen, Member of the Board of Management of Munich Re, identifies the impact on the insurance industry and urges insurers to develop sustainable catastrophe models that take into account effects from changing weather patterns.
There is now broad agreement that major global climate changes are taking place, and the discussion has shifted to understanding how and where these changes will play out. The global insurance industry will be deeply affected by climate change in ways which extend well beyond the new weather-related claims that insurers have already begun to...
Looking at the growing interaction between insurers and the capital markets with the purpose of transferring insurance risk to institutional investors, this extracted article from the Geneva Papers also distinguishes two dimensions – a financial level and a more insurance-specific one.
With outsourcing trends showing little signs of abating, 3i Infotech explains that it has become imperative for CEOs to play a key role in planning. It lists the top-10 key issues that CEOs have to focus on to significantly increase the chances for outsourcing success.
In this thought-provoking article, Mr Katsuo Matsushita of the General Insurance Association of Japan, urges the industry to strive to overcome the rising trend of regulatory protectionism regarding reinsurance collateral.
There are a number of methods that have been used in markets around the world to select profitable business. Watson Wyatt discusses how profitable personal lines business can be targeted using statistical scoring methods.
According to International Risk’s 2008 Asia terrorism threat assessment, excluding Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the overall terrorism outlook for Asia in the coming 12 months is cautiously optimistic.
The MBF Board has recommended a A$2.41 billion (US$2.1 billion) proposal from BUPA Australia to combine the MBF and BUPA Australia businesses to the MBF Council and MBF contributors.
Willis Group Holdings is expanding its global graduate programme in 2008, thanks to the huge success in China where the number of places available to students has risen from 14 in 2007 to 20 in 2008.
According to an HSBC survey, investment-linked life insurance policies are continuing to thrive in Hong Kong as 73% of respondents look to such policies to increase their capital assets amidst dwindling insurance penetration rates.
The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDA) has notified all life insurers through a circular about norms that need to be followed in the benefit illustrations for unit-linked insurance products.
The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDA) has decided to allow insurers to run as only public limited companies under the country’s Companies Act to ensure greater transparency and better corporate governance in the industry.
In line with a strategic partnership agreement signed between China and Indonesia in 2005 to increase bilateral trade and financial co-operation, a greater number of Chinese financial companies and banks are expected to set up more branches in the country this year, according to a senior Indonesian official.
American International Group, Inc (AIG) has announced that Japan Post Insurance Company, Ltd, a subsidiary of Japan Post Holdings Company, Ltd, has selected ALICO Japan as a provider of life insurance products for corporate customers.
Winterthur Swiss Life Insurance Company Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AXA Japan Holding Company, Ltd, has changed its name to AXA Financial Life Insurance Cob, Ltd as of 1 January 2008.
Thanks to a relatively mild weather condition last year significantly reflected in less typhoon damage, underwriting profit of its 22 members grew by ¥34.6 billion (US$316 million) on a year-on-year basis for the first-half of the fiscal year 2007.
The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (FOMCA) has recommended to the Government to work out comprehensive laws and guidelines to control and watch the operations of insurance firms acting as managed care organisations (MCOs).
Oman Insurance Company PSC Dubai (OIC), a leading general insurance company of the United Arab Emirates with a net worth of over US$457 million, has joined Asian Re as an Associate member.
ACE Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has entered into a tripartite co-operation with UniRisX and Sun Microsystems to design and build a state-of-the-art travel insurance product.
Insurer Generali Pilipinas (GP), the country’s strong advocate for home disaster preparedness, registered 2.08 billion pesos year-to-date premiums in November 2007, thereby posting a 24% growth from the company’s premium income last year.
Three Singapore research projects have been awarded the Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Welfare Foundation (MSIGWF) Research Grant.
The AXA Retirement Scope 2008, a global survey to understand people’s perceptions and attitudes towards retirement, revealed that Singaporeans were ahead of 25 other countries surveyed for taking personal responsibility for retirement income.
XL Insurance, the global insurance operations of XL Capital Ltd, has established a new branch office in Singapore that will act as the management and underwriting hub for the Asia region, with an initial focus on directors & officers’ liability, fine art and specie, casualty, energy and construction insurance.
It will be harder for non-life insurers to reject motor insurance applications starting this year. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSA) has sent out notification letters to companies advising them that they are to accept all motor insurance applications except for exceptional cases such as if the applicants have had more than three...
Hannover Re plans to establish a branch office for life and health reinsurance business in Seoul come June 2008.
Moody’s Investors Service is maintaining a Stable Outlook for the Taiwanese property & casualty (p&c) insurance industry, given that it is supported by a solid level of capitalisation built up by good organic profitability.
Both the life and non-life insurance sectors are planning to urge the new Government to increase the taxable income deductions for life, pension, health, personal accident, household and marine cargo insurance.
Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Ltd has been granted a licence to set up a wholly owned life insurance subsidiary in Vietnam.
Swiss Re has entered into an agreement to acquire a 25% stake in Vietnam’s leading reinsurance provider, Vietnam National Reinsurance Corporation (VinaRe), for 1.3 trillion dong (US$81.4 million).
The combination of dramatic broker consolidation and soft market conditions will force underwriters of the future to be more entrepreneurial and adapt to the pressures of higher service demands from brokers in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, said a report.
R J Kiln & Company Ltd (Kiln) has acquired 100% of The International Marine (Underwriting Agency) Ltd (IMUA), adding to its international network of marine cargo specialist businesses.
Willis Group Holdings has released its annual reinsurance renewals report for January 2008. Entitled “Settling or Sinking?”, it highlights one of the major trends witnessed in this year’s renewals - that of a rapidly softening market.