Artificial intelligence is set to replace more than 30 human workers at Fukoka Mutual Life Insurance. The system will be based on IBM’s Watson Explorer technology, and will help calculate payouts to policyholders from January 29, the company said in a statement. The AI will scan hospital records and medical...
The finance ministry has asked two public sector general insurance companies—Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd and United India Insurance Co. Ltd—to improve their finances as the government looks to list the state-owned non-life firms. “There are issues with two firms and they have been asked to pull up their socks and...
SWISS RE believes the combination of a growing middle-income sector in Asia, especially in emerging markets, the low insurance penetration, and China’s “One Belt, One Road” policy will make Asia become the biggest insurance market in the new year. Speaking on the business outlook for Asean countries in 2017 at...
Chinese regulators have intensified their crackdown on insurers’ use of high-risk, high-return products, which are often used to fund corporate deals. The clampdown comes days after the country’s securities regulator separately denounced companies making highly leveraged takeovers as “barbarians” and “robbers.” The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) has said it had barred...
Fitch Ratings says in a new report that Indonesia’s increased infrastructure budget for 2017 (IDR387 trillion from IDR317 trillion) is likely to spur economic growth and could lead indirectly to high demand for insurance products. The rating outlook for Indonesia’s life and non-life insurance sectors in 2017 is stable, underpinned...
Australia’s Cover-More Group is being bought for USD741 million by Zurich as part of the global group’s plans to expand into the travel insurance business. “This reflects the strategic value of Cover-More’s business including its strong market position, global distribution footprint and its ability to deliver growth into the future,”...
Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) has said the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has approved its ‘R3’ application and granted Certificate of Registration to set up a branch in India. Since 2001, RGA has been operating in India as a foreign reinsurer through its Irish entity. The branch...
General insurance players are now considering increasing premium rates for properties, commercial establishments, factories and others located in vulnerable areas in the East coast, owing to recurring natural calamities. According to industry sources, in the last two or three years, insurers had to pay claims worth around INR9,000 crore due...
British insurer Standard Life said that India’s insurance regulator had “expressed reservations” in accepting the current deal terms for the purchase by its Indian joint venture of Max Life Insurance. In August HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co (HDFC Life) agreed to buy India’s Max Life Insurance in an all-stock deal...
In a joint study with Cambridge University, the Lloyd’s insurance giant has found out of 301 global cities, Sydney ranks 12th in terms cyber attack exposure with USD4.86 billion of economic growth at risk. In its City Risk Index 2015-2025, Lloyd’s says Sydney is the riskiest Australian city, followed by...
