UK: The reinsurance sector is seeing significant rate reductions as the excess capital supply in the market continues to chase muted demand, according to the 1st View Renewals Report from Willis Re. Continued benign loss activity throughout the first half of 2014 has compounded the softening market. Inflows from capital...
Switzerland: Zurich Insurance Group and OLMA Group have signed an agreement under which OLMA will acquire Zurich’s general insurance retail business in Russia. OLMA has stated ambitions to further develop the retail insurance business in Russia as well as building its own corporate business by leveraging its existing customer base. Zurich’s...
Swiss Re has entered into an agreement to acquire through its Admin Re business unit over 400,000 individual and group pension and related annuity policies as well as GBP4.2 billion in unit-linked assets from HSBC Life (UK) Ltd. John R. Dacey, Chairman of Admin Re and member of the Swiss...
The UK government's plan to introduce collective pension funds is likely to be modestly negative for the insurance sector, Fitch Ratings says. But the scale of the impact will depend on how the plans are implemented and the level of demand. Collective pension funds pool the assets of many thousands...
Aspen has announced that its board of directors unanimously agreed to reject the unsolicited exchange offer from Endurance to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Aspen for a combination of common stock and cash. The board determined the offer is not in the best interests of Aspen or its shareholders...
For the first time in 20 years, the motor insurance industry has achieved a profit, reports EY. Analysis of the year-end results of the majority of listed insurers indicates that the net combined ratio (NCR) is going to be 98.5 percent, a 3.9 percent improvement on 2012 and the strongest...
Although health care reform is a top concern for US employers, most organisations have not measured its cost impact, according to a survey released by the Willis Human Capital Practice. Only 37 percent of respondents have identified the cost impact of healthcare reform on their health plans in 2014. While...
US property and casualty (P&C) insurers will see continued healthy pricing increases for commercial liability lines during the remainder of 2014, albeit at a slower pace than last year, says Moody's Investors Service in its new report US P&C Insurance Survey: Slowing Commercial Rate Increases as Insurers Shift Toward Growth....
Swiss Re reports a strong group net income of USD1.2 billion for the first quarter of 2014. All business units contributed to the result, led by another impressive contribution from the property & casualty reinsurance segment. April renewals saw a volume increase of 14 percent, with prices still at attractive...
Zurich Insurance Group reported a business operating profit (BOP) of USD1.4 billion and net income attributable to shareholders (NIAS) of USD1.3 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2014. “This is a solid start to the year,” said chief financial officer George Quinn. “We see some early positive signs...
