Emirates Insurance Association’s latest analysis on conventional and Takaful insurance companies reflects a period of growth for the first quarter of 2014. A Premium report. Swiss Re’s latest sigma study on the Middle East markets predicts strong growth in all quarters, with life growth at 11 percent in 2013 and...
While Kuwait's nascent insurance market offers material growth opportunities over the long term, there’s much that insurers and regulators can do to be financially sustainable, notes Standard & Poor's. The Kuwaiti insurance market has expanded rapidly over the past few years with the industry reporting healthy premium growth rates. In...
Competition and growth is dampening 2013 performances of Saudi insurers, according to A.M. Best. A Premium report. Saudi Arabia’s insurance market remains one of the main markets within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with premiums expected to surpass the United Arab Emirates over the next five years. The insurance market...
Could 2013 be the apex of the next few years? A.M. Best views the future of the reinsurance industry. A Premium report. Given the major adversity overcome to produce a very respectable profit, 2013 was a miraculous year for reinsurers. The relatively benign level of catastrophes is of course the...
The UAE is seemingly on a positive wave with a relatively strong GDP (-0.7 percent) and private investment (-4.5 percent) in 2012. Counteracting fiscal policy – reflected in robust growth of public consumption (+5.7 percent) and public investment (+8.9 percent) – as well as a surge in gold exports to...
A.M. Best makes a comparison of the growth of GCC insurance markets with developed and emerging ones. A Premium report. Growth rates in the insurance markets of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries remain higher than those of developed markets and have kept pace with those of some key emerging markets,...
A region where modern insurance provision was virtually unknown four decades ago is now attracting major international players who are looking to the Middle East, and particularly the Gulf, as a strong growth market. Bahrain is at the heart of that growth, according to Jarmo Kotilaine. Growing quickly from a...
The compulsory medical insurance scheme in Dubai raises many questions for insurers. Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s comments on this new development and raises a few pertinent points. In mid-December 2013, the emirate of Dubai announced that, after many months of expectation and consideration, it would introduce compulsory medical insurance...
International ratings agency A.M. Best’s forecast for the reinsurance sector worldwide remains stable. A Premium report. The rating outlook for the global reinsurance segment remains stable, indicating that over the next 12 to 18 months, according to ratings agency A.M. Best. The stable outlook is predicated on strong risk-adjusted capital,...
Swiss Re’s latest sigma report examines why people don’t buy life insurance, including a look at behavioural economics to generate better understanding, and offers pointers for life insurers to better engage consumers. For a long time, economists have struggled to explain why individuals do not purchase enough life insurance, despite...
