British brokers: no client demand for commission disclosure
30 June 2008
British broker associations have united to oppose mandatory commission disclosure, citing a lack of customer demand for change...
International
Emerging markets prop up premiums: Swiss Re
30 June 2008
Global insurance premiums increased marginally last year, with only strong growth in emerging economies saving the general insurance market from contraction…
North American insurers given stable rating
30 June 2008
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has assigned a stable outlook to the North American insurance market, despite challenging trading conditions...
Speculation mounts on sale of Allianz banking arm
30 June 2008
A number of suitors are emerging for Allianz’s Dresdner Bank subsidiary...
Risk management still absent from the boardroom
30 June 2008
A survey by insurance broker Marsh UK finds only 30% of risk managers believe risk management is consistently taken into account by company directors in Europe...
UK flood review calls on insurers to lift their game
30 June 2008
British insurers have “generally responded well” to last year’s devastating summer flooding but could do better, according to an official report by leading bureaucrat Sir Michael Pitt...
US, Europe financial firms to cut 175,000 jobs
30 June 2008
Thousands of jobs may be lost in the US and Europe as the world’s biggest financial firms shed workers amid slowing revenue growth and billion-dollar writedowns...
AIG suffers ratings hit
23 June 2008
US ratings agency AM Best has downgraded ratings on two AIG subsidiaries in another setback for the beleaguered American insurer...
Rise in coastal properties US industry’s biggest hurricane risk
23 June 2008
Almost three years since Hurricane Katrina devastated properties and, in turn, the insurance industry, little along the US coast has changed...
Buffett picks up ING reinsurance arm
23 June 2008
Dutch financial services firm ING Group has completed the sale of its run-off reinsurance unit NRG to Columbia Insurance Company...
Americans reject flood insurance
23 June 2008
Only 17% of Americans have flood insurance, according to a survey by the Insurance Information Institute...
Fitch predicts US underwriting loss
23 June 2008
US property and casualty insurers will suffer underwriting losses this year as the market continues to soften, says Fitch Ratings...
III updates international stats
23 June 2008
The Insurance Information Institute has updated its International Fact Book with the latest statistics on the international insurance industry...
AIG boss bows to pressure and quits
16 June 2008
AIG CEO Martin Sullivan has stepped down from the embattled American insurer...
Willis faces ratings backlash after broker acquisition
16 June 2008
Ratings agencies have reacted with concern to the reliance of major broker Willis on debt to fund its $US2.1 billion ($2.2 billion) purchase of Hilb Rogal & Hobbs...
S&P assigns stable ratings outlook to global insurers
16 June 2008
Standard & Poor’s has assigned a “stable” outlook to most global insurers despite intense competition holding down earnings...
Insurers to ride out the US credit crunch
16 June 2008
Insurers are the least likely financial institutions to bear the brunt of the US subprime mortgage crisis, says a ratings agency official...
Swiss Re calls for public-private risk financing
16 June 2008
Swiss Re has called on governments to use public-private partnerships to prevent natural catastrophes draining public funds...
Industry braces for US flood claims
16 June 2008
Damage to infrastructure from last week’s floods in the US state of Iowa is expected to reach hundreds of millions of dollars...
Future bleak for US bond insurers
16 June 2008
US bond insurers are in dire straits if last week’s ratings downgrades are anything to go by...