Following a record-setting first quarter, catastrophe bond issuance activity surged even further. Sponsors completed 21 transactions and raised an eye-popping USD 6.5 billion. That brought first-half totals to 29 transactions and nearly USD 8.8 billion in new limit, reads the recent PCS® H1 2017 Catastrophe Bond Report.
13 July 2017
The Russian National Reinsurance Company (RNRC) recently issued a comprehemsive report on the Russian reinsurance market's evolution in 2016. Please find below a summary of the main report's findings, together with the 2017 forecast, courtesy to RNRC.
31 May 2017
Global IT spending by insurance companies will reach USD 184.8 billion by the end of 2017, with digitalization, data analytics, and legacy and ecosystem transformation dominating investments says Celent.
26 April 2017
2017 is an anniversary year. A hundred years after a series of key
events in the history of our country and in one separate segment of the
Russian economy such as insurance there will be also revolutionary
events, after which the insurance market, apparently, will never be the
same.
20 April 2017
Whether it's buying the best airline ticket or finding the best travel insurance, people want an easy way to understand and compare products online. But, when it comes to submitting a (flight delay compensation) claim, people will find it difficult, time-consuming and complicated. Would a legally eligible claim need to be covered under a travel insurance policy or would a traveller seek to file a complaint to the airline carrier him-/herself? Would there be a strong support for travellers, who are eligibly entitled to compensation, with customer-friendly travel insurance benefits?
6 April 2017
Total economic losses and global insured losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters in 2016 were the highest since 2012, reversing the downtrend of the previous four years, Swiss Re sigma says. Globally there were 327 disaster events in 2016, of which 191 were natural catastrophes and 136 were man-made. In total, the disasters resulted in economic losses of USD 175 billion, almost double the level in 2015.
30 March 2017
Initial projections by ALLIANZ Research suggest that total global premium income rose to a new record high of eur 3,650 billion last year (excluding health insurance). In a y-o-y comparison, the nominal increase - after adjustments to reflect foreign currency translation effects - comes to an estimated 4.4%.
23 March 2017
Cyber risk is a growing concern for businesses, with recent attacks
demonstrating that the costs of a cyber breach can escalate well beyond
managing the fallout of lost or corrupted data. Swiss Re's latest sigma
report "Cyber: getting to grips with a complex risk", says businesses
need to do much more to integrate cyber security into their risk
management programmes. Initiatives to boost cyber resilience are
underway.
2 March 2017
Following the 2016 earthquake sequences, ANIA - the Italian insurers' association is working to a project on household insurance for catastrophic risks. According to ANIA's President, Marina Bianca FARINA, implementing a solution for a better management of the cat risks is a must for Italia and should provide for a public-private partnership.
9 February 2017
The motor insurance market in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has been
extremely competitive in recent years, with players across the board
adjusting their business models to optimize costs. Less diversified
insurers that have failed to build scale are struggling with
profitability, reads a recent report by Standard & Poor's,
"CEE Motor Third-Party Liability Insurance Profitability: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly".
22 December 2016
"Rapidly changing risks and increasing compliance requirements mean corporate leaders are under scrutiny over alleged wrongdoing as never before. There are a growing number of areas that can result in a company and its directors being sued," states the recently issued D&O Insurance Insights - Management liability today: What executives need to know report by ALLIANZ.
15 December 2016
Despite the regulatory authority's efforts the Ukrainian insurance market continued to be confronted with a systemic crisis, which was noticed not only in insurance business. One after another, foreign insurance companies' which were active on the Ukrainian insurance market have decided to give up their business.
8 December 2016
The global economy is expected to grow moderately over the next two years, supporting continued growth in insurance premium volumes, Swiss Re's publication Global insurance review and outlook for 2017/18 shows. Growth in global non-life premiums is forecast to fall slightly from 2.4% in 2016 in real terms to 2.2% in 2017, and accelerate to 3.0% in 2018. In the life sector, global premiums are expected to grow by 4.8% in 2017 and 4.2% in 2018. The emerging markets, in particular emerging Asia, will be the main driver of premium growth in both the non-life and life sectors.
24 November 2016
Intense competition, difficulties in appropriate pricing because of lacking actuarial data, unresolved legal issues, unfinished privatization as well overall economic instability stalling development are some of the main findings of the latest report issued by S&P Global rating on the ex-Yugoslavian insurance markets (Insurance In Ex-Yugoslavia 25 Years After Dissolution: Is The Gap Closing?)
17 November 2016
S&P assesses insurance industry and country risk for the Russian
property / casualty (P/C) insurance sector as high. Our assessment, which
covers both personal and commercial lines, reflects our view of the high
country risk and moderate industry risk that affects this sector.
3 November 2016
In the first half of 2016 the Russian economy "shrank" and the fall affected all sectors of the economy. Moreover, the official forecasts about the end of the crisis were ambiguous. Despite this, experts forecast the recovery and growth of the economy in the current year. At the same time, the situation in the banking sector inspires "cautious optimism". So, at the end of the 2nd quarter of 2016 the banking sector has become profitable even without data from SBERBANK Russia (Figure 1).
28 October 2016
Over the last few years, the Russian insurers have tended to characterize insurance fraud as one of the most actual threats to their business. It would not be appropriate to say that there were no measures taken in order to reduce this phenomenon. Once they've considered, for example, that introducing a distinct article in the Russian criminal code dedicated to fraud will substantially solve this issue. As a result, in 2012 a special article was introduced in the criminal code (No.159, paragraph 5) - insurance fraud. However, the situation has not improved - on the contrary, it got worse.
20 October 2016
Motor insurance lines, such as MTPL and Motor Hull, remain the most popular retail insurance products in Kazakhstan. Thus, in the first half of 2016 the market share of motor insurance in the total GWP totaled 17.3% and 19% in 2015.
22 September 2016
Solvency II has always been seen by many as the Area 51 of the insurance world - mainly due to its technical nature - journalists and other stakeholders alike. It has something almost mystical about it... you know it's something - but you don't always get it! However, this article is not about Solvency II per se. It is about the coming of age of the consumer landscape. And it is about the future. It is about how consumers truly became stakeholders and why they need to be involved in writing good regulation more and more.
12 September 2016
As negotiations for the 2017 reinsurance contracts begin in Monte Carlo, business conditions for the global reinsurance industry remain weak. S&P Global Ratings expects prices to continue declining in the absence of a very large loss. The soft cycle is proving to be deeper and longer than many market participants anticipated in 2013, with falling premiums increased competition putting pressure on reinsurers' top and bottom lines.
8 September 2016