Asia & Australasia

China insurers in solvency breakthrough

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT

As Chinese insurers revamp regulation to meet international solvency requirements, all Chinese insurers managed to meet the solvency requirements for the first time.

Christchurch struggles to recover from quake

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Loss adjusters being exported out to disaster zones lack morale on 18-month trips without families and need management support, Crawford argues.

RGA’s Greig Woodring elected IIS chairman

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Woodring succeeds Norman Sorensen, former chairman and CEO of Principal International, who has served as IIS chairman since 2010.

AM Best downgrades Thai reinsurer Asian Re

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The rating agency said the downgrades reflect Asian Re’s unresolved capitalisation issues and the delay in the execution of its capital infusion plan.

Odyssey Re founder joins TigerRisk

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Reinsurance broker TigerRisk appoints James Dowd to develop international markets.

Trade credit insurance claims up 12%

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT

More companies are relying on trade credit insurance and surety bonds in economic challenging times, says Jim Davidson, president of the International Credit Insurance and Surety Association.

Foreign insurers’ China share to quadruple

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT

A study from Ernst & Young expects foreign insurance companies to quadrule their share of China’s insurance market in the next five years.

ING dominates May insurance capital raising

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Data: Deal value for both insurance equity and debt issuance falls in May compared with April. The month featured deals involving ING, Berkshire Hathaway, Towergate, Swiss Life and St James’s Place.

May insurance M&A deal value falls to $1.9bn

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Data: Insurance-related mergers and acquisitions deal value falls to $1.93bn from 38 deals in May, compared with $4.03bn from 45 deals in April. The month included deals involving China Taiping, Aegon, ING and Fairfax.

Taiwan earthquake costs may hit $300m

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT

An Earthquake shock central Taiwan on June 2, 2013, with about 86,000 people exposed to a strong level of shaking, Eqecat reported.

Aon Benfield: $4bn May US insured cat losses

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Storms across the US in May racked up estimated insured losses of $4bn, according to Aon Benfield.

XL Group creates global emerging markets unit

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT

XL group announced today that it has created an emerging markets unit to capitalise on opportunities in developing markets.

AIR explains why it won’t partner with RMS(one)

Thu, 30 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Bill Churney, senior vice president at AIR Worldwide, explains to Reactions the risk modelling firm’s new “next generation” platform Touchstone and reveals why it will not be sharing information on rival RMS’s new platform.

Catastrophe risk models: The next generation

Thu, 30 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Feature: The next generation of catastrophe risk modelling has been unveiled this year. AIR, Eqecat, RMS and other risk model providers are now battling for supremacy, while insurance and reinsurance firms overhaul thier catastrophe risk management.

Eqecat, RMS announce data sharing deal

Thu, 30 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Eqecat says agreement is a result of a challenge has arising for some companies who use multiple models, each of which comes with its own proprietary data schema.

Karen Clark & Company unveils hurricane tool

Thu, 30 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Karen Clark & Company releases WindfieldBuilder, a tool for creating hurricane tracks and wind speeds that can be licensed as part of KCC's RiskInsight technology platform.

Canterbury earthquake costs risen to $5.85bn

Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Residential claim settlements are averaging about NZ$3m a day and New Zealand insurers have already paid NZ$7.23bn to date, AM Best reported.

GIC to get 30% of India life firms' reinsurance

Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Indian life insurers may have to cede up to 30% of business to General Insurance Corp of India (GIC) by 2014, according to the Business Times.

Xchanging opens Malaysia office

Tue, 28 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Xchanging has boosted its Asian presence with a new office in Kuala Lumpur which will house up to 150 staff.

Guy Carp Asia-Pac issues climate report

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The reinsurance broker’s Asia Pacific arm has published its fourth annual report on climate issues.

Time to rethink disaster reduction

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Feature: Economic losses from natural disasters are out of control and will continue to escalate until disaster risk management becomes a core part of business investment strategies.

AIG to buy $93m of PICC shares

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

AIG will continue to own a 9.9% share in Chinese insurer PICC P&C.

China new solvency regime is credit positive

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Moody’s reports that China's new framework’s concept, principle and content is concurrent with international standards in that it moves to a risk-focused regime from one focused on size, which is credit positive for Chinese insurers.

Feature: Berkshire Hathaway declares war

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Berkshire Hathaway’s aggressive entry into commercial primary insurance has raised concerns among US insurers about a potential pricing war. Some believe more reinsurers will follow Warren Buffett ‘s lead and target the E&S insurance market.

WCMA appoints Michael Guo as head of Asia

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Michael Guo joins from Boston Consulting Group as managing director and head of Asia, based in Hong Kong. Guo will report to Tony Ursano, chief executive officer of WCMA.

Berkshire Hathaway credit rating cut to AA

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Standard & Poor’s has downgraded Berkshire Hathaway's credit rating one notch to AA from AA+ because of its “dependence on its core insurance operations for most of its dividend income”; AA+ financial strength rating affirmed.

Munich Re: 50% P&C growth by 2020

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The global insurance market will see strong growth in 2014, especially in emerging markets and primary insurance, less so in reinsurance, Munich Re predicted.

India mulls nat cat insurance scheme

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

India’s prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has indicated he is in favour of setting up a mechanism to provide added insurance protection against natural catastrophes in the South Asian country.

Neill Currie to retire as RenaissanceRe CEO

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Kevin O’Donnell to replace RenaissanceRe co-founder Neill Currie as CEO on July 1. Currie will stay on as an advisor to the Bermudian reinsurnace firm until February.

Vote for the Reactions Global Awards 2013

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Have your say on the the best insurance, reinsurance, broking and service provider firms for the Reactions Global Awards 2013. The winners will be anounced at our awards dinner in New York on September 25.