All articles by Ronan Mccaughey
Ronan Mccaughey
MassMutual’s acquisition of The Hartford’s retirement plans business means ‘win-win’
The announcement by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) that it has entered into a definitive agreement with The Hartford to purchase its retirement plans business has been described as credit positive for both companies by Moodys Investors Service The transaction, which is subject to regulatory and other approvals, is expected to close by the end of 2012.
Small rise in net profit for Ping An’s life operation
The life insurance operation of Ping An, the second largest life insurer in China by premium income, registered a net profit of RMB 7bn ($1.1bn) in H1 2012 a 4% rise compared to the same period in 2011. In the first half of 2012, with changes in the macroeconomic environment and new policies governing the bancassurance business sector, Ping An said the life insurance market faced greater challenges with industry growth slowing across the board
Insurers tap into Singapore’s HNW segment
Two distinct trends: the rising number of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in Singapore, and the countrys ageing population, provide an opportunity for life insurers to develop customised products and capitalise on the growth forecast for the Singaporean life insurance market These are the key points highlighted in a new report, Life Insurance in Singapore, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2016, which is available at the Insurance Intelligence Center
Aetna swoops for Coventry Health Care
US-headquartered health insurer Aetna is to acquire US-based health care company Coventry Health Care in a $7.3bn deal The acquisition, which is expected to close in mid-2013, is projected to add nearly 4 million medical members to Aetnas membership. Aetna said the Coventry acquisition would substantially increase Aetnas Medicaid footprint, creating more opportunity to participate in the expansion of Medicaid and to pursue high acuity populations as they move into managed care
Ageas Protect appoints marketing head
Ageas Protect, the UK arm of Ageas, has appointed Steve Casey as its head of marketing and propositions Casey joins Ageas from Friends Life, where he was formerly head of marketing and intermediary proposition development He is a chartered insurer with nearly 30 years experience in the life and health insurance sector working for organisations including Swiss Re and Liberata UK, before he joined Friends Life in 2005.
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Get industry leading news, data and analysis delivered to your inbox
John Hancock offers LTC option
John Hancock, Canadian insurer Manulife Financials US unit, has launched a new option for its long-term care (LTC) insurance policy, Custom Care III The additional feature is an alternative to a traditional inflation option and provides automatic increases in benefits that occur gradually over time, as well as voluntary buy-up options. Benefit Builder enables a policyholder’s benefits to grow through an automatic crediting formula tied to the investment earnings of a segment of John Hancock’s general account, without a corresponding increase in premiums
Asia drives strong H1 2012 life results for Ageas
Life insurance activities contributed 205m ($253.3m)to Ageas’s net profit for H1 2012 compared to 52m in H1 2011, a rise of 294%, which was mainly driven by strong results in Asia Ageas generated 127.7m in gross written premiums for life insurance in Asia during H1 2012, 19% higher than in the same period last year
AIA Group posts positive H1 2012 results
AIA Groups business performance for the six months ended 31 May 2012 show that its value of new business grew (VONB) by 28% to $512m compared with $399m in H1 2011 The groups VONB margin rose by 6.6% from 36% in H1 2011 to 42.6% in H2 2012
UK provider launches regulatory briefing website
UK life insurance provider LV has launched a website for advisers on the forthcoming EU gender directive and I-E tax changes. The EU gender directive means that from 21 December 2012, which is known as G Day,premiums and benefits for all new insurance contracts will have to be calculated on a gender-neutral basis
Prudential Singapore launches CI product for affluent market
The product offers a payout of up to S$500,000 ($397,425) for the diagnosis of an early stage medical condition and up to $250,000 for selected diabetic complications. In the event of an accident or mishap, the policy has an accidental death benefit of 100% sum assured coverage, or $1 million, whichever is lower in the event of an accident