All articles by Ronan Mccaughey
Ronan Mccaughey
Time for direction: no more dithering
Regulation is not commonly associated with setting pulses racing, but without doubt it is the hottest topic in the international life insurance sector today as providers brace themselves for the torrent of regulation that is Solvency II, the EUs gender ruling and the Retail Distribution Review in the UK. Solvency II is the regulatory regime that has grabbed many of the headlines in recent times and that is why this issue of Life Insurance International drills down into the mechanics of the regulation to explain its expected impact on life insurers with a four-page special.
Negative outlook for Italian life insurers
Moodys Investors Service has said the outlook for the Italian life insurance market remains negative as consumers reduced ability to save and Italys weakened economy continue to hit sales Macro-economically, the ratings agency warned that with around 40%1 of their assets invested in Italian sovereign bonds at around 200bn at the end of 2010 Italian insurers have significant sovereign concentration risk.
European insurance sector vulnerability highlighted
Solvency capital ratios of the 20 largest European insurance groups have started to deteriorate slightly, according to the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA). The insurance sector also remains vulnerable to a possible long-lasting low interest rate environment, though the sector would be capable to cope with this challenge for some time said EIOPA. These were the key conclusions in EIOPAs biannual report on the financial stability for the insurance and institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORPs) sectors in the European Economic Area (EEA).
Call for full information disclosure
A total of 33% of people will consider embellishing their responses when completing an insurance application form in order to keep their premiums down, according to research from Zurich. Out of all those questioned, Zurich said 44% of respondents cited price as being more important than having the peace of mind that they were covered A total of 72% of respondents said they believe there are circumstances where it is acceptable to stretch the truth or tell a white lie
Aviva Facebook app gauges users’ health
Aviva has launched a new Facebook app which rates users’ health and allows them to compare scores with friends and family in an effort to encourage people to become healthy. The app provides people with advice and goals to become fitter and healthier who will be able to share progress on their goals tracker to build up online support. It rates users health by inviting them to answer a short quiz about their lifestyle, including diet, exercise, drinking and smoking habits, which are used to generate a health score out of 100, with 100 being the best score
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Swiss Re completes longevity insurance contract for UK pension fund
Swiss Re has completed a £1.4bn ($2.2bn) longevity insurance contract for AkzoNobel’s UK pension fund, which will cover close to 17 000 individuals and their future contingent beneficiaries Costas Yiasoumi, Head Longevity Solutions, SwissRe Corporate Solutions, said: Whereas the UK pension longevity market tends to be dominated by intermediaries who write and then sell on the exposure, this deal stands out in that all of the longevity exposure is held on our own balance sheet.”
India’s IDBI adds online insurance platform
IDBI Federal Life Insurance, a joint-venture of Indias IDBI Bank and Federal Bank and insurance provider Ageas has launched an online platform where its Termsurance Seniors Plan is now available GV Nageswara Rao, managing director and CEO for IDBI Federal Life Insurance, said there is an increasing awareness for life insurance plans sold over the internet in India, with almost 10m searches every month. Rao said: Customers increasingly today prefer to make an informed decision about purchasing life insurance plans by going through the details and even comparing options
Empire Life adds health care spending account
The Empire Life Insurance Company (Empire Life) has said it is adding a traditional health care spending account (HCSA) to its group products A health care spending account is a product that can help employers manage costs, enhance a plan and offer employees more choice Empire Life has offered an Incidental Health Benefit, and is now expanding its offering to include a traditional HCSA.
Scottish Provident boosts product range
Scottish Provident has unveiled a series of product boosters across its self assurance critical illness cover to coincide with its 175 anniversary celebrations As part of the expansion of its critical illness policies, Scottish Provident has added multiple sclerosis to its existing ABI definitions The enhanced definition means a pay out could be made after three months of persisting impairment rather than six months
Greek exit poses ‘red alert danger’ for Spanish and Italian insurers
Italian and Spanish insurers are most exposed if Greek exits from the eurozone through the contagion effect it could have on Italian and Spanish sovereign and bank debt, says Fitch Ratings Federico Faccio, senior director for insurance at Fitch Ratings, explained that Italian insurers have considerably more exposure to their own sovereign debt than is the case with Spanish insurers