All articles by Ronan Mccaughey
Ronan Mccaughey
“Continued pressure” on UK life market
The ITEM Club has forecast that life insurance premiums in the UK will remain broadly flat in 2012, but growth should rise to around 5% yearly by 201415 In its spring forecast for 2012, the Ernst & Young ITEM Club Outlook for Financial Servicesexplained that the UKs economic recovery is expected to drive the growth of life insurance premiums in the UK by 2014-2015
European insurers face increased lapse rate risk
Insurance companies in Europe face an increased lapse rate risk as surrender penalties reduce and households’ disposable income is squeezed by the tough macroeconomic environment, according to Fitch Ratings Federico Faccio, senior director for insurance at Fitch Ratings, explained that if European households, stretched by cuts to public expenditure, increased tax rates and low growth, demand their money back on life insurance products, insurers may have to sell assets to fund that repayment. In many cases, Faccio said these assets are bank and sovereign bonds of peripheral eurozone countries, whose prices have declined since June 2011 and which may be trading well below their book value
Options are ‘critical’ for retirees
Tullys comments come after 60%of people aged 55 and over in the UK have received medical treatment for conditions which would qualify them for an enhanced annuity, and yet 72% said they were unaware that certain lifestyle or medical conditions could qualify them for a better retirement income.
Insurance venture targets Filipinos
and Standard Chartered Bank Philippines have reportedly announced the establishment of Assurance Solutions Insurance Agency, (ASIA) a new firm that will distribute Pru Life products to wealthy Filipino clients of Standard Chartered Bank Philippines BusinessWorld Online reported that ASIA will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank that will be managed separately from the banks operations.
FSA ‘blacklists’ traded life policy investments
The UKs Financial Services Authority (FSA) has confirmed that traded life policy investments (TLPIs) are high risk products that should not be promoted to the vast majority of retail investors in the UK. Investors hope to benefit by buying the right to the insurance payouts upon the death of the original policyholder
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Empire Life launches iPad app
Canadian provider, the Empire Life Insurance Company (Empire Life), has launched a new iPad application, called SimpleQuote, which it says delivers fast quotes on up to four term insurance products at once.
Life protection gap facing UK consumers
A total of 60 per cent of adults in the UK do not have life insurance, according to research by Barclays Barclays said the main reasons for consumers in the UK not taking out life insurance were the increasing pressures on household expenditure and needing to cut back on costs
Survival of the fittest for Spain’s insurers
Large insurers with a competitive advantage in their distribution network through stronger banking groups are likely to benefit from banking consolidation, according to Moodys Investor Services This is because of the major role that banks play in the distribution of life products, says the report entitled “Spanish Insurance: Banking Consolidation Will Further Advantage the Strongest Insurers The report notes that vast majority of Spains savings banks, or cajas, have undergone a meaningful consolidation process in the last two years, reducing in number to 13 from 45, whilst simultaneously converting their legal status to retail banks.
China Life’s Q1 net profit falls by 29%
China Lifes net profit stood at CNY5.63bn ($894.3m) in Q1 2012 a 29% year-on-year drop due to lower premium income Group premium income totalled CNY113.8bn in Q1 2012, a 7.3% drop compared to the same period in 2011 China Life said the fall in net profit was attributable to the fact that stock markets remained at a low level continuously, although there was a slight recovery during the reporting period
MetLife reaches key multi-million dollar settlement with Californian watchdog
Californias state controller John Chiang has said a multi-state settlement with US-headquartered life means the insurer MetLife will pay an estimated $500m in unpaid life insurance and annuity benefits to beneficiaries or states acting on their behalf However, MetLife said it will pay out about $438m to policyholders over the next 17 years, and it expects to pay out to $188m to beneficiaries this year. The settlement came after Chiang and insurance commissioner Dave Jones jointly held an investigative hearing in May 2011 regarding MetLife’s use of the Social Security Administration’s “Death Master File,” which is a database of deceased individuals