Insurance News
Brief insurance news and digest for the busy executives. A handy insurance news archive with main focus on Malaysia. Disclaimer: While all attempts are made to ensure the accuracy of the news herein, we will not be liable for any loss arising from the use of any information contained in this blog. You may reproduce materials published here provided the source (news.actuaries.com.my) is properly acknowledged.
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Sunday, 2 May 2010
News Posts 20100425-20100501
Insurance News South Korean competition regulator has given the green light to Prudential to acquire AIA. It remains to see if Vietnamese authority would block the deal due to anti-trust. See our earlier post for background of this story.
May 1, 2010
Insurance News MAA has received approval from BNM to take the necessary measures to meet the minimum CAR under RBC. This includes potential sale of MAA within 12 months from approval of BNM.
April 29, 2010
Insurance News Tan Liling has been appointed COO for Prudential. She was previously CFO of HLA and ING.
April 29, 2010
Insurance News With the commission ban on financial advice, the number of financial advisers in Australia is expected to reduce and the advisers will need to work harder. Financial advisers are however projected to earn more.
April 28, 2010
Insurance News It is interesting to note that in UK, the entry age for Term Assurance is as high as 83 and for critical illness it is 74. In Malaysia, for most companies the corresponding figures are 65 and 60. Plenty of room to improve. But of course is there a strong demand at these ages given the relatively younger population here?
April 28, 2010
Insurance News The integration exercise post Pru-AIA merger would be challenging with the rivalry of both camps. An exodus of senior executives is not ruled out post merger.
April 27, 2010
Insurance News Prudential's largest shareholder Capital Research & Management may not be supportive of the AIA deal and may prefer the break-up of Prudential which will bring more value. The rights issue requires 75% of the votes and may not be approved without the support of Capital.
April 27, 2010
Insurance News Financial advisers in Australia will not be allowed to receive commissions in future to avoid conflicts of interest. The commission ban applies to retail investment products but does not cover risk products.
April 27, 2010
Insurance News BNM's proposed TPBID has received many complaints. http://bit.ly/9jTu40 BNM will assess the feedback. The revamped plan is targeted to be finalised by Q3 this year.
April 27, 2010
Insurance News AirAsia has obtained licence to carry out captive insurance in Labuan. This provides flexibility in managing and retaining its risks in aviation, maritime and liability, which should result in lower costs to AirAsia.
April 27, 2010
Insurance News Allianz's RM611 mil rights issue is to repay RM490 mil credit facility obtained in 2007 to purchase Commerce Assurance, to increase capital in Allianz Life and Allianz General and for the purpose of working capital. The share price of Allianz fell after the announcement of rights issue.
April 27, 2010
Labels: AIA/AIG, Allianz, Executive Movement, Financial Advisors, MAA, Merger, Prudential, TPBID
Sunday, 25 April 2010
News Posts 20100418-20100424
Insurance News While emphasis will still be on Malaysia market due to constraints in resources, Takaful Ikhlas is exploring 3 overseas markets including Indonesia. The other 2 countries were not disclosed but they would be outside Asia and the Gulf region. Where could these be? Any guesses? http://bit.ly/a9eoz7
April 23, 2010
Insurance News Takaful industry sees entrance of more non-bumiputra agents due to factors such as: (1) The introduction of Takaful Basic Examination to enhance knowledge of non-bumi agents on takaful (2) Takaful operators promoting "takaful for all" concept, targeting both muslim and non-muslim customers (3) New takaful players tapping on the non-bumi agents of their conventional business http://bit.ly/cOMWLA
April 23, 2010
Insurance News It is confirmed that Prudential is seeking to list in both HK and Singapore. The target date is 11 May. http://bit.ly/bdiQG6
April 23, 2010
Insurance News Takaful Ikhlas aims to increase its contributions from Sarawak operations from RM18 to RM25 mil. http://bit.ly/alKSrf
April 23, 2010
Insurance News The 2009 Annual Insurance Statistics was released by BNM 2 days ago. You could find it here --> http://bit.ly/aaKVFe
April 23, 2010
Insurance News Now everyone has a chance to provide views and suggestions on TPBID. BNM has released details on the TPBID scheme and called for public feedback to be sent to BNM by 14/5/2010. http://bit.ly/9jfbRn
April 23, 2010
Insurance News The talk now is Prudential may be seeking a secondary listing on the Singapore Stock Exchange. The listing on HK Exchange apparently has also been approved. http://bit.ly/bWiM4O
April 23, 2010
Insurance News Prudential may be listed on HK Exchange as early as 1st week of May. The exchange officials apparently met with Pru on Wednesday. http://bit.ly/9I8OlS
April 22, 2010
Insurance News Bar Council called BNM's proposed TPBID as "one of the most drastic and evil schemes". Among its objections include the RM2 mil cap, which it claimed could only cover 90% of the claims, short of 100% it wanted to see; and the set up of Newco which would burden the public due to major shareholding by government. Bar Council also called for a cross-industry working committee to review public feedback and to propose holistic solution with public interest in mind. http://bit.ly/apYtgE http://bit.ly/cmQZH0
April 22, 2010
Insurance News For completeness, here are some more links on TPBID: The Star: http://bit.ly/ct40cv Business Times: http://bit.ly/9ZQLjl
April 21, 2010
Insurance News Etiqa is recruiting agents by targeting visitors to Unit Trust Week 2010. The insurer currently has >18,000 agents, one of the largest in the country. http://bit.ly/9Dcmi6
April 21, 2010
Insurance News After talking to so many other parties on the sale of Pacific Insurance without any positive results, PacificMas is finally talking to a closer cousin - Great Eastern. http://bit.ly/cw6Fk4 OCBC was given until 17/10/2010 to resolve holding 2 GI licences in OACM and Pacific Insurance. Earlier news on Pacific Insurance can be found here: http://www.actuaries.com.my/news/labels/Pacific%20Insurance.html
April 21, 2010
Insurance News The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has blocked National Australia Bank from bidding for AXA Asia Pacific Holdings as the takeover would hurt competition for retail investors by reducing the number of retail investment platforms in the market. http://bit.ly/9r78UG Meanwhile regulators in South Korea and Vietnam are studying the competitive impact following the proposed merger of Prudential and AIA. http://nyti.ms/9HCjFw
April 20, 2010
Insurance News This is the news article published this morning in newspaper before BNM's announcement on TPBID. Someone involved in the TPBID discussion must have leaked it to the papers because whatever published in the article are similar/same as BNM's announcement. http://bit.ly/9duDAI
April 20, 2010
Insurance News BNM unveiled the proposed plan for TPBID. Some key features: (1) A newco to be set up, jointly owned by government & the industry (2) Covers both TPBID and 3rd party property damage (3) Claims may be capped at RM2 mil per life/injured person, RM2 mil figure is not finalised yet (4) 2 scenarios are being evaluated: (a) payment based on fixed scale, limited legal recourse, premium may be same as current (b) payment based on injury/death, full access to courts, premium higher than current. http://bit.ly/9PGzUq
April 20, 2010
Insurance News BNM has identified low investment yields as a near-term challenge to the industry and it is important for the industry to go back to basics to ensure sound underwriting. http://bit.ly/awvDfQ
April 19, 2010
Insurance News In addition to HSBC, speculation is that other possible suitors for Jerneh are Generali and Samsung Fire and Marine. http://bit.ly/cTSrTU
April 19, 2010
Insurance News AXA Affin will focus on conventional business and building distribution channels for the time being and may move into takaful in 2 years' time. AXA Affin currently ranks 16 out of 16 in market share and expects to move up 2 or 3 notches by 2nd quarter this year, banking on AXA group's standardised blueprint. http://bit.ly/atoUMF
April 19, 2010
Insurance News Prudential will not cut the purchase price of AIA even though there were some questions raised earlier by shareholders on the justifications of the offer price. http://bit.ly/9nY6s3
April 18, 2010
Labels: AIA/AIG, AXA Affin, BNM, Etiqa, Great Eastern, HSBC, Jerneh, Merger, OAC, Pacific Insurance, Prudential, Takaful Ikhlas, Takaful Malaysia, TPBID
Sunday, 18 April 2010
News Posts 20100411-20100417
Insurance News It would be interesting to see what solution/proposal BNM comes up with on TPBID Tuesday next week. So far the unofficial sources seem to think that the scheme will have a cap of RM2 mil, claims to be settled within 1 month and an increase in premium. For compilation of earlier posts on TPBID, visit: http://bit.ly/at9Ont
April 17, 2010
Insurance News With the takeover of AIA, Prudential is targeting 1 million agents in Asia. Currently Prudential has 400,000 agents, AIA has 300,000, the combined entity would need another 300,000 agents. Barry Stowe, the chief executive of Prudential Asia, who joined Prudential from AIG in 2006, when asked about earlier speculation that he would lead the integration, said: "What the hell makes anyone think that I would run the integration? I’m the chief executive of Asia; integration is a completely different animal."
April 15, 2010
Insurance News ISM released the GI industry report card which showed that the industry underperformed in 2009 compared with 2008. The industry is expected to grow 9-11% in 2010, consolidation is expected in the industry with 25 players remaining in conventional GI market. Combined ratio for motor business hit 112% in 2009. http://bit.ly/aMhjhM, http://bit.ly/al1ROM

Insurance News Prudential has assigned its CEO for UK and European operations to lead the Asia Prudential-AIA integration. This has sparked speculation that eventually the UK operations of Prudential will be sold off.
April 14, 2010
Insurance News Saudi Arabia has the highest takaful market share in the whole world in 2008 with US$2.9 bil contributions, Malaysia was 2nd with US$0.9 bil. The total world takaful contributions is expected to hit US$8.8 bil this year. Generating profit is seen as challenging for the industry.
April 13, 2010
Insurance News MSIG now provides professional liability insurance of up to RM500k to Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners. Annual premium starts from RM388; entry ages: 21 to 70; renewable up to age 80. Cross-border cover can be taken by paying additional premium.
April 13, 2010
Insurance News Using server to process data is said to be no longer effective. Comes grid computing which claims to be able to reduce time required for actuarial calculations by 97%.
April 12, 2010
Insurance News HSBC may be the buyer of Jerneh Insurance, according to an article in Singapore newspaper. The company is valued at RM700 mil according to the same source.
April 12, 2010
Labels: AIA/AIG, BNM, HSBC, ISM, Jerneh, Merger, MSIG, Prudential, Takaful, TPBID
Saturday, 17 April 2010
Third Party Bodily Injury and Death (TPBID)
Due to the popularity of the TPBID topic, we compile below all our previous posts on TPBID:
Insurance News It would be interesting to see what solution/proposal BNM comes up with on TPBID Tuesday next week. So far the unofficial sources seem to think that the scheme will have a cap of RM2 mil, claims to be settled within 1 month and an increase in premium. For compilation of earlier posts on TPBID, visit: http://bit.ly/at9Ont
April 17, 2010
Insurance News The proposed TPBID compensates for injuries but does not cover other vagaries such as loss of current and future income.
April 7, 2010
Insurance News FOMCA proposes that a fund be setup and managed by government to resolve the TPBID issue. Those who are injured in car accident can seek compensation from the fund. This approach is used in Australian and NZ. The fund can operate in a similar fashion as SOCSO and is to be funded by the public.
April 6, 2010
Insurance News PM instructed BNM to consult consumer groups before finalising TPBID scheme. The scheme apparently has a cap of RM100,000 compensation. PM also took note of the loss suffered by the industry in motor insurance. http://bit.ly/aBs7Be
April 5, 2010
Insurance News The TPBID plan will be finalised by middle of this year and a special company may be formed to oversee the plan. http://bit.ly/ca8uVy
March 31, 2010
Insurance News While TPBID's plan features are still being finalised, there is a widespread fear that the claims amount would be capped and civil suit would be the only recourse to get additional compensation. http://bit.ly/buBBHN
March 30, 2010
Insurance News The TPBID saga continues ... Bar Council has gone to politicians to apply pressure on BNM. http://bit.ly/cIfMVK
March 23, 2010
Insurance News Consultation on TPBID will commence next month and the scheme is targeted to kick in by end of Q3. BNM's corporate comm has issued statement in response to the views expressed by the Bar Council in particular on the cap placed on the compensation (see our earlier post on March 14). http://bit.ly/di2LHk
March 22, 2010
Insurance News The Bar Council thinks that basic and affordable motor insurance scheme as proposed by BNM would be detrimental to motor accident victims, as well as their families and dependants. BNM is urged to consult various stakeholders. On March 5, BNM announced that it needed more time to finalise the scheme as it wanted to consult various parties. http://bit.ly/cfKHMg
March 14, 2010
Insurance News The basic and affordable motor insurance scheme as announced in Budget 2010 would need more time before becoming a reality. Consultation with various stakeholders by BNM is required. No indication of timeline was given by BNM. http://bit.ly/aj38dj
March 5, 2010
Insurance News Government has no plans to scrap 3rd party motor insurance. http://bit.ly/4VNeiG
November 24, 2009
Sunday, 11 April 2010
News Posts 20100404-20100410
Insurance News Aviva is making a come back in general insurance market starting with Singapore. Aviva General was sold to MSIG in Malaysia in 2006.
April 10, 2010
Insurance News Proton has been a long-time sponsor of BAM since 1985. However, in February 2010, ING came in as a new sponsor and players started wearing T-shirts with ING's logo in front at the German open. Proton now wants its logo back in front rather than on the sleeve. They may have smelled the chance of the national team winning the Thomas Cup to be held soon.
April 10, 2010
Insurance News Allianz Life's existing CEO will leave the country to head for Turkey. His position will be taken over by the current CEO of Allianz in Indonesia.
April 10, 2010
Insurance News Lonpac's underwriting surplus before management expenses in Q1 improved by 52%, on the back of 11.5% increase in revenue, compared to the same period last year.
April 8, 2010
Insurance News Lai Leong Pin, the Chief Agency Officer of Prudential, has been appointed as Prudential's General Manager.
April 7, 2010
Insurance News The proposed TPBID compensates for injuries but does not cover other vagaries such as loss of current and future income.
April 6, 2010
Insurance News Allianz General launched a PA product that covers among others medical expenses related to dengue, malaria, JE; kidnap, snatch theft etc.
April 6, 2010
Insurance News FOMCA proposes that a fund be setup and managed by government to resolve the TPBID issue. Those who are injured in car accident can seek compensation from the fund. This approach is used in Australian and NZ. The fund can operate in a similar fashion as SOCSO and is to be funded by the public.
April 6, 2010
Insurance News Maybank will transfer its shares in Mayban Fortis Holdings Bhd to Etiqa International Holdings Sdn Bhd. After the transfer, Etiqa International will serve as the investment holding company for Maybank's insurance, takaful and asset management businesses.
April 5, 2010
Insurance News Watch out for this type of motor insurance scam that was exposed in UK. A car owner is paid a fee to admit liability for causing car damage and bodily injury in an accident that never happened. The car of the "victim" then gets smashed up in a yard and an insurance claim of around £20,000 is filed.
April 4, 2010
Insurance News HSBC Amanah Takaful will launch a regular contribution retirement product in May, which has features similar to a product sold in HK by HSBC. 7 new products are planned to be rolled out this year. The global financial crisis has affected the single contribution investment-linked plans while favouring non-ILP plans.
April 4, 2010
Insurance News PM instructed BNM to consult consumer groups before finalising TPBID scheme. The scheme apparently has a cap of RM100,000 compensation. PM also took note of the loss suffered by the industry in motor insurance.
April 4, 2010
Labels: Allianz, Aviva, Etiqa, Executive Movement, HSBC, ING, LPI, Motor Insurance, MSIG, Products, Prudential, TPBID
