Thursday, November 28, 2024
Home Authors Posts by Barbara karouski

Barbara karouski

Profile photo of Barbara karouski
1629 POSTS 0 COMMENTS

0 0

Volunteers all over the country are being urged to speak out against uncaring officialdom – but also to give credit where credit is due if someone has been really helpful.

The Government is urging anyone involved in volunteering – from a jumble sale, to organising a Jubilee party, to a three-peaks challenge – can feed in their experiences, good and bad, of dealing with local authorities and other regulators as part of the Focus on Enforcement campaign.

Business and Enterprise Minister Mark Prisk said: “Volunteers are the unsung heroes of communities in this country. But dealing with the way rules are enforced can sometimes be more of a problem than the red tape itself – no one volunteers to be a bureaucrat.

“So, whether it’s an inspection by someone who won’t listen or having to fill in the same form twice – we want to hear about it. I urge you to go to the Focus on Enforcement website and let us know your views so that we can take action.

“We know there are good regulators out there, so we also want you to tell us on the website about the heroes – people who give really good guidance and help your event to happen well and safely.

“This is your chance to make a real difference to the way regulations are enforced.”

The campaign allows comments to be posted anonymously and is also looking to hear about other organisations or officials who suggest volunteers must follow rules they shouldn’t have to. This happens where regulation does not actually require a group to do something – but somebody insists that they do.

Questions we are looking for answers to include: Do you want to do something locally but you daren’t because you might be breaking the rules and regulations? What sort of advice would help you run your event without worrying about whether it meets health and safety? If you already organise a volunteer event, do you get useful help, and if so where from, or do you keep quiet and hope no one knows?

The Focus on Enforcement website, for the first time, also provides details on national regulators in one place and also on regulatory functions carried out by local authorities.

0 1

Robin Gibb, singer with the legendary British band the Bee Gees, died on Sunday aged 62 after a lengthy battle against cancer, his family said.

“The family of Robin Gibb, of the Bee Gees, announce with great sadness that Robin passed away today following his long battle with cancer and intestinal surgery,” said a family statement.   Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb scaled the heights of the pop world in the 1970s with disco hits including “How Deep Is Your Love”, “Stayin’ Alive”, and “Night Fever”.

The band notched up record sales of more than 200 million since their first hits in the 1960s. Gibb underwent bowel surgery 18 months ago for an unrelated condition but a tumour was found and he was diagnosed with cancer of the colon and the liver.

Back in February, Gibb said he had made a “spectacular” recovery from his treatment, sparking hopes that his cancer was in remission, but recently experienced a sharp deterioration.

The singer fell into a coma last month after contracting pneumonia, but had raised hopes of survival after making another recovery.

Fellow musicians took to microblogging website Twitter to pay their respects. Canadian rocker Bryan Adams wrote: “Robin Gibb RIP. Very sad to hear about yet another great singer dying too young.”

Simply Red frontman Mick Hucknall called Gibb a “musical giant” while eighties stars Duran Duran passed on their condolences to his family.

A statement released by Sony Music said: “Rest in peace, Robin Gibb. Thanks for the music.”

Gibb was born on December 22, 1949 on the Isle of Man, the British crown dependency, about half an hour before Maurice.  Soon after the twins were born, the Gibb family moved to Manchester, northwest England, and then to Brisbane in Australia in 1958.

The Bee Gees soon became child stars and had their first hit in 1963, “The Battle of the Blue and Grey”, performed on national television.

Andy Gibb, their younger brother who was not in the Bee Gees, died in 1988 from cocaine addiction and Maurice died of a heart attack in 2003 following intestinal surgery.

“I sometimes wonder if all the tragedies my family has suffered — like Andy and Maurice dying so young and everything that’s happened to me recently — is a kind of karmic price we are paying for all the fame and fortune we’ve had,” he told The Sun newspaper in March.

The singer and his wife-to-be Molly Hullis survived the 1967 Hither Green rail crash in southeast London that killed 49 people.

“I know what it is to live through a mass disaster… it haunts me to this day,” he told the Mail on Sunday newspaper in January.  DJ Paul Gambaccini called Gibb “talented beyond even his own understanding”.

“Everyone should be aware that the Bee Gees are second only to Lennon and McCartney as the most successful songwriting unit in British popular music,” he said.

“Their accomplishments have been monumental. Not only have they written their own number one hits, but they wrote huge hit records for Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Celine Dion, Destiny’s Child, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, the list goes on and on.”

Gibb was married twice, to Molly Hullis from 1968 to 1980, and to author/artist Dwina Murphy-Gibb and is survived by three children; Spencer, Melissa and Robin-John.

He was made a CBE in the 2002 New Year’s Honours List, along with his brothers.

London, May 21, 2012 (AFP)

 

0 0

Shortly after 02:00 UTC on Sunday, May 20, a Mw6.0 (moment magnitude) earthquake struck the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The USGS have reported a depth of 3.2 miles and an epicentre approximately 22miles north-northwest of Bologna; 42miles east of Parma, and around 210 miles north-northwest of Rome.

The European-Mediterranean Seismology Centre has reported the earthquake as a magnitude 6.1Mw (moment magnitude) earthquake. As of 10:00 UTC on Monday, 21 May the Centre has reported 45 earthquakes of Mw3.0 or greater to have struck northern Italy following the Mw6.1 earthquake to include two magnitude Mw5.2 earthquakes at 03:02 and 13:18 UTC on Sunday, 20 May.

Sunday’s earthquake is most significant  earthquake to strike Italy since the (April) 2009 Mw6.3 earthquake struck the Abruzzo region of central Italy.

According to the USGS PAGER, the maximum intensity of ground shaking in the vicinity of the epicenter was VII (very strong) on the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale. This level of shaking can be expected to cause moderate damage to resistant structures and moderate/heavy damage to vulnerable structures. The USGS PAGER reports that an estimated 56,000 people were exposed to this level of shaking – to include the municipalities of San Felice sul Panaro (population ~10,000), Camposanto (~3,000), Medolla (~6,000) and Finale Emilia (~15,000) -whilst over 1 million were exposed to intensity V or stronger shaking, where there is potential for damage to structures to occur.

0 0

The appetite for investments in Angola and Mozambique has not decreased despite the economic downturn, according to data provided by mergermarket, the leading independent M&A intelligence tool. Mergermarket has identified 172 potential targets across all the industries since the beginning of the year in both Angola and Mozambique.

This is almost the same figure that was recorded in the entire 2011. Even though the completed transaction are not at the same level of the boom year of 2010 for Angola and 2007 for Mozambique, there are several deals in the pipeline of the main M&A participants. Apart from the usual suspect “energy and utility,” industrial services, consumer and transport are active sectors.

The more stable investment environment, the commitment by the local governments to invest money in infrastructure projects and the increased transparent are making overseas investors more confident of the potential of the two countries, said Giovanni Amodeo, global editor in chief for mergermarket.

Players from the Middle East, Canada and Western Europe are also trying to take advantage of opportunities in the region, following the steps of the US, China, South Africa and Brazil which have already established a presence there, the data also show. Gas in Mozambique and oil in Angola are the two main drivers for more M&A, Amodeo concluded, adding that the Cove Energy transaction will surely be the trigger for more consolidation in the region.

0 0

Debt held against UK commercial property continued to fall last year from £228.1bn to £212.3bn, a drop of 6.8%, the UK’s largest property lending survey has today revealed.

The influential UK Commercial Property Lending Market report by De Montfort University, the largest of its kind to look at UK commercial property lending, found that while the overall level of debt is on a downward trajectory and progress has been made in dealing with the distressed legacy debt, there is a long way to go. Between £72.5bn and £100bn will struggle to be refinanced on current market terms when the debt matures as it has an LTV of over 70%.

The survey of 72 lending teams from 63 banks and other lending organisations found that, while 2011 started with a degree of optimism for the commercial property lending market, including the first CMBS issue since 2007, this changed dramatically during the second half of the year as the crisis surrounding the Eurozone and the sovereign debt of member states brought “extremely tough times” to the economy.

Although progress has been made in addressing the legacy situation, banks still face a significant overhang of pre-recession property debt held on their balance sheets, with approximately £51bn due to mature during 2012 and a total of £153bn – 72% of outstanding debt – by year-end 2016.

Bright spots in the report show loan originations on the increase and new lenders to the market increasing their market share to 8%.

But the survey also showed a continuing draining away of development finance. Of concern for property developers is that, for the first time, no lending organisation said it would be prepared to lend against a speculative office development.

Respondents also expressed concerns about how the Financial Services Authority (FSA) planned to implement ‘slotting’, which would introduce additional regulatory capital requirements to real estate lending, suggesting the consequences of the changes would be to reduce the volume and increase the cost of business.

Bill Maxted, author of the report, said: “At the end of 2011, lending organisations were reporting that the Eurozone crisis had created instability in the money markets leading to rising costs, with many banks managing their capital based on a worst case scenario both in the Eurozone and the UK.

“The debt crisis is regarded as a real threat to asset values in the UK, and globally, and is a problem that has to be solved before national economies and lending markets can start to improve.”

Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, the leading body representing developers and investors, said: “Lenders continue to chip away at this legacy of property debt but the economic situation – in the UK and overseas – means they do so with one hand tied behind their backs.

“These figures underline how important it is for the Government to use all of the tools at its disposal to encourage new debt buyers into the market, and to urgently find new ways to encourage new investment and to spur economic growth.

“We would also hope that the FSA exercises extreme caution in its implementation of slotting so as not to restrict any signs of recovery in the property sector and further risk making it a less attractive place to invest.”

0 0

In addition to paying claims, critical illness, income protection and life insurers should provide greater non-financial support to policyholders and really demonstrate their brand values according to care advisory service provider RED ARC, which supports insurers, affinity groups and trade unions.

Two in five patients who completed cancer treatment in 2009/10 (39%) said nobody (health or social care professionals) talked them through the needs they might have. Source YouGov online survey of 1,740 adults living with cancer.

And 45% of people with cancer said the emotional effects are the most difficult to cope with and nearly 6 in 10 (58%) felt their emotional needs were not looked after. Source MacMillan Cancer Support.

The protection industry regularly celebrates low declinature rates, numbers of conditions covered, and effective underwriting but RED ARC feels not enough consideration is being given to the real needs of the individual should they be unfortunate enough to need to claim.

According to RED ARC Managing Director, Christine Husbands, “The diagnosis of a serious health condition such as cancer, heart attack or stroke is undoubtedly a worrying time for an individual and everyone close to them. That is where added value services can and should come to the fore.

“I have heard it said a thousand times at industry events but with little or no action taken. Surely the time has now come when insurers need to consider all the customers protection needs not just financial. Rather than empty words, insurers need to do more to demonstrate evidence of truly caring for their customers, going the extra mile and demonstrating the brand values that they spend so much of their resources promoting.”

RED ARC’s experience is that at least one third of those who receive advisory care support do so for over one year and 5% receive support for over 5 years. See notes to editors for condition breakdown.

0 0

More than two-fifths of employees have been made redundant or suffered long-term ill health during their working life, new research from MetLife shows.

The nationwide study shows 20% have been made redundant at some point in their working life while 21% have been off work for more than four weeks highlighting the value of insurance to protect income.

However only 15% of workers have any form of insurance against ill-health preventing them from working with just 7% receiving insurance as part of their employee benefits package.

The insurance gap is widest for those aged 55 and over – only 12% of them have any insurance to cover ill health – the lowest of all the age groups surveyed – yet over half (51%) say they have been made redundant or have suffered long term ill health.

Across the country, workers in the North reported the highest rate of long term ill health at 28% falling to 13% – the lowest rate – for those living in London. Ironically, highest insurance cover was found in London (19%) while Scotland came last with only 10% of respondents claiming similar.

Both men and women were equally as likely to have suffered ill health at 21% but men were over a third more likely to have been made redundant at 25% compared with 16% for women. The gender gap was reflected in health insurance cover with 20% of men having cover compared with 11% of women.

Stephanie Baillie, Employee Benefits Director, MetLife UK said: “In the current economic climate, the threat of redundancy is becoming ever more real and one in five of the working population has already suffered redundancy. Furthermore, our research shows that long term sickness absence – leading to more than four weeks off work – has been experienced by a significant proportion of the working population.

“Insurance cover that protects against life’s uncertainties is absolutely essential and valuable if it is part of a well-designed employee benefits package. Understandably, people are being forced to make tough financial choices as their incomes are squeezed. Yet this only makes good quality health insurance more crucial as many consumers would be left unable to support themselves in the situation where they lost their livelihood through illness.”

MetLife is one of the fastest-growing life and pensions groups in the UK and has its UK Employee Benefits division in Brighton**. Employing around 150 people, it is the UK hub for the sales and administration of its employee benefits and individual protection businesses.

Since 1 August 2011 all new protection business is written by MetLife Europe Limited, following the acquisition of insurer Alico in November 2010.

0 0

New York is the lowest risk city in the world for recruiting, employing and relocating employees, according to rankings released today by Aon Hewitt, the global human resources business of Aon.

Aon Hewitt’s 2012 People Risk Index measures the risks that organizations face with recruitment, employment and relocation in 131 cities worldwide by analyzing factors as demographics, access to education, talent development, employment practices and government regulations. According to the index, Toronto, Singapore, Montreal and London rounded out the top five lowest risk cities in the world. Conversely, Lagos, Nigeria; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Baghdad, Iraq; Sana’a, Yemen; and Damascus, Syria represent the least desirable of the 131 cities for employers.

“With increasing labor costs and continued economic volatility around the world, leaders of global organizations understand that talent management is crucial to the success of their business operations. To remain competitive, they are redesigning their talent sourcing strategies and shifting their operations to more advantageous locations,” said Rick Payne, regional Talent and Rewards practice leader for Aon Hewitt in Asia Pacific. “Identifying locations and formulating a successful workforce planning strategy involves looking beyond cost. The Aon Hewitt People Risk Index helps companies adopt a systematic and holistic approach that compares and measures talent factors and risks by location.”

The Five Lowest Risk Cities

The Aon Hewitt 2012 People Risk Index showed that New York edged out Toronto as the world’s lowest risk city. New York ranked lowest in demographics risk based on its large working age population, positive immigration rate and high workforce productivity. New York’s education and talent development risks also are among the lowest in the world. This can be attributed to world-class educational institutions and training facilities, and a large pool of qualified and experienced talent. However, the index showed that the city has higher employment risk than the other top five cities, mainly due to higher violence and crime rates, and higher health care and benefits liability risks.

Toronto and Montreal are among the five lowest risk cities primarily due to Canada’s strict enforcement of equal opportunity laws, clear government-mandated health and retirement benefits, low levels of corruption, and the high quality and broad availability of training facilities. While Toronto has low employment and redeployment risk, the city’s recruitment risks are higher than the other top five cities because of its relatively small working age population and lower immigration rates.

Singapore is the only city outside of Europe and North America that is among the five lowest risk cities, according to the index. Contributing to this rating are its strict laws on discrimination and occupational health and safety, flexibility on personnel costs, lack of corruption and willingness to work with the private sector on human resources related issues. Singapore also has low terrorism and political risks and strong government support.

“Government support strongly correlates with people risk,” Payne added. “Cities with low risk typically have a government that is transparent, non-confrontational, deals with employment issues fairly and promotes education and talent development initiatives. Employers in these cities are less likely to be surprised by changes in government policies on employment, health care and retirement and they have better support in terms of workforce development.”

Trends from the Highest Risk Cities

Cities on the People Risk Index with the highest risk for recruiting, employing and relocating employees are Lagos, Nigeria; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Baghdad, Iraq; Sana’a, Yemen; and Damascus, Syria.

Political turmoil and lack of stable governments substantially increase the people risks in these cities. The tumultuous landscape, especially in Middle-Eastern cities, impacts their ability to implement and enforce business-friendly employment practices and invest in talent development initiatives. These cities also have significant risks in recruiting talent, as education systems are unable to keep up with demand, making it difficult for organizations to find sufficiently-skilled workers.

“Working age populations are expected to grow in many high risk cities over the next decade, which will expand the future labor pool and increase opportunities for organizations to recruit and redeploy talent,” said Payne. “As this happens, we expect the demographic risks in these cities will improve over time.”

0 0

Aqua Underwriting has announced the launch of a range of niche commercial combined products exclusively for brokers. Aqua’s first commercial products and schemes have been developed specifically for the engineering, plastic manufacturing and print industries, and cover for unoccupied property.

Aqua is applying the same broker-focused and flexible underwriting approach as used in its HNW business to develop and deliver the commercial product range. The products have been designed and are underwritten by an experienced team with specific knowledge of these niche areas. With direct access to underwriters and broad authority limits from its Insurer partners,

Aqua aims to provide a faster turnaround and improved levels of service to support brokers.

Aqua’s commercial team is led by Paul Sims, Underwriting Director, who brings nearly 20 years of sector experience, including underwriting roles with RK Harrison and Aviva.

Jonathan Rouse, Managing Director of Aqua said: “The response to our HNW products and broker-focused approach has been very positive. By combining experienced teams and flexible underwriting we aim to replicate the successes we have achieved in HNW within niches in the commercial market.”

Aqua secured BIBA’s HNW scheme in 2011 and started writing business from February 2012. The scheme is the largest and longest running of those offered to the Association’s members. Aqua’s HNW underwriting platform supports both large private client specialists and brokers who only have a few HNW clients within their portfolios.  Focused on providing direct access to knowledgeable underwriters drawn from the broker and insurer markets, unlike many of its rivals, the team does not impose minimum premium volume levels.

0 0

Mobile phone dating apps, £50 satnavs and council bin lorries have more highly-adopted data collection and tracking technology than around 90% of the vehicle insurance industry.

That’s the view of one of the world’s leading vehicle insurance product developers, who says there could be a multi-billion pound saving resulting from a combined crackdown on vehicle accident insurance fraud and a huge shift in driving behaviour  – all driven by the adoption of readily-available technology.

Johan van der Merwe, deputy chairman of pay-how-you-drive insurer Coverbox, says the vast majority of the insurance industry is operating vehicle insurance premium-setting processes dating back decades, and is urging government to dig deeper to gain a fuller understand of how insurance telematics – exchange of data between vehicle and insurer on the move – could slash vehicle accident rates significantly, and cut claims costs to insurers by a substantial amount.

“Mobile phone apps telling you if there’s a potential date nearby, and bin lorries working to carefully planned and tracked schedules, exchange more data and tracking information than most insurance companies tap into to determine whether a vehicle is being driven by a saint or a maniac – but they operate on the same principle,” said Johan van der Merwe.

“People’s driving behaviour is normally improved if they know they’re being monitored by cameras, Police officers or other types of observers; that means fewer accidents. Telematics – interactive devices developed by world leaders such as Ctrack – enables people’s driving behaviour to be observed and recorded, it helps confirm or interpret driving behaviour and vehicle movement before and during an accident, and it allows insurers to reward drivers – with lowered insurance costs – if they drive in a low-risk environment.

“Massively-advanced interactive devices are available now which can enable new levels of data provision from vehicles to which they are fitted as part of pay-how-you-drive insurance products.

“We’re developing and progressing our soon-to-be-launched behavioural insurance product at an exciting rate, and it’s all hot in the wheeltracks of a resounding report which looks set to change the way car insurance premiums are set. This moves vehicle insurance telematics two or three generations beyond current equipment capabilities – which are only adopted by a tiny percentage of the insurance industry at the moment anyhow.

“We know we shook a lot of people in the insurance industry by commissioning a report which reveals that there’s an overwhelming case for changing the way the insurance industry sets premiums – but the re-insurance industry simply cannot ignore the level of information and quantities of data available through highly-advanced interactive devices and supporting monitoring and analytics.

“The Holy Grail of the vehicle insurance industry is analysing and concluding the cause, process and effect of a vehicle accident or event – we’re currently piloting absolutely tamper-proof interactive devices which provide previously unheard-of levels of data, but which also monitor and record driving behaviour and vehicle movement for a significant period before any sort of harsh or severe event.

“There is also the potential – even now – of incorporating overt or covert video recording into the system.

“We have also carried out tests to assess various on-board telematics devices’ response to being swapped in and out of vehicles, and we’re actually quite surprised at some of the results and responses.”

Coverbox’s report into the vehicle insurance sector will be presented to a select panel of leading insurance companies in due course.

“What it reveals is that there’s an overwhelming case for changing the way the insurance industry sets premiums: we can record, analyse and compare driving behaviour as against applying insurance ‘proxy ratings’ – we get factual driving information, and base rates on driving style and location rather than lifestyle and home address,” said Johan van der Merwe.
“Ctrack’s technology is simply jaw-dropping in the context of pay-how-you-drive as Coverbox sees it.

“The report illustrates that both insurers and drivers will be better off if insurance is rated on driving style rather than lifestyle, and that good drivers don’t suffer from the behaviour of bad drivers – and Ctrack’s product and technology takes monitoring and recording to an utterly higher plane.”
Coverbox pay-how-you-drive insurance allows drivers to take out comprehensive cover paid for by the mile, with the price per mile varying according to the time of the day or night: off-peak, peak or “super-peak” times, and how the driver drives.
All Coverbox policyholders have a personal website enabling them to see precisely how many miles they are driving, and what the cost is. The technology behind Coverbox is based on proven equipment and technology.

0 1

Aon Insurance Managers (Guernsey) Limited recently hosted the second Captive and Insurance Master Class in London.

According to Aon, Guernsey’s decision not to apply for third party country equivalence under Solvency II is having a positive impact on the island’s status as the leading European destination for captive insurance companies.  Delegates at Aon’s Captive and Insurance Master Class heard that the number of insurance licenses issued in 2011 continued to increase as the implications of compliance with Solvency II became better understood by captive managers and owners.

The event, held at the Chartered Accountants’ Hall in London, included presentations delivered by numerous experts from the insurance, banking and accounting professions as well as captive owners from the finance industry and the transport sector.

Delegates heard how captives can be used to provide significant cost savings, add risk governance, generate income and drive risk management innovation.  Specific case study scenarios were presented relating to captive financing of employee benefits.

Paul Sykes, Managing Director of Aon Insurance Managers (Guernsey) Limited commented, “Guernsey continues to be Europe’s leading destination for captives. It offers a robust and rigorous regulatory environment, which is responsive to innovation while not forcing captives to adhere to the disproportionate demands and excessive capital requirements of Solvency II.  The Solvency II regime so far has shown a profound disregard for industry and corporations that exercise prudent risk management by owning and operating captive insurance companies.

Guernsey complies with standards laid down by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), and its compliance is assessed by the International Monetary Fund.  While the capital requirements of Solvency II may be appropriate for commercial insurers who are dealing with the general public, many captive managers and owners believe the IAIS international regulatory standards will be sufficient for most traditional captives.”

Sykes added that Guernsey will sustain its position as European leader and one of the top four captive jurisdictions globally by embracing IAIS international regulatory standards without at this point seeking equivalence under Solvency II.

 “Aon is committed to Guernsey.” Sykes said.  “We are actively advising new and existing captive insurance company clients to help them achieve better capital efficiency and cost savings through restructuring their insurance programmes.”

0 0

Casualty & General Insurance Company (Europe), the Gibraltar-based specialist in liability cover, has opened a representative office in London as part of its plan to grow its business in the UK, particularly its casualty account.

The new office in Leadenhall Street, Casualty & General’s first outside Gibraltar, is to be led by director Andy Moulsdale, who will focus on developing relationships with UK insurance brokers.

Moulsdale said: “Casualty & General has been building its UK business from Gibraltar but we wanted to get even closer to UK brokers, particularly smaller, regional firms. With our high levels of service, access to decision makers and online quotations, we believe we have a very strong offering. Brokers can get a quote from us in just 1–3 hours.

“Ultimately, our plan is to convert this new representative office into a full branch office.”

Casualty & General was founded in 2003 by former-Lloyd’s underwriter Danny Gibson. Since then the company has grown steadily and profitably, writing business in both UK and French markets. The company focuses on providing liability cover for all industries including high hazard–high risk professions along with tailor-made solutions for scheme business.

Andy Moulsdale managed an Essex-based underwriting agency prior to joining Casualty & General in 2007. In addition to underwriting the company’s casualty account with Danny Gibson, Moulsdale is seeking to grow the company’s agency base while promoting new and existing products to the UK market.

0 0

Whittington UK has completed the final stage in its management-led acquisition by the Paraline, Skuld and Tawa consortium by announcing the re-branding of the company. Whittington UK will now be known as “Asta”.

Stephen Cane, the Asta CEO, said in announcing the new name: “The ownership change at Whittington UK was an important and crucial strategic step for our business and the metamorphosis is now complete with our re-launch as Asta.

“Asta is dedicated to helping to create and develop businesses with others. At the same time we have been steadily and successfully building our own business. The experienced and strong leadership team at Asta is backed by able and dedicated staff. And now, together with the broad experience, encouragement and financial support of our consortium partners, we are all looking forward to continuing to build an even stronger and more successful business.”

He added: “The business has grown from its run-off origins and successfully extended into a leading manager of active businesses. We are now the leading third party syndicate manager at Lloyd’s with responsibility for six syndicates with an aggregate capacity of $1 billion.”

Bruce Schnitzer, the Chairman of Asta’s holding company, Asta Capital Limited, and also Chairman of Paraline, added:“In our few months of partnership, the Consortium and our management partners have bonded well to set a future course to further develop Asta’s franchise and capabilities to serve clients.  The combination of deep insurance expertise within the ownership group and the substantial financial resources available to Asta to respond to promising investment opportunities should provide Asta’s leadership with the support it needs to continue building a great business”.

The new name was revealed at the launch event yesterday evening attended by a gathering of luminaries from the London market, customers and staff.

0 0

April witnessed a reversal of the English regional growth upturn seen in the previous month, according to the Lloyds TSB regional Purchasing Managers’ Index(PMI), which was published today. At 52.6, down from 55.3 in March, the index measuring overall private sector business activity in the English regions was the lowest since November 2011, but still above the 50.0 mark that separates expansion from contraction. The moderation in output growth was replicated across all the regions monitored in April, with the exception of the North East where lower levels of business activity were recorded for the second month running.    

The West Midlands and London continued to report the fastest rates of private sector output expansion in April, despite the former posting a much weaker manufacturing performance than during March. The latest survey generally pointed to the slowest pace of regional output growth in 2012 so far, with the South West and North West moving close to stagnation in the April survey period.

The manufacturing sector helped to drive growth in the South West and employment in Yorkshire & Humber. In Wales, a manufacturing-led upturn in business activity meant that the private sector overall outperformed the wider UK economy for the first time in eight months, recording the first increase in new work since March 2011.

In line with the trend for business activity, April’s data generally showed weaker rates of new order growth across the English regions. The North East was the only region to register an outright contraction. Reports from survey respondents mostly cited weaker demand from export markets, alongside subdued spending trends among both businesses and consumers. Slower new business growth in turn allowed firms to reduce their backlogs of work in April, with marginal rises in London, Yorkshire & Humber and the West Midlands the only exceptions.

Seven of the nine English regions saw a rise in private sector staffing levels in April, with the exception being employment stagnation in the South East and North East. However, cautious hiring policies meant that the pace of job creation generally remained only marginal, especially among manufacturing companies.

Survey respondents reported another solid rise in their average cost burdens in April, but the rate of inflation eased in every region except London. Anecdotal evidence frequently cited increased energy, fuel and other oil-related input prices during the latest survey period. Meanwhile, output charges continued to rise among private sector firms, particularly those in the manufacturing sector. However, subdued inflation of average tariffs at service companies meant that overall prices charged only increased marginally in April.

John Maltby, group director, Lloyds TSB Commercial, said: “April’s survey shows that overall growth was maintained at the start of the second quarter of 2012 for private sector firms across the English regions, but at a weaker rate than had been the case earlier in the year. This loss of momentum is magnified when set against the news that the wider UK economy dipped back into recession in the first quarter of the year. Despite this short-term set back, there are some positive figures for firms to take into the summer months, not least the continued upturn in new business receipts and the general resilience of private sector labour market conditions. The latest data also showed signs of a moderation in cost pressures throughout the English regions, which will give businesses extra breathing space in their efforts to improve efficiency, while also supporting investment and job creation in the long term.”

0 6

Claimspro International (CPI), an independent division of SCM Insurance Services (SCM), offering dedicated loss adjusting and surveying services to London and the international market, has promoted Tim Cramer-Todd to Executive Director.

Cramer-Todd, formerly Technical Director of CPI, has been with the business for over 10 years. He joins the senior management team in a leadership role and will contribute to the overall growth and strategic direction of the organisation.

Alistair Jacob, Head of Operations at Claimspro International, said: “Tim’s knowledge and understanding of the business, combined with his technical and market skills, have played an important part in our business growth. In his new role, he will bring all of these elements to bear in our future plans and commitment to the high quality of service we provide to clients world-wide.”

This appointment is part of a number of strategic developments affirming SCM’s commitment to international clients and the London market. The business – formerly Axis Claimspro following SCM’s acquisition of Axis Adjusters Europe Ltd in 2010 – has rebranded to CPI. CPI continues to play a key role in SCM’s strategic plan for long-term growth and expansion in the UK, Europe and other International markets.

CPI will continue to work with Axis International as a global service partner, utilising their loss adjusting network.

0 1

As Chairman of the Association of Travel Insurance Intermediaries (ATII), I was recently asked to present an outlook on the travel insurance market for 2012. Below is a brief look at some of the challenges and opportunities that I believe we will face this year.

Despite the economic climate, 10% of 55-64 year olds, an age bracket considered as ‘higher-risk’ for insurance purposes, took over 4 trips abroad last year, raising the risk of poor Annual Travel performance as younger age groups travel less and move to single trip purchases.

The high street has also seen a surprising growth in bookings, up from 17% to 25%. ABTA believes this is fuelled by the 15-24 age group, giving an opportunity for the high street to re-invent itself by using social media and other technology to build trust and enhance the travel agent experience.

Additionally, there has been growth in investment of mobile booking platforms. Travel companies and investors are both looking at mobile so insurance companies need to consider getting up to date and ensuring they remain connected to the point of sale in this arena.

In the year that has seen the 100th anniversary of the Titanic, the Costa Concordia disaster and the Costa Allegra incident, it is fair to say that the world of cruising has been on everybody’s minds.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, there has been a reduction in recent growth in cruising – with all-inclusive still proving popular. The travel insurance risk here is that the holiday cost of living is not normally covered but, with both cruise and all-inclusive, these costs are built into the holiday cost, increasing the average cancellation exposure.

Another increasing trend is that authentic holiday experiences, including conservation, adrenaline or remote destinations, have been on the rise. However, these types of holidays have limited access to quality or nearby medical care, often needing specialist or long-distance extraction or repatriation as well as higher cancellation costs.

Any insurance industry should change with the times and the risks of travel are always changing in one way or another and our products should reflect both the way customers want to buy insurance and what they want covered.

Sometimes, what customers want or expect and what customers are actually willing to pay for will differ. Their perception of value is often different to that of the insurers so our primary task is to convey the value of the product. In the current climate, customers are keen to have airline insolvency cover but also regard cover for loss of earnings as a high priority. As an industry, the time has maybe come to completely revamp the standard cover included in travel insurance and replace it with cover that customers perceive as more valuable?

 

Greg Lawson, Head of Retail at Columbus Direct

0 0

Britain’s biggest insurer Prudential on Wednesday announced an eight per cent rise in first-quarter profits on strong Asian demand for its products.

Prudential said new business profit — a key measure for the insurance sector — climbed to £536 million (666 million euros, $865 million) in the first quarter from £498 million a year earlier.

Analysts’ consensus forecast had been for profit to have risen by a smaller amount to £514 million.

Prudential added on Wednesday that in Asia alone, new business profit jumped 22 per cent to £260 million in the first quarter.

“We have made a strong start to 2012,” chief executive Tidjane Thiam said in the group’s earnings statement.  “Using our primary measure of growth, new business profit, the first quarter of 2012 is our eleventh consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth.”

London, May 9, 2012 (AFP)

0 0

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published a feedback statement setting out the approach being taken by the FSA to ensure firms develop appropriate recovery plans and resolution packs.

The feedback statement provides firms with clarity regarding what they are expected to do while final rules are being adjusted to take into account developments in the international arena. A draft of the core rules has been published with today’s feedback statement, and final rules will be published in the autumn.

The decision to delay the final rules is due to the various significant international developments which are relevant to RRP, notably the expected proposal by the EU Commission for a directive on recovery and resolution. Accordingly, the FSA is publishing today’s feedback statement, along with draft ‘core’ rules and an updated information pack.

The development and submission of recovery plans and resolution packs will continue as planned and the delay in final rules will not result in a loss of momentum. Large firms involved in the pilot exercise will submit recovery plans and resolution packs by the end of June, as agreed with their supervisors. Other large firms are expected to provide sufficient information to their supervisors to meet the timetable set by the Financial Stability Board (FSB). For all other firms, supervisors will agree the timing and content of their materials bi-laterally.  The FSA is also publishing some frequently asked questions with more information on the implementation timetable.

The 2008 banking crisis highlighted that firms failed to have effective plans in place to deal with financial stresses and potential failure. If firms had put plans in place prior to the advent of the crisis, they may well have been able to cope better with the stresses that developed and those failures might have been avoided.

The feedback statement is relevant to all UK incorporated deposit-takers and significant UK investment firms with assets exceeding £15 billion. In addition, the FSA intends to consult at a later date, on applying RRP rules to the UK branches of non-EEA firms without UK subsidiaries.

It sets out what will be expected of firms with regards to planning for a stressed situation which will require a firm to take action to recover or undertake resolution in an orderly manner without the need for public funded support. The announcement builds on work published by the FSB and the Special Resolution Regime (SRR) put in place under the Banking Act 2009.

Firms will be required to put in place recovery plans and provide information for the authorities to develop resolution plans.

Recovery plans aim to reduce the likelihood of failure by requiring firms to identify options to achieve recovery, to be implemented when a crisis occurs. The plans must be developed and maintained by the firm, in coordination with the FSA, but they should all have the following features:

– Sufficient number of material and credible options to cope with a range of scenarios including both firm-specific and market wide stresses;

– Options which address capital shortfalls, liquidity pressures and profitability issues and should aim to return the firm to a stable and sustainable position;

– Options that the firm would consider in more severe circumstances such as: disposals of the whole business, parts of the businesses or group entities; raising equity capital which has not been planned for in the firm’s business plan; complete elimination of dividends and variable remuneration; and debt exchanges and other liability management actions;

Resolution packs will assist the authorities to wind-down a firm if it fails for whatever reason.  The resolution data and analysis to be provided by firms is intended to identify significant barriers to resolution, to facilitate the effective use of the powers under the SRR and so reduce the risk that taxpayers’ funds will be required to support the resolution of the firm. The information provided to the authorities will help to prepare a resolution plan with the following aims:

– Ensure that resolution can be carried out without public solvency support exposing taxpayers to the risk of loss;

– Seek to minimise the impact on financial stability;

– Seek to minimise the effect on UK depositors and consumers;

– Allow decisions and actions to be taken and executed in a short space of time (or the ‘resolution weekend’);

– Identify those economic functions which will need to be continued because the availability of those functions is critical to the UK economy or financial system, or would need to be wound up in an orderly fashion so as to avoid financial instability (critical economic functions);

– Identify and consider ways of removing barriers which may prevent critical economic functions being resolved successfully;

– Isolate and identify critical economic functions from non-critical activities which could be allowed to fail; and

– Enhance cooperation and crisis management planning for global systemically important financial institutions (G-SIFIs) with international regulators.

Andrew Bailey, FSA director of banks and building societies, said:

“The financial crisis laid bare a complete failure in banks globally to think seriously about how they could and would deal with the risk of major instability and even failure. The result has been that taxpayers around the world have had to foot the bill in order to support our banking sectors.

“Major reforms have been taken forward both nationally and internationally to increase the strength and resilience of our banking sectors but we need to maintain the momentum. Recovery and Resolution Plans require firms to think ahead and plan for the worst. We will be building on what has been put in place since last year and firms must continue to develop their plans.”

0 6

AXA Wealth sales to 31 March 2012 totalled £845m. This follows strong results from Architas, its specialist investment company, which saw total assets up 37% to £10.7bn, and Elevate, with total sales up 14% to £426m, bringing total platform assets to £4bn. Platform business now represents 50% of all individual sales, up from 39% in Q1 2011.

Overall, assets under management (‘AUM’) grew from £18.6bn to £20.1bn, compared to Q1 2011.

Commenting on the results, Mike Kellard, CEO, AXA Wealth, said: “The markets may well be ‘schizophrenic’ in the words of the IMF, but AXA Wealth is still experiencing strong appetite from investors who, I believe, can see the long term value in the stock market, and in the investment propositions that we offer.”

AXA Wealth believes it will continue to benefit from market trends, as advisers look to consolidate client assets on platform, to help manage efficiencies and provide better customer service by being able to manage assets holistically.

AXA Wealth also believes that it can continue to pull away from the traditional life company pack, with new services such as AXA Self Investor, its Elevate-built, IFA client investment portal; a renaming of Architas funds, to make it easier for customers to understand what they are buying; and a proposition built with RDR in mind, whether firms remain independent or move to restricted.

The company continues to build its new model business, and is set to make some strategic appointments over the next quarter, with an eye on attracting new platform and investment experience into the business. This is part of its strategy to transform capabilities within the business, with a particular focus on relationship management.

“I am very excited about our prospects over the course of the next two years. All the pieces are falling into place to make AXA Wealth the wealth manager of choice for new model advisers who are able to make the RDR transition and can see the opportunities of working with a platform and investment specialist like AXA Wealth,” says Kellard.

New business sales for Corporate Investment Services rose to £54 million, and in AXA Wealth International, sales of offshore bonds were £176m.

Kellard adds: “AXA Wealth has benefited from the drive in the corporate market for more bespoke pensions investment solutions – both in Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution pension schemes – to ensure that members achieve the right outcome when they retire.   AXA Wealth International saw new business volumes increase by 6%, on the last quarter of 2011.  Further enhancements to AXA Wealth’s international offshore distribution structure are anticipated to further increase this sales momentum.

“AXA Wealth is committed to supporting advisers into the new RDR world.  This is not only to ensure that AXA Wealth is a company its employees can be proud of, but a company that advisers will want to recommend to their clients as we are easy to work with and we deliver on our promises. That is my ambition. That is what I am building. No company is perfect, but we will be doing all we can to deliver it.”

0 0

According to Fitch Ratings, price increases in the July reinsurance renewal period are likely to be restricted to loss-affected sectors unless there is a further significant insured loss for the industry.

Here is Fitch Ratings’ report :

We believe an insured loss of more than USD50bn would reduce capital levels throughout Fitch’s monitored universe of reinsurers to such an extent that they would attempt to increase premium rates across their entire portfolios. A loss of this size would also be likely to trigger a negative rating outlook for the reinsurance sector as a whole.

Renewals in July are predominantly related to US exposure, but pricing movements are likely to follow the same trends as the April renewals period, which is more focused on Asian markets. Figures from Munich Re (‘AA-‘/Stable) on Tuesday revealed a 35% increase in Japanese earthquake reinsurance prices in April, while relatively flat pricing in other regions and sectors limited the overall increase in prices to around 5%. Other reinsurers including Scor (‘A+’/Stable), Swiss Re and Hannover Re (‘A+’/Stable), and the major global reinsurance brokers have reported similar trends.

We expect to see pricing on US wind-exposed reinsurance programmes rise in the July renewal period, due to near-record tornado-related losses in 2011. Property reinsurance prices, which exclude wind-related damage, are likely to achieve, at best, low single-digit price increases. Pricing in markets that have already experienced big increases, such as New Zealand property, are likely to rise further, although the increase will not be on the same scale as the 100% rise in 2011.

We will also closely monitor casualty pricing, which was flat in the April renewal period. Casualty reinsurance can be particularly challenging in a protracted period of relatively high inflation and low investment yields. This is because claims can arise many years after the cover was written, resulting in payouts that are significantly boosted by inflation over the intervening years and are not offset by investment returns. A marked upturn in casualty pricing is only likely to occur when development of reserves from prior underwriting years return to a deficit.

Prev1...171819...82Next Page 18 of 82

POPULAR POST

Seroni Interactive is an independent publisher of information BtoC and BtoB sites in banking and insurance & specialist digital content. Our productions of brand content possible to affirm your image, positioning, demonstrate your expertise and create a traffic or a hearing and therefore advertising exposure for your brand.
Contact us: contact@news-insurances.com

SOCIAL

34FansLike
6Subscribers+1
965FollowersFollow

Popular category

© Seroni Interactive