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Andrew Farrant has been appointed as the new Ports and Terminals underwriter for Travelers Syndicate 5000, effective immediately.

With 23 years’ experience in marine insurance, most recently as a director of mutual manager Thomas Miller Insurance Services and Senior Underwriter for the TT Club, Mr Farrant reports to Mark Clifford, Manager – Ports and Terminals and Marine Professionals & Logistics.

Mr Farrant’s role will span both ports and terminals underwritten at Travelers Syndicate 5000 at Lloyd’s, and marine professionals and logistics underwritten by Travelers Underwriting Agency Limited, formally known as Galatea Underwriting Agency which was acquired by Travelers in 2007.

Commenting on the appointment, Mark Clifford said: “Andrew has a tremendous amount of experience in marine underwriting making him a great addition to our team. His appointment enhances our position as a leading underwriter for ports, terminals, marine professionals and logistic operators reinforcing our commitment to the marine industry and insurance broker market.”

As a result of the syndicate’s growth, ports, terminals, marine professional and logistics risks will be written from a new Travelers box (249) at Lloyd’s with effect from 14 September 2009.

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British insurer Legal & General has appointed former National Australia Bank boss John Stewart as chairman, it said on Wednesday, ending a search that has lasted almost a year.

A well-regarded financial services veteran, Stewart will become chairman designate in January before taking over from Rob Margetts, who has held the job for almost a decade, in March.

Stewart, widely trailed as the top contender for the job, was chief executive of mortgage lender Woolwich until its acquisition by Barclays , whereupon he became deputy CEO at the bank and head of personal financial services. He is credited with having sold the Woolwich at a hefty premium.

He was then chief executive of National Australia Bank (NAB.AX) for four years until 2008.

Stewart joins at a key time for the insurer, widely speculated to be in the sights of buyout group Resolution.

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Aviva has been voted Pensions Provider of the Year 2009/10 at the Personal Finance Awards ceremony, organised by personal finance website www.themoneypages.com.

A panel of journalists, financial advisers and customers judged providers based on proposition quality, service, brand and sustainability after 4,000 of the website’s customers voted for their preferred providers.

Paul Goodwin, head of pensions at Aviva, said: “We are delighted to have won this award, particularly because it was voted for by customers and covers all our pension propositions including individual and group. Aviva was ranked ahead of Standard life, Scottish Widows and L&G, and highlights the progress we have made in pensions, the improvements we have made to our propositions and the success of our market-leading online pensions tracker.”

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The ABI has today published the latest performance data for the Options pension transfer initiative. Options – built to speed up the exchange of information and funds between pension and annuity providers – delivered an average transfer time of 11 calendar days in Q3 2009, the same as for Q2 2009.

Options recently won a prestigious Innovation in Business Improvement award from Scottish Financial Enterprise for its developer, leading e-commerce provider Origo. The number of transactions now going through Options for Open Market Option (OMO) and Immediate Vesting Personal Pensions (IVPP) transfers has increased, with 10,879 in Q3 2009. 15 companies are now using Options for OMO and IVPP transfers, with a further eight now live for the pension-to-pension transfer service launched in August. More providers are expected to join both parts in due course.

Maggie Craig, the ABI’s acting Director General, said: “The latest Options data shows that performance remains steady, with even more transactions going through the system both on annuity and pension-to-pension transfers. Although the headline figure remains at 11 days, the increased volume of transactions shows the continuing progress being made by providers on OMO and pension transfers.

“Options proves the industry’s commitment to deliver excellent service to its pension customers. More companies are going live with Options each month as the initiative’s strong performance continues, and we expect to announce further joiners shortly.”

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    Bailed-out US insurance giant AIG said Tuesday it had agreed to provide an equity stake in two subsidiaries to the Federal Reserve in a move to cut its debt to the central bank by 25 billion dollars.

    American International Group said it had transferred ownership to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York parts of two international subsidiaries:

    American Life Insurance Company (ALICO) and American International Assurance Company (AIA).

    The action reduces AIG’s outstanding principal balance to the Fed to 17 billion dollars, excluding interest and fees.

    AIG’s overall debt to the US government remains higher, including a separate line of credit from the US Treasury.

    In September, congressional auditors said the company needed to repay nearly 121 billion dollars in taxpayer aid.

    AIG agreed to transfer the holdings to two special entities in which the central bank will hold a stake, allowing the insurer to move forward on a spinoff or sale of the subsidiaries.

    Robert Benmosche, AIG chief executive: “Today’s announcement that we have reduced our debt to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York by 25 billion dollars sends a clear message to taxpayers: AIG continues to make good on its commitment to pay the American people back,”

    “Moreover, these transactions position AIA and ALICO, two terrific, unique international life insurance businesses, for the future.”

    AIG was the largest single recipient of US bailouts amid the global financial crisis, with the government pumping more than 170 billion dollars into the firm to keep it afloat and taking a controlling stake in the group in the process.

    Once the world’s biggest insurer, AIG was on the brink of bankruptcy in September 2008 when the government offered a financial lifeline in exchange for an 80 percent stake in the company.

    The company was in trouble after backing trillions of dollars in risky financial products amid a US home mortgage meltdown that triggered the global financial meltdown.

    With the government effectively in control, AIG has been moving to sell off a number of assets in an effort to restore its financial health. AIG has sold some 5.6 billion dollars’ worth of assets so far this year.

    “We continue to focus on stabilizing and strengthening our businesses, but expect continued volatility in reported results in the coming quarters, due in part to charges related to ongoing restructuring activities,” Benmosche said.

    AIG said the swap was positioning ALICO for an initial public offering or third-party sale, depending on market conditions and approval.

    “This action underscores ALICO’s move toward independence and complements the substantial progress we have achieved this year in repositioning ALICO and reinvigorating the brand in all markets,” said Rodney Martin, ALICO chairman and chief executive.

    AIG shares rallied 8.59 percent to close at 30.84 dollars.

    John Carney, analyst at the financial website Clusterstock, said the latest action did nothing to reduce AIG’s liability to the government.

    “As it turns out AIG has reduced its debt to taxpayers without paying back a dime of the money it borrowed,” he said. “Instead, it is just engaging in accounting chicanery to transfer the obligations to a pair of companies it is spinning off.”

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    North West regional headquarters marks anniversary with Ashes legend Michael Vaughan

    Brit Insurance, the international general insurance and reinsurance group, is celebrating five years in the Manchester insurance market.  Staff, brokers and customers helped mark the occasion last Thursday at a birthday party hosted by Regional Manager Maureen Owen and former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan.

    Brit Insurance’s Manchester underwriting centre has grown from a handful of people to include twelve empowered trading underwriters working with leading insurance broking firms in the North West.

    Maureen Owen, Regional Manager at Brit Insurance, commented: “We were determined to create a long lasting presence in Manchester. We have now achieved that goal and we look forward to building on our success in the region in the coming years. Our continued growth throughout our first five years is testament to the dedication and determination of our team and the continued support of our broker partners, who recognise that our empowered underwriters offer a world-class service.”

    Guests at last Thursday’s party included representatives from all the major broking firms in the region, including Aon, Marsh, Oval, Reich, and  Willis.

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    The turmoil in the economy and general increase in buyout prices has had a big impact on the buyout market. The latest Market Watch report from Pension Capital Strategies Ltd (PCS) analyses developments in the market for 2009 to date.

    It is encouraging for sponsors and trustees that UK based insurance companies have not required any support from the government. Regardless of this, as scheme funding levels have deteriorated and sponsors have been less able to fill the buyout gap, the market has contracted since 2008.

    Tiziana Perrella, Head of Buyout Services, PCS, says: “Although 2009 has been disappointing in terms of deal volumes when compared to 2008, the figures must be considered in the context of the wider economic climate. Given what has happened to the wider economy, the figures look reasonably healthy. All insurers maintain that they have a healthy pipeline for Q4 and we expect more deals to conclude prior to the year end, with up to £4bn worth of deals being written over the year”.

    PCS’ analysis shows that prices seem to have stabilised over the recent months. However the final requirements of Solvency II may have a significant impact.

    Tiziana Perrella said: “We believe that insurers have already included a margin in their pricing basis to reflect the expected requirements of Solvency II. Provided there is some recovery in the economy, we believe that the buyout market will continue to be healthy in 2010. In particular, it is now easier for smaller schemes to obtain competitive quotes and therefore we expect increased activity in this segment of the market”.

    The full PCS Buyout Market Watch Report is available by clicking here :

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      Swiss Re’s economists predict that insurance and reinsurance will continue their recoveries in 2010, based on the assumption of a “U-shaped” recovery. Balance sheets will further strengthen and profits will increase. Growth will be positive but quite sluggish both in life and non-life insurance. This outlook could be muted by looming regulatory challenges, along with the trend for higher claims for catastrophic events, increasingly driven by climate change.

      “The global economy grew in the second half of 2009, but the recovery is fragile. Growth will generally be below trend in the major economies in 2010, but will accelerate modestly in 2011. Monetary policy will shift to tightening in late 2010 at the earliest, and reductions in fiscal stimulus will follow shortly afterwards. As a consequence, growth and inflation are subdued,” said Thomas Hess, Swiss Re’s Chief Economist, at the company’s Economic Forum press conference in London this morning.

      By 2011, real GDP growth in OECD countries is expected to be close to its trend of about 2% to 2.5%. Emerging market growth will be substantially higher at 6%. Oil prices are expected to remain fairly close to current levels, rising slightly in 2011 and 2012 when economic activity accelerates. A reduction in monetary easing will push up yields on government bonds, particularly in 2011.

      Regulatory challenges for insurers

      Given the dimension of the crisis, comparable with the 1930s, the insurance industry did remarkably well. For Thomas Hess, “the crisis was proof of the resilience of the global insurance industry. Insurance and reinsurance functioned routinely throughout the crisis, even at the peak of this extremely severe financial situation, meeting their claims obligations fully and without delay. Taxpayer support, as far as insurers were concerned, was confined to very few companies, and was almost entirely due to the banking-type operations of these companies.” He continued: “Even the financial guarantee insurers, devastated by the crisis, received no government assistance. The non-life and life and health (re)insurance operations remained well capitalised.”

      According to Swiss Re’s chief economist, regulatory initiatives in the insurance sector need to address the problems that are distinct for the Swiss Re predicts a continued but fragile global economic recovery in 2010 Insurance proved its resilience throughout the crisis and is set for growth Challenges ahead include regulatory changes, low asset returns and climate change insurance industry. The banking system’s excessive leverage and capital reserves too low for the risks assumed were not insurance industry problems. Accordingly, the regulatory response should clearly differentiate between the two industries. While it is agreed that banking needs higher capital requirements, it may prove to be counterproductive for insurance. In particular, it may push life insurers into even more
      conservative investments. According to Thomas Hess, “this could lead to old age provisions being financed by low-risk assets only, such as government bonds. With life insurers and pension funds being prevented from taking risk, an essential source of financing for the real economy will fall away.”

      Primary insurers’ balance sheets recovered in 2009, gradual improvements expected in 2010

      Since March 2009, balance sheets of non-life and, even more so, of life insurers have recovered substantially. By November 2009, capital was almost at levels achieved in late 2007. Due to the severe global recession, premiums in non-life decreased by estimated 0.3% in 2009, adjusted for inflation. Life insurers are struggling to earn the guaranteed rates promised in prior years, since interest rates are expected to remain low for the foreseeable future. Demand for both non-life and life insurance is expected to improve along with the economy and capital markets in 2010.

      Reinsurance showed resilience throughout the crisis

      Non-life reinsurance remained robust throughout the crisis. Capital has almost returned to end-2007 levels. Overall, slightly improved top-line growth is expected in 2010 compared with 2009. Profits will improve or remain stable on average: better investment returns compared with 2008 will compensate for slightly lower underwriting results. As primary life insurers continue to recapitalise in 2010, life reinsurance is still projected to show robust growth. Profits in life reinsurance are also expected to improve, primarily due to better investment results.

      Emerging markets: Growth, resilience and improving regulations

      “The emerging markets, though by no means decoupled from the financial storm, weathered its effects fairly well, with the exception of Eastern Europe,” said Clarence Wong, Swiss Re’s chief economist in Asia. Insurance lines in emerging markets are expected to grow much more robustly than in the developed economies. “The regulatory response to the crisis in emerging markets has been very encouraging. Authorities are continuing to liberalise regulation and move towards a risk-based capital regime,” he added.

      Continued trend towards increasing natural catastrophe losses

      Matt Weber, Member of Swiss Re’s Executive Board and Head of the Property & Specialty Division, highlighted the drivers of continued growth in the natural catastrophe insurance business: “Despite an unusually low hurricane season this year, overall natural catastrophe losses have increased significantly over the past decades and are expected to grow further. Europe has seen above-average losses in 2009, and the impact of climate change is likely to cause more frequent and more severe storms and floods around the globe in the future.”

      According to Swiss Re, by the end of this century, currently once-in-amillennium storm surge events could well strike Northern Europe on average once every 30 years.

      Worldwide average insured natural catastrophe losses between 1970 and 1989 were USD 5.1 billion per annum; these losses went up to USD 27.1billion per annum between1990 and 2009. Matt Weber said: “As a result, we see increasing demand for natural catastrophe cover. In this environment, and in combination with potential catastrophe events, both intelligent cycle and sound risk management remain crucial elements of Swiss Re’s business approach. To ensure this, we are continuously optimising our own natural catastrophe models for all relevant markets and perils.”

      Strong public-private partnerships will be essential in tackling the substantially increasing risk posed by natural catastrophes. Swiss Re continues to demonstrate its leadership in this area through innovative risk transfer solutions such as catastrophe bonds, weather derivatives and parametric covers that enable the transfer of emerging and existing risks. “The cat ILS market is an outstanding example of Swiss Re’s leadership in innovation. Year-to-date, new issuances have provided more than USD 2.2 billion in capacity, with 45% underwritten by Swiss Re,” said Matt Weber.

      Low asset returns in 2010: (re)insurers forced to focus on underwriting profitability

      While the corporate bond market and equity markets are expected to continue improving in 2010, insurers’ investment income will continue to suffer from the low interest rate environment. Insurance and reinsurance companies mostly invest in high-quality fixed income assets and yields, particularly on government bonds. Rates on these assets are very low by historical standards. Unlike banks, insurance companies do not tend to have very high leverage ratios. But even P&C insurers have asset leverage and this magnifies the impact of declines in investment yields on return on equity (ROE). For example, P&C insurers in the US
      had asset leverage – assets as a percent of equity – of 278% in 2008. To maintain the same ROE after a 1% point drop in investment yields requires about a 3% point improvement in the combined ratio. Thomas Hess concluded: “The implication is clear: low investment yields will force (re)insurers to focus on underwriting profitability. This will give companies with a strong combined ratio history a competitive advantage.”

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      Aon Trade Credit UK (ATC), the UK’s largest credit insurance broker, has appointed Phil Simmons, Kevin Finch and Nicola Smith formerly of RK Harrison.

      The new roles comprise:

      • Phil Simmons – commercial director: will be joining the ATC leadership team to focus on further expanding Aon’s major UK and international portfolio.  Phil has over 30 years of industry experience both in the underwriting market and latterly as head of credit broking for RKH.  He is recognised as a leading broker in the steel sector.
      • Kevin Finch – senior client director: has over 20 years experience in underwriting, broking and international policy management, coupled with a strong client focus. Kevin will be strengthening Aon’s international focus in trade credit.
      • Nicola Smith – client manager: has four years credit insurance broking experience and is recognised as one of the leading client managers in the market.  Her previous role at an in-house broker for a major Japanese trading company gives her the expertise to manage key ATC UK corporate accounts.

      Stuart Lawson, head of Aon Trade Credit, commented: “The recruitment of Phil, Kevin and Nicola will allow us to further enhance our position as the leading trade credit broker and demonstrates our commitment to attract the best client-focused brokers in the market.”

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      Aviva, a major player in life insurance and long-term savings, asset management and non-life insurance, invites its employees and neighbours to take part in a 24-hour relay race to raise money for the AFM (French Muscular Dystrophy Association).

      As part of France’s 2009 Telethon, Aviva is organising a 24-hour non-stop relay race, from 4pm on Friday 4 December to 4pm on Saturday 5 December, in Parc des Bruyères (Bois-Colombes). The Aviva athletics association will run through the night, to ensure that the relay is not interrupted.

      For each lap of the park that is completed, Aviva will donate €2 to the AFM. This is the fourth year that Aviva has organised this event. Last year, some 600 participants completed 5,800 laps. In total, with the support of donations from Aviva employees, the race raised €17,170 (compared with €12,000 in 2006). Aviva hopes that this year’s event will break last year’s record.

      Therefore, Aviva is inviting its employees, their friends and families, and local residents to come and run or walk in support of the work of the French Muscular Dystrophy Association.

      The whole neighbourhood around Parc des Bruyères (businesses, shops, residents, Bois-Colombes town council) is getting behind this initiative and will be out to support the 2009 Telethon.

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      From today Delta Lloyd is offering employers and pension advisers the chance to carry out personnel changes on Delta Lloyd’s pension administration system using straight-through processing. This provides employers and pension advisers with a clear, convenient and fast way to process changes. This new service applies for the Collective Personal Pension Plan and is being rolled out in phases for employers and the pension advisers involved.

      The following personnel changes can be performed digitally:

      • Annual salary adjustments / part-time percentages
      • Start date of employment
      • End date of employment
      • Notification of the birth of children
      • Changes to partner details (marriage, cohabitation, etc)
      • Changes to personal details, including address changes
      • Interim salary adjustments.

      The employer or pension adviser can input the personnel changes by going to www.deltalloyd.nl/dlnl/werkgeversportaal (for employers) or www.ddd.nl (for pension advisers). Employers and pension advisers obtain their user instructions and access details (password and user name) via the relationship manager at Delta Lloyd.

      For more information employers can contact their pension adviser or relationship manager at Delta Lloyd. Information can also be found via the extranet (Delta Lloyd Digital Domain – www.ddd.nl) and at www.deltalloyd.nl/zakelijk

      Delta Lloyd Insurance attaches considerable importance to optimal chain integration and digital solutions are being developed to this end for employers and advisers. Attention will continue to be paid to the provision and support of digital solutions in 2010.

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      Commercial insurance underwriting specialist APC will launch its most ambitious product to date, the week commencing 7th December, with what will be one of the broadest commercial combined products in the market.

      The product will cater for over 250 different trades from a wealth of areas including wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers, processors, engineering risks and leisure risks. Any risk in the UK that requires property and casualty cover combined can be processed on the new product.

      Commercial combined will be available online to brokers via APC’s QuoteMac system which will allow a wide range of cover variations due to the vast number of optional extensions available. The product will be aimed at the SME market place including larger commercial risks that will utilize APC’s £10,000,000 sum insured authority.

      Using the new product, APC aims to target the vast amount of referral business within this area. The new product will incorporate combined cover of material damage and public and products liability as standard. It will also cater for multi locations and chain franchises.

      Although the product and delivery are wide ranging it is easy for brokers to access and, because the statement of fact has been designed to capture all the information required for a quotation at the start, brokers no longer need to type up lengthy presentations which saves them time.

      APC underwriting director Ian Russell said: “Brokers have been crying out for an online auto-quote commercial combined product for a long time. This has been a year in the making and we have genuinely gone all out to ensure this is a best of breed proposition. With the amount of trades available, brokers should easily be able to find what they are looking for quickly and easily.

      “A common frustration with auto-rated products and systems is that, unless a risk fits narrowly defined parameters, it cannot be quoted for. What we have done, is build multiple routes within the system to allow quotes that are binding to be issued there and then. As always, APC underwriters are on hand to progress all inquiries beyond that quickly and efficiently.”

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      Marsh, the world’s leading insurance broker and risk adviser, today announced that it had reached an agreement with UDrive Solutions to offer its comprehensive range of driver and fleet assurance products to Marsh’s clients, initially in the UK. These UDrive Solutions products will be available exclusively to Marsh clients.

      UDrive Solutions provides a comprehensive set of innovative and powerful vehicle, driver and motor fleet assurance products, offering a high-quality, cost-effective range of fully-insured packages to consumers and businesses.

      UDrive Solutions has designed three distinct product packages which are available exclusively through Marsh to facilitate the management and functionality of all fleet operations:

      • UDrive Advantage features a range of products that enable companies to ensure they are compliant with latest health and safety legislation in relation to both company-owned and employee-owned vehicles and their drivers
      • UDrive Solutions Advantage Plus offers a range of insurance products protecting clients from unknown costs and exposures, such as GAP insurance, excess cover, tyre insurance and loss of keys
      • UDrive Solutions Advantage Extra provides a high-quality maintenance and service offering at a low, fixed price
      • Optional products available with any of the three main packages:

      – Ding & Dent: smart repair service
      – Roadside Recovery: comprehensive package

      Commenting on the announcement, Kevin Nicol, Development Director at Marsh, said: “As a result of UK legislation, such as the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act and updates to the Health and Safety at Work Act, company directors can now be held personally responsible for injuries an employee sustains while driving at work, regardless of whether the employee is driving a company car or their own vehicle.

      “This is particularly the case if a driver’s training or the vehicle’s roadworthiness is called into question. Successful prosecutions can result in unlimited personal fines and custodial sentences in certain cases.

      “The UDrive Solutions packages, available only through Marsh, can help companies ensure they are compliant with relevant legislation, freeing up directors and their employees to go about their day-to-day business.”

      Automotive insurance industry veteran Bob Blacklee, founder and CEO of UDrive Solutions, said: “I passionately believe that the UK marketplace needs a different approach to the management of motor expenses, and that the consumer is, by and large, hard done by.

      “In putting this exclusive package together with Marsh we have sought to redress this, while at the same time helping to reduce the number and severity of road traffic accidents throughout the UK by ensuring that vehicles are safe and fit for purpose at all times. Our joint approach, together with the significant cost savings which UDrive Solutions delivers, makes for a very compelling, compliant and cost-effective fleet proposition.”

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      Cooper Gay, the leading global independent wholesale, reinsurance and specialist retail insurance broker, has opened an eighth office of its Cooper Gay Risk Services subsidiary in Atlanta, Georgia.

      Barry Whitton, formerly in charge of National Property practice at Beecher Carlson, has been hired to head up the new office, which will extend the Group’s wholesale presence in the US.

      Barry has over 23 years of retail and marketing experience.  His background includes managing and directing the property programs for several Fortune 100 global accounts. Prior to Beecher Carlson, he spent 9 years as Manager of the Atlanta Property/International Group at Johnson & Higgins/Marsh.

      Peter Gorman, Managing Director of Cooper Gay North America said: “Cooper Gay Risk Services has been expanding in the Southeast over the past few years. The opening of the Atlanta office continues this expansion.  We are very excited to have Barry Whitton join our growing team, and I look forward to further success in delivering focused wholesale solutions to clients across the United States.”

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      Allianz Retail will launch its broker household product range, Allianz Clear, to over 600 Open GI software users in December.

      Allianz Clear will be made available to Open GI software users from December 7 and will eventually replace Allianz’s long-established home insurance cover – Harmony. The new range represents a move away from the traditional ‘one size fits all’ household cover to a ‘three-tier’ product range and has already proved successful with SSP software users who have been using the range since earlier this year.

      Designed in consultation with brokers, the Clear range gives greater choice and flexibility, comprising three products: Clear Essentials for basic cover, Clear Advance for standard all-round home insurance and Clear Complete for home-owners who require higher sums insured.

      Tim Pitts, product manager at Allianz Retail, said      : “Open GI users who participated in our Clear range pilot told us they liked the ease of use and policy coverage that the three-tier range provides – making it easier for them to identify the most suitable product for their customers’ needs.”

      The range will be rolled-out to further brokers before the end of 2009.

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        The list includes six insurance companies – Axa, Aegon, Allianz, Aviva, Zurich and Swiss Re – which sit alongside 24 banks from the UK, continental Europe, North America and Japan.

        The list has been drawn up by regulators under the auspices of the Financial Stability Board, in an effort to preempt systemic risks from spreading around the world in any future financial crisis.

        Insurers

        Insurers are considered systemically important for a variety of reasons: they might, for example, have a large lending arm, such as Aviva, or a complex financial engineering business, akin to that of Swiss Re.

        AIG of the US, the failed insurance group, was proven to be a vast systemic risk last year, in large part because of its diversification from insurance into complex financial engineering.

        Raj Singh, chief risk officer of Swiss Re, said        : “The real interconnectivity for the insurance industry is more muffled in that there needs to be a dual trigger for there to be any big systemic effects.”

        The list, which is not public, contains many of the multinational bank names that would be widely expected.

        The exercise follows the establishment of the FSB in the summer and is principally designed to address the issue of systemically important cross-border financial institutions through the setting up of supervisory colleges.

        These colleges will comprise regulators from the main countries in which a bank or insurer operates and will have the job of better co-ordinating the supervision of cross-border financial groups.

        As a spin-off from that process, the groups on the list will also be asked to start drawing up so-called living wills – documents outlining how each bank could be wound up in the event of a crisis.

        Regulators are keen to see living wills prepared for all systemically important financial groups, but the concept has split the banking world, with the more complex groups arguing that such documents will be almost impossible to draft without knowing the cause of any future crisis.

        Paul Tucker, deputy governor of the Bank of England, and head of the FSB working group on cross-border crisis management, said recently that the wills – also known as “recovery and resolution” plans – would have to be drawn up over the next six to nine months.

        National regulators, led by the UK, are known to have begun pilot-testing the living wills exercise with some of the listed banks in the past few weeks.

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        ING announced today that it has closed the sale of its life insurance and wealth management venture in Australia and New Zealand to ANZ, its joint venture partner.

        As announced on 25 September, the divestment is part of ING’s Back to Basics strategy to simplify the organisation by focusing on fewer, strong franchises that form a coherent group.

        Under the terms of the agreement, ING sold its 51% equity stakes in ING Australia and ING New Zealand to ANZ, who now has become the sole owner of these businesses. In line with the announcement of 25 September, ING has received EUR 1.1 billion in cash from ANZ.

        The transaction has generated a net profit for ING of EUR 325 million. The sale will reduce the ING Insurance debt/equity ratio by 365 basis points.

        The transaction has freed up EUR 950 million of capital. These final terms are slightly better than the preliminary results as disclosed on 25 September.

        After the sale, ING will maintain a strong footprint in Asia in life insurance and retirement services as the third largest international insurance company in the region.

        As previously announced, the transaction does not impact ING Direct, ING Investment Management, ING Wholesale Banking and ING Real Estate, who will remain active in Australia.

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        Groupama Insurances’ Personal Accident policy has been enhanced to give brokers targeting the SME sector a powerful sales proposition at a time when small businesses can ill afford the potential impact of lengthy staff absences from work.

        Neil Thunström, Head of Personal Accident and Travel at Groupama Insurances said: “Small businesses by their nature are heavily dependent on key individuals within the workforce to keep the business going. In these tough times as many firms downscale their workforce it’s critical that brokers help them understand the benefits of PA cover. This valuable cover not only helps a business if an accident occurs but supports the employee and their families. Groupama Insurances Personal Accident policy gives brokers a valuable tool in their armoury, providing a great value add on for their clients.

        Key elements to Groupama Personal Accident include retraining benefits up to the age of 70 given the older age at which people are retiring, increased death benefit where an individual has dependent children and enhanced compensation levels for catastrophic injuries resulting in quadriplegia or paraplegia. (See summary).

        Neil Thunström concludes: “There’s a misconception that PA is a difficult product to sell. This isn’t the case. We are happy to discuss individual risks and tailor the cover to meet clients’ requirements and budgets. Now more than ever, brokers need to maximise the opportunities for selling PA cover – there really hasn’t been any better time.”

        Key Elements to Groupama Personal Accident Cover

        • An additional 2% of the death benefit is payable for each dependant child up to a maximum of 10% of the death benefit.
        • Enhanced benefit payments in the event of injury that results in Quadriplegia +20%* or Paraplegia +10%* of the (*Permanent Total Disability benefit.)
        • Personal effects covered up to £500 per insured person
        • Funeral expenses to £5,000 per insured person
        • Retraining expenses for insured person’s up to the age of 70 years.
        • The hospitalisation benefit is payable at £50 per complete 24 hour period for a maximum of 100 days.
        • The hijack and kidnap benefit provided up to £5,000.

        Business Travel

        • The hospitalisation benefit (like that provided under Personal Accident) is £50 per 24 hour period for a maximum of 100 days.
        • The childbirth and pregnancy limitation only applies after the 36th week of pregnancy.

        Personal Property and Money

        • The personal property section automatically includes loss of essential documents, meaning passport, visa, travel tickets, driving licence or other essential travel documents.
        • Groupama will pay up to £500 for the replacement of keys and lock mechanisms for the insured person’s home if the keys are lost, damaged, stolen or destroyed whilst on an Insured journey.
        • Reasonable expenses incurred for the purchase of essential toiletries or clothing up to £750
        • Reasonable and necessary additional cost of travel and accommodation incurred in obtaining a replacement passport or essential documents following loss or theft during a journey of up to £1,000.
        • Single article limit of £1,000.
        • Cash limit of £1,000.

        Illness Extension

        • Illness cover is available up to the age of 70 years.

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        The Thomas Cook Netherlands pension contract is to be awarded to Delta Lloyd Verzekeringen from 1 January 2010. The contract comprises a five-year extension to the existing contract.

        The total annual premium volume is €1 million with €22 million in invested assets. The contract covers the pension claims of approximately 400 active and 600 inactive participants.

        Gert de Caluwe, CEO of Thomas Cook Netherlands, had this to say: “One of the main reasons why we opted for Delta Lloyd was their proactive thinking during the tendering and bidding process. In the new agreement the assets invested are left at Delta Lloyd with no premium payable and we are changing to a more simple system, namely an interest rate discount at Delta Lloyd.”

        Delta Lloyd focuses on pension insurance and offers innovative solutions tailored to customer requirements.

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        Aviva is to add funds from leading fund managers to the portfolio investment bond and pensions range.

        Thirty-one funds are being added to portfolio giving investors the option of building a portfolio from a selection of more than 200 funds; 28 funds will be added to Aviva’s income drawdown, company and personal pensions giving customers a selection of more than 270 funds.

        The funds – available from 30 November 2009 – are being added in response to demand and will give financial advisers more choice when making investment recommendations to customers. Aviva now has links to more than 100 OBSR-rated funds available through both its life bond and pensions.

        The funds are managed by a range of leading managers including Artemis, Aviva Investors, BlackRock, Cazenove, Fidelity, Investec, Jupiter, M&G, Newton, Schroder and Threadneedle.

        David Barral, marketing director at Aviva, said: “Aviva continually reviews the range of funds available through our Portfolio bond and pensions range to make sure they have the quality, performance and choice to meet the needs of advisers and their clients to help them invest and save for their future.

        “These additional funds strengthen our coverage of externally-rated funds and give advisers and their clients the opportunity to build an investment portfolio from a wider choice of sectors ranging from cautious and balanced managed to absolute return and specialist.

        “Aviva is committed to offering a broad range of funds for customers and advisers to choose from.  We know that advisers need choice so they can build portfolios tailored to their clients’ needs. We also follow a strong fund governance model so advisers can make their recommendations with confidence.”

        A “Fund governance at Aviva” guide is available for advisers who want more information.

        New funds added to portfolio include: AEGON Ethical Equity, Artemis UK Growth, Artemis UK Smaller Companies, Artemis UK Special Situations, BlackRock European Absolute Alpha, BlackRock European Dynamic, Cazenove European, Cazenove UK Absolute Target, First State Global Listed Infrastructure, First State Greater China Growth, Investec Asia ex Japan, JPM Europe, Jupiter China, Jupiter Ecology, Jupiter Japan Income, Jupiter Merlin Balanced Portfolio, Jupiter Merlin Growth Portfolio, Jupiter Merlin Income Portfolio, Jupiter Merlin Worldwide Portfolio, Jupiter UK Growth, M&G Gilt & Fixed Interest, M&G Optimal Income, M&G Strategic Corporate Bond, Newton Balanced, Old Mutual Corporate Bond, Old Mutual UK Select Mid Cap, Schroder European Alpha Plus, Schroder Global Property Securities, Schroder US Mid Cap, Threadneedle Absolute Return Bond, Threadneedle UK Equity Income.

        Portfolio offers a flexible way to invest for growth or income. Its minimum investment is £5,000 and investors can choose to put their money in a selection of over 200 funds across all major asset classes; deposit, bonds, equity and property, which are run by Aviva Investors and a selection of other leading fund managers.

        New funds added to pensions : 7IM AAP Adventurous, 7IM AAP Balanced Fund, 7IM AAP Moderately Adventurous, 7IM AAP Moderately Cautious, BlackRock European Absolute Alpha, BlackRock European Dynamic, BlackRock UK, BlackRock UK Smaller Cos, Cazenove UK Absolute Target, Fidelity European Opportunities, Fidelity Wealthbuilder  Higher Income Plus, Invesco Perpetual Asian, Investec Asia ex Japan, JPM Europe Dynamic, JPM European Smaller Cos, JPM USM&G Gilt & Fixed Interest, M&G Strategic Corporate Bond, Newton Balanced, Schroder US Mid Cap, Standard Life UK Equity High Income, Standard Life UK Smaller Companies, Threadneedle Absolute Return Bond, Threadneedle American Select Growth, Threadneedle Global Select Growth, Threadneedle Latin America, Threadneedle UK Equity Income.

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