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Allianz Commercial is pleased to announce the appointment of Russell Corbould-Warren as the division’s new SME underwriting manager.

Russell, who has been part of Allianz Commercial’s management team for the past 4 years, moves from his position as business systems manager where he played an instrumental role in the development of the QuoteSME online quote platform.

In his new role Russell will take underwriting responsibility for the small business account, ensuring it achieves profitable growth by successfully managing the underwriting team and optimising the underwriting, pricing and segmentation of the SME book.

David Martin, Head of SME Affinity & Broker Markets, said: “Russell brings a wealth of commercial experience and systems understanding which will be vital to the ongoing development of Allianz’s SME proposition.” Russell replaces Catherine Dixon, who was recently promoted to the role of property and risk control manager.

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Following news that wedding supplier Confetti has gone into administration, Ecclesiastical, one of the UK’s leading providers of wedding insurance, has advised prospective brides and grooms to contact their wedding insurers if they have any questions or concerns relating to this news.

According to Ecclesiastical, supplier failure has been the largest source of claims on the company’s wedding insurance policies over the last two years, followed by damage to wedding outfits and cancellation or rearrangement of the event.

Ecclesiastical’s wedding insurance manager David Simms said: “I’m sure there are a lot of brides and grooms out there who’ve read about Confetti’s problems and felt their hearts drop. If the worst does happen, the good news is it doesn’t necessarily have to end in disaster if you’ve bought wedding insurance.

“One of the main benefits of wedding insurance is to protect couples against supplier failure. It’s happened many times in the past and is likely to happen again as we continue to work our way through the economic downturn. The key is to protect yourself against the possibility and ensure that the happiest day of your life is exactly that.

“Couples can take the following simple steps to protect themselves against supplier failure: Study the terms of your contract – make sure you’re aware of what you’re signing up to. If the company does go bust, where will this leave you? Go with a recommendation – use a supplier you trust, who has been around a while and who friends or family can recommend. Make sure you’re covered – if a supplier goes bust, you may be last in line to claim back a deposit. Insurance can cover you.

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If a human ever sets foot on Mars, will it be a giant step or an exhausted shuffle? Long-term space flight so weakens fitness that an astronaut heading to the Red Planet may lose up to half the power in key muscles in the course of the mission, scientists have found.

The loss — equivalent to a crew member aged between 30 and 50 returning home with the muscles of an 80-year-old — would add a major danger to a trip already laden with peril, they said. Researchers led by Robert Fitts, a professor of biology at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, took tiny samples of tissue from the calf muscles of nine US and Russian astronauts who spent around six months on the International Space Station (ISS).

The biopsies, taken 45 days before launch and on the day of return, showed dramatically how muscles atrophy in zero gravity. The losses in fibre mass, force and power translated into a decline of more than 40 percent in the capacity for physical work, Fitts reported. Ironically, beefing up before the trip had no impact on muscle loss. In fact, crew members who began with the biggest muscles turned out to have the biggest decline in muscle fitness.

Under one NASA scenario, a return trip to Mars using current rocket technology would take around three years, if a one-year stay on the planet is factored in. If so, the decline in the most-affected muscles such as the calf could approach 50 percent, said Fitts. Astronauts would tire faster doing even routine tasks, especially if they donned a space suit, and on returning to terrestrial gravity they could be so weak they might be unable to evacuate their spacecraft quickly in an emergency.

The paper has been published online by The Journal of Physiology, and will appear in print next month. Muscle loss is a well-researched area in space medicine, but this is the first to include specific analysis of muscle cells on long-duration missions. Fitts said the results should not discourage humans from venturing farther into space.

“Manned missions to Mars represent the next frontier, as the Western Hemisphere of our planet was 800 years ago,” he said. “Without exploration, we will stagnate and fail to advance our understanding of the Universe.” Even so, the findings clearly show the need to improve fitness regimes in space so that astronauts are exposed to high-resistance exercise and the kinds of motions they experience on Earth, he said.

Muscle loss adds to the long list of hazards facing a trip to Mars. In addition to technical dangers, astronauts face cancer-causing damage to DNA from cosmic radiation, loss of bone density and mental stress from prolonged incarceration. In June, six men from Europe, Russia and China were locked away in a mock spaceship in a Moscow research institute for a year and a half to simulate a manned mission to Mars. The 520-day experiment comprises 250 days for the outward trip, 240 days for the return but only 30 days on the Martian surface.

Paris, Aug 18, 2010 (AFP)

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Shares in insurer Legal & General rose 3 percent on Wednesday, hitting a near two-year high and outperforming UK peers, with traders citing market talk of bid interest from Zurich Financial.

Legal & General declined to comment. The UK insurance sector has been buoyed recently by merger and acquisition speculation, after Aviva earlier this week said it had rejected a 5 billion pound bid approach from RSA for some of its core non-life operations.

On Tuesday, traders also cited talk that France’s AXA might be interested in Aviva. More than 14 million Legal & General shares changed hands by 1049 GMT, against a 90-day daily average of 24.6 million.

London, Aug 18 (Reuters)

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Aon Benfield Securities, the securities and investment banking operation of Aon Benfield, the world’s premier reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor, today announces the launch of the Aon Benfield ILS Indices, which provide a quantitative view of monthly insurance-linked securities (ILS) returns since December 2000.

The ILS Indices track the performance of catastrophe bonds in each of four portfolios: All Bond, BB-rated Bond, U.S. Hurricane Bond, and U.S. Earthquake Bond. Each index is a total return index representing the return an investor would have achieved by allocating an amount of capital weighted to each catastrophe bond available in the market at a particular point in time. The Indices have been calculated by Thomson Reuters, the leading information provider to the ILS sector.

In addition to demonstrating the ongoing value inherent in the ILS market, the ILS Indices provide a point of comparison with other financial market measures. They represent an increase in transparency of returns in the market sector.

Over the past year, both ILS issuers and investors have adapted to a new capital markets landscape, which is evidenced by the evolution of the asset class. Despite continued uncertainty and volatility in the global capital markets generally, the global ILS market continues to provide capital value to investors, as demonstrated by the Indices.

Paul Schultz, President of Aon Benfield Securities, said: “The launch and ongoing administration of the Aon Benfield ILS Indices demonstrate the firm’s continued leadership in the insurance-linked securities market. Additionally, we believe the added data and transparency will lead to new investment in this market and provide greater capital alternatives for our clients.”

Recent trends revealed by the Aon Benfield ILS Indices include:

• All Bond Index posted a 12.85 percent return for the 12 months ending June 30, 2010 compared to 2.94 percent the prior year

• The BB-rated Bond and Aon Benfield U.S. Hurricane Bond indices produced similar results at 12.95 percent and 15.18 percent returns respectively

• The Aon Benfield U.S. Earthquake Bond index gained 7.04 percent.

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The European Union’s executive arm proposed on Monday to give national supervisors more power to oversee financial conglomerates as part of efforts to prevent any new crisis.

The new rules would give authorities the ability to get better information at an earlier stage when large financial groups “run into trouble” and be better equipped to intervene, the European Commission said. The proposed rules would affect complex financial groups — such as Germany’s Allianz — which operate both in the banking and insurance sectors and are often active in more than one country in the 27-nation EU.

“Due to their size, financial conglomerates are often of systemic importance to our economy — either for one or more Member States or even for the EU as a whole,” the commission said. Under current rules, national authorities must choose between either banking or insurance supervision when a group acquires a significant stake in another sector and when the parent entity is a holding company. The new rules, an amendment to a 2002 directive, would allow them to apply supervisory regimes.

“Drawing lessons from the (global) financial crisis, the Commission proposes to equip national financial supervisors with new powers to better oversee the conglomerates’ parent entities, such as holding companies,” the commission said. “This would allow supervisors to apply banking supervision, insurance supervision and supplementary supervision at the same time, thereby remedying to unintended loopholes identified in the context of the financial crisis.”

The proposed rules must be agreed by the 27 EU states and the European parliament. The commission said it hoped they could come into force in 2011. The move comes amid tough negotiations between EU states and the European parliament on a proposal to create pan-European financial watchdogs which have dragged on due to disagreements over how much power to give them. The creation of the EU-wide agencies is part of efforts to prevent a repetition of the financial crisis, which was blamed in part on the excessive risk taking of banks and investment funds.

Brussels, Aug 16, 2010 (AFP)

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BP announced Monday 52 million dollars in funding for health groups dealing with stress and depression in four southern US states hit by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.

“We appreciate that there is a great deal of stress and anxiety across the region,” said Lamar McKay, president of BP America. “We are providing this assistance now to help make sure individuals who need help know where to turn.” A statement from BP said the funding would help residents link up with health care providers in their communities through outreach programs, including a special toll free phone line people can call. “This funding is a start toward helping Floridians who are beginning to feel the stress associated with this disaster,” said Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary George Sheldon.

“We will assess future needs and make requests for necessary funding from BP as necessary.” The US government has compiled a tip sheet on the threat of anxiety for Gulf residents, pointing out symptoms such as frequent crying, being overwhelmed with worry and sadness, and increased alcohol and drug abuse. Ed LeGrand, executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, noted many in the region — where the vital fishing, tourism and oil industries have been hit hard — find it difficult to reach out for help. “Many of the individuals affected do not typically take the initiative to seek mental health services,” he said.

“It is vital for us to take a proactive approach. This funding will invest in individuals’ mental health through early intervention which may impact long-term physical and mental health needs.” BP said 10 million dollars will go to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 15 million to Louisiana’s health department, 12 million each to Alabama and Mississippi’s mental health departments and a further three million to Florida’s children and families department.

An April 20 explosion killed 11 workers on the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig. It sank two days later rupturing the Macondo well, which over the next 87 days spewed oil into the Gulf of Mexico in the biggest maritime spill ever. BP eventually sealed the well with cement earlier this month, but not before untold damage was done to the vital industries that are the Gulf region’s lifeblood.

Washington, Aug 16, 2010 (AFP)

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Dutch insurer Aegon said Tuesday it planned to repay the last two-thirds of a three-billion-euro cash injection it received from the state in October 2008, by the end of June next year.

Of that amount, 500 million euros (642 million dollars) will be repaid this month, the company said, announcing that it expected final European Commission approval for its deal with the Dutch state later on Tuesday. As part of an “approval process” with the commission, it has been agreed to reduce the premium on repayment to the state from 50 percent to 40 percent, the insurer said.

“We are pleased to have concluded this process with the European Commission, which is expected to approve the capital support,” Aegon chief executive officer Alex Wynaendts said in a statement. “As part of the agreement with the European Commission, Aegon will complete full repayment of the remaining two billion euros by the end of June 2011, market conditions permitting.”

Aegon announced in December last year that it had paid back the first one billion euros in aid received from the state to help shield it from the global financial crisis. The money for that payment was raised through the sale of shares.

The Hague, Aug 17, 2010 (AFP)

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    Pension pots have shrunk further in the past four weeks, with a 30 year old’s and 60 year old’s annual pension income decreasing by £518 and £358 respectively and 65 year olds left on a mere £7,666 a year, almost half the adequate standard of living (£14,400*), according to data from Aon Consulting, the leading employee benefits and risk management firm.

    As experts continue to debate the future of the economy – with predictions varying from recovery to double dip recession – the UK’s pension investors continue to see falling returns. The predicted retirement income of a 65 year old now falls below 50% of the adequate standard of living. Even those who plan to move to cheaper countries in their retirement (recent Aon research** found that 1 in ten Brits (10.8%) would like to retire to Spain) would struggle to achieve a decent standard of living in their country of choice.

    The Aon DC Index follows the projected retirement income of individuals at different ages who contribute 10% of a £25,000 salary to a defined contribution (DC) pension arrangement and have an existing fund (valued as at September 2007) of £15,000 for age 30 and £150,000 for ages 55 and above.
    Retirement income projections
    Based on data collected on 31st July 2010 compared to a month previously, 30th June 2010, the projected annual retirement income of typical DC pension investors at different ages over the two year period is as follows:
    • 30 year old: from £19,863 to £19,344 (£518 decrease)
    • 60 year old: from £10,824 to £10,466 (£358 decrease)
    • 65 year old: from £7,925 to 7,666 (£259 decrease)
    Richard Strachan, senior consultant at Aon Consulting, commented: “Though we have seen some improvement to economic circumstances in the past six months, pension pots are in only marginally better shape than this time last year and due to the volatility in stock market activity, pension pots shrank once again during the last month.
    “As some areas of the economy forecast growth and others continue to struggle, making the right investment choices is key for any pension investor, whether individual or institutional. Employers should ensure their pension schemes – and their default funds, in particular – are invested wisely to maximise the green shoots of recovery. Individual pension investors should keep a watchful eye on their pension pots to ensure their retirement plans are on track, and make suitable provision for their future.”

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    The potential for high quality sales training to improve development underwriters’ ability to generate new business was proven today by a new study published by specialist niche insurer Ecclesiastical.

    Based on data from the first year of its sales academy for development underwriters, the results show that participants in Ecclesiastical’s new training programme increased the amount of new business they brought into the company by 13%. Participants also demonstrated a significantly increased degree of comfort with selling to brokers.

    The data shows that for every £1 spent on training its development underwriters in its sales academy, Ecclesiastical generated a return of £9.39 in new business and £55.69 in gross written premium. Ecclesiastical attributed the strong results to the structure of its sales academy programme, the quality of its learning resources and the type of coaching used.

    Ian Wainwright, Ecclesiastical’s broker sales director, said: “The results of the first year of our sales academy are impressive any way you look at them. “The sales academy was born out of desire to make a real, measurable difference to the way our people approach selling. Development underwriters have usually started their careers in underwriting itself and often find the process of selling uncomfortable or rather alien. We wanted to change that and arm them with everything they need to feel confident and motivated.

    “Our answer was the sales academy – a programme designed to develop our talent and embed a professional sales culture. The results of this study conducted with Silent Edge show we’ve achieved that and been able to demonstrate how investing in training and development, if done well, can translate into growth of your bottom line.

    “The academy is also an excellent way of attracting talented people to come to work at Ecclesiastical, which is vital for a specialist niche underwriter that often requires a greater level of ability in its people than the more commoditised insurers.”

    Ecclesiastical’s sales academy training and development programme was launched in August 2009 with 34 development underwriters and regional schemes managers enrolling. Assisting in the running of the programme was Silent Edge, a leading sales performance company with experience of the insurance industry. During the next 12 months, the participants were observed in actual sales meetings by accredited coaches, evaluated and then given a programme of personalised self-managed development including coaching, psychometric profiling and specific sales orientated workshops. Participants’ progress was then evaluated again against a set of criteria validated by the Cranfield Business School, including their individual sales figures.

    From September 2010, progress through Ecclesiastical’s sales academy will achieve a post graduate certificate from the University of Gloucestershire. Since creating the sales academy, Ecclesiastical has also launched academies for both claims and underwriting.

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    British insurer Aviva said Monday it had rejected a takeover bid for part of its business from rival RSA worth 5.0 billion pounds (6.0 billion euros, 7.8 billion dollars) in cash.

    The proposal was for its general insurance businesses in Britain, Ireland and Canada while the takeover would have been funded by RSA issuing new shares, Aviva said in a statement.

    “The board of Aviva considered the proposal carefully in conjunction with its advisers and is convinced that the highest value to shareholders will be delivered by retaining these businesses within the group,” it added.

    The share prices of both Aviva and RSA fell in reaction to the announcement. Aviva was down 0.93 percent to 383.8 pence and RSA fell 1.49 percent to 125.5 pence in mid-morning trade on London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index, which was also trading lower.

    London, Aug 16, 2010 (AFP)

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    China Life and two other Chinese investors have withdrawn from bidding for stakes in American International Group’s Asian unit ahead of its planned initial public offering, state media said Friday.

    China Life, the nation’s largest life insurer, had planned to jointly bid for AIA shares with private conglomerate Fosun Group and state-run China Cinda Asset Management, the 21st Century Business Herald reported, citing unnamed investment bankers. But the three companies have decided to temporarily pull out of the process on concerns it could be priced too high, the report said.

    The Chinese companies were not immediately available to comment when contacted by AFP. IA reportedly plans to list in Hong Kong in the fourth quarter of this year and hopes to raise as much as 23 billion dollars. At least four consortia made up of private Chinese investors have approached US insurance giant AIG about acquiring its Asian business, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported last month.

    Sovereign wealth funds from Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar also have expressed an interest in AIA, according to the Financial Times. AIG is seeking to repay billions of dollars in American government bailouts and has said previously it will “proceed as soon as practicable” with the listing plan.

    Shangai, Aug 13, 2010 (AFP)

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    New Zealand is still experiencing a significant level of swine flu, health authorities said Wednesday, despite the World Health Organization’s declaration that the global pandemic was over.

    “While some countries have seen H1N1 virus decline or crowded out by other strains, this is not the case in New Zealand,” the deputy director of public health, Darren Hunt, said.

    Four people are believed to have died from swine flu in New Zealand this year. Hunt said there had been “significant outbreaks” in some areas of New Zealand, which had resulted in high levels of absenteeism from work and school and higher than normal hospital admissions.

    “The pandemic influenza strain is the predominant strain circulating this winter,” he said. “We are seeing higher levels of hospitalisation in areas that weren’t severely affected last year.

    “To date, there had been over 300 people admitted to hospital this year with confirmed H1N1, which includes over 30 people admitted to intensive care.” WHO Director General Margaret Chan told a telephone news conference from Geneva that H1N1 had “largely run its course”.

    “The world is no longer in phase six of the pandemic alert. We are now moving into the post-pandemic period,” she said. The WHO’s top flu official, Keiji Fukuda, said the influenza virus was no longer considered capable of causing another pandemic, even if more severe outbreaks might occur in some countries.

    Swine flu has killed more than 18,449 people and affected some 214 countries and territories since it was uncovered in Mexico and the United States in April 2009, according to WHO data.

    Wellington, Aug 11, 2010 (AFP)

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    Aon Consulting, the global benefits and human capital consulting business of Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON), today announced Patricia Smallsreed has joined the firm as senior vice president and Chicago market leader.

    As the market leader for Chicago, Smallsreed will be responsible for developing and executing a go-to-market strategy to serve clients across all Aon Consulting practices including Health & Benefits, Retirement, Human Capital, Employee Benefits Outsourcing and Corporate Transactions. In addition, she will serve as a key account manager, leading the development, retention and profitable growth of strategic accounts in the large client marketplace.
    Smallsreed brings more than 30 years of industry experience to Aon. She has extensive expertise in HR strategy, total rewards, benefits and retirement strategy, and workforce planning. Most recently, Smallsreed was managing principal and market leader for Towers Perrin in Detroit, responsible for all services provided to clients in Michigan. With Towers Perrin for 24 years, she also served in the following positions: Health & Welfare practice leader in Chicago; market leader for Southwest Ohio and Indianapolis; and Retirement practice leader and lead actuary for key clients in the Cincinnati, Ohio, office. Prior to joining Towers Perrin, Smallsreed served as a consultant, actuary and retirement unit leader for Mercer in Cincinnati, Ohio.
    “In addition to being a successful business leader with extensive experience in HR consulting, Patty brings to this role strengths in creating vision and business plans for market growth, collaborative leadership skills, client and market focus, and a results-driven orientation,” said Chuck Longiotti, executive vice president and Central West Regional Director with Aon Consulting. “Patty is a terrific addition to our team and we look forward to having her onboard.”
    Smallsreed earned a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Purdue University. She is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and an Enrolled Actuary. Additionally, she has been an active leader in the community, holding memberships and Board roles for numerous charitable and HR organizations, including People Working Cooperatively, Boy Scouts of America and the Midwest Benefits Group. Smallsreed joined the firm Aug. 9 and is based in Chicago.

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      AIG has approached some of the world’s biggest investors over the sale of a significant stake in AIA, the US insurer’s Asian unit, drawing a strong interest from China, a report said Thursday.

      The response has prompted AIG to consider offering up to 30 percent to institutional investors and wealthy tycoons, as opposed to offering minor stakes in a planned initial public offering, said the Financial Times. Chinese insurance companies and some of China’s largest banks are said to be looking at both taking stakes and financing others, said the FT, citing people familiar with the matter.

      But it is not clear whether Chinese regulators would approve, said the report, adding that the move could go against insurance industry rules. AIA reportedly plans to list more than half its equity in Hong Kong by October or November with the goal of raising as much as 23 billion US dollars (17.8 billion euros, 14.6 billion pounds).

      Thursday’s report was the latest indication of Chinese interest in AIA. Last month, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper reported that at least four consortia made up of private Chinese investors had approached AIG about acquiring its Asian business. The FT said Thursday that sovereign wealth funds had also expressed an interest in AIA, including the Singapore funds GIC and Temasek, and funds in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.

      AIG is seeking to repay billions of dollars in American government bailouts. The US insurer was forced to look again at the option of the Hong Kong listing for AIA to raise fresh funds following the collapse in June of Prudential’s 35.5-billion-dollar takeover bid for the Asian unit. AIG has previously said it would “proceed as soon as practicable” with the listing plan.

      London, Aug 12, 2010 (AFP)

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      British insurance giant Prudential said on Thursday that profits jumped 41 percent in the first half, and cut the cost of its failed takeover of US insurance giant AIG’s Asian unit AIA.

      Operating profit surged to 968 million pounds (1.177 billion euros) in the six months to the end of June, boosted by soaring sales in Asia, the group said in a results statement. That compared with profit of 688 million pounds in the same part of 2009 and easily beat market expectations of 724 million, according to analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

      The group also switched into a net profit of 442 million pounds in the first half, compared with a loss of 254 million last time around. Prudential added that the failed 35.5-billion-dollar (27.5-billion-euro) takeover of AIA, which collapsed in June, would cost 377 million pounds. This less than the original estimate of 450 million pounds.

      Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam, who came under fire from some shareholders over his leading role in the failed AIA bid, said that Asia held the biggest potential and expressed “disappointment” over the failure of the takeover. “Prudential has delivered strong results during the first half of 2010 as we continued to allocate capital to the geographies and products with the best profitable growth prospects, in line with our strategy,” Thiam said in the earnings release.

      “Asia remains the region with the best potential for high and profitable growth, and despite our disappointment at not being able to further accelerate our strategy through the transaction with AIA, the prospects for future profitable organic growth remain excellent. “We are cautious about the outlook for the western economies. However, our Asian business gives us a material and powerful presence in the most attractive markets in our industry, and one that will continue to underpin our growth.”

      Thiam, asked by reporters on whether the group was ruling out another tilt at AIA, replied: “Yes, it’s ruled out. It’s not on the agenda. We tried, it didn’t work out. “So we’re back on the organic growth strategy, which is producing excellent results,” he added in a conference call.

      London, Aug 12, 2010 (AFP)

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      Aon Consulting, the global benefits and human capital consulting business of Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON), today announced the addition of Shelly Blackstone to vice president of business development and the promotion of Paul J. Mack to local market and Health & Benefits Practice leader in the Richmond, Va., office.

      In her new role, Blackstone is responsible for developing new products and services and for growing and developing clients in central and southern Virginia. Prior to joining Aon Consulting, Blackstone served as senior management specialist for the County of Henrico Health Plan in Virginia and as a vice president of sales and account management with Coventry Health Care. Blackstone holds a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and has served on the state board of the Virginia Association of Health Underwriters. She is also a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and the National Association of Health Underwriters.

      Mack joined Aon in 1984, first serving as a senior consultant and then growing into his previous role of client account manager. In his new role as local market leader and Health & Benefits Practice leader, Mack is responsible for delivering the portfolio of Aon human capital services to its clients in central and southern Virginia. Mack holds a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Prior to Aon, Mack served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps.

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      Allianz is pleased to announce the promotion of Sarah Smith to operations manager within the Claims division.

      Sarah joined Allianz in 1995 and has held a variety of claims positions with the Division, most recently as operations controller. In her new role, Sarah will be accountable for overseeing the operational support functions for the claims handling centres ensuring professionalism, efficiency and a high standard of customer service.

      Sarah said: “I am delighted to have been offered this role and look forward to the challenge that it will bring. Allianz regularly reviews its practices to improve productivity and maintain service standards to our customers; I look forward to playing an active role in this process.”

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        Ailing US insurance giant AIG announced on Wednesday the sale of 80 percent of its stake in consumer credit provider American General Finance to Fortress Investment Group, a hedge fundmanager.

        No details were provided on the terms of the deal, which will leave AIG in control of the remaining 20 percent as it struggles to pay back a massive taxpayer buyout. AGF has assets of approximately 20 billion dollars and liabilities of approximately18 billion dollars, including 17 billion dollars of debt.

        The firm provides loans, retail financing and other credit related products in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Britain. American International Group, once the world’s largest insurer, has been selling assets since its rescue from collapse by the government during the 2008 financial crisis. It is today nearly 80 percent owned by the state.

        The authorities pumped more than 180 billion dollars into the company as it crumbled under the weight of bad bets on mortgage-backed securities and other toxic assets. AIG shares fell by more than four percent on Wednesday despite the news of the sale.

        New York, Aug 11, 2010 (AFP)

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        ACE European Group has today announced the appointment of Steve Dixon as Regional Managing Director, ACE Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

        Steve succeeds Giles Ward, who has led ACE MENA since 2006, now appointed to the position of Chief Executive Officer for ACE Australia & New Zealand. Steve’s appointment remains subject to regulatory approval.

        Steve has been with ACE since the acquisition of CIGNA in 1999, at which time he was responsible for the UK Commercial P&C operations. In 2001 Steve assumed the position of Casualty Manager for Continental Europe and Emerging Markets. In April 2006 he moved to Tokyo as Regional Vice President and Director of ACE Far East responsible for the P&C and Personal Lines businesses.

        Andrew Kendrick, Chairman and CEO, ACE European Group, said: “Steve takes the helm of a fast growing, successful regional business. I would like to thank Giles Ward for his significant contribution in establishing our MENA operation, which now comprises Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE via the Regional Office in Bahrain, which ACE established in 2007. This built upon long standing relationships between ACE and countries within the region. MENA offers significant opportunities, especially within the construction and energy sectors, but also within the A&H and Personal Lines arena. Steve is the ideal candidate to lead this business as we go from strength to strength.”

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