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The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) invites all the interested parties to provide their feedback on the technical specifications for the quantitative impact study (QIS) of EIOPA’s Final Advice to the European Commission. The Advice is related to the review of the Directive on the activities and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORP Directive). 

In its advice, which was submitted to the European Commission on 15 February 2012, EIOPA proposes the holistic balance sheet as a means to achieve the Commission’s objective of a harmonised prudential regime for IORPs.  The advice recognises the importance of performing a QIS and remains conditional on the results of the QIS. It was emphasised that the feasibility of implementing the holistic balance sheet in practice and introducing a common level of security needs to be further investigated.

The QIS will only assess the financial impact on IORPs of valuing assets and liabilities on the holistic balance sheet and introducing a solvency capital requirement (SCR) under the various policy options in EIOPA’s advice. However, the results will feed into the European Commission’s impact assessment of all costs and benefits accompanying its legislative proposal.

The aim of the technical specifications is to provide guidance to IORPs participating in the QIS to perform the necessary calculations. Particular attention has been paid to the valuation and risk-mitigating effect on the SCR of the adjustment and security mechanisms IORPs dispose of, i.e. conditional and discretionary benefits, “last resort” reductions of benefits, sponsor support and pension protection schemes.

The consultation paper is a first step towards the actual QIS exercise. Following the public consultation EIOPA will send a revised version to the European Commission for its consideration. The QIS exercise is expected to take place from the beginning of October until mid-December 2012.

The consultation will end on Tuesday, 31 July 2012 at 18.00 hrs CET.

Comments should be submitted via email to CP-12-003@eiopa.europa.eu (Link: CP-12-003@eiopa.europa.eu ).

Please note that comments submitted after the deadline or not submitted on the provided templates cannot be processed.  The relevant documentation and the templates can be accessed on the EIOPA website (Link: https://eiopa.europa.eu/consultations/consultation-papers/index.html ).

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Sapiens International Corporation, provider of insurance software solutions, has announced that KBC‘s insurance business in Belgium is in full production with the ALIS Policy Administration Solution. 

The initial implementation is to support the sales and servicing of Individual Pension Arrangement (IPA) products distributed through its network of 500 bancassurance agencies across Belgium.  Around 1600 agents can now distribute and manage business using the new processes enabled within ALIS.

KBC focuses on providing bank, insurance and wealth management products and services to retail customers, private banking clients and mid-cap / SMEs, with a geographic focus on the home markets of Belgium and Central and Eastern Europe.

The Sapiens’ ALIS solution is being deployed at KBC as a multi-lingual solution to support new products and services. With the implementation of the ALIS Policy Administration Solution, KBC will benefit from re-engineered business processes which enable remote agents to process illustrations, complete sales transactions, process new business, and respond to policy inquiries quickly and efficiently. The development and launch of new and innovative products is designed to maintain and grow KBC’s insurance business in Belgium.

KBC’s senior general manager of life insurance, Dirk Van Liempt, said, “The Sapiens & KBC teams have demonstrated high skills and dedication to the success of the project. The feedback from our agent users has been nothing but positive and we look forward to taking full advantage of all the functionality and flexibility the ALIS solution offers as we continue to expand our use of the system.”

The next phase of implementation will include the development and deployment of a new Group Modern product.  All current policies are being converted to the new ALIS system early 2013, with the existing system planned for decommissioning by the end of next year.

Roni Al-Dor, Sapiens President & CEO, added, “KBC is a strategic client for Sapiens and has helped us to establish a stronger foothold in the European market.   The working relationship between our two teams has become a true partnership with a common focus on enabling KBC to meet its business objectives.  With the initial implementation now a success, our combined teams are already on track for the subsequent phases of implementation and full replacement of KBC Group Life’s legacy system.”

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Specialist Lloyd’s insurer Jubilee has been appointed by Blue Insurances, provider of travel insurance, gadget, pet, wedding insurance and car hire excess, to provide gadget insurance and collision damage waiver (CDW) schemes for its Irish and UK customer base.

Jubilee’s appointment will see the insurer building on Blue Insurances existing gadget insurance product, launched in 2010, with an all risks scheme that provides customers with a claims replacement programme managed in Ireland by Jubilee’s claims service partner Outsource Services Group (OSG), an independent, Irish owned, specialist outsourcing firm.

Jubilee’s CDW cover is offered alongside Blue’s travel insurance product providing higher limits of cover compared to its previous scheme, and also offers supplemental liability cover for North America.

Joint Managing Director of Blue Insurances, Ciaran Mulligan, said: “Blue is recognised for its award-winning insurance solutions and innovative approach. Jubilee has demonstrated its experience and ability to respond to the challenge of delivering relevant protection that meets the evolving needs of our customers.”

Commenting on Jubilee’s plans to develop new areas of business with Blue Insurances, Warren Campbell, Underwriter from Jubilee said: “We are looking to build on this foundation with a long-term partnership with Blue Insurances and OSG. By combining their experience, capabilities and skills with Jubilee’s product and affinity market knowledge, we aim to develop a successful portfolio in Ireland.”

Dick Harnett, Head of Business Development, Sales & Marketing at OSG, said: “We share a passion and commitment with Jubilee to offer the best insurance services. We are delighted to have been appointed as their claims partner, and to be working together to build on these new schemes with others across Ireland.”

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The key role the workplace will play in closing Britain’s chronic savings gap is highlighted today by the publication of the ABI’s pension report ‘Time to Act: Tackling our Savings Problem and Building our Future’. The report comes as ABI research shows that many people are increasingly resigned to working longer or downsizing to a smaller property to help ensure an adequate retirement income.

The report highlights:

– The dramatic impact of saving a little bit more, a little earlier. Increasing an annual pension contribution from 8 to 12% can increase a pension pot by 50%, while delaying starting pension saving by five years can reduce a final pension pot by 17%.

– Over two thirds of people recognise that the level of their contributions has the biggest impact on the size of their pension.

– More needs to be done to utilise the workplace to encourage greater saving. Building on the introduction later this year of auto-enrolment, whether the introduction of other options, like the ‘save more tomorrow’ scheme in the USA (under which employees commit to future increases in pension contributions) could work in the UK.

Steve Gay, the ABI’s Director of Life, Savings and Pensions, said:

“Auto-enrolment should be a watershed moment in tackling Britain’s savings gap. One in two people are not saving enough for their retirement, and many are not saving at all. Too many people are caught between a rock and a hard place: rising life expectancy makes the need to save for the future more important than ever; yet the tough economic times are understandably putting the squeeze on family budgets.

“Auto-enrolment will bring at least 7 million people into the savings habit. As we know that people are more likely to save through their payslip, we must look at how more can be done in the workplace to help people adequately save for their retirement”.

The need to kick-start pension savings is further highlighted by the results of the ABI’s latest consumer research.

This shows that among the 2,177 non-retired adults surveyed:

– One in four people would be prepared to work beyond their planned retirement date to help ensure sufficient retirement income

– One in five would be willing to downsize to a smaller property to release money to pay for their retirement.

– Over half of people (53%) are not confident that they will have sufficient income in retirement to maintain their standard of living in retirement.

    • Three in four of these non-confident respondents recognise that the state pension alone is not enough to ensure an adequate standard of living.
    • A full copy of the Time to Act : Tackling our Savings Problem and Building our Future’ report is attached to this email and can be downloaded from the ABI website on Tuesday 12th June 2012.

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Research conducted by Jelf Employee Benefits shows that less than one in three employers is ready for auto-enrolment, even though the largest employers in the UK are due to commence this exercise in just a few months time.

Jelf’s findings show very little improvement over the last 12 months as it compares almost exactly with research carried out this time last year: this year 31.1% of employer’s surveyed say they are ready – just a modest improvement on 29.5% in the previous survey.

Steve Herbert, head of benefits strategy for Jelf Employee Benefits said: ‘We are very concerned with the number of employers that still appear to be in denial about this issue.  Auto-enrolment is not a theoretical exercise, employer’s need to understand that it is going to happen, and preparations need to be made in the very near future.

Our message is clear: employers need to get their heads out of the sand and start getting prepared now.’

The survey did however show that employers are more aware of their specific start date for auto-enrolment duties.  Last year 31.4% were not aware of their company’s start date, and this has now dropped to 12.4%, so awareness has improved.  Despite this, only 42.2% of employers have taken any concrete steps towards implementing auto-enrolment.

Although important, it is not enough to just be aware of the start date, there are a lot of processes that a company may need to establish in order to be ready for auto-enrolment, and Jelf is urging employers to get more fully engaged.

Steve Herbert continued: ‘We have carried out a huge amount of work to increase the awareness of auto-enrolment and help employers get prepared, particularly through our seminar and workshop programme, so we are pleased that awareness is increasing.

However, we can’t stress strongly enough that this is one of the biggest pension challenges that many employers will ever face, so employers really do need to use the remaining time available to them to get ready for implementation.’

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Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon, has released the latest edition of its Global Catastrophe Recap report, which reviews the natural disaster perils that occurred worldwide during May.

Published by Impact Forecasting, the firm’s catastrophe model development center of excellence, the report reveals that two earthquakes and subsequent aftershocks struck northern Italy within a nine-day period, killing 25 people, injuring more than 400 others and causing extensive damage to the cultural heritage throughout the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, in addition to businesses and personal property.

An initial, combined economic loss estimate from both tremors stood at EUR5 billion (USD6.25 billion), following significant damage in the provinces of Modena, Ferrara, Reggio Emilia, Rovigo and Mantua.

In Asia, severe and prolonged periods of rain impacted China throughout the month, affecting at least 22 provinces and killing at least 102 people.

According to China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA), at least 143,000 homes were damaged or destroyed during one prolonged event. More than 949,400 hectares (2.34 million acres) of cropland were also affected, contributing to a total economic loss listed at CNY16.88 billion (USD2.68 billion).

Meanwhile, powerful thunderstorms struck eastern Japan, resulting in high winds and tornadoes that killed at least three people, injured 59 others, and damaged more than 1,845 buildings in six separate prefectures.

Steve Jakubowski, President of Impact Forecasting, said: “The Italian earthquakes resulted in the largest natural disaster loss for the country since the L’Aquila earthquake event in 2009. The seismic activity was not unexpected, as Italy has long been recognised as a region exposed to the possibility of significant earthquake activity. Given the level of insurance coverage in the region, it is anticipated that insured losses would reach minimally into the hundreds of millions of dollars (USD). However, it remains too early to determine how negligible re/insurance losses may be from this event.”

In the United States, two periods of severe weather impacted central and eastern sections of the country; the first causing widespread hail and wind damage from the Dakotas to Maryland, resulting in an economic loss estimated at USD275 million, and more than 30,000 insurance claims valued at USD150 million. A secondary severe weather outbreak across the central and eastern U.S. at the end of the month spawned significant damage as well. According to a preliminary report from the South-western Insurance Information Service, insured losses in Oklahoma alone were estimated at USD400 million.

Tropical Storm Beryl made landfall near Jacksonville Beach, Florida at peak intensity with 70 mph (110 kph) winds but did not cause any significant damage, injuries or fatalities.

And wildfires burned in several U.S. states during the month, including the largest fire ever recorded in New Mexico.

Excessive rainfall affected areas of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec in May. In Thunder Bay, at least 1,100 homes were damaged as well as businesses and infrastructure, and flood damage with a 100-year return period was recorded in Montreal, where personal property and infrastructure were widely affected.

Additional flood events were recorded in Nepal, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Cuba, Georgia, Brazil and Venezuela.

To view the full May Global Catastrophe Recap report, please visit the link below:
http://thoughtleadership.aonbenfield.com/Documents/201206_if_monthly_cat_recap_may.pdf

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Insurance premiums are set to climb throughout 2012 as insurers seek to claw back the staggering costs of today’s compensation culture without losing the confidence of their core customer base. In the UK alone, fraudulent claims are estimated to cost the insurance industry £2bn annually, adding approximately £44 to each policy holders’ annual bill. This and poor customer focus, too often caused by disconnected data held in siloes, is enough for anyone to switch providers. Therefore, across the EU insurers are facing enormous pressure to retain the ‘good’ customers, reduce operational overheads and instigate smarter technologies that identify and reduce risk.

Since 2008 claims farming has rocketed with a minority of consumers running financially damaging scams against even the largest insurance providers. According to the Association of British Insurers, 1200 whiplash claims are made per day and this accounts for the biggest source of fraudulent pay-outs, rising premiums and dwindling consumer confidence in the motor industry.

The Insurance Claims Management: Europe report, produced by the independent publisher Clear Path Analysis, evaluates the market from the insurers’ perspective to explore the key obstacles and opportunities for delivering a rigorous claims management process, strengthening data analysis capabilities and improving customer interaction. The report includes advice from leading insurance and consultancy professionals such as Detica NetReveal and FINEOS on the latest technological solutions and smartest data analytics that can be deployed to reduce cost, comply with EU regulation and capitalise on profitability through improved customer care.

Graham Newman, European Product Marketing Manager, FINEOS comments “Where there is additional advice, assistance or investigation required, personal contact with the customer will benefit everybody. Most insurers also want to capture more data to use for analysis but this must be balanced with the fact that capturing data increases the workload and cost. However, insurers aim for better data to improve their price and risk decisions and the personal touch enables them to acquire this significant data.”

One of the latest ways in which insurers are communicating with their policy holders is through social media. Newman highlights that “a good strategy in social media will enable insurers to increase the customer touch points and so add value and build trust within the brand. A number of insurers are already doing this by having a Facebook page and using it as a forum to promote their products and sponsorship and maintain consumer contact.”

Jamie Hutton, Global Head of Insurance Fraud, Detica NetReveal identifies the different types and organisation of data that insurers are increasingly reliant on to curb consumer fraud: “Typically huge quantities of data are held in silos; this could be through acquisition, organic growth or as a result of multiple claims systems over many lines of business. The challenge for insurers is to unlock the information sitting in the data and turn it into actionable intelligence.”

All insurance companies are now seeking innovative and cost-effective methods for cutting fraud whilst remaining compliant with the EU’s regulatory overhaul under Solvency II.

Fraudsters are becoming increasingly sophisticated and persistent at the same time, claims management departments are under enormous pressure to act quickly to provide optimum service to their customers. To do this they need effective solutions to help them to understand the risk associated with a new customer or with a claim. However, such solutions are costly to implement and require a fresh approach to operational efficiency that even the largest insurance providers are grappling with.

Hutton goes on to say, “Insurers have to move from fraud detection to fraud prevention; social network analysis finds hidden connections in the data and allows groups of claims and policies to be effectively risk assessed, enabling  insurers to better understand who they are doing business with and protect good customers”.

Whilst there are certainly challenges ahead one must not forget the opportunities; as Carlos Montalvo Rebuelta, Executive Director, (EIOPA), “EIOPA is monitoring on an ongoing basis the situation in the insurance sector and we can confirm that it is coping with the crisis better than the banking sector states in the Insurance Claims Management report.”

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Varying constraints continue to pin back the financial profiles of many global multiline insurers (GMIs), said Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services’ in a recent report published : “Global Multiline Insurers: Improving Prospects For Property/Casualty Contrast With Life And Investment Performance Uncertainties.”

“By business line, property/casualty insurers are showing improving performances owing to benign catastrophe activity since the beginning of 2012–after 2011’s large catastrophe losses–and price discipline,” said Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Lotfi Elbarhdadi, “and most life and savings oriented players, however, will likely continue to operate under difficult and uncertain conditions.”

Costly investment-related business lines and guarantees, such as general account savings, traditional life, or variable annuities have been a drag on GMI earnings and testing their capital management over the past four years. We think this is likely to continue under our base-case scenario for 2012 and 2013. The cost of guarantees and cost of capital, coupled with pressure on GMIs’ capital sources, will likely prompt GMIs to increasingly shift volumes toward fee-based business. In addition, risk products such as protection and health should be among the main areas of strategic focus in coming years.

Excluding any exceptional catastrophe activity, we anticipate that GMIs will record improved property/casualty (P/C) underwriting earnings in 2012 compared with 2011. Most players should benefit from generally increasing pricing, although recent price hikes have disproportionally favoured the property segment in general, specifically in the regions that experienced large catastrophe losses in 2011.

In our opinion, exposure to Southern European sovereign debt, market volatility, and dampened economic prospects in the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU, or the Eurozone) remain a threat to some GMIs we rate, particularly those that are Europe-based.

We continue to view risk-adjusted capital adequacy, according to our criteria, as a weakness relative to the ratings on some GMIs.

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Fitch Ratings says that Generali Espana, S.A. de Seguros Y Reaseguros (Generali Espana) and Reale Seguros Generales’ (Reale Seguros) ratings are not affected by the downgrade of Spain’s Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to ‘BBB’ from ‘A’, with a Negative Outlook (see “Fitch Downgrades Spain to ‘BBB’; Outlook Negative” dated 7 June 2012 at www.fitchratings.com).

Generali Espana and Reale Seguros’ Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) ratings are ‘A-‘ and ‘BBB+’ respectively, both with a Negative Outlook. Generali Espana is a wholly owned subsidiary of Assicurazioni Generali SpA (Generali; IFS: ‘A-‘/Negative) and Reale Seguros of Mutua di Assicurazioni (Reale Mutua; IFS: ‘BBB+’/Negative.

Under Fitch’s methodology, both companies are considered core to their respective groups. Accordingly the IFS ratings are equal to the group’s IFS rating. This reflects Fitch’s belief that Generali and Reale Mutua would be able and willing to support their Spanish subsidiaries should the need arise.

Under Fitch’s ‘Insurance Rating Methodology’, insurance organisations can be rated above the local currency sovereign rating if they benefit from support by a strong foreign shareholder.

Generali Espana and Reale Seguros’ ratings could be downgraded if the financial profile of their respective group deteriorates leading to a downgrade of the parent company. This could be triggered by losses arising from exposure to Spanish bonds, or other European sovereign bonds, exceeding Fitch’s current expectations.

Generali Espana and Reale Seguros’ ratings could also be downgraded if Fitch’s view of the strategic importance of these entities to the respective group were to change.

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QBE, business insurance specialist, has announced that it has appointed Wai Au as a Non-Executive Director of its two principal UK regulated insurance entities, namely QBE Underwriting Limited (Lloyd’s operations) and QBE Insurance (Europe) Limited (UK Company market and European branch operations).  She took up her new appointment on 6 June 2012.

Wai Au has over 20 years’ executive level experience in commercial and retail insurance lines, corporate and retail banking, life and pensions and management consultancy.

The company has also announced that Howard Posner, Non-Executive Director of QBE European Operations plc since 2006 retired from the boards on 6 June 2012.

Commenting on Wai Au’s appointment, Steven Burns, Chief Executive of QBE European Operations said:  “We are delighted to welcome Wai to the UK statutory boards of QBE European Operations. Her extensive experience across both the front and back offices of a number of global financial services and insurance organisations makes her ideally qualified to add value to our ongoing challenge to grow and diversify our business profitably across Europe.”

Burns added : “I would also like to thank Howard for his valuable contribution to QBE’s development and success over the past 6 years and wish him well in the future.”

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Fitch Ratings has affirmed Luxemburg-based ATLANTICLUX Lebensversicherung S.A.’s (ATL) Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) rating at ‘BBB’, Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘BBB-‘ and Value of Business In-Force (VIF)-linked notes at ‘BBB-‘. The Outlook on the IDR and IFS rating is Stable.

The affirmation reflects the life insurer’s low investment risk, its strong capital position and its solid performance in 2011. These positive rating factors are partly offset by ATL’s dependency on unit-linked products and its relatively small size.

The rating of ATL’s VIF-linked notes is dependent on the company’s credit quality as a whole, and as such has been set at the same level as the IDR.

ATL faces only limited direct investment risks as policyholders or other external parties that provide guarantees offered within ATL’s products carry the risk of falling equity markets. Fitch views positively that the remaining mortality and disability risk is largely reinsured.

Based on its risk-based capital assessment, the agency views ATL’s capitalisation as strong. This is also reflected in the company’s satisfactory regulatory solvency ratio of 164% (2010: 185%). The decrease in 2011 was driven by an acquisition of a book of business of French unit-linked policies. Fitch expects that ATL will be able to return to 2010 solvency levels within the next two or three years. ATL upstreams a moderate EUR620,000 of its total earnings to its parent companies, FWU AG and VHV, and an increase in dividends is not expected in the near term.

For 2011, ATL reported gross written premiums (GWP) of EUR114.9m (2010: EUR108.8m) and a net income of EUR1.9m (2010: EUR1.8m). Fitch views positively the fact that ATL was able to achieve a premium increase of 5.6% in 2011 after three consecutive years of stagnating premiums when the market showed a declining trend. Fitch will continue to follow ATL’s premium development closely as customer demand for unit-linked insurance products tends to decrease when uncertainty about capital markets increases. The agency also views positively the reduction in lapse risk as a result of ATL introducing a guarantee in 2008, provided by external parties, which secures any peak-value of a contract, payable only at its maturity.

Furthermore ATL’s earnings also depend on the market value of assets under management (AuM). Fitch notes positively that ATL was able to limit the decrease of the value of its AuM during the capital market turmoil in H211 to only around 5% by its active asset allocation within the policyholders’ investment funds.

Key ratings triggers for a downgrade include a significant and sustained deterioration in profitability resulting in a post-tax operating return on assets below 0.2%.

Key ratings triggers for an upgrade include continued improvements in the company’s franchise and scale and stability in the company’s GWP developments in its various markets, while maintaining strong capitalisation.

Luxemburg-based insurer ATL offers unit-linked and term insurance products, predominantly in Germany, France and Italy. ATL had total assets of EUR540.6m at end-2011 and is owned by FWU AG (74.9%), which itself is owned by nine partners (95%) and SwissRe Frankona (5%), and by VHV (25.1%), a medium-sized German insurance group.

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Greece’s highly uncertain future has forced businesses into a quasi hand-to-mouth existence, with one of the most alarming effects a shortage of medicines, including for the seriously ill. 

“Pharmaceutical companies are no longer interested in selling to Greece where hospitals and pharmacies are in debt,” said Kostas Lourantos, head of the pharmacies’ association in the Attica region that includes the capital Athens.

“This is the case with Roche, Bayer, Novartis and Sanofi” and other big pharma companies, he said.

“Drug prices are also very low compared to other European countries.”  He added that there are currently shortages of medicines such as antibiotics, antidepressants and insulin for diabetes sufferers.

Ahead of elections on June 17 that may result in Greece departing the eurozone, business as usual is already a thing of the past as firms in all sectors brace themselves for potential economic chaos.

“Everybody is just waiting for the new government. This political uncertainty is exacerbating an already bad market environment, with loans down to zero,” Eleftherios Kourtalis, head of the textile industry federation, told AFP.

For importers in particular the situation is drastic, with their suppliers abroad increasingly demanding that they be paid up-front while Greek firms can still pay in euros, instead of on credit.

Last week Euler Hermes, the world’s number one trade credit insurer, said that it was no longer providing cover for firms exporting goods to Greece, following a similar move by Coface, owned by French bank Natixis.

“These decisions put a bomb under the foundations of the economy, rattling the basis for production and commerce,” said Christina Sakellaridi, president of the Greek exporters’ federation.

The result, she said, was a “reduction in imports of primary goods needed by Greek manufacturers.”

Worst-hit is health care, a sector which is also grappling with problems of its own, most notably state health insurer EOPYY’s problems in reimbursing pharmacies for medicines sold to consumers at a much-reduced rate.

“EOPYY owes us 750 million euros dating back to January 2012, adding to debts of 250 million euros from last year,” said Lourantos from the pharmacies’ association.

The government is trying to help, meanwhile, with the health ministry recently freeing up loans needed to buy emergency medication, while EOPYY last week paid off 200 million euros of its arrears.

Following several strikes, pharmacies recently began increasing the pressure by demanding that patients supposedly insured by EOPYY pay the full price for medicines.

“Many patients cannot pay,” said Vassiliki Kalyva, the owner of a pharmacy in central Athens.

Those with serious illnesses including cancer “are finding it hard to find their drugs because they are very expensive and neither hospitals nor pharmacies can afford to buy them.”

Athens, June 6, 2012 (AFP)

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Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip was “getting better” after he was hospitalised with a bladder infection, his youngest son Prince Edward said after visiting him on Tuesday. 

The outspoken 90-year-old missed the end of the diamond jubilee celebrations marking his wife’s 60th year on the throne but has followed them from hospital on television, Edward told reporters after visiting his father.

“He’s getting better, he just needs some rest,” Edward said as he got into his car outside the King Edward VII Hospital in London.

Asked if the Duke had been keeping up with today’s Jubilee celebrations, he said: “He’s been watching it on TV.”

When asked how the 86-year-old queen was doing without him, he said: “She’s bearing up but she’s missing him, obviously.”

Philip, the longest-serving royal consort in British history, was taken to hospital on Monday with a bladder infection and is likely to remain there for several days. He will be 91 on Sunday.

He has been a constant companion to the queen throughout her rule, and his illness cast a shadow over Tuesday’s jubilee finale, a carriage procession and appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace by the rest of the family.

In his father’s absence, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla joined the queen in her carriage as they waved to the crowd of 1.5 million who lined their route from the Houses of Parliament to Buckingham Palace.

The palace balcony seemed poignantly emptier than on previous occasions as the royal family waved to the crowds, who formed a sea of red, white and blue around the building with their Union Jack flags.

At a jubilee pop concert in London on Monday night, which the queen insisted on attending without him, thousands of revellers chanted “Philip! Philip!”

Newspapers questioned if Sunday’s spectacular jubilee pageant on the River Thames — four hours standing on a boat in chilly temperatures — might have been too much for the ageing prince, who needed heart surgery six months ago.

The prince said last year he wanted to scale down his royal duties as his 90th birthday loomed. He was treated for a blocked coronary artery in December after suffering chest pains.

London, June 5, 2012 (AFP)

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The Co-operative Pet Insurance is urging pet owners to take extra care with their animals’ health throughout the summer months, where temperatures have already recently been unseasonably high across the UK.

To help pet owners safeguard their pets’ health The Co-operative Insurance is now offering a 25% discount on all pet insurance policies bought online. Despite the weather cooling down over recent days UK temperatures in some cases have recently been higher than in many European holiday resorts.

Lee Mooney, Head of Pet Insurance at The Co-operative Insurance, said: “In Summer, like humans, animals are more active which can increase the risk of injury and are also more susceptible to allergies, such as hayfever which can require medical treatment.

“Keeping pets safe in the sun is extremely important for their health and wellbeing. Like humans, animals need to be given access to cool, shady environments and kept well hydrated throughout the year, but especially when temperatures are high.”

The Co-operative Pet Insurance top tips for looking after pets in the summer months:

– Never leave your pet in the car – if you need to nip to the shops, leave your pet at home as the heat in enclosed spaces such as cars can quickly become stifling and dangerous

– Ensure that your pet has adequate water supplies – place bowls of water throughout the house and take a bottle of water and bowl with you when you take your pet for a walk

– Keep food fresh – in warmer weather bacteria on food grows more quickly so ensure that your pets’ food bowl is washed and replenished regularly

– Walk pets in the early morning or late evening when temperatures are generally lower

– Groom your pet regularly, this will not only decrease the likelihood of them carrying ticks and fleas but will also cool them down

– Check labels on weed killers and insecticides as many can be harmful to household pets if not used in a controlled manner

From today (June 1 2012) The Co-operative Pet Insurance is offering every customer who buys pet insurance online a 25% discount. The offer ends on October 31 2012.

The Co-operative Insurance covers cats and dogs and details of the Pet Insurance cover available are as follows:

– The Classic cover option is designed for pet owners looking for essential cover for their pet and pays out up to £2,000 for any illness or injury sustained for 12 months after the condition is first identified.

– The Select Plus option offers a more comprehensive insurance where each new illness or injury is covered throughout the pets life, regardless of age or how long the condition lasts – as long as the policy is renewed each year.

And policyholders have the option to add on optional bundles:

– The Additional Benefits bundle covers a range of eventualities such as holiday cancellation and loss, theft or straying of the pet.

– The Pet Travel bundle covers emergency vet’s fees, emergency repatriation and quarantine expenses.

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XL Group has launched a new suite of five products designed to meet the specific insurance needs of financial institutions.

The products recognise that not all financial institutions are the same and that these organisations are facing ever more complex risks. In addition, these institutions have to deal with the effects of continued uncertainty in financial and investment markets.

For the first time there is a commitment within each policy to minimum service standards, including in relation to claims handling and responsiveness, as well as a built-in confidentiality agreement. Furthermore the policies are designed to respond directly to clients’ concerns in order to provide clarity and certainty around the claims notification process.

The products are designed to provide comprehensive cover around the multitude of risks that different financial institutions face. The suite comprises the following solutions:

– Comprehensive Crime Insurance – covers companies for infidelity of employees, documentary fraud, cyber fraud, physical loss or damage, extortion, and fees and expenses, including costs relating to a data breach.

– Civil Liability Insurance – covers companies and their employees for loss, defence costs and investigation costs (including, where insurable, for breach of obligations imposed by the Bribery Act 2010), mitigation costs and regulatory crisis costs arising out of their legal liability to third parties while performing professional services.

– Directors & Officers Liability Insurance – covers individual directors and officers in respect of actual or alleged wrongful acts in their capacity as directors or officers of the company (or another board on which they serve at the request of the company), the company for reimbursement if it indemnifies those directors and officers, and the company for securities claims against it.

– Private Equity/Venture Capital Liability Insurance – covers the company (including parent company, holding companies and subsidiaries), funds and their general partners for their civil liability and directors and officers liability.

– Investment Management Insurance – covers the investment manager and the fund(s) for their civil liability, directors and officers liability, and crime.

Gerard Bloom, Chief Underwriting Officer, Financial Institutions said: “Over the last 10 years financial institutions and the financial industry have changed fundamentally. And more recently with continuing uncertainty in financial markets, this change, particularly in terms of regulation, has become even more pronounced. Financial institutions now have far greater reliance on IT infrastructure for services and distribution, and the insurance industry has generally been slow to adapt policies to these changing exposures. Our policies seek to address these issues.

“Many of the policy enhancements included in our suite of products for financial institutions have been driven by input from our clients and their brokers. We’ve deliberately kept the language clear and concise while at the same time making the coverage more relevant to the industry’s specific needs.”

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Swiss Re announces the sale of its US Admin Re business (REALIC) to Jackson National Life Insurance, subject to regulatory approval. Admin Re expects an estimated US GAAP loss of USD 0.9 billion related to the transaction, which will be booked in the second quarter 2012. The US GAAP loss will be finalised at closing.

Swiss Re announces the sale of its US Admin Re holding company (Reassure America Life Insurance Company, REALIC) to Jackson National Life Insurance for a cash payment of USD 0.6 billion. The transaction, which is expected to close in the second half of the year, remains subject to regulatory approvals. Swiss Re will retain certain blocks of business.

Swiss Re Executive Committee Member and Chairman of Admin Re David Blumer says: “After conducting a thorough review of the Admin Re portfolio and evaluating the level of capital allocated to the Admin Re US business, we concluded that we should redeploy the capital in other parts of our business.”

The transaction is expected to result in a dividend of USD 0.9 billion in cash to Swiss Re Ltd, thus unlocking capital for re-deployment across the Swiss Re Group. The divestiture further demonstrates management’s commitment to a key element of Admin Re’s strategy, which is to focus on consistent and systematic management of the portfolio of blocks of business and value extraction. This is aligned with Swiss Re’s Group strategy.
Swiss Re Group Chief Executive Michel M. Liès says: “We consistently said the Group’s 2011-2015 financial targets are our top priority. Redeploying the funds freed up through this transaction within the Swiss Re Group will have a beneficial impact on all three of our financial targets in the future, that is to say return on equity, earnings per share and economic net worth growth.”

Swiss Re sees attractive growth potential in the UK and Continental Europe. Consequently, Admin Re will focus on these active areas with insurance deal-flow as well as higher profitability.

“Swiss Re is committed to being a recognised force in the closed life book business through the Admin Re Business Unit. By executing transactions in select markets that meet our strict hurdle rates, Admin Re® can continue to extend its global market presence, while further strengthening its class-leading asset and capital management disciplines,” says Michel M. Liès.

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Reinsurance broker UIB (DIFC) has been named Reinsurance Broker of the Year 2012 at the recent Mena Insurance Awards.

The award was given after UIB’s DIFC operation triumphed in the judging process against far larger broking organisations and locally-based brokers. In particular, UIB was praised for its innovation in assisting clients by devising tailored solutions and risk transfer programs; notably its handling of the reinsurance arrangements for the construction of the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Technical expertise, above-and-beyond adherence to corporate governance and strict compliance with regulations were also contributing factors in UIB gaining the coveted accolade.

George Kabban CEO of UIB DIFC commented: “We are delighted with this award which recognises and highlights the dedication and technical excellence of our staff. These efforts have played a vital part in achieving this award and in building a solid track record for client service. It is also a great achievement given the growing importance of DIFC as one of the most advanced financial hubs in the world, whose influence now extends as far west as Mauritania in North Africa, to India in the east and from Turkey down as far as South Africa.”

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In a speech at Bloomberg in London, Ben Broadbent, External Member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), argues that investors’ fears about downside risks and the possibility of an extreme economic outcome has driven a rise in the premium for risky investment, however it’s financed.

He suggests that those fears, in turn, have affected the growth of UK activity, investment and productivity.

Ben Broadbent observes that the risk-free interest rate in the UK has fallen steeply since the onset of the financial crisis, and that quoted rates on new bank loans have declined. This, on its own, should spur new investment. But anecdotal and empirical evidence suggests financial markets and firms are behaving as if the cost of funding new projects has actually increased. That is partly because credit is being rationed by banks, who may only be willing to extend new loans to firms who keep debt within certain limits or hold minimum amounts of cash. Consistent with this, there is evidence that larger firms have been switching away from bank debt towards issuing debt and equities. This suggests that quoted interest rates significantly understate the true cost of bank debt.

But the yield on those securities has itself gone up since the crisis and business investment, most of which is accounted for by these larger firms, has fallen sharply. This suggests that credit rationing alone is not sufficient to explain “…the continuing weakness of output and private-sector productivity growth” and that “…even if the crisis originated in the banking system there is now a higher hurdle for risky investment”, however it’s financed.

Ben Broadbent finds that the low level of risk-free interest rates and the higher return required by firms to persuade them to invest can be explained by the risk of a rare but very bad economic shock. “And we have, in the shape of the on-going financial crisis and the possibility of serious disruption in the euro area, a very plausible candidate for such a risk.” Even if such an event does not occur, the mere threat of it is enough to have significant effects on risk premia, expected returns, and firms’ decisions to invest.
Ben Broadbent goes on to point out that fears of rare but very bad outcomes will have particularly marked effects on hurdle rates for irreversible, sunk-cost investments. This will include many projects, such as spending on intangibles, that are necessary to improve productivity. As such, high risk premia may be inhibiting not just demand but the economy’s supply capacity as well.

He says “It would be nice to think that these worries are unfounded…Unfortunately, I doubt that’s the case. Markets and businesses possess “animal spirits” and can over-react to events. They may have done so again. But there’s probably a premium on risky investments because there is genuine economic risk.”

Equally though, notes Broadbent, “…one important implication of this thesis is that, if fears of downside risks were to recede, this could have pretty powerful effects on output – potential as well as actual – in a positive direction.” Nor is domestic policy powerless to affect things in the interim. Broadbent argues that the dramatic easing in monetary policy after 2008, in the UK and elsewhere, was crucial in helping to prevent what might have been a much deeper downturn. “And, were the (still unlikely) worst-case risks in the euro area actually to be realised, then our own monetary policy would again play its part in mitigating the impact.” That said, for Ben Broadbent these domestic interventions have their limits and “It remains the case that, for the time being at least, the most important policy decisions affecting the UK are being taken in other parts of the continent.”

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    With the economic downturn and the financial crisis as background, Iberian companies are facing a lot of challenges. With the Spanish and Portuguese banks system in a deeply restructuring process, speakers from investment banks, law firms, private equity firms, companies and advisory groups will discuss at the fifth edition of the mergermarket Iberian M&A and Private Equity forum the future of Spanish and Portuguese companies corporate movements in a difficult economic and financial environment.

    The panelists will also assess the Iberian and Latin American market scenarios this year, the priorities for companies in their M&A strategies, the bank restructuring and the main challenges for the Private Equity industry.

    “The M&A pipeline continues to be busy in Spain and Portugal with the banking restructuring centering the debate,” commented Rupert Cocke, the mergermarket Group’s Spanish Bureau Chief. “The lack of financing is also changing the way that deals are been financing and Latin America seems a very good opportunity for Spanish and Portuguese companies.”

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    Fitch Ratings has affirmed Germany-based insurers ERGO Lebensversicherung AG’s (ERGO Life) and DKV Deutsche Krankenversicherung AG’s (DKV) Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) ratings at ‘AA-‘. The agency has simultaneously affirmed VORSORGE Lebensversicherung AG’s (Vorsorge) and Europaeische Reiseversicherung AG’s (ERV) IFS ratings at ‘A+’. The Outlooks on all the ratings are Stable.

    ERGO Life, DKV, Vorsorge and ERV are operating insurance companies and 100% subsidiaries of the holding company, ERGO Versicherungsgruppe AG (ERGO). Fitch has also affirmed ERGO’s Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘A+’ with a Stable Outlook.

    The rating actions follow the agency’s affirmation of Munich Re’s IFS rating at ‘AA-‘ (see “Fitch Affirms Munich Re’s IFS Rating at ‘AA-‘; Outlook Stable”, dated 25 May 2012 on www.fitchratings.com.) Munich Re is ERGO’s 100% shareholder.

    ERGO’s ratings reflect its core status within Munich Re’s operations. ERGO Life and DKV are viewed by Fitch as core to ERGO in terms of their size and strategic importance. Vorsorge and ERV are viewed by Fitch as very important to ERGO as defined within Fitch’s group rating methodology. Vorsorge’s and ERV’s rating benefit from a two notch uplift from their stand-alone credit profile.

    Key rating drivers for all ratings are the strategic importance of the companies within the Munich Re group and the fact that any change of Munich Re’s rating would result in a change of ERGO’s and its subsidiaries’ ratings.

    ERGO is the primary insurance group of Munich Re. At year-end 2011, ERGO had total assets of EUR139.3bn (2010: EUR139.3bn) and reported net income of EUR349.4m (2010: EUR355.2m). Fitch expects that ERGO’s reported net income will remain stable in 2012. Fitch also expects that ERGO will maintain its strong underwriting profitability in its German non-life business and will achieve further improvements in its international underwriting profitability in 2012.

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