Chartis insurance group seeks quality over quantity when it comes to growth

Europe’s debt crisis has not daunted Chartis, a division of AIG that operates in the property and casualty insurance market. The company continues to seek opportunities for growth despite the economic turmoil currently faced by a number of nations in the region. While lucrative opportunities seem to be in abundance, the insurer is taking a “quality over quantity” approach. CEO Peter Hancock notes that this strategy will help the insurer protect itself from industry hype in markets that may be more volatile in the future than they are today. In…

Read More

New insurance group targets life and medical insurance in Qatar

Q-Life & Medical, a newly formed insurance group based in Qatar, has targeted a promising market in the region. Initially part of Qatar Insurance Co., Q-Life & Medical was formed around the need for life and medical insurance in the nation. According to company officials, the market for life and medical insurance in Qatar is untapped, which translates into a unique opportunity for tremendous growth. Whether the company can capitalize on this potential growth, however, is yet to be seen. As of now, the company is not offering any insurance…

Read More

Insurance risk research shows industry struggling with growth and reserve risks

Aon Corporation’s capital adviser and global reinsurance intermediary, Aon Benfield, has released a report containing the results of its annual study – called the 2011 Insurance Risk Study – which is used by the industry to benchmark underwriting risk, and for modeling through the risk parameters it provides. This research – which is the sixth that has been published by the company – offers volatility benchmarks for underwriting, which are used by the industry’s professionals in economic capital modeling, such as chief risk officers and actuaries. It also provides the…

Read More

U.K. insurers market outside of Lloyd’s performs better than expected

Property and casualty insurance companies that are operating outside the Lloyd’s of London market in the United Kingdom have brought in the equivalent of approximately 75 percent of the income of their more high-profile competitors, which is a notably larger amount than had been previously predicted.  According to the first comprehensive survey of the sales of members of the International Underwriting Association (IUA), the insurers, known as the London company market, generated $26.6 billion (16.4 billion pounds) in gross premium income last year. On the other hand, last year, Lloyd’s…

Read More

AFLAC, strong ties to Japan business

As the numbers keep rising on the estimate of losses in Japan, so do the growing concerns regarding the financial stability of insurance companies that were heavily vested there. One company, in particular, had at least three-quarters of their overall business in Japan. AFLAC, a top performing, Fortune 500 company, insures two of the largest insurance buyers in the world; the United States, and Japan. AFLAC sells supplemental health (GAP) insurance, life insurance and cancer insurance. Even though they don’t have property coverage in Japan, when the Earthquake and Tsunami…

Read More