Industry Archives - Page 2 of 9 - Insurance Agency Singapore | Commercial Insurance and Personal Insurance

New norms for selling insurance online

4 April 2017 By admin Leave a Comment

Online availability could drive down prices, especially for term life policies

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has issued guidelines on insurance e-commerce, thus paving the way for electronic platforms that will market as well as service insurance products.

The insurance self-network platforms that are to be set up could be a regular web portal, mobile app or both. Entities registered with IRDAI, such as insurance firms or insurance intermediaries, are eligible to apply for setting up such a platform.

For customers, the key difference will be prices, with the products purchased on the platform coming at a lesser pay out. This will be more so in the case of term life insurance, sources said.

Over time, the companies would also have products that will be sold exclusively online.

IRDAI perceives e-commerce as an effective medium to increase insurance penetration and enhancing financial inclusion in a cost-efficient manner. The guidelines, IRDAI said, are being issued “to promote e-commerce in insurance space, which is expected to lower the cost of transacting insurance business and bring higher efficiencies and greater reach.”

The guidelines follow the exposure draft that IRDAI had released in June last year.

Insurers and insurance intermediaries who already have set up their own ISNPs or insurance portals for sale and service of the products will be allowed to continue if they comply with the requirements listed in the guidelines within a period of three months.

By N. RAVI KUMAR

See full story at www.thehindu.com

Insurers recognized as top employers for young people

2 February 2017 By admin Leave a Comment

iStock-buildings_financial_Canada_497036202 (500 x 334)

Six insurance companies made it to the most recent list of “Canada’s Top Employers for Young People”. The annual editorial competition was organized by the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project.

According to Canada’s Top 100 Employers, the Top Employers for Young People designation “recognizes the employers that offer the nation’s best workplaces and programs for young people just starting their careers.” The companies that made the list “are Canada’s leaders in attracting and retaining younger employees to their organizations,” a statement on the competition’s official website explained.

Learn more about employer insurance here.

Employers on the list were recognized for their progressive initiatives for younger workers. Such initiatives include education tuition subsidies, job rotation opportunities, mentorship, paid internships, as well as in-house training and development programs for career advancement.

Canada’s Top 100 Employers senior editor Kristina Leung told The Globe and Mail that recruitment initiatives for diverse or disadvantaged youth remains a primary focus for many of the companies.

The six insurers that made the list, as well as their notable initiatives, are:

Ecclesiastical Insurance Office PLC, Toronto. Insurance; 68 employees. Manages a Business Intern Program, a three-year rotational program for recent university graduates pursuing the Chartered Insurance Professional designation.

by Lyle Adriano

See full story at www.insurancebusiness.ca

How Does The Insurance Company LPI Capital Berhad Make Its Money?

22 December 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

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LPI Capital Berhad (KLSE: 8621.KL) is a general insurance company listed in Malaysia. It has business in three countries, namely, Malaysia, Singapore, and Cambodia.

The term ‘general insurance’ can seem a little vague, so here’s more colour on LPI Capital’s business. The company essentially offers a range of insurance products such as fire insurance, motor insurance, marine insurance, and more.

LPI Capital’s stock has performed well in the last five years, with its price climbing by 90%.

This prompted me to learn more about the company and how it makes its money. Investors in Singapore-listed insurance companies such as United Overseas Insurance Limited (SGX: U13) may find it interesting to have a deeper understanding of LPI Capital’s business.

There are two ways that LPI Capital makes money. The first is by providing insurance products.

An insurance business works by first receiving insurance premium, then paying out those premiums in the form of claims by customers and administrative expenses. If the premium received is higher than the claims paid and administrative expenses, an insurance business is profitable.

By: Lawrence Nga

See full story at www.fool.sg

The rise and rise of unaffordable motor insurance

23 August 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

motor insurance

You know things are bad when people start moving back in with their parents because car insurance costs too much. For most of us, moving back in with mammy would be a line of last resort but it is increasingly a reality for many who have seen the cost of insuring their car for a year spike dramatically upwards.

On average, the cost of car insurance has risen by 38 per cent in the past year, and that’s on top of significant rises in 2015 and 2014. Some have seen three- or four-fold increases in the numbers at the bottom of their renewal slip. Ireland Underground, a pressure group whose aim is to lobby for reductions in the cost of insurance, has reported that at least one of its members has a position of work under threat because she cannot afford the sudden increase in premium.

According to the insurance industry, there are solid and sadly sensible reasons for all of this. To begin with, Irish drivers are being wayward and racking up more and larger claims. On top of this, the market for insurance is somewhat perilous: it has been dealing with the collapse of Setanta Insurance and must now deal with the collapse of Enterprise Insurance. And as if these factors weren’t enough, the legal system has been driving up the cost of insurance thanks to inflated fees and the new-found freedom of judges at the District Court level to hand out larger awards.

By Neil Briscoe

See full story at www.irishtimes.com

Why are insurance companies lagging in climate risk?

18 August 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

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You would think that insurance companies would be experts in minimizing risk and reducing exposure to catastrophic natural disasters.

But a recent report suggests that the vast majority of insurance companies are not factoring in climate risk when it comes to their investment decisions.

Just one out of every eight insurance companies is taking tangible action on protecting their portfolios on climate risk, according to the Asset Owners Disclosure Project’s (AODP) annual Global Climate 500 Index, which analyzed 116 insurers with $15.3 trillion of investments.

The report also found that only 1 percent of those insurance companies assess the emerging risk of stranded assets, or the risk that carbon assets will become “stranded” in part due to future regulations on fossil fuels and growing demand for renewable energy.

Most of all, the report finds that insurance companies pale in comparison to how pension funds are evaluating climate risks such as climate change and drought.

Low-carbon investments represent on average only 0.8 percent of insurance portfolios, but 3.5 percent of pension portfolios as $30 billion of insurance assets are invested in low-carbon investments compared to $93 billion of pension assets.

Evaluating risk

Insurance companies generate revenue in two ways: collecting insurance premiums from customers and also investing those premiums in different investments.

The AODP says that while insurance companies are analyzing climate risk when offering insurance to their customers, the insurers are largely not assessing climate risk when it comes to their own investment portfolio.

“Pension funds in recent years have been driven by a small percentage of active members to review their management of climate risk,” said AODP CEO Julian Poulter. “This accountability does not exist for insurance companies who don’t have members, who are mainly listed and whose shareholders have been slow to hold them to account.”

The AODP ranks insurance companies on how well they are assessing these risks on with their own ranking system from AAA to D, and companies that have shown no signs of any action are referred to as laggards and are given the ranking of X.

Out of the 116 insurers analyzed by the AODP, 48 companies showed no evidence of doing anything to protect their portfolios from climate risk. This totaled $4.2 trillion assets under management.

By Keith Larsen

See full story at www.greenbiz.com

Drastic measures needed if insurance sector is to reinvent itself, finds KPMG International report

14 June 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

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Majority of insurers admit challenges extracting value from transformation initiatives; most say their transformation efforts have been less than ideal

Faced with disruptive economic, demographic and technological change, most insurers are struggling to reinvent their organizations for the future. According to Empowered for the future: Insurance reinvented, a report released today by KPMG International, only half of insurers polled believe they are capable of extracting and sustaining value from business transformation initiatives. Fifty-seven percent admitted that their transformation efforts to date have been less than ideal.

“Insurers have been trying to ‘transform’ their organizations for decades– yet very little has actually changed,” notes Mary Trussell, KPMG Global Lead Partner for Insurance Innovation & Change and lead author of the report. “If insurers are to truly ‘reinvent’ their business and position themselves for success in a world of disruptive innovation – they will need to make more fundamental changes to their business and operating models than ever before.”

The report was launched during the International Insurance Society’s Global Insurance Forum 2016 in Singapore (12-15 June) where industry leaders and executives gathered to discuss innovation and industry transformation.

Putting the customer first
According to the KPMG report, insurance executives clearly understand the urgent need for transformation. However, it finds many insurers are more focused on implications of regulatory policy and may not be placing enough attention on changes in customer preferences and needs. Less than a quarter of respondents expect their operating model to be disrupted by changes in customer behavior.

“We’d suggest that customers should be the inspiration for insurers’ efforts to reinvent themselves,” says Mary Trussell. “In a highly regulated sector, treating changes in regulation as a springboard to enhance the business for customers rather than something to be endured distinguishes players at the top of their game. The data suggests that many insurers may not yet have their eyes on the ultimate prize.”

See full story at www.prnewswire.com

photo credit: http://www.cxotoday.com/story/ict-adoption-in-insurance-sector-to-rise/

Singapore Lists 50 Largest Insurance Companies in 2015

3 May 2016 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user reynermedia

Pricing remains ‘acutely weak’ in Singapore’s insurance market.

The fundamental growth story for Singapore’s insurance sector continues to be intact, as the savings rate rises and dependency ratio remains low. Its status as a regional centre for economic activity also continues to bolster demand for insurance across segments. “Singapore continued to build its position as a regional hub for property and casualty insurance and reinsurance,” says Peter Allen, global head of Grant Thornton’s insurance practice.

As firms aggressively try to deploy excess capital, undercutting is a natural consequence as customers often cannot be acquired fast enough to meet the supply being brought to market.

Derry Finkeldey, director of research at technology research firm, Gartner, notes that “distribution, and leveraging digital channels and capabilities to drive new business, but also to create stickiness with existing customers and increase persistency and renewals, continues to be a top of mind concern for Singaporean insurers”.

Innovative Ways

Given that this is quite a mature market in Singapore, firms are continuing to look for new ways to approach marketing campaigns as well as increase spending in innovative technology solutions according to Finkeldey.

“Insurers are slowly embracing digital channels for improving service quality. We are expecting a lot of activity around digital in 2016” says Ernst & Young advisory partner Sumit Narayanan. He notes that we are seeing an increase in insurers looking to find ways to communicate with their customers beyond the traditional points of contact, which are transactions such as premium payments and claims settlements.

by Krisana Gallezo-Estaura

See Full Story at sbr.com

Singapore firms expected to seek cyber insurance according to AIG

28 April 2016 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user GotCredIt

Singapore’s cyber insurance market is expected to expand 50 percent this year, with finance and healthcare among the top sectors, according to AIG Asia-Pacific Insurance.

Singapore’s cyber insurance industry is expected to expand by 50 percent this year, with healthcare and finance among the top growing sectors.

Demand would be fuelled by businesses looking to mitigate potential damage from cybersecurity breaches on reputation and finances, said AIG Asia-Pacific Insurance, which based its findings on research conducted at the company’s corporate governance events in late-2014. Respondents included CFOs, risk managers, and general counsel from public-listed companies, said the financial services provider.

It added that Singapore’s goal to become a smart nationwould further increase interconnectivity and automation across the nation, hence, drive threats of cyberattacks and corporate sabotage.

AIG Singapore’s head of financial lines, Lai Yen Yen, said: “While cyberattacks grow in size, volume, and sophistication, defensive methods and technologies have not seen a corresponding evolution, potentially costing businesses millions in the event of a cyber breach.”

Market demand was forecast to come from the finance and technology sectors as well as healthcare, with security risks coming from the lack of data encryption, increased malware, and outsourcing to third-party vendors.

Research further revealed that while two-thirds of public-listed companies in Asia said cyber insurance was increasingly important, just 9 percent had such coverage, according to AIG.

by Eileen Yu

See Full Story at zdnet.com

Fake travel insurance cases rise

26 April 2016 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user Henri Bergius

While motor insurance fraud has traditionally been a huge worry for insurers, companies are seeing an emerging trend – dubious travel insurance claims.

The General Insurance Association (GIA) said the sector is growing fast as more people go overseas and also because of heightened awareness of the need for coverage.

Along with personal accident and health, travel insurance accounted for 21.6 per cent of the total general insurance business last year – up from 19.8 per cent and 18 per cent in 2014 and 2013, respectively.

Although the GIA has not collated figures, it set up a workgroup last year to tackle the relatively new problem.

Its president, Mr A. K. Cher, told The Straits Times: “We have people who are now travelling at the expense of insurance companies.”

“But one of them still somehow had a credit card to pay for their way home,” he said. “When we checked, we found they had all bought travel insurance from eight companies here.”

The GIA is now looking to data analytics to help crack down on such cases. Mr Cher said it is working with French start-up Shift Technology to sieve through data to identify anomalies. Fraud aside, “they will be able to see if we have overpaid for a certain type of claims, for instance”, he added.

Insurers have also hired former investigators from the Commercial Affairs Department to go after cheats.

Gross motor premiums collected stood at $1.14 billion, down from $1.19 billion previously.

The general insurance business on the whole – including fire, work injury and marine cargo and hull – posted an underwriting profit of $325 million, 17 per cent lower than 2014’s $392 million.

An earlier version of the story missed out the word “former” in the sentence “Insurers have also hired former investigators from the Commercial Affairs Department to go after cheats”. We are sorry for the error.

by Christopher Tan

See Full Story at straitstimes.com

Budget 2016 Plan: Ease taxes to create global insurance hub

21 April 2016 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user Washington State House Republicans

SINGAPORE has ambitions to be not just a regional insurance hub in Asia but also a global insurance hub. However, we are not there yet, nor are we alone in our aspirations. What can be done to help Singapore to leapfrog ahead?

In a keynote address in November 2013 at the 12th Singapore International Reinsurance Conference, Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, outlined Singapore’s vision of being “a global insurance marketplace in the heart of Asia”. The vision is for the Singapore insurance industry to have the ability to accept not just regional but global risks by 2020.

Currently, there are two competitors in the race to become the next global insurance marketplace in Asia – Hong Kong and Singapore. Both Hong Kong and Singapore have similar elements in place – fairly liberalised insurance markets, sound regulations, and simple and efficient tax regimes. Both also enjoy strategic geographical locations: Hong Kong with China as hinterland and Singapore as a gateway to South-east Asia and the ASEAN Economic Community.

They also both stand to benefit from the same three key factors driving insurance demand in Asia – rising economic growth in the region (a growing middle class, urbanisation, continued industrialisation and expanding cross-border trade will lead to an increased demand for insurance solutions from businesses, as well as demand for more sophisticated personal financial services such as insurance); Asia’s vulnerability to natural catastrophes; and Asia’s rapidly ageing population. The increasing use of technological solutions and devices has given rise to new and emerging risks. In addition, global environmental and climate change will bring larger risks and uncertainties. All of this points to a growing demand for insurance, not only at a regional level but likely at a global level too.

by Ang Sock Sun, Yip Yoke Har, Woo Shea Leen

See Full Story at news.asiaone.com

Insurance Agency Singapore | Commercial Insurance and Personal Insurance