Companies

UK’s Standard Life makes costly error

Fri, Feb, 5 2010

(Free) The new year got off to a bad start for UK insurer Standard Life when it became the recipient of the first significant fine handed down by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in 2010.

UK advisers see growth in VAs

Fri, Feb, 5 2010

(Free) Independent financial advisers (IFA) in the UK have a generally positive attitude towards the future of variable annuities (VA), a study by Sun Life of Canada reveals. The insurer’s findings are based on a survey of 262 IFAs undertaken in September 2009.

Gen Re owns up and pays up

Fri, Feb, 5 2010

(Free) Ending one of the most shameful stories in the US insurance industry’s history, reinsurer General Reinsurance Corporation (Gen Re) has entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice in which it acknowledged its role in a fraudulent scheme to manipulate American International Group’s (AIG) financial statements.

Growth of China’s life market slackens in 2009

Fri, Feb, 5 2010

(Free) China’s insurance industry has been praised by the chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), Wu Dingfu, for meeting the challenge of what he termed the most difficult year for the country’s economy since 2000. The industry, he said, produced results “beyond expectations”.

Symetra breaks six-year US listing drought

Fri, Feb, 5 2010

(Free) In the first listing of a life insurer in the US since 2004, Symetra Financial Corporation made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange on 22 January, following an initial public offer (IPO) of shares at $12 each.

Prudential rejigs strategy in Asia

Fri, Feb, 5 2010

(Free) In Prudential’s first major deal under the leadership of recently appointed CEO Tidjane Thiam, the UK insurer has acquired United Overseas Bank’s unit UOB Life Assurance (UOB Life) in a cash deal worth S$428 million ($306 million).

Phoenix sells a jewel in its crown as ‘strategic repositioning’ continues

Fri, Feb, 5 2010

(Free) US life insurer The Phoenix Companies (TPC) has sold its private placement insurance business – PFG Holdings and subsidiaries Philadelphia Financial Group (PFG) and AGL Life Assurance Company – to Tiptree Financial Partners for an undisclosed sum.

Phoenix sells a jewel in its crown as ‘strategic repositioning’ continues

Fri, Feb, 5 2010

(Free) US life insurer The Phoenix Companies (TPC) has sold its private placement insurance business – PFG Holdings and subsidiaries Philadelphia Financial Group (PFG) and AGL Life Assurance Company – to Tiptree Financial Partners for an undisclosed sum.

Dutch bancassurer SNS Reaal lives to fight another day

Fri, Feb, 5 2010

(Free) Dutch bancassurer SNS Reaal has been given the go-ahead to continue restructuring after the European Commission (EC) approved its viability plan.

UK sole traders shun protection

Fri, Feb, 5 2010

(Free) The entrepreneurial spirit lives on in the UK, with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) estimating there were 3 million sole traders operating in the country at the start of 2008.