News

Bonanza year for SLI

Bonanza year for SLI

For UK insurer Standard Life’s investment division Standard Life Investments (SLI), 2009 proved to be a winning one in all respects, including new business and that all-important ingredient, investment performance.

Tech giants power predictive analytics

Tech giants power predictive analytics

Two of the most significant players in the global technology market, US-based Accenture and SAS Institute have joined forces to develop what they term the “next-generation” of predictive analytics solutions.

US bank fixed annuity sales take year-end dive

US bank fixed annuity sales take year-end dive

Annuity sales via US banks dived in the closing months of 2009 to record sales below $3bn in November and December for the first time since February 2007, reports bancassurance consultancy Kehrer-LIMRA.

US individual life activity sustains recovery in January

US individual life activity sustains recovery in January

US life insurers will be heartened by MIB Solutions’ release of individually underwritten life market data for January 2010, which reveals a continuation of the recovery in activity which first became evident in mid-2009.

Axa’s Asia-Pacific ambitions thwarted

Axa’s Asia-Pacific ambitions thwarted

Putting at least a temporary end to Axa’s ambitions to grow its Asia Pacific footprint substantially, a deal that would see the French insurer’s 64 percent-owned Axa Asia Pacific Holdings (APH) effectively split in two has met with unanimous rejection by the APH board.

Americans crippled by premium hikes

Americans crippled by premium hikes

American consumers in a number of states who buy their own health insurance from Anthem Blue Cross (ABC) are facing potentially crippling increases in the costs of cover at a time when many are already financially hard-pressed.

Singapore recovery still on track

Singapore recovery still on track

Singapore’s life insurance industry consolidated its recovery in the fourth quarter of 2009 with premium income more than doubling compared with the final quarter of 2008 to S$2.1 billion ($1.5 billion) reveals data from the Life Insurance Association (LIA).

New digest

New digest

Worldwide news coverage of the life insurance industry in the past month.

Insurers turning to technology for solutions

Insurers turning to technology for solutions

Business analytics and intelligence will have a big impact on insurance and financial services companies over the next five years, 80% of insurance information technology executives told LIMRA for its Tech Quake: Predicting the Global Impact of Technology report

Californian insurers told to sell Iran-related shares or be shamed

Californian insurers told to sell Iran-related shares or be shamed

Pursuing his objective of purging portfolios of insurers licensed in California of any Iran-related investments, the state’s insurance commissioner Steve Poizner has released the names of 50 companies doing business with Iranian nuclear, energy and defence sectors. The release follows an instruction issued by Poizner in June 2009 to the 1,327 insurance companies licensed in the state to report all shares they hold in companies that have connections with Iran.


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