News Posts 20101115-20101121

Insurance News The AIA takaful JV is officially named AIA AFG Takaful Berhad. It targets to start operation in Q1 next year.

Alliance Financial unit, AIA in tie-up

KUALA LUMPUR: Alliance Financial Group Bhd’s subsidiary Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd has entered into an agreement with American International Assurance Bhd (AIA) to set up a joint-venture company, AIA AFG Takaful Bhd.
November 19, 2010

Insurance News The ING Takaful JV aims to be profitable in year 4 of operations; Great Eastern Takaful also previously set the same target. The ING JV aims to launch its first product in April 2011 and eventually will expand into Indonesia and Hong Kong.

ING-PBB tie-up aims for profit in Y4

ING and Public Bank Bhd(PBB) new takaful firm aims to be profitable by its fourth year of business as it taps Malaysia’s underserved insurance market, and eventually expand into Indonesia and Hong Kong, its owners said today.

November 18, 2010

Insurance News M&A of insurance companies often fails due to disagreement on price. Traditional valuation methods such as price earnings ratio and net asset value are not appropriate. Some recent failed M&As include P&O with Prudential, Tahan with Tokio Marine, Shriram, Fairfax and Allianz, Prudential with AIA.

Price the main barrier in insurance stake sale talks

PETALING JAYA: The stake sale or takeover negotiations among insurance companies often come to nought as both parties are unable to agree on a price.
November 17, 2010

Insurance News BNM has approved the sale of Pacific Insurance to Fairfax Asia. The details of the sale including the price has yet to be announced.

PacificMas gets nod

PACIFICMAS Bhd said it has got the approval from the Minister of Finance through Bank Negara Malaysia to dispose its entire stake in The Pacific Insurance Bhd to Fairfax Asia Ltd.
November 17, 2010

Insurance News For insurance companies with both conventional and takaful licences, should they use the same agency to sell both products or should they have separate agency channels? Companies like Great Eastern, Prudential and AIA seem to prefer one agency while MAA prefers separate agencies. It is not clear which way ING will go.

Insurance companies leverage on conventional and takaful platform

PETALING JAYA: The dual agency concept, where conventional and takaful policies are sold by the same agents, is gaining popularity, especially among bigger insurance players, as an effective way to boost market share and deepen the penetration rate of insurance in the country.

November 16, 2010

Insurance News Nor Shamsiah will replace Dato' Zamani as the new Deputy Governor.

BNM Press Statements

Bank Negara Malaysia wishes to announce the appointment of Puan Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus as Deputy Governor for a three year tenure effective 16 November 2010. Puan Nor Shamsiah takes on the position of Deputy Governor following the retirement of Dato' Zamani Abdul Ghani on the completion of his term on 15 November 2010.

November 15, 2010

News Posts 20101108-20101114

Insurance News The proposed acquisition of P&O by Prudential has been called off.

P&O proposed divestment of insurer called off

KUALA LUMPUR: Pacific & Orient Bhd has called off the preliminary negotiations for the proposed divestment of an equity interest in Pacific & Orient Insurance Co. Bhd to Prudential Holdings Ltd.
November 13, 2010

Insurance News Has insurance industry lost its focus? Instead of selling on protection, are we now emphasising too much on investment return? Insurance veteran Captain Chia thinks so. The unhealthy trend nowadays in the industry is consumers are pursuaded at shopping malls, through SMS/internet to buy insurance for its short premium payment period and high illustrated return. Many have lost track of the fundamental of insurance which is "love and responsibility". The consequences are low persistency, lack of needs based selling and also agents shying away from customers when investment return is worse than illustrated. Insurance products should not be sold on its return. Your views?

回酬至上·本末倒置 保险变了样

保险，顾名思义，原是讲求和着重保障的金融产品，但国内外保险市场上近期出现的一些乱象，令这个传统保障型产品已变相被当成另一种讲求投资回报的产品。

November 12, 2010

Insurance News It seems that the sale of Pacific Insurance to Fairfax Asia will need to complete by 17 April 2011.

OCBC gets 6 more months, instead of one year, to comply in PacMas takeover

KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has given Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Ltd (OCBC) another six months from Oct 17, for the latter to comply with the approval conditions in the acquisition of PACIFICMAS BHD
November 11, 2010

Insurance News ING will demerge its banking and insurance operations by having 2 IPOs for its insurer, one in US and one in Europe.

ING plans insurance IPOs in US, Europe

AMSTERDAM: Dutch banking and insurance group ING yesterday said it was planning two initial public offerings for its insurance activities as part of a split of the group.
November 11, 2010

Insurance News The role of the actuary will evolve in the years ahead "to deliver more robust ERM, including designing potential scenarios rather than solely performing retrospective statistical analysis", according to Aon Benfield. "Managing emerging risks is an opportunity for actuaries to add significant value to the risk management function."

Actuaries: a new role in enterprise risk management

Aon Benfield is highlighting what it sees as the future "critical" role of actuaries in managing emerging risks for the re/insurance industry.
November 10, 2010

Insurance News Takaful Malaysia will look for growth opportunities in countries like Indonesia as the competition in the local industry becomes stiffer following the issuance of 4 new takaful licences. Takaful Malaysia's Indonesian venture currently contributes 5% of the group revenue. The strategy in Indonesia for Takaful Malaysia is to focus on bancaassurance.

Takaful Malaysia eyes Indonesia expansion

STIFFER competition in the local takaful industry, brought on by the issuance of new takaful family licences to four new players, is driving Takaful Malaysia to look beyond the country for more growth opportunities.
November 10, 2010

News Posts 20101101-20101107

Insurance News SC said it has consulted the unit trust fund managers on the broad framework of PPF. Meanwhile FIMM said that SC is still working with MoF to come up with the final framework before they engage the industry and players in the market.

SC: Stakeholders consulted on pension fund plan

THE Securities Commission (SC) has denied it left unit trust fund managers out in the cold on the proposed Private Pension Fund (PPF), saying that it has consulted them on the broad framework of the scheme.
November 4, 2010

Insurance News The improvements in corporate governance practices and capital positions of insurance and takaful industry has been uneven between institutions and overall progress could be further accelerated. M&A would be 1 option to accelerate this. The role of signing actuaries may be expanded to support the more robust risk management particularly with respect to underwriting and solvency assessments.

Zeti: Observe prudent underwriting standards

KUALA LUMPUR: Meanwhile, in the insurance and takaful industry, Zeti said there had been continued improvements in corporate governance practices and further strengthening of the capital positions of individual institutions.
November 4, 2010

Insurance News Allianz wants to expand distribution channel by tapping the internet or social media networks and conducting worksite marketing with non-financial based companies, in addition to the current agency force and bancassurance channel. The new channels would bring in close to 10% of revenue over the next 3 to 5 years.

Allianz eyes alternative distribution channels

KUALA LUMPUR: Allianz Malaysia Bhd will focus on two main fronts which it is confident will generate new revenue streams for the company and put it on a stronger footing in the competitive insurance landscape.

November 4, 2010

Insurance News Insurance companies may be required to appoint dedicated risk heads. The role of signing actuaries is under review. BNM will issue regulatory framework for takaful by end of this year.

Malaysia mulls risk heads for insurance firms

Malaysia’s central bank is considering whether to require insurance companies to appoint dedicated heads of risk, according to a speech by Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz sent to the media today.
November 3, 2010

Insurance News FIMM opines that the no. of scheme managers for the proposed private pension fund should not be limited to 5 or 6. It should be opened to unit trust companies, insurance companies and takaful operators that have got the economies of scale in managing such scheme.

Fund managers still in the dark over private pension plan

MALAYSIA'S unit trust fund managers are still in the dark about the proposed private pension scheme (PPS) but they stressed that it should be run by existing companies and not by brand new start-ups.
November 3, 2010

Insurance News Zakri Mohd Khir will take over the role of CEO for Allianz General from Ng Hang Ming. Zakri was previously the non-independent and non-executive director of the parent company - Allianz Malaysia Bhd. There is no immediate news on where Ng Hang Ming is heading.

Zakri named as new CEO of Allianz General

PETALING JAYA: Zakri Mohd Khir is now the new chief executive officer of Allianz General Insurance Company (M) Bhd (AGIC) pending approval from Bank Negara.
November 2, 2010

Insurance News The number of life insurance companies in Malaysia will officially reduce from 16 to 15 soon as Etiqa is reaching the final stage of merging Mayban Life to Etiqa Insurance. The number of Takaful operators will also reduce by 1 accordingly.

Etiqa at final stage of merger process

ETIQA says it has reached the final stage of its merger process as it transfers the businesses, assets and liabilities of Mayban Life Assurance Bhd to Etiqa Insurance Bhd from today.
November 1, 2010

News Posts 20101025-20101031

Insurance News Great Eastern Takaful's targets: a) Expand operations to Indonesia and Brunei by 2H 2011 b) Penetrate Singapore and China markets within 3-5 years c) RM1 bil contributions in the next 5 years.

i-Great eyes regional market for takaful JV

KUALA LUMPUR: i Great Capital Holdings Sdn Bhd (i-Great), the parent of the new joint venture (JV) takaful licensee Great Eastern Takaful Sdn Bhd, hopes to expand its Islamic insurance operations in Indonesia and Brunei by the second half of next year.

October 30, 2010

Insurance News Some highlights of Great Eastern's Q3 results: regular premium ILP in Malaysia grew 55% in 2010; CAR above 200% in Malaysia; group profit grew 15%; group weighted premium rose 12%.

Great Eastern Announces Q3 Results

27 October 2010 – Great Eastern Holdings Limited today reported Group profit attributable to shareholders of $168.6 million in Q3-10 compared to $33.6 million in the same period last year.
October 28, 2010

Insurance News Takaful operators can expand fast especially in a new market by allowing their products to be white-labelled or to be the outsourcing partner of a local player in that new market. Some key success factors for proper takaful industry development include strong legal and shariah framework and mutual recognition of financial standards and products.

Takaful outsourcing on the rise

THERE is a rising trend of outsourcing and white labelling in the takaful industry as companies seek to expand faster.
October 28, 2010

Insurance News The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has banned universal life products in India. More than 500 life insurance products were banned since 2007 for being opaque or against the interest of policyholders. There are differing views on the role of appointed actuaries (AAs) in ensuring products are fair and equitable, given the different hats that AAs may wear. There are also suspicions that the product bans are not purely due to equity issue but are driven by parties who try to meet their self interests.

Scrapped insurance products bring actuaries in spotlight

Chennai, Oct 24 (IANS) The Indian actuarial profession is in the spotlight with more than 500 life insurance products being scrapped by the insurance regulator since 2007 for being opaque or against...
October 26, 2010