Insurance News ME

Brazil's Unibanco Acquires AIG Local Assets For $820 Million

SAO PAULO -(Dow Jones)- Brazilian bank Banco Unibanco (UBB) acquired certain local assets of American International Group Inc. (AIG) for $820 million, the bank said in a statement Wednesday night.

AIG to rebrand US auto insurance unit to 21st Century Insurance, and cut jobs

American International Group, which has been bailed out by the US government, plans to remove AIG from the name of its US auto insurance unit, aigdirect.com, and rebrand it as 21st Century Insurance in January 2009. The auto unit also plans to cut 6.6% of its workforce.

China's Life Insurance to Face Challenges

China's life insurance sector is to face strong challenges in 2009, said Wan Feng, president of China's biggest life insurer China Life Insurance Company Limited (601628.SH, 2628.HK), based in Beijing, capital city of China.

Generali Pilipinas premiums up

Generali Pilipinas has posted an 18-percent increase in its combined third quarter premiums, or from P1.8 million last year to P2.1 billion. The insurer offers three business lines – individual life, group insurance, and property and casualty.

AIG, foreign insurers lose market share in Shanghai

SHANGHAI, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Foreign life insurers' market share in Shanghai, China's commercial hub and a key market, declined for a third month in a row in October as troubles at overseas firms such as AIG dented consumer confidence.

New York's Cuomo Queries AIG on Bonuses and Raises

Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo demanded to know if American International Group Inc. will give bonuses or pay raises, a day after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it is scrapping 2008 awards for top executives.

Groupama Invests in Its Development in Turkey by Acquiring the Turkish Insurer Güven

Groupama has just closed the deal that gives it 99% ownership of the Turkish insurance companies Güven Sigorta and Güven Hayat from the Central Union of Agricultural Credit Cooperatives for €180 million.

Güven Sigorta, created in 1924, has a market share of 2.4% in non-life insurance and is the 13th largest in the sector. Its life insurance subsidiary, Güven Hayat, created in 1973, is the 15th largest life insurer in Turkey with a market share of 1.2%. Their 2007 premium income amounted to YTL 246 million.

Genworth buying bank, applying for gov't funds

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - After reaching a deal to acquire Interbank fsb, insurer Genworth Financial Inc. said it is applying to become a savings and loan, in a move to become eligible for funds under the government's $700 billion bank rescue package.

Executive News - Sigortam.net names Refik Berkol as new CEO

Turkey's leading online insurance aggregator names Refik Berkol as its new CEO. Sigortam.net is the first online insurance e-commerce portal in Turkey selling auto, home, health, travel and life products from 20 insurance companies with 7X24 call-center support. Sigortam.net is a venture capital project financed by iLAB.

iLAB is an investment holding company with interests in high growth internet projects such as kariyer.net (Turkey's largest online career site), Gittigidiyor.com (Turkey's largest auction site - also an Ebay affiliate), chemorbis and steelorbis (chemicals and steel e-marketplace). Sigortam.net was founded in 2001 and has currently more than 50,000 customers.

AEGON May Buy U.S. Thrift

AEGON, the owner of Transamerica Corp., has confirmed that it is currently examining the possibility of acquiring a thrift in the United States. This would potentially allow the company to qualify for the U.S. government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

Manulife names chief investment officer as CEO

Manulife Financial Corp. has chosen its chief investment officer Donald Guloien to succeed Dominic D'Alessandro as president and chief executive officer when he steps down next May.

Insure.com Launches Updated Car Crash Safety Ratings Tool

Insure.com, Inc., headquartered in Darien, Ill., rolled out an upgraded version of its Car Crash Ratings Tool, a free, online information tool that displays car safety data from both the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

ACE Appoints Andreas Wania Regional Manager, Central & Eastern Europe

ACE European Group (ACE) (NYSE: ACE) announced today the appointment of Andreas Wania as Regional Manager for Central and Eastern Europe. Andreas's role encompasses a region extending from Russia and the CIS in the North through Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to ACE's forthcoming Turkish operation in the South.

Bahrain: Islamic insurance firm launched

Latest ratings reflect bank's financial strength, strong capital and sound asset qualityBahrain and Qatar yesterday launched a new joint venture Islamic insurance company with a paid up capital of $70 million with participation by the entire platform of insurance players in both the countries.

ING get approval for Ukrainian life insurance

Dutch bank ING has been given the regulatory green light to begin life insurance activities in the Ukraine.

ING sees fastest growth on voluntary pensions

Voluntary pensions fund ING Optim, managed by ING Asigurari de Viata (ING Life Insurance) saw the fastest rise in terms of assets and in terms of number of participants in June, according to data from the Private Pensions Supervisory Commission.

Ahead of the Bell: Willis Group downgraded

An analyst downgraded Willis Group Holdings Ltd. late Monday, citing the British insurance broker's planned acquisition of Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Co.

InsWeb to Report Second Quarter Results and Host Quarterly Conference Call on July 24th

InsWeb Corp. (NASDAQ: INSW), a leading online insurance marketplace, today announced that it will report financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2008 on Thursday, July 24th, 2008, after the close of market.

AIG Closes on Deal to Buy Majority Stake in Telecommunications Supplier

American International Group Inc. has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in UTStarcom Inc.'s personal communications division, in a transaction valued at approximately $240 million.

India-Bancassurance contributes major chunk for private players

Chennai, June 29 The insurance sector has witnessed a phenomenal growth over the past few years. In 2007-08, growth in premiums was over 40 per cent. Many private players are growing at rates above 70 per cent. Insurance premium collections have touched 4.1 per cent of the GDP.

EastNets launches UniRisX eInsurance Service in UAE

EastNets is engaged in the provision of handling confidential transactions primarily for the financial, corporate and government sectors in Europe, United States of America, the Middle East and Africa.

WB issues 255.4 mln euros for Turkish public sector

The World Bank has approved a loan of 255.4 million euros ($399.5 million) to strengthen public management, public services, social security and health insurance in Turkey, said a bank statement Thursday. The credit's maturity will be 22-1/2 years with 12-1/2 years grace.

Bancassurance Drives up China Life's Premiums

China's biggest life insurer China Life Insurance Company Limited (China Life, 601628.SH, 2628.HK) reaped premiums of CNY 151.5 billion in the first five months of 2008, thanks to contributions made by bancassurance business, according to latest data from the listed insurer.

BIMB to start talks with ADKM for Takafu

KUALA LUMPUR: BIMB Holdings Bhd has been given approval by the central bank to start negotiations with Abu Dhabi-Kuwait-Malaysia Strategic Investment Corporation (ADKM) for a strategic stake in Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd (Takaful Malaysia).

Mohammad opens Al Hilal Bank

Abu Dhabi: Al Hilal Bank, Abu Dhabi's second Islamic bank, yesterday launched its operations in the UAE with four branches, two in Abu Dhabi, one in Al Ain, and one in Dubai.

GIC plans to scale up overseas operations

India's designated reinsurer General Insurance Corporation (GIC) is on a drive to expand its global footprint. The public sector company intends to open a representative office first in Brazil in the current financial year and then later in China.

Insurers bet on rural, micro products

KOLKATA: The eighteen life insurance companies had a good time in the last fiscal year, clocking new business premium of almost Rs 93,000 crore. However, with cut-throat competition and a host of new players waiting to step in, the current fiscal will be a lot tougher.

Salama plans expansion

The Islamic Arab Insurance Company Salama plans to expand its investment portfolio to 25 Shariah-compliant funds by the end of 2008.

Aviva, Zurich Financial to cut jobs in the UK

Britain’s largest insurer Aviva is to cut up to 1,800 jobs by the end of 2010 as part of an overhaul of its United Kingdom insurance operations, company officials said.

Consumerism forces financial services integration

The consumer landscape in South Africa has experienced unprecedented change in the last few years, which has created the need and opportunity for previously specialised product and service providers to diversify and offer time-strapped, increasingly educated consumers the convenience of ‘one-stop shopping’ across a broad array of offerings.