COVER STORY
Private Insurers: Come of Age
- - T S Rama Krishna Rao
The private insurers are on a roll. The type of growth rates achieved by both the life and non-life segment are phenomenal. The industry is well set on the road to be one of the largest markets in the world.
© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved
COVER STORY
Gasping for Capital
- - Yassir A Pitalwalla
Private players in the insurance sector are running up huge losses. But the 26% FDI cap has created an artificial capital crunch that could harm the sector
© 2006 Businessworld (www.businessworldindia.com). Reprinted with permission.
REGULATION
The Kyoto Protocol: Can the Harm be Undone?
- - Jayshree Bose
The Kyoto Protocol, which was conceived in 1997 but came into force only in February 2005, binds member countries to a predetermined lowering of greenhouse gas emissions to a level that would be 5.2% less than what they were in 1990, and countries are to achieve this target by 2012. This will hopefully bring down the level of global warming. Small wonder then that insurers are waiting eagerly to see how far it succeeds in ensuring member compliance.
© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Bancassurance in India: An Emerging Concept
- - V V Ravi Kumar
Bancassurance which originated in France over three decades ago, refers to the distribution of insurance products through banks. Bancassurance seems to have caught on reasonably well in India. Banks have been attracted to this field, since it is a source of non-interest income for them, while for the insurers it has been a question of increasing the low insurance penetration levels in the country by leveraging the extensive distribution reach of Indian banks.
© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved
LIFE INSURANCE
Group Life Insurance Benefits
- - Len Strazewski
Agents have an opportunity to take advantage of an exploding need. They should be dynamic in their clients workplaces to provide more education about the need for life insurance and the availability of new products.
© 2006 The Rough Notes Company. Reprinted with permission. The article first appeared in the February 2006 issue of Rough Notes magazine.
NON-LIFE INSURANCE
Homeowners Policies and Acts of Self-defense
- - R Brent Cooper and Dana Harbin
It is everyones worst nightmare: An intruder in the home in the middle of the night. Most of us would do whatever is necessary to protect our loved ones and our property from unwelcome strangers, including acts of self-defense that may cause injuries or even death to the uninvited person.
© 2006 International Risk Management Institute, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
PENSION AND ANNUITY
How will Pension Funds Manage?
- - Roger Urwin
Leading pension funds around the world have moved to a specialist manager model with significant benefits in terms of accessing best-in-class expertise. However, this means that the burden of determining asset allocation falls back on the fund fiduciaries.
© 2006 Watson Wyatt Worldwide (www.watsonwyatt.com). Reprinted with permission.
HEALTH INSURANCE
You are What You Eat: Using Consumer Data to Predict Health Risk
- - Chris E Stehno and Craig Johns
Lifestyle-based analyticsusing data available from an abundance of consumer sourcesis one of the best ways to help actuaries and underwriters price health and life insurance.
© 2006 American Academy of Actuaries (www.contingencies.org). Reprinted with permission.
INSURANCE OPERATIONS
Are You Telling the Truth?
- - Melanie Wright
Consumers may be convinced that insurance fraud is a victimless crime but the industry knows better. The author reviews whats being done to crack down on insurance cheats.
© The Chartered Insurance Institute, London, 2005 (www.cii.co.uk). Reprinted with permission.
LIABILITY INSURANCE
Duty to or Non Duty to Defend: What is the Best Defense Provision?
- - Wayne Bernstein
The policy language should be well communicated to the insureds and the agents. It is certain that the actual coverage provided will depend on the D&O policy language. The differences in the language may greatly affect the insurance companies.
© 2005 Wells Publishing Inc. (www.insurancejournal.com). Reprinted with permission.
RISK AND INSURANCE
Catastrophic Risk: Remodeling in the Megacat Age
- - Matthew Brodsky
Its safe to come up for air. The historic 2005 hurricane season finally concluded on November 30. In the calm before the next seasons storms, the property/casualty world has a breather, time to take in lessons from Katrinalessons, some might say, that should have been learned already.
© 2006 Risk & Insurance (www.riskandinsurance.com). Reprinted with permission.
COUNTRY PROFILE
Insurance Industry in China: Meeting the Needs of a High Growth Market
- - Wong Mei-hwen
China is ripe with opportunities and yet it is not without its share of pitfalls. What can the industry do in this era of uncertainty and opportunity? This topic, presented in various forms, met with extensive dialog at the 6th China Rendezvous in Shanghai recently, under the banner of "Meeting the Insurance Needs of the Innovative, Fast-growing Market".
© 2006 Asia Insurance Review (www.asiainsurancereview.com). Reprinted with permission.
SPOTLIGHT
Swiss Re
- - Jampala Phani Priya
Swiss Reinsurance, the reinsurance giant came into being in the year 1863. It has spread its geographical horizons in more than 30 countries. The reinsurance giant offers a full range of products dealing with capital and risk, including traditional insurance, insurance and corporate-based solutions and supplementary services for comprehensive risk management. It operates its business from over 70 offices in more than 30 countries with over 8,000 employees providing risk transfer, risk financing and asset management to its global client base. Today, the Swiss Re Group is one of the worlds leading and financially strongest reinsures. In the first half of the financial year 2005, net income stable at CHF1.4 bn or CHF4.37 per share.
© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
CASE STUDY
An Experiment in Semi-urban India: The Pratima Initiative in Karimnagar
- - V Jaya Lakshmi
Health insurance has become a necessity for the common man, but the financing of these expenses is a major cause of mental agony. In its effort to make available healthcare facilities, the Pratima Institute of Medical Sciences (PMIS), have taken upon themselves to make available the benefits of all hi-tech healthcare services and to reach the wider segments of population. This case study proposes some schemes that can take care of the problems that are preventing Indian health insurance from growing.
© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
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