Archive

• Mexican insurers in the regulatory limelight

  08 January 2015

  As one of the international forerunners in adopting a risk-sensitive solvency regime, says Hugo Coelho, commentators are asking what effect new regulation will have on smaller players in the Mexican insurance market

• The threat from cyber: Are insurers heading for a meltdown?

  05 January 2015

  The recent establishment of a dedicated cyber insurance agency in London by former US homeland security secretary Tom Ridge demonstrates its growing popularity. But as the prevalence of recent high-profile hacking incidents demonstrates, this is not a class without its dangers, as Marcus Alcock investigates

• A fragile recovery?

  23 December 2014

  Genworth's announcement of a $600m charge related to its long-term care book has once again drawn attention to the sustainability of this market. Yet a closer look reveals a revised product which offers enticing possibilities for insurers, as Marcus Alcock discovers

• Taking the risk pulse of insurance

  18 December 2014

  The implementation challenges of Pillar 3, the possibilities of a market-led alternative modelling platform and a better understanding of risk culture are just some of the topics that Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group's Martin Burke shares with Marcus Alcock

• French health mutuals show fraternité in pillar 3 solution

  16 December 2014

  When an entire sector faces the same issues in complying with Solvency II, collaboration seems a sensible response. France's association of health mutuals has done just that by developing pillar 3 software for its members. Christopher Cundy reports

• Mitigating the cycle

  11 December 2014

  While there have been significant advances in quantifying the uncertainty pertaining to 'dark matter' risks such as casualty catastrophe or cyber, says Victoria Jenkins, it is worth considering how they may manifest themselves in the future and what can be done about them now

• Portuguese insurers under pressure to sell bank debt

  09 December 2014

  The Portuguese insurance supervisor has found that one in five insurers fall short of capital under Solvency II, even after taking into account the benefit of the volatility adjustment. What's more, concentrated exposures to the financial sector are sending capital requirements through the roof, as Hugo Coelho explores

• Weighing up the capital charges for assets under Solvency II

  04 December 2014

  Gareth Mee runs through the capital charges that will apply to assets commonly held by insurers and explains where internal models could bring a better or worse treatment than the standard formula

• Preparing for major crop losses in China

  02 December 2014

  When we think of catastrophic crop-related losses, China isn't necessarily the first country to spring to mind, but the potential for a multi-billion industry insured loss event is one that needs to be taken seriously, according to Heidi Wang and Jacqueline Chen

• France takes another Solvency II test

  27 November 2014

  There has been much talk about the challenges of preparing for Solvency II, but only insurers in France can claim to have had anything like a real test. Romain Paserot at French regulator ACPR shares his view of progress with Christopher Cundy