Broking’s young guns aim for the future
19 October 2015
Insurance broking is in the midst of a major transformation, with intense competition and digital technology forcing businesses to adapt at a furious pace…
Analysis
A premium issue loaded with ideas and warnings
12 October 2015
Submissions to the Northern Australia Insurance Premiums Taskforce on insurance options in the region are a mixed bag, with plenty of opinions proffered from a variety of stakeholders…
Cyber risk: hot trend demands a super model
05 October 2015
Assessing the cost of cyber breaches is arguably the toughest task insurers have on their hands right now…
North Queensland premiums: what problem?
28 September 2015
The issue of high insurance premiums in north Queensland has been bubbling away for several years, with solutions canvassed by the Federal Government ranging from expensive but harmless (a comparator website) to downright dangerous (admitting unlicensed foreign insurers into the market)…
Reinsurance Rendezvous: le nouveau normale?
21 September 2015
It seems nobody dares say it too loudly, but there was whispered talk of better times ahead at the Reinsurance Rendezvous in Monte Carlo…
The AR elephant in the broker room
14 September 2015
All authorised representatives are not created equal, and many brokers believe the time is coming when the industry regulator will have to sort out a muddle over exactly what an insurance broker is…
Premium funding laid bare
07 September 2015
Premium funding is a crucial cog in the workings of the insurance industry that deserves much more attention…
Steadfast and Austbrokers: much the same, but growing different
31 August 2015
When Steadfast listed in 2013 the general expectation was the broker group would follow the very successful “owner-driver” model of arch-rival Austbrokers…
Northern Australia premiums: how much will this cost taxpayers?
24 August 2015
The Northern Australia Insurance Premiums Taskforce interim report, released by the Federal Government last week, doesn’t say anything we didn’t already know or couldn’t figure out for ourselves…
Cyber risks: mind the gap
17 August 2015
Everyone agrees data breaches and cyber attacks are on the increase, and that the size of potential losses is vast. Why then is take-up of cyber insurance still so low?…
The newspaper analyst: a cautionary tale
10 August 2015
“Don’t believe everything you read in the newspapers” is true enough. So is the comment by the British poet Alexander Pope in his Essay on Criticism: “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing”…
Profit outlook: after extra time, the penalties begin
03 August 2015
Tougher conditions for the Australian general insurance industry have been predicted for some time, but now it appears the peak profitability party really is over…
A retro solution to the ever-present threat of cyclones
27 July 2015
There’s no doubt that one cyclone-prone corner of Australia generates more than a few headwinds for the insurance industry…
Headwinds are blowing, but insurers hold their course
20 July 2015
The challenges facing Australia’s general insurers are stacking up – but it’s nothing they can’t handle, according to Standard & Poor’s…
Flood mapping: the data keeps flowing
13 July 2015
And now for a good news story…
The M&A game: big, bigger, best
06 July 2015
Mergers and acquisitions are the name of the game in international insurance at present, with the $US28.3 billion Ace-Chubb merger announced on Wednesday the biggest so far. But it’s almost certainly not the last significant merger this year…
War in the strata sphere
29 June 2015
As Australia’s strata housing market gears up for huge growth in the next two decades, a price war has broken out among insurers fighting for a piece of the action, with strata cover premiums falling 20-30%…
IAG and Buffett: ‘The first step in the dance’
22 June 2015
Warren Buffett’s first big investment in an Australian company – IAG – has both the insurance industry and the equity market agog: just what is the old campaigner up to?…
An outsource of concern
15 June 2015
The industry is on notice to improve its oversight of delegated authorities, after a stinging critique by the UK regulator…
Stamp duty: old arguments, new hope
09 June 2015
“There is a compelling case for abolishing stamp duty on insurance"…