Smoke and mirrors versus unpleasant reality
27 October 2014
Political decisions regarding Queensland sometimes verge on the bizarre, and that’s probably the best way to describe the bomb Federal Finance Minister Mathias Cormann dropped…
Analysis
Tomorrow’s insurance battlefield: giant threats and innovative defences
20 October 2014
The insurance industry will be a very different place in 2025 due to innovations such as telematics and the potential intrusion of e-commerce giants such as Google and Amazon, according to…
Make hay while the sun shines on reinsurance markets
13 October 2014
Reinsurance rates in Australia and New Zealand may fall further, Aon Benfield Australia and New Zealand CEO Robert De Souza says…
Brokers at the crossroads: new direction or a road to nowhere?
06 October 2014
New business driven by emerging risks such as cyber security could either bypass brokers and leave them sidelined or lead them into greater advisory roles – if they can grasp the opportunities…
Insurers bulk up for the big fight
29 September 2014
Australian insurers have established a stronger position in the past financial year, but they may now be heading for a storm cloud of competitive challenges…
Social media: ‘friends’ with benefits for fraud investigators
22 September 2014
Advances in social media are presenting new and challenging risks for insurers – plus some interesting opportunities that should not be underestimated…
Twists, turns and bumps in this year’s Monte Carlo rally
15 September 2014
The winds of change are blowing through the reinsurance industry as it gathers for its annual Monte Carlo rendezvous…
Record temperatures trail a blaze
08 September 2014
Last year was Australia’s warmest on record, and we could be about to pay the price for it…
Broker groups: similar problems, diverse solutions
01 September 2014
There were some common themes in the profit announcements from Steadfast and Austbrokers last week…
The rise and rise of challenger brands
25 August 2014
The growth of the so-called challenger brands is set to accelerate further, according to actuarial consultancy Finity…
Out of the frying pan...
18 August 2014
Toxic infant formula and deadly rockmelons are among the high-profile contamination threats sounding alarm bells for companies involved in the increasingly complex…
Peak profitability: nearing the final whistle
11 August 2014
The peak profitability game appeared to be up for Australian general insurers last year – before falling reinsurance rates sent it into extra time…
Mountain fires serve up a hot potato
04 August 2014
Recent bushfires and floods have shown not only how little homeowners know about their insurance coverage, but also how uninformed they are about underinsurance…
Disaster resilience: talk is cheap, but it’s better than nothing
28 July 2014
They’re the kind of figures that might make Treasurer Joe Hockey sit up and take notice…
Inquiry stirs the comparison controversy
21 July 2014
Last week the Australian Financial System Inquiry (FSI) flagged measures to expand the use of insurance comparison websites, just as the UK Financial Conduct Authority…
A brave new world
14 July 2014
Swiss Re’s latest study of emerging risks paints a grim picture that wouldn’t be out of place in a dystopian novel…
Code of practice: a new set of dentures
07 July 2014
With Sydney Harbour sparkling and the canapes circulating, the launch of the revised General Insurance Code of Practice last week was never going to be short of glitz and gloss…
Climate change: a royal action plan
30 June 2014
The global insurance industry got its marching orders on climate change last week from an international figure whose opinions often provoke controversy…
A flood of mitigating circumstances
23 June 2014
The classic dilemma with flood insurance is that people with no risk don’t want to pay for cover, raising the cost for the small proportion of those at risk, who then can’t afford it…
Turfed out by the body corporate
16 June 2014
There is no rule to stop a body corporate manager dealing directly with an insurer and cutting out insurance brokers – but brokers say it is often done without consulting the…