Centrepoint and IBNA joint venture renewed
05 December 2011
Centrepoint Alliance Premium Funding has renewed its joint venture arrangement with insurance broker cluster IBNA for another three years…
Corporate
Rates starting to increase, says Austbrokers
28 November 2011
Major broker group Austbrokers expects premium increases in the SME sector and is already seeing significant rises in domestic classes, CEO Lach McKeough told last week’s AGM…
Ansvar to quit New Zealand market
28 November 2011
Ansvar will cancel its New Zealand policies from December 31 due to the “prohibitive” cost of reinsurance…
Zurich General Insurance restructures
28 November 2011
Zurich General Insurance will restructure into two divisions – “SME fast flow” and “corporate” incorporating mid-market and global corporate business…
Tower result down on earthquakes, investment earnings
28 November 2011
Tower Ltd has posted a profit of $NZ33.4 million ($25 million) for the year to September 30, down 43% due to the Christchurch earthquakes and lower investment earnings…
Allianz prepared for any future Qantas disputes
28 November 2011
With uncertainty still hovering over the Qantas dispute with its workforce, Allianz Global Assistance has said it will declare any new action as a separate event for travel insurance…
Another player joins buydown market
28 November 2011
Broking group Insurance Advisernet has formed a new business to handle natural disaster deductibles buydown covering flood, cyclones and earthquakes…
Auditor worried about Insured Group’s losses
28 November 2011
Insured Group’s auditor has raised concerns about the future of the business due to rising losses…
French reinsurer CCR exits Australia, Thailand and NZ
28 November 2011
Paris-based reinsurer Caisse Centrale de Reassurance has informed its Australian, New Zealand and Thai partners it will no longer provide reinsurance for their markets…
Suncorp’s commercial claims platform goes live nationally
28 November 2011
The $20 million upgrade of Suncorp Commercial Insurance Statutory division’s claims management platform reached a milestone last week when all sites went live nationally…
Healthier Marsh re-rated by S&P
21 November 2011
Standard & Poor’s has revised its outlook rating on global broker Marsh from negative to stable and confirmed its BBB- long-term and A-3 short-term ratings…
Vero boosts women in its workforce
21 November 2011
Vero has turned its focus onto the women in its workforce with a strategy aimed at retaining female staff and attracting more…
Wallabies star to run Centric Wealth
21 November 2011
Centric Wealth has appointed former Wallabies captain Phil Kearns as its new CEO…
IAG to increase NZ bond offering
21 November 2011
IAG has more than doubled the size of its New Zealand bond offering, due to strong demand…
Port of Lyttelton in dispute with Vero
21 November 2011
A dispute between the Port of Lyttelton and its insurers over an $NZ11 million ($8.4 million) claim for earthquake damage looks headed for the courts…
Macquarie Life outperforms market for fourth year
21 November 2011
Macquarie Life has been awarded five stars in the Beaton Benchmarks study – the only insurer to achieve this status in each of the four years the benchmark research has been conducted…
Ebix launches Austbrokers’ placements platform
14 November 2011
Ebix Australia has started rolling out its iClose placements platform across the Austbrokers network…
Wesfarmers insurance outlook brighter
14 November 2011
Wesfarmers CEO Richard Goyder has told shareholders the performance of the group’s insurance division will “improve significantly” in the coming year in the absence of a notable claims period…
Herbert Insurance preferred creditors likely to get nothing
14 November 2011
Employees, the Inland Revenue and unsecured creditors are unlikely to receive any money from the failed New Zealand broker Herbert Insurance, the receivers say in their second…
Strong third quarter for Ebix
14 November 2011
Global insurance technology specialist Ebix has recorded a 120% increase in cashflows to $US22.1 million ($21.7 million) for the third quarter ending September 30…