Ratings outlook stable for major insurers
16 August 2005
Suncorp and Allianz Australia have retained positive ratings…
Corporate
Elders posts a healthy result
16 August 2005
The largest rural insurance provider in Australia, Elders Insurance, has posted healthy results for the first half of this year…
Dropping commercial rates won’t affect results… for now
09 August 2005
Falling commercial premiums won’t have an immediate effect on insurers’ upcoming half-year results, according to JP Morgan analyst Shane Fitzgerald…
We’re going for organic growth, says OAMPS
02 August 2005
Insurance broking network OAMPS says there’s no truth to the rumour that it’s up for sale, and it’s intent on focusing on organic growth rather than disappearing…
Support group absorbs Zurich arm
02 August 2005
Sydney-based financial services provider Paragem Partners has acquired Zurich Australia’s licensee support service business, Zurich Solutions, which trades as DBOS…
More international growth for QBE
02 August 2005
QBE has bought US insurer National Farmers Union Property and Casualty and its subsidiary United Security Insurance in a move that will increase the company’s…
IAG adds a top-level manager
02 August 2005
IAG has made some more changes to its top-level executive team, adding a new position to support international expansion, the planned retirement of the Deputy CEO…
IBNA considers succession arrangements for members
26 July 2005
IBNA is considering adopting a plan that would assist member brokers to sell their businesses within the insurance cluster, thereby ensuring the brokerage remains an IBNA member…
New player set to launch
26 July 2005
Nautilus Marine Insurance Agency – managed by former managers of top-performing Allianz Australia subsidiary Club Marine – will be launched on the Australian market…
Promina announces new exec line-up
19 July 2005
Promina has announced a new executive line-up that will see the diversified financial services provider managed by an executive management team of six…
Australian Unity raises the possibility of de-mutualising
12 July 2005
Australian Unity – one of the dwindling pool of mutual insurers operating in Australia – has once again opened up for debate the possibility of a demutualisation…
MLC sweeps up Hong Kong interests
12 July 2005
Life insurer MLC has purchased the remaining interests in its Hong Kong subsidiary, HKMLC Holdings, for $148 million…
One big family: IAG searches for a Melbourne home
12 July 2005
IAG is moving to bring its various operations in Melbourne under one roof, with a brief understood to have been put to the city’s real estate market…
Horsell International launches financial services capability
12 July 2005
Sydney broker Horsell International has increased its financial services offerings to clients through a strategic alliance with Inpro Australia…
QBE merges European non-Lloyd’s businesses
05 July 2005
QBE Insurance Group’s European arm, QBE European Operations, has merged its non-Lloyd’s operations – its European commercial and retail divisions…
Strong result buoys FMG
28 June 2005
New Zealand-based agricultural insurer FMG has posted a profit before tax of $NZ20 million for the year to March 31 – a good rise on the previous year’s $NZ12.6 million…
Tower’s not leaning
21 June 2005
Just 18 months after being on the brink of a financial precipice, trans-Tasman insurer Tower has announced a healthy profit result for the six months to March 31…
CSR to sue insurers
21 June 2005
Sugar and building products company CSR is predicting steady future profits, and with trials against some 60 Australian, US and European insurers pending…
Suncorp confident of forecast
15 June 2005
Suncorp has stood by its previous forecast for a “substantial” increase in profit for this financial year from $784 million last year, and expects to outperform the market…
IAG acquires Thai insurer
15 June 2005
IAG has firmed its foothold in Thailand with the acquisition of a second Thai general insurer, Royal & SunAlliance…