Tower stands strong
13 July 2004
Things are looking better for leading NZ life insurer and fund manager Tower Group than they were a year ago, when the vultures were circling to see what could be stripped…
Corporate
QBE: we make our own decisions
13 July 2004
Top-five Australian insurer QBE doesn’t use expensive outside advice when it’s considering new M&A opportunities…
Mercantile Mutual’s rating falls
06 July 2004
Standard & Poor’s has lowered the rating on Mercantile Mutual Insurance after the company was acquired by QBE…
O’Halloran ponders life after QBE
06 July 2004
After almost three decades with QBE Insurance CEO Frank O’Halloran says he’s beginning to ponder life after insurance…
GE moves in with Pacific Premium Funding
29 June 2004
GE Commercial Finance Australia/New Zealand has announced a joint venture agreement with Pacific Premium Funding to develop a specialist insurance premium funding company…
IAG NZ buys travel insurer
29 June 2004
IAG New Zealand has continued to make inroads into the NZ insurance market after receiving authorisation from the Commerce Commission of New Zealand…
IAG completes $414 million buy-back
22 June 2004
IAG has completed an off-market buy-back with 94 million shares sold at $4.40 per share…
New broker promises to be noticed
22 June 2004
New Australian broking and risk advisory business InterRisk Australia aims to “increase service standards and lower prices” for its clients, and it has some big names to back it up…
Marsh appoints new boss for Pacific region
16 June 2004
Broking giant Marsh has appointed David Bidmead as its new Region Head for the Pacific, replacing John Richardson, who is retiring at the end of the year…
Suncorp signals huge profits rise
16 June 2004
Brisbane-based allfinanz company Suncorp expects its profits to rise at least 25% this year due to strong performances in its insurance, banking and wealth management businesses…
IAG’s buy-back deadline looms
16 June 2004
Insurance Australia Group’s off-market share buy-back closes at 5pm on Friday…
Axa disputes Hong Kong market loss claims
08 June 2004
Axa Asia Pacific Holdings has disputed official statistics suggesting it is losing market share in Hong Kong…
Zurich Australia unveils heavy motor claims unit
08 June 2004
Zurich Australia has set up a heavy motor specialist claims unit in its NSW motor claims division. The number of NSW claims in this area is about 1,000 a year…
What’s in a name?
01 June 2004
QBE won’t be looking to the Greek gods or traditional Latin when deciding on a new name for QBE Mercantile Mutual…
ReAC set to try again
01 June 2004
Reinsurance Australia Corporation – the last of the local reinsurers swept out the door by the industry shake-up of the late 1990s – plans to seek a new licence…
NAB keeps its local insurance arm
01 June 2004
The National Australia Bank won’t be outsourcing its Australian commercial insurance operations, despite plans to do just that in the UK…
QBE secures its spot in the Asian market
25 May 2004
QBE CEO Frank O’Halloran has spent much of this year hinting at plans to gain a bigger foothold in the Asian general insurance market…
NAB seals UK insurance deal with Axa
25 May 2004
The National Australia Bank is forming an alliance with Axa in the UK to provide commercial insurance products and financial services to customers of its three British banks…
ING sells to QBE
18 May 2004
Funds management giant ING is selling its half share in QBE Mercantile Mutual as well as Mercantile Mutual Insurance to QBE…
OAMPS alleges media beat-up over NAB bid
11 May 2004
National broking network OAMPS has confirmed it has been hit with a discovery motion from National Australia Bank for more than $63 million…