Health funds want more freedom
04 June 2002
Health funds have called on the Federal Government to expand their powers so they can have more “freedom” to choose which doctors and hospitals they reimburse…
Life Insurance
Which bank wants to expand into Asian life insurance?
28 May 2002
Despite plans to sell its Malaysian life business operations, the Commonwealth Bank is still keen on expanding its life insurance business into Asia…
Budget ignores life tax call
21 May 2002
Despite a recommendation in the Ralph Report, the Federal Government has decided to allow the current taxation of life insurance bonds to remain as it is…
Deadly exemption can be countered
07 May 2002
The majority of life insurance claims are attributed to heart attack, stroke, cancer and coronary disease, according to life insurer Norwich Union…
Erosion worries super funds
23 April 2002
Not-for-profit superannuation funds say they are under threat because of recommendations being framed by the Federal Government’s superannuation working group…
Zurich partners with Deutsche
16 April 2002
Following the sale of its wealth manager Scudder Investments to Deutsche Bank, Zurich has handed control of its Australian investment business to Deutsche Asset Management…
Life sales drop a little
09 April 2002
Retail life insurance sales are trending down, according to the latest research from industry analyst DEXX&R (formerly Rice Kachor)…
Financial planners be warned
09 April 2002
As if financial planers haven’t got enough on their plates with the stresses of the Financial Services Reform Act – now ASIC and the Australian Consumers Association…
S&P’s watch Australian health insurers
03 April 2002
Now that medical indemnity insurance is on life support, the next focus for the Federal Government is health insurance…
It’s the economy, says S&P’s
26 March 2002
Australian and New Zealand life insurers are threatened by a volatile and uncertain global economy, Standard & Poor’s has warned in its annual review…
Norwich claims the top spot
19 March 2002
Norwich Union’s Underwriting and New Business team is ranked number one in the industry by life insurance advisers, according to a recent study…
Batchelor beams as AMP surges ahead
05 March 2002
AMP has reported an after-tax profit of $690 million for the year to December 31 – a performance that CEO Paul Batchelor is happy about…
Hard work paying off, says local Axa boss
05 March 2002
Axa Asia Pacific will be in the spotlight over the next few months – not only because it may be the catalyst for a rash of mergers in the health insurance industry…
Norwich navigates its way to growth
26 February 2002
Norwich Union has every reason to be pleased with its Navigator master fund: it increased its market share by 5% in the last quarter, beating a trend that saw the share…
Banking on tough conditions
26 February 2002
Australia’s booming banking sector is facing its toughest conditions in a decade, with economic, credit and regulatory risks rising…
Genetic inquiry extended
05 February 2002
A national inquiry into the protection of human genetic information has attracted an enormous amount of public interest and as a result the deadline has been extended by nine months…
Terror attacks push super returns down
23 October 2001
The September 11 attacks have pushed equity markets down, pushing the average balanced super fund down by 2.6%, according to investment analysts Ausbil Dexia…
Axa pulls out of Taiwan life
16 October 2001
Axa Asia Pacific has sold its Taiwanese life-insurance business to Dutch Insurer Aegon, leaving the group with a $26 million after-tax writedown…
Local companies follow parents’ merger
25 September 2001
Australia’s Scudder Investments operations will merge with Deutsche Asset Management’s after their European parents, Zurich and Deutsche Bank, swapped key businesses…
Regulation of financial conglomerates
18 September 2001
The FSR Act will bring many challenges to the financial services sector, according to accountants Ernst & Young…