September 22, 2015
A special report from A.M. Best notes that the “low level of insurance penetration seen in many Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, combined with the robust, albeit deteriorating, profitability achieved by the leading primary insurers, has made the …
February 27, 2015
The Insurance Authority (IA) of the United Arab Emirates recently issued new financial regulations, which are well placed to improve the risk profile and policyholder security of UAE insurers, according to A.M. Best in a special report titled “A.M. Best …
February 6, 2015
Europe’s 20 largest cedants are benefiting from lower reinsurance rates and stronger bargaining power, resulting from a trend that saw increasing centralized reinsurance purchasing at a group level. A new report from A.M. Beststates that reinsurance rates in Europe remain …
December 22, 2014
Insurers in the Middle East have strong levels of risk-adjusted capital, although they continue to rely heavily on reinsurance protection and carry elevated levels of investment risk. A new report from A.M. Best states that insurance markets in the Middle …
December 22, 2014
Insurers and reinsurers in western Europe posted solid performances in 2014 and retained their capital strength against a backdrop of economic calm, according to a new special report from A.M. Best. The report analyzes the agency’s ratings actions through the …
December 17, 2014
A new special report from A.M. Best discusses the need for non-life and life insurers to address threats called “grey swans,” the low-probability, high-severity events that have the potential to impair balance sheets and lower financial strength ratings. “Although some …
December 15, 2014
Stocks for publicly traded reinsurance companies (including the four large European reinsurers) performed well below the overall market through the third quarter of 2014, driven in part by the increased volatility in the overall equity markets and amplified by continued …
October 16, 2014
Despite varying internal pressures, the German and French insurance markets have shown resilience in their respective ways, according to two separate reports issued by A.M. Best. While Germany’s economy is among the strongest in Europe, its insurance market will continue …
October 15, 2014
While integration of insurance markets among the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has a long way to go, the prospects for closer connectivity in a region with vibrant growth give insurers and regulators incentive …
October 14, 2014
As Spain’s economy shows signs of improvement, there are indications that the decline in the country’s non-life insurance market has slowed in 2014, aided by growth in the health insurance sector, according to a new A.M. Best special report. This …