All Features articles – Page 9
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Features
Europe sets the standard
It's finally here. After numerous delays the draft directive for Solvency II has arrived. Will Roberts discovers that hopes of harmonisation are undermined by fears the directive will create imbalances
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Features
The elephant in the room
Over the last 12 months, the property catastrophe reinsurance market has dodged a couple of life-threatening bullets and pricing is now gently softening across the board. So what happened? asks Peter Middleton.
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Features
Life style changes
The current life reinsurance market, with its ever-decreasing number of players, is facing new challenges and opportunities. Michael Pado looks at the road ahead
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Features
CEO Q&A - Michael O'Halleran -
An interview with Michael O'Halleran, non-executive chairman of Aon Re Global.
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Features
The captive bug
Captives have been around for more than 20 years and remain just as popular today. Rodney Wicks discovers untapped potential in Asia
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FeaturesRock bottom?
There are two camps where the casualty sector is concerned. One believes rates will continue to spiral downwards, while the other is ever-hopeful of a pricing correction. Will Roberts reports.
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Features
Cat bond bubble
Cat bond fever has continued unabated in 2007. Willis Capital Markets looks at how their pricing has evolved and asks if they can weather the subprime storm currently brewing.
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FeaturesThe tug of war
The battle to remove restrictions for foreign reinsurers in the US has taken another twist. The NAIC is now advocating a review of all regulations governing insurers. Ronald Gift Mullins looks at the pros and cons
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Features
A quiet revolution?
The closure of sidecars is likely to hold back the inevitable softening of reinsurance rates, as witnessed at mid-year, explain Malcolm Payton and Bill Bennett. But where does that leave the reinsurance buyer?
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Features
Predicting the weather
Today’s catastrophe models are more scientifically robust than ever before. Dr Jayanta Guin takes a looks at how our understanding of the forces driving natural catastrophes becomes ever more sophisticated.
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Features
The next generation of risk
Many countries in Asia are developing rapidly, with their cities mushrooming. They are also in some of the most hazard-prone parts of the world, warns Domenico del Re.
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FeaturesGR Survey: Catastrophe models
Users think catastrophe models are good value for money and increasingly important to their business. The challenge, it seems, is to feed them better data – and to use their output more effectively. Peter Joy reports
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Features
Stormy skies ahead
The industry enjoyed a benign hurricane season in 2006, but the same cannot be expected in 2007 warns Dr Steve Smith. Warmer sea temperatures and natural weather patterns are likely to cause an above average storm season this year.
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Features
The value of run-off ratings
One of the biggest announcements at this year’s ARC Congress in London came from Standard & Poor’s, which announced it would be offering a ratings service to the run-off industry. But what is the actual value of run-off ratings, asks Helen Yates, and will it be welcomed by the industry?
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Features
Passport to success
Will passporting rights and favourable tax rules in some European countries give them the edge when it comes to attracting new business? The Reinsurance Directive is about to become law across Europe, and when it does, the balance of power could shift. Liz Booth reports
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Features
Out of the loop
Two recent cases have highlighted potential issues associated with an insurer’s requirement to notify its reinsurer in D&O claims. Colin Peck outlines the dangers for reinsurers of using standard notification clauses
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Features
Imperfect solution
With the industry preparing to adopt the FSA’s principles-based approach to regulation, Colin Smith, James Schacht and Lynne Prescott Hepler look at its feasibility and ask if such a scheme could work in the US
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FeaturesGive me an “A”!
Do all start-up reinsurers just get an “A-” rating by default? In the absence of a proven track record, Ronald Gift Mullins explores how the rating agencies judge the strength of the industry’s newcomers
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FeaturesMass exodus
Is Bermuda losing its shine? New time limits on work permits could force out 10,000 workers and this could spell the start of a slow decline of the reinsurance paradise, warns Roger Crombie
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FeaturesGR Survey: Florida’s impact on Bermuda
In May, GR ran a readership survey to establish what impact new Florida laws could have on the Bermuda market ahead of the mid-year renewals. Helen Yates presents the results
