Below are the 4 most recent journal entries recorded in marcinsurance20's InsaneJournal:

Monday, February 15th, 2010
9:44 pm	Life insurance industry may grow 10 per cent in 2010 Life Insurance NZ CHENNAI: India's life insurance industry is expected to grow by around 10 per cent in 2010 over the previous year, mainly by improving efficiency but also by expanding in small towns and villages, industry experts say. They also expect life insurers to rebalance their sales mix - unit linked insurance policies (ULIP) and non-ULIP. "We expect the industry to grow at an average of around 10 per cent. We do expect a slight balancing of portfolios with a shift towards traditional policies with ULIP contribution coming down to 85 per cent from the high 90s," Malay Ghosh, president, Reliance Life Insurance, told IANS. "After years of mis-selling ULIPs as a short-term investment instrument on the back of a stock market boom, risk-averse customers will make life insurers look at alternatives," an industry official said. "ULIPs offering guarantees will find favour with policy buyers," GLN Sarma, appointed actuary, Bharti Axa Life Insurance told IANS. According to industry officials, much of the growth will happen by increasing agents' productivity and not by expanding the distribution network. If companies do expand their branches this will be in small towns and villages. "In the coming years, innovative low cost structures will be used for expansion especially in interior locations, a potentially lucrative market," said Ghosh. "We can expect the branch expansion to continue at semi-urban and the larger of rural centres by private players," R Krishnamurthy, managing director of global consultancy firm Towers Watson's insurance and financial services division, told IANS. Even new players like Future Generali India Life Insurance Company Ltd are cautious in opening new branches. "We will not expand our branch network this year. I don't expect most other companies doing it as some had rationalised their branch network last year," G.N. Agarwal, appointed actuary, Future Generali, said. A senior industry official said: "The focus will be on getting the fundamentals right - arresting expense overrun, reducing policy lapse rates and increasing productivity - though some players seem to be playing the top line game all over again." "Reducing policy lapse rate or increasing the policy persistency ratio is the big challenge for the industry - and this is not an isolated experience of India. There are daunting experiences in other large emerging markets such as China," remarked Krishnamurthy. Mis-selling of life insurance policies as short-term investment is cited as the major reason for the high surrender or lapse rate. According to IndiaFirst Life Insurance's Managing Director P Nandagopal, mis-selling of policies is resorted to by companies that use distribution channels like multi-level marketing companies. "These companies operate pyramid schemes where many times there are no real customers and consequently there is no real persistence," Nandagopal told IANS. According to Reliance Life's Ghosh, as the life insurance sector steps into a new decade, the regulator will lay emphasis on expense and persistency management as these are key drivers of profitability. This article was sourced from the following this site (Comment on this)
7:34 pm	Motor Vehicles to have car insurance in 2011 Car Insurance Quotes YEREVAN, February 12, /ARKA/. After the first parliamentary hearing of a Central Bank-designed draft law on mandatory insurance of motor vehicles today, Gagik Minasian, chairman of a parliament committee on finance, budget and credit issues, said before sending the bill to lawmakers, it had been discussed by the commission and experts. 'We have in Armenia some 400,000 motor vehicles, which not only promote the country's economic development, but also pose danger to people's life,' he said. He said the proposed bill provides protection against losses incurred as a result of traffic accidents and against liability that could be incurred in an accident. According to Gagik Minasian, with the passage of this law Armenia will make another step towards the civilized world. Vache Gabrielian, a deputy chairman of the Central Bank Council, said mandatory car insurance operates successfully in all European countries. He cited also the increasing number of vehicles and road accidents, saying these two factors make auto insurance mandatory. According to Vache Gabrielian, the bill is expected to come into force in 2011. He said in 2013 the so-called bonus-malus system will be introduced, which is a system that adjusts the premium paid by a customer according to his individual claim history. Bonus usually is a discount in the premium which is given on the renewal of the policy if no claim is made in the previous year. Malus is an increase in the premium if there is a claim in the previous year. Bonus-malus systems are very common in vehicle insurance. Vache Gabrielian said the insurance payment amount in Armenia will be between 31,000 to 38,000 Drams. ($1 - 381.26 Drams). -0- This article was sourced from the following this site (Comment on this)
Sunday, February 14th, 2010
8:07 am	Health Insurance - In Arizonia Protecting Arizonans From Health Insurance Arizonans for Health Care Freedom sent me an email to ask for support in their effort to protect Arizonans from government-run health insurance. Here's what they are telling our fellow citizens about how Washington wants to force health insurance coverage on everyone. Be afraid! Be very afraid!! Q. All this health care reform talk won't impact me. I can afford to pay for anything the government plan's won't cover. Why do I care? A. The goal of those leading Washington's push for health care reform - including President Obama and Congressional Democrats - is to create a "one-size-fits-all" system that includes every American. Failure to buy government-approved insurance would result in a fine or worse, while opting out to spend your own money on legal health care would be forbidden by law. If D.C. politicians mandate that you participate in a government-controlled plan, it won't matter if you have $1 or $1 billion to your name. With every doctor and every treatment under government control, we, the patients, will have no right to control our own health care decisions. My Response: What are they talking about? The legislation being discussed has insurance companies offering a list of approved plans from which people can select one that fits their needs - from coverage to premium. The government would require a minimum amount of coverage - like preventive care being included - that would protect consumers. The idea that everyone must buy insurance is not disputed by insurance companies and many Republicans - because if everybody is paying into the system (the young, the healthy, and the not-so-healthy) there will be enough money to make the system work. This is how insurance works. And again, all the current bills call for health insurance to be purchased through private insurance companies. Q. Why should we allow private health insurers to continue to do business? They're too expensive, they refuse to cover the treatment that I need, and they will not take care of pre-existing conditions? A. You are absolutely correct. The private health insurance industry has serious flaws that must be fixed ASAP. We should have more choices to seek out health plans that fit our family's needs, health plans that are more accountable to us as customers, and health insurance that we can take with us when we move or change jobs. Do you think you and your family will be better protected after being forced into a government-controlled HMO? Do you really trust Washington bureaucrats to make the right decisions to get you the care YOU need without life-threatening delays or outright denials? We don't need government control. We need government to allow for better options to be developed to increase access and reduce cost. My Response: THERE IS NO GOVERNMENT HMO in any of the bills. By the way, if you have insurance through your employer, guess what? You are in an HMO or a PPO plan which are networks of health care providers that are contracted with your health insurance company. And guess what? If your employer changes insurance plans, YOU ARE FORCED to change your doctor if he isn't in the new network. It's interesting to see anti-reform groups play on people's "fear of government" when they attack health care reform. But don't people hate insurance companies as much as they hate government? The current (and future) bureaucrat making decisions about your health care is working for an insurance company! This article was sourced from the following this site (Comment on this)
7:38 am	Protecting Arizonans From Health Insurance Insurance giants' earnings disappoint Shares of insurance giants Manulife Financial Corp. and Sun Life Financial Inc. fell in trading Thursday after fourth-quarter profits failed to meet analysts' expectations. Manulife reported a profit of $868 million, or diluted earnings per share of 51 cents. That compares with a year-earlier loss of $1.87 billion, or $1.24 a share. Net income for the year was $1.4 billion, or 82 cents a share, up from $517 million, or 32 cents, in 2008. "We have improved margins, balanced our product portfolio, announced three attractive acquisitions and continued to demonstrate good investment results in the face of challenging market conditions," chief executive Donald Guloien said in a statement. "We have a strong capital base and our equity exposure has reduced through additional hedging, product mix adjustments and with the benefit of equity market increases." Manulife announced a quarterly dividend of 13 cents on the common shares. Its shares closed at $19.16, down 34 cents. Sun Life closed at $30.40, down 96 cents. An analyst survey by Bloomberg News showed Manulife was expected to earn 64 cents a share before one-time items. Sun Life was expected to earn 66 cents a share. Sun Life reported a net income of $296 million, or earnings per diluted share of 52 cents, during the three months ending Dec. 31, 2009, up from $129 million, or 23 cents a share, during the same period in 2008. Sun Life will maintain its quarterly dividend at 36 cents per common share. "While these results were an improvement to the same period a year ago and to the previous quarter our net income was impacted by continued weakness in credit markets, in particular the United States commercial mortgage sector," Donald Stewart, chief executive officer, said during a conference call Thursday. The company reported an annual net income of $534 million in 2009, down from $785 million for 2008. Sun Life has been trying to boost the visibility of its brand in the U.S., and three weeks before last Sunday's Super Bowl it purchased the right to rename the Miami Dolphins' home field. It's now known as Sun Life Stadium. Revenues for the fourth quarter were reported at $5 billion, up $287 million from the same period in 2008. Total revenue for the year was $27.6 billion, up $12 billion from the same 12 months in 2008. U.S. markets continue to be fragile and "capital guidelines for financial services companies are also under review, although the precise impact on life insurers will not be known for some time," said Stewart. When asked if Sun Life would be able to maintain the dividend, Stewart said "absent any major shifts," he expects to, but will analyze it each quarter. "I wouldn't want anyone to have the impression that our horizon is 90 days ..... we make the decision quarter-by-quarter because it is the prudent thing to do in these economic conditions." To visit the site that originally posted this article, click this link (Comment on this)