All Posts in "Day: February 18, 2021"

By admin

AICA Reinsurance Corporation Plc (WAICA Re) has donated 39 air conditioners; 12 desktops and 5 laptops as office equipment  to the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria.

The Group Managing Director of WAICA Re, Ezekiel Ekundayo, at the presentation of the equipment which are estimated to cost over N10 million were presented to the institute in Lagos.

He noted that the presentation of the equipment was a further demonstration of the company’s commitment to the Nigerian insurance industry.

Represented by the Regional Director/Nigeria, WAICA Re, Mr Steve Odjugo, Ekundayo maintained that the firm believes in the values and ideas of the CIIN and have over the time provided support to the institute in different form.

Odjugo said that it is the firm’s fervent hope that the equipment would go a long way to improving the working condition of both staff and visitors to the institute’s secretariat

He urged other organisations to borrow a leaf from WAICA Re and lend their supports to the institute which belongs to the entire insurance industry.

On areas the institute needs urgent support, he asserted that aside the Victoria Island building, the institute needs a well equipped e-library that would support its research initiatives.

Director, WAICA Re, Mr. Adeyemo Adejumo, appreciated WAICA Re for the CSR project and its excellence performance within its short time of operations. Whilst calling on other organisations to continue to support the CIIN.

Director-General of the CIIN, Mrs. Abimbola Tiamiyu, said the donation was a booster and that it would assist the institute to sustain its stride in producing professionals that would take the insurance industry to lofty heights

From left: Adeyemo Adejumo, Director, WAICA Reinsurance Corporation Plc; Abimbola Tiamiyu, Director General, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN); Muftau Oyegunle, President, CIIN; Steve Odjugo, Regional Director (Nigeria)/representative of Group Managing Director, WAICA Re; Toyosi Alabi, Director, WAICA Re, and Edwin Igbiti, Deputy President, CIIN, during WAICO 10th year anniversary CSR donations and infrastructural upgrade at CIIN Secretariat in Lagos.

Patoma Admin by — February 18, 2021 in Insurance 0

By admin

Allianz Nigeria is planning to roll out a cyber insurance policy, since working at home raises the stakes in cyber security.

Discussions with regulators are close to reaching a conclusion and the policy is likely to be available before the end of the first half of this year, Allianz Nigeria CEO Adeolu Adewumi-Zer tells The Africa Report.

A risk barometer published by Allianz based on a survey of 193 Nigerian corporate respondents shows cyber incidents as the second-biggest perceived risk in 2021, second only to Covid-19. A year earlier, cyber incidents were only seen as the eighth-biggest risk

Patoma Admin by — February 18, 2021 in Insurance 0

By admin

AIG’s general insurance business saw adjusted pre-tax income fall to $1.9bn in 2020 from $3.53bn, brecorded in 2019 despite a rebound in Q4 that saw 15 percent increases for commercial business, as $1.1bn of Covid-19 losses hit.

The pandemic losses and higher nat cat claims saw general insurance’s 2020 combined ratio deteriorate to 104.3 percent from 99.6 percent in 2019.

But adjusted pre-tax income was up 4 percent in Q4 to $809m as investment income rose 28 percent to $980m. The was despite the fact the unit fell to a $171m underwriting loss in the quarter, compared to profit of $12m in the prior-year period.

The quarterly loss included $545m of cat claims, compared with $411m in Q4 2019. Some $367m was primarily related to Hurricanes Sally, Zeta, Laura and Delta. The remaining $178m consisted of Covid-19 losses, with travel, contingency and Validus Re business taking the brunt.

General insurance’s combined ratio was 102.8 percent for the quarter, deteriorating three percentage points from the same period in 2019. The combined ratio for international commercial business, however, improved by 4.8 percentage points to 92.1percent. The combined ratio for North American commercial lines worsened by 3.6 points to 112.4 percent

General insurance’s net premiums written fell 5 percent in the fourth quarter to $5.6bn. They were flat in international at $3.2bn, and down 11 percent in North America, predominantly due to a 55 percent fall in personal lines.

But net premiums were up 7 percent in international commercial lines to $1.66bn and 10 percent in North America to $1.99bn. AIG said this reflected “strong rate momentum” and improving retention across most lines.

AIG Group posted a net loss of $60m in the fourth quarter from a profit of $922m in Q4 2019, mainly due to a $1.2bn derivative loss. The quarter’s adjusted income was $827m, down from $923m a year ago.

For full year, AIG fell to a $5.97bn net loss from a profit of $3.23bn in 2019. The company said this was largely due to the sale of Fortitude last June.

However, its adjusted income still almost halved to $2.2bn from $4.08bn in 2019. The company said this was primarily due to the result in general insurance, which was hit by higher cat and pandemic losses, as well as an increased pre-tax loss from other operations, including the sale of Fortitude Re.

Peter Zaffino, AIG’s president and chief operating officer, said the insurer achieved 15% commercial rate increases in the fourth quarter of last year, with improvement across all lines expect workers compensation, according to results service Seeking Alpha

International commercial rates were up 14 percent in Q4 and accelerated in the second half of last year, explained Mr Zaffino, who will be taking over as AIG’s CEO from Brian Duperreault on 1 March.

North America commercial rate increases were 21 percent in the fourth quarter, compared to 14 percent in the prior-year period, explained Mr Zaffino. He said this improvement was driven by excess casualty that saw rates increase of 45 percent and financial lines that were up over 25 percent, led by a 35 percent rise in D&O. North American retail property and Lexington wholesale property both saw rates increase by about 30 percent, and Lexington casualty business was up 25 percent.

Mr Zaffino expects the commercial market hardening to continue in 2021.

“We expect to see these rate increases be above loss costs. We expect that these rate increases will be balanced across our global portfolio and across multiple lines of business,” he said.

He added that AIG is going to be “very disciplined” about where it deploys its capacity for P&C risks and ensure it gets the “right price for the exposure”.

AIG’s CFO Mark Lyons agreed that there are no signs of price increases decelerating. He added that price rises started a little bit later for international business, so its market trajectory is slightly different to North America.

Mr Zaffino said AIG’s  fourth quarter results provided “further evidence” that each of its businesses remain “financially strong, market leaders, and well-positioned for profitable growth over the long-term in their respective markets”.

Outgoing AIG CEO Brian Duperreault said the fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 operating results demonstrate “continued progress” to position AIG for “long-term, sustainable and profitable growth”.

“We are effectively managing the impacts of Covid-19 and natural catastrophes, and remain well capitalised in this environment of unprecedented uncertainty,” he said.

Mr Duperreault said general insurance business “continues to improve”, with a 1.9-point uptick in the adjusted accident-year combined ratio compared to 2019; and a 5.6-point improvement in the adjusted accident-year combined ratio compared to 2018.

Patoma Admin by — February 18, 2021 in Insurance 0
Nigeria’s GDP grows by 0.11% in Q4 2020

By Favour Nnabugwu

The nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew year-on-year (y/y) by 0.11 percent in the fourth quarter of last year (Q4 2020) aggregate GDP stood at N43.6 billion.

This represents the first positive growth in the last three quarters of the year where GDP stood at 1.87 percent, -6.10 percent and -3.6 percent respectively..

In its Nigerian Gross Domestic Product Report (Q4’20), released today, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) noted that the positive growth reflected the gradual return of economic activities following the easing of restricted movements and limited local and international commercial activities in the preceding quarters of the reviewed period.

The report stated: “Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.11 percent(y/yr) in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020, representing the first positive quarterly growth in the last three quarters.

“Though weak, the positive growth reflects the gradual return of economic activities following the easing of restricted movements and limited local and international commercial activities in the preceding quarters.

“As a result, while the Q4 2020 growth rate was lower than growth rate recorded the previous year by –2.44 percent points, it was higher by 3.74 percent points compared to Q3’20.

“On a quarter on quarter basis, real GDP growth was 9.7 percent indicating a second positive consecutive quarter on quarter real growth rate in 2020 after two negative quarters.

“Overall, in 2020, the annual growth of real GDP was estimated at –1.92 percent , a decline of 4.20 percentage points when compared to the 2.27 percent recorded in 2019.

“In the quarter under review, aggregate GDP stood at N43.5 billion in nominal terms. This performance is higher when compared to the fourth quarter of 2019 which recorded a GDP aggregate of N39.5 billion, representing a y/y nominal growth rate of 10.07 percent. This growth rate was lower relative to growth recorded in the fourth quarter of 2019 by –2.26 percent points but higher than the preceding quarter by 6.7 percentage points with growth rates recorded at 12.3 percent and 3.4 percent respectively.”

Patoma Admin by — February 18, 2021 in News 0

By admin
The National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, has put the insurance companies on their tolls to embrace technology if they mean to do business
The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas at a conference in Lagos recently,  lamented the declining participation of local insurers in big ticket businesses due to lack of the right technology
According to him, The industry must embrace technology to move forward”
 
“The industry must invest handsomely in technology which is one of our key drivers for developing the market. Institutions should be prepared to digitalize their processes, procedures and systems in order to make their operation seamless and real time.”
He stated that the Commission is investing heavily in automating its processes and expects nothing less from insurance institutions.
“As business owners and as businesses spring up, we must ensure that we put the right processes in place in trying to manage our assets and ensure that we have more strategic thinking”.
Thomas, noted that more businesses are being reinsured abroad them, further eroding the capacity of the local market.
He said, “More businesses especially in the aviation sector and oil and gas are now being reinsured abroad. Of more concern is the declining participation of life companies in the annuity business which is the emerging business for our industry.
These are the areas where the industry can impose itself on the economy through the control of funds for national development; unfortunately, we are missing it.”
The Commissioner further advised the insured public not to discard insurance as part of measures to cut cost in the face of the harsh economic situation.
He said: “It is good to reduce cost but in terms of insurance, people should ensure that all assets are adequately insured”.
“It is good to have a good risk management framework as well as be able to manage our insurances and assets. Many are left with the option of cutting cost, however, not all cost cutting will measure success and some might even end up hurting our businesses
Thoma make bold to say that the insurance industry has proven its relevance in the affairs of the economy.
“Risk is part of our business endeavours and the best thing is to evaluate and see what part of the risk you can transfer”.
Patoma Admin by — February 18, 2021 in Insurance 0