All Posts in "Insurance"

Naicom to implement corporate governance guidelines in 70days time

In less than 70 days from now, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) will implement insurance industry’s corporate governance guidelines.

The Commission on its website recalled that the guidelines which will be implemented on June 1, 2021,  was issued on March 17, 2021.

Naicom implored all insurance and reinsurance firms to comply with the guidelines and the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance 2018.

Naicom stated, “Non-compliance with the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance (NCCG) 2018 and this guidelines shall be a violation of Section 49(1)b of the National Insurance Commission Act 1997 and attracts penalty under Section 49(5) of the Act”

NAICOM maintained that its principal object is to ensure effective administration, supervision, regulation and control of the insurance business in Nigeria

It added that Section 11 C and 51 C of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) Act, 2011 confers on the FRCN the power to ensure good Corporate Governance Practices in ublic and private sectors of the Nigerian economy.

Naicom noted that the FRCN issued the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance (NCCG) 2018 to institutionalize corporate governance best practices in all Companies in Nigeria and repealed all other sectorial codes.

The Commission in exercise of its powers under the National Insurance Commission Act 1997 and in collaboration with FRCN hereby issues its Corporate Governance Guidelines (the Guidelines) to assist the implementation of the NCCG 2018, it said.

The regulatory body informed that the Guidelines shall be read and interpreted in conjunction with the provision of NCCG 2018 and replaces the NAICOM Code of Good Corporate Governance for the Insurance Industry 2009.

Patoma Admin by — March 20, 2021 in Insurance 0
SUNU Group to invest in five West African States

SUNU Group obtains the approval of the Inter-African Conference of Insurance Markets (CIMA) for the acquisition of the Allianz’s majority stakes in five West African subsidiaries.

The five countries SUNU takes controls of one subsidiary in Benin, two in Burkina Faso, one in Mali and one in Togo.

This major acquisition enables SUNU to strengthen its presence in the aforementioned countries. In Burkina Faso, the acquisition of Allianz’s life and non-life portfolios gives SUNU a predominant position on the market.

Prior to this transaction, SUNU previously acquired the majority stakes of the Equity Assurance group of companies in three countries.

The shares amounted to 74.59 percent for Ghana, 76.18 percent for Liberia and 65.27% for Nigeria. In Togo, SUNU Group already detains 65.70 percent of Banque Populaire pour l’Epargne et le Crédit (BPEC) which it bought 2018.

With the takeover of Allianz subsidiaries, SUNU thus intends to implement its African expansion policy.

As for Allianz, the company is divesting the subsidiaries, considered the least profitable, in order to refocus on high value-added markets

Patoma Admin by — March 20, 2021 in Insurance 0

By admin

Swiss Re will begin tightening its treaty (re)insurance underwriting policy for thermal coal risks from 2023 and exit all exposures in OECD countries by 2030 and the rest of the world by 2040.

New thermal coal underwriting thresholds will be applied across Swiss Re’s property, engineering, casually, credit and surety, and marine cargo lines of business from 2023. They will be gradually reduced until the risks are completely phased out.

Last year, Swiss Re said it would stop underwriting the world’s 10% most carbon-intensive oil and gas companies by 2023.

Updating its investment policy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, Swiss Re has now said it will reduce the carbon intensity of its corporate bond and equity portfolio by 35% by 2025. It has already reduced the portfolio by 30 percent between 2015 and 2018. It plans to exit all coal-based assets in the portfolio by 2030.

At the same time, the reinsurer has set a target to increase investments in renewable and social infrastructure by $750m and expand green, social and sustainability bond exposure to $4bn by the end of 2024, from $2.6bn at the end of last year.

Christian Mumenthaler, Swiss Re group CEO, said: “Climate change remains the biggest challenge we face as a society. The stakes are high and require immediate attention. Signing up to net-zero emissions by 2050 and setting concrete climate targets are important first steps. What needs to follow now is action. We are moving ahead in all areas of our business to accelerate the transition towards net zero.”

As an additional measure, Swiss Re said it will work with companies in its equity portfolio to reduce their carbon emissions and develop their own corporate climate strategies.

Swiss Re’s group chief investment officer Guido Fürer said: “We believe that by engaging with the real economy and supporting the companies we invest in to develop a climate strategy and to manage related risks, we will improve our risk-adjusted returns, while also propelling the transition to a net-zero emissions economy.”

Swiss Re said its targets for underwriting and investment have been set against a protocol adopted by the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, which it joined as a founding member. It will report on the target progress each year.

The group has already committed to net-zero emissions from its own operations by 2030. It has introduced a carbon levy on direct and indirect emissions from its operations starting at $100 per tonne of CO2 from 2021, and doubling to $200 per tonne by 2030.

Environmental campaign group Insure Our Future said Swiss Re’s new underwriting targets are a “breakthrough” in reinsurance, as they extends existing initiatives to reduce coal underwriting in direct and facultative reinsurance to treaty business. The campaign called on other reinsurers to do the same.

“Treaty business is a very large portion of the reinsurance trade and it has been a major loophole in coal underwriting that needs to be addressed. Swiss Re has set a benchmark that the rest of the industry needs to follow, now,” said Lindsay Keenan, European coordinator for Insure Our Future.

“Now that Swiss Re has responded with an ambitious and clear commitment, we call on Munich Re, Hannover Re, SCOR, Berkshire Hathaway, Lloyd’s of London, Mapfre and Vienna Insurance Group to quickly follow suit,” he added.

Patoma Admin by — March 18, 2021 in Insurance 0

By Favour Nnabugwu

AM Best  has become a signatory of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) FI Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI) being the first Credit Rating Agencies, CRA to be.

AM Best believes the insurance industry plays an important role in supporting sustainable economic and social development.

In addition, management of environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts will strengthen the insurance industry’s contribution to building a resilient, inclusive and sustainable society. AM Best’s PSI membership is a significant step in this direction.

Endorsed by the U.N. Secretary-General, the Principles have led to the largest collaborative initiative between the U.N. and the insurance industry — the PSI Initiative. Over 140 organizations worldwide have adopted the four Principles for Sustainable Insurance, including insurers representing more than 25percent of world insurance premium volume and USD 14 trillion in assets under management.

The Principles are part of the insurance industry criteria of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices and FTSE4Good.

“AM Best and its major affiliates are pleased to become a signatory to the U.N.’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance. The Principles ‘serve as a global framework for the insurance industry to address environmental, social and governance risk and opportunities,’” said Arthur Snyder III, Chairman, President & CEO of AM Best Company.

“This fits both our focus on insurance and our continued perspective that ESG elements play an important role in the financial strength of an insurance company.

We’ve long captured environmental and governance issues in our ratings opinions through catastrophe stress tests, A&E tests and ERM. ESG is a repackaging of these. Through the PSI, we are making a further commitment of disclosure and transparency to forward an ESG agenda,” said Matthew C. Mosher, President & CEO of AM Best Rating Services.

“We are delighted that the world’s first credit rating agency is also the first credit rating agency to sign the UN’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI),” said Butch Bacani, who leads the PSI at the UN Environment Programme.

“As the largest credit rating agency specializing in the insurance industry, this is a clear and strong signal from AM Best that sustainability matters in the insurance business, that sustainability counts. In the final analysis, the bottom line is sustainability.”

Patoma Admin by — March 18, 2021 in Insurance 0

By admin

Africa’s insurance industry has only about 3 percent subscription penetration across the continent compared to the telecoms sector, which has over 72 percent subscription penetration in Africa.

This is because most insurance companies have not fully evolved from the traditional means of doing business to integrated modernization and innovation in their products.

During one of the panel discussions at the 2021 Africa Financial Industry Summit (AFIS) tagged “Insurance: how to (finally) win over African consumers,” the speakers emphasized the need for insurers to understand that customers have evolved and are more open to digitalizes products.

“For insurance to work in Africa, we need to have an understanding of our society and how it is working,” said Corneille Karekezi, Group MD/CEO, African Reinsurance Corporation (AFRICA RE) Group.

Emphasizing the need to educate people on financial literacy and the integration of technology, Souleymane Gning, Directeur Général, Assuraf spoke about the need to educate people and show them the benefits of insurance. “Insurers need to engage the use of technology to reach the masses,” Gning said.

Despite a 7.5 percent year-on-year increase since 2015 in countries belonging to the Federation of African National Insurance Companies (FANAF), these successes have been short-lived. This is partly because while many still lack an adequate understanding of what an insurance plan is, the sector is also struggling to woo customers. As tech-driven startups are winning the heart of the African market with innovative and affordable products, most insurance companies still approach the fast-evolving market with methods and less innovative plans. Hence, the need to develop civilized ways to approach the customer with innovative products.

“Customers have evolved very quickly in Africa. They are engaging with Telecoms and not us. We need to engage with them in a more civilised manner. We need to open up and ensure that people can engage with us.”

-Rashidat Adebisi, Chief Client Officer, AXA Mansard Insurance Plc.

Another set of challenges discussed during the session include poverty and financial literacy. A large number of the world’s most impoverished population are found in Africa. This means that many Africans are unlikely to be able to afford an insurance package. According to a World Bank report, high population growth between 1990 and 2015 caused the number of poor people in Africa to increase from 278 million in 1990 to 413 million in 2015. The bank also forecasted poverty to rise in the continent from 55 percent in 2015 to 90 percent in 2030.

“More than half of the population in our region are below the poverty line and cannot afford insurance. We should integrate insurance into the products that the population is consuming more,” said Souleymane Gning.

Some important measures that could facilitate the growth of Africa’s insurance include a transformed digital economy, new innovative products, and industry consolidation. The panelists also stressed that the adoption of these measures could cause an influx of customers to the sector. Players from digital and tech-driven sectors have succeeded in captivating the minds of a vast majority of the African population due to the rise in the use of mobile phones on the continent.

“Our competitions are not other insurance companies but the Ubers and tech startups. The speed at which insurers would provide smart and innovative products to consumers would determine growth in the industry,” said Junior Ngulube, Former Vice-Chairman (2020), Sanlam Pan Africa.

Patoma Admin by — March 17, 2021 in Insurance 0
Kenyan policyhilders to get money back from failed insurers

Policyholders with the failed insurer Concord Insurance are to start receiving a maximum KSH250,000 payout from the country’s Policyholders Compensation Fund (PCF).

The Kenyan Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) told Business Daily that payments will start with Concord but will then move onto Standard Insurance. Other recently failed companies include Blue Shield Insurance, United Insurance Company, Access Insurance Company, Stallion Insurance Company and Lakestar Insurance Company.

The required PCF form now sits at the top of the IRA website homepage. The PCF was set up 16 years ago to settle claims against failed insurers and also to pave the way to pay back claims for other insurers.

PCF managing trustee William Masita said: “This is the first time since its establishment that the fund is compensating policyholder claims for insolvent insurance companies. The maximum compensation payable by the fund on any one claim lodged by a claimant is KSH250,000.”

So far, 1,572 beneficiaries of Concord Insurance have made a claim, which puts the estimated pay out at KSH392m. The IRA, however, expects more claims.

Commissioner of insurance Godfrey Kiptum told the newspaper: “We have started with Concord and Standard Insurance because their matters have been concluded; the others are still in court and we hope they shall soon be resolved.”

Insurers contribute to the PCF through the payment of a levy equivalent to 0.25% of their premium receipts. It had amassed KSH10.6bn in assets as of June 2019

Patoma Admin by — March 16, 2021 in Insurance 0

By Favour Nnabugwu

The National Insurance Commission has commerce approval for insurance certificate /operating license twice in a year.

Naicom stated that the registration processes would be done twice March to May and August – October for issuance of licence/operating certificate.

“The first cycle will commence from March and ends in May with issuance of licence/operating certificate while the second cycle will commence from August and ends in October with the issuance of licence/operating certificate”

Also,  the Commission said any insurance, broking and loss adjust organisations that seek that approval from Naicom must ensure complete filing of their documentationl regulatory body hence there would be delay due incomplete documentation for desired approval from the Naicom.

Insurance regulatory body is presently bombarded with requests for new insurance brokers and loss adjusters.

“Only complete documentation will be received and processed by the Commission.
Any request received but not concluded before the end of any cycle due to late submission or any other of the applicant shall be carried over to the next cycle,” it posited.

Patoma Admin by — March 15, 2021 in Insurance 0

By admin

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors, IAIS, has set out its Roadmap for 2021-2022 despite Covid-19 without losing momentum on key reforms and the strategic objectives set out in the IAIS Strategic Plan 2020- 2024”.

The roadmap sets out the specific projects that the IAIS will undertake or continue during the next two years. “The IAIS will need to remain agile throughout 2021 by monitoring and responding to challenges, such as those arising from ongoing Covid-19 uncertainties, that may affect the effort of the association to achieve its objectives,” states the association.

The plan sets out the high-level goals and strategies of the IAIS – maintaining and adjusting its core functions of developing global standards, supporting implementation and contributing to global financial stability, while supporting its members to proactively respond to a period of rapid change in a global environment driven by technological innovation, shifts in consumer behaviour and societal challenges.

The roadmap explains that the IAIS has now shifted towards finalisation and implementation of agreed reforms. This includes revision of the Common Framework for the Supervision of Internationally Active Insurance Groups (ComFrame) by the end of the Insurance Capital Standard (ICS) monitoring period, to reflect implementation of the ICS as a prescribed capital requirement, criteria to assess whether the aggregation method provides comparable outcomes to the ICS, and implementation of the holistic framework for the assessment and mitigation of systemic risk in the insurance sector, and qualitative aspects of ComFrame.

According to the IAIS: “The Covid19 pandemic provides added impetus to continue to drive the finalisation and implementation of agreed reforms; in the case of the ICS monitoring, for example, the turbulence of the Covid-19 crisis has provided an opportunity to test the adequacy and robustness of this supervisory tool in times of market stress.”

It adds: “In fact, the Covid-19 pandemic is serving as a catalyst that is adding impetus and accelerating many of the key strategic themes identified in the Strategic Plan, including climate risk, technological innovation, cyber risk, issues of conduct and culture, and sustainable development. There are also new themes that have emerged from the Covid-19 crisis, such as the protection gap with respect to pandemic risk, and operational risk and resilience issues related to insurance supervision under a ‘new normal’ of increased remote working, remote supervision and an accelerated digitalisation of the insurance business model.”

Patoma Admin by — March 15, 2021 in Insurance 0

By admin

AXA board unanimously chose Mr Gosset-Grainville after a two-year process to become the new chairman in April next year.

Granville will take charge at the end of the tenure of Denis Duverne the current and outgoing chairman in April 2022.

Gosset-Grainville is a graduate of the Institut d’études politiques in Paris and holds a postgraduate degree in banking and finance from the University of Paris IX Dauphine.

He began his career in 1993 at the Inspection générale des finances, before taking the position of deputy general secretary of the European Monetary Committee and then the EU’s Economic and Financial Committee in 1997.

Mr Gosset-Grainville was EC Economic and Industry Affairs adviser for trade from 1999 to 2020. In 2020, he became a partner at law-firm Gide, where he managed the Brussels office, before becoming deputy director of the cabinet for the French Prime Minister in 2007.

In 2010, he was appointed deputy managing director of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, in charge of finance, strategy, investments and international operations, and was interim chief executive of the group from February 2012 to July 2012.

Mr Gosset-Grainville co-founded the law firm BDGS Associés in 2013.

“Following a comprehensive succession process, conducted in line with our governance standards, I am pleased that the board has come to a unanimous decision on my successor, Antoine Gosset-Grainville. Antoine’s extensive experience in the world of business and public affairs, as well as his entrepreneurial track record in building a successful law firm in Paris, will bring a great deal to AXA and help drive the next phase of the group’s success. I look forward to working closely with Antoine over the next year to ensure a smooth transition,” said Mr Duverne.

AXA CEO Thomas Buberl said it has been a privilege to work with Mr Duverne and is pleased Mr Gosset-Grainville has agreed to become the next AXA chair.

“His broad experience will be a valuable asset for the management committee and me in managing the challenges in front us. I would also like to thank the board for having run such a high-quality and comprehensive succession process,” he added.

Mr Gosset-Grainville said he is honoured by the confidence placed in him by AXA’s board. “I would also like to thank Denis Duverne and Thomas Buberl for their trust. I look forward to working closely with Denis Duverne, Thomas Buberl and the board over the next year to ensure a successful transition in April 2022,” he said.

Patoma Admin by — March 15, 2021 in Insurance 0

By admin

he National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has given her go ahead for Mr Edeki Isujeh to be  new managing director/CEO of Custodian and Allied Insurance Limited.

Custodian and Allied Insurance Limited is the general business arm of the Custodian Group.

Edeki Isujeh was announced as the new managing director of the general insurer following the retirement of the erstwhile managing director, Mr Toye Odunsi in December 2020.

Isujeh has over 30 years experience in the Insurance Industry, having worked in different insurance companies in the areas of; Insurance operations, sales/business development and general management
At Custodian, he has at various times coordinated the marketing and technical operations of the company and as a result of his commitment and hard work, he was appointed the executive director of the company in 2016.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Insurance from the University of Lagos and is a member of the Chartered Insurance Institute, London.

Aside from various technical courses attended in and outside Nigeria, he has over the years attended management courses preparing him for leadership role.
He is an alumnus of the Lagos Business School (LBS) as well as the Wharton Business School, USA where he attended executive programmes

Patoma Admin by — March 15, 2021 in Insurance 0