England - Institut für Risikomanagement und Versicherung

Transcription

Versicherungen Länder
Theorie & Empirie
1
Australien
WSJ.com BUSINESS August 21, 2012, 10:38 p.m. ET
devastating year for insurers in 2011 following natural
disasters and declining yields from financial investments.
Suncorp Group Profit Soars on Insurance
Rebound
The unit's underlying insurance trading ratio rose to 12.1% as
a result, up from 10.8% in the previous year and in line with
expectations. Overall, the group's gross written premium
increased 9.3% for the year to A$7.96 billion, compared with A
$7.28 billion in 2011, Suncorp said in the statement.
By CAROLINE HENSHAW
Suncorp Group Ltd. on Wednesday reported a brisk 60%
increase in its fiscal year net profit, as its insurance business
recovered after a record year for disasters in 2011.
"The general insurance division continues to generate high
levels of cash and capital and we forecast a yield of 10% in
fiscal 2013 (including A$200 million of special dividends each
half)," Credit Suisse said in a note.
Net profit after tax at the banking and insurance group rose to
724 million Australian dollars (US$758.2 million) in the 12
months to June 30, up from A$453 million a year earlier.
The result missed analysts' consensus forecasts of A$767
million as its banking business weighed down group earnings.
Suncorp declared a special dividend of 15 cents a share, in
addition to a final dividend of 20 cents, taking its total dividend
payments for the year to 55 cents.
"We're controlling what we can control and coping with
everything else....We are confident that the factors holding us
back will now soon abate," Group Chief Executive Patrick
Snowball said during an analyst call, referring to the losses in
the group's banking business.
"The expected release of excess capital has started, and we
view this development as a positive endorsement of Suncorp's
balance and earnings outlook," said Morningstar's head of
banking David Ellis.
Shares, however, shrugged off the below-consensus results,
as investors cheered the performance of the core general
insurance division. Its shares were last trading up 1.7% at A
$8.97, outperforming a 0.2% fall in the benchmark index.
Suncorp's general insurance division reported an aboveconsensus after-tax profit of A$493 million after surviving a
Suncorp said a non-core banking division posted a loss after
tax of A$263 million following charges from nonperforming
assets, cutting the combined net profit for its banking division
to A$26 million from A$84 million in 2011.
2
Australien
As of June 30, the non-core bank had provisions of A$408
million and around A$1.5 billion impaired exposures, Suncorp
said in a statement.
"A resolution around provisioning in the non-core bank could
provide considerable share price upside, in our view," said
Credit Suisse.
Last week, rival QBE reported a below-forecast 13% rise in
first-half profit and cut its full-year insurance profit margin
forecast, knocking its shares down as much as 11% to twomonth lows.
3
CEE
Auf zu den Unterversicherten
in Osteuropa loszuschlagen.
Westliche Assekuranzkonzerne sehen enormes
Absatzpotenzial in den Ländern Zentral- und Osteuropas –
und wollen was vom Kuchen abhaben
Christian Höller
Talanx kündigte an, vor allem in zwei Regionen wachsen zu
wollen. Neben Lateinamerika hat das Unternehmen die
osteuropäischen Länder als Zukunftsmarkt ausgemacht. „Es
gibt in Osteuropa enormen Aufholbedarf“, sagt Christoph
Schultes, Analyst der Erste Group: „Schließlich sind die
Menschen in der Region weniger versichert als in
Westeuropa.“ Die Versicherungsdurchdringung, gemeint
ist das Prämienaufkommen im Verhältnis zur
Wirtschaftsleistung, liegt in Westeuropa zwischen sechs und
zwölf Prozent, in osteuropäischen Ländern wie Rumänien und
Serbien sind es nur zwei Prozent. „Je größer das
Bruttoinlandsprodukt und der Wohlstand, desto mehr wird
versichert“, sagt Schultes. Der Osten hinke hier dem Westen
50 Jahre hinterher.
In Westeuropa gibt es für internationale
Versicherungskonzerne kaum noch Wachstumspotenzial,
deshalb sehen sich die Unternehmen nach Zukäufen in
Osteuropa um. Die in Hannover ansässige Talanx-Gruppe hat
sich Anfang des Jahres in der Bieterschlacht um den
polnischen Anbieter Warta durchgesetzt. Talanx zahlt 770 Mio.
Euro und steigt zur Nummer zwei im polnischen Markt auf.
Warta betreut in Polen 1,5 Millionen Kunden und kommt auf
ein Prämienvolumen von 1 Mrd. Euro. Die Übernahme war für
Talanx von strategischer Bedeutung.
Während die Banken in den osteuropäischen Ländern wegen
der Krise hohe Kreditausfälle verzeichnet haben, läuft das
Geschäft der Versicherer stabil. Zwar sind in einigen Staaten
wie Ungarn wegen des Konjunkturabschwungs die
Prämieneinnahmen gesunken, doch dabei dürfte es sich um
eine vorübergehende Entwicklung handeln. In Polen und in
Tschechien ist der Aufwärtstrend weiter intakt.
Polen gehört in Zentral- und Osteuropa zu den größten
Versicherungsmärkten und weist überdurchschnittlich
hohe Wachstumsraten auf. Warta war begehrt. Auch die
italienische Generali interessierte sich für den Versicherer,
ebenso die Vienna Insurance Group (VIG), die deutsche
Allianz und die Zurich Insurance Group. Doch Talanx reichte
die mit Abstand höchste Offerte ein. Verkäufer war der
belgische Finanzkonzern KBC. Dieser hatte zur Bewältigung
der Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise Staatshilfe in Milliardenhöhe
erhalten und sich im Gegenzug verpflichtet, Töchter
4
CEE
Der Verkauf von Sachversicherungen wie der Autohaftpflicht
erweist sich weitgehend als krisenresistent. Mit zunehmendem
Wohlstand steigt auch die Nachfrage nach
Lebensversicherungen und Altersvorsorgeprodukten.
Nachholbedarf in Osteuropa hat die österreichische UniqaVersicherung. Daher führt die Gesellschaft im Sommer eine
Kapitalerhöhung über 500 Mio. Euro durch. Das ist aber nur
ein erster Schritt. Für 2013/14 ist eine weitere Finanzspritze
geplant. Dann möchte der Konzern mit dem Verkauf neuer
Aktien noch einmal einen dreistelligen Millionenbetrag
einnehmen. Das Geld soll für Akquisitionen in Zentral- und
Osteuropa ausgegeben werden. Innerhalb der nächsten
zwei Jahre werde in der Region der Kuchen neu verteilt, sagt
Uniqa-Vorstandschef Andreas Brandstetter: „Und da wollen
wir dabei sein.“ Er sieht starke Indizien, „dass
Marktteilnehmer, die derzeit im Osten aktiv sind, in Asien und
Südamerika größeres Potenzial sehen und ihre
Ost-Beteiligungen verkaufen“. Wegen strengerer
Eigenkapitalvorschriften würden auch „lokale Potentaten“ ihre
Versicherungsanteile abgeben. Ziel von Uniqa ist, bis 2020 die
Kundenzahl von 7,5 Millionen auf 15 Millionen zu verdoppeln.
Ein Großteil der Neukunden soll aus Osteuropa kommen. Das
Potenzial sei angesichts der geringen Versicherungsdichte
enorm, sagt Brandstetter.
Immer mehr internationale Versicherungskonzerne wollen
daher ihr Geschäft in der Wachstumsregion ausbauen. Aus
Deutschland sind bereits die Allianz und die zu Munich Re
gehörende Ergo stark vertreten. Dazu kommen die VIG, die
österreichische Uniqa und Generali. Ergo steuert einen Teil
des Osteuropageschäfts über eine Holding in Wien. Die
Tochter Ergo Austria ist bereits in sechs osteuropäischen
Ländern vertreten und hat weitere im Visier. Die VIG ist nach
aggressiven Zukäufen zur führenden Versicherung in Zentralund Osteuropa aufgestiegen und mittlerweile in 25 Ländern
präsent. Das Geld für die Expansion holte sie sich von der
Börse. Während 2011 am Heimatmarkt Österreich die
Erlöse stagnierten, ging es in Tschechien, Polen und der
Slowakei deutlich aufwärts. „Wir wachsen dort schneller als
der Markt“, sagt VIG Chef Günter Geyer. Dass sein
Unternehmen bei der polnischen Warta nicht zum Zug
gekommen ist, sieht Geyer nicht als Niederlage: „Wir hätten
Warta gern gekauft, aber zu den Preisvorstellungen, die wir
richtig finden.“ Die Österreicher wollen in Polen jetzt „sehr
dynamisch organisch wachsen“. Bereits im Vorjahr steigerte
die VIG dort das Prämienvolumen um 28 Prozent.
So gibt in Albanien ein Erwachsener jährlich im Schnitt 19
Euro für Versicherungen aus. In anderen Ländern
Osteuropas sind es zwischen 100 und 570 Euro – in
westeuropäischen Ländern wie Österreich 2000 Euro.
FTD.de/beilagen 23.05.2012 Zentral- und Osteuropa A2
5
China
Where the state does too little
years to come. Optimists think growth in excess of 20% a year
is a good bet.
China’s insurance industry holds a mirror to the government
Jul 21st 2011 | HONG KONG | from the print edition
Some of the reasons for this rosy prospect are obvious:
China’s size, its growing wealth and the immaturity of the
industry (...) all explain its potential. But the fact that the
industry has so far to go also reflects two historic shifts in
government policy, one which set the market back and the
other now propelling it forward.
THE insurance industry, designed as it is to smooth over life’s
dramas, is meant to be somewhat dull. Insurers themselves
mostly conform to this type: they produce modest, consistent
returns—steady growth and, to reassure the skittish, a
dividend. Things are different in China. Dividends are a trivial
component of share prices, and the industry’s growth
prospects are breathtaking, not boring.
The first shift dates back to the revolution and wiped out the
industry. British firms began selling policies in China in 1846.
In 1875 a precursor to the current China Merchants group
entered the market. AIG was founded in Shanghai in 1919.
Small agencies peddling policies speckled the streets of major
cities, says Paul French, a Shanghai-based writer.
All, however, were tossed out or shut down after the revolution
on the premise that the state provided all, so there was no
need for a separate intermediary.
One measure of its buoyancy is the industry’s resilience in the
face of a series of recent setbacks. Concerns over
questionable sales practices have prompted regulators to
restrict banks’ distribution of life-insurance products, a channel
that is responsible for about half of all life sales. If that was not
bad enough, the end of subsidies for car purchases introduced
during the global crisis removed a main impetus for sales of
car-insurance policies. Car insurance is three-quarters of the
country’s property and casualty business.
Even hard-core communists were gradually convinced of the
need for shipping insurance for the country’s tiny foreign trade
—no one wanted to allow anything on a boat if there wasn’t a
clear way of being reimbursed if it did not arrive. A single
company, the People’s Insurance Company of China (PICC),
was established as a government monopoly, although the
amount of business it did was trivial.
Even so life-insurance sales are off by only 5% so far this
year, compared with the same period in 2010, and carinsurance sales, after slowing early in the year, seem to be
rebounding. In the longer term most analysts are looking at
15% earnings growth for both life and non-life products for
6
China
Things began to change in 1988 when China Merchants was
able to convince the government that it should be allowed
back into the business it had set up for China a century
before. It was permitted to establish Ping An Insurance, at first
providing coverage for trucks moving goods from a single part
of Shenzhen in the south of the country. Eventually, insurance
offices were established at the end of each truck route.
existent. In the case of a disaster, help is unlikely to come
from the courts or from government. That creates a
staggeringly large gap for insurers.
The most popular life-insurance products tend to be simple:
pay a premium for 10-15 years and get a return, plus
protection for your family in the case of death. They are useful
for retirement, for a child’s education or for an emergency. As
investment products, however, they are less attractive than
they once were. Banks have recently had to raise reserves:
that has created a hunger for deposits which has pushed up
what they are willing to pay. It is now common to be offered
3% for a one-year bank deposit and 5.5% for a five-year one.
Insurers are allowed to guarantee only a 2.5% return; policies
linked to the stockmarket that dangle the promise of much
higher returns have disappointed recently.
From these modest roots, an extraordinarily valuable industry
has emerged. Ping An is now worth $66 billion. PICC has
been broken up into at least three bits. One part, China Life, is
the only pure insurance company in the world worth more than
Ping An; another part, carrying the old PICC name and selling
property and casualty insurance, is worth $20 billion; a third
will go public soon. Various other insurance companies have
emerged as well, often carved out of a state entity. China
Pacific, a Shanghai-based firm, is worth $30 billion. Along with
these giants there are hundreds of smaller outfits and dozens
of foreign-linked ventures, all crowding into what they sense is
a growing market.
That might hurt if enough customers moved in search of
higher returns. But in China many people are only just
becoming affluent enough to invest. There is lots of
opportunity for agents with a product to flog. China Life has
more than 700,000 agents working on its behalf; other firms
have armies of salesmen, too.
That growth reflects the second great shift in government
policy. Having previously dispensed with insurance as
redundant in a socialist society, the new China has reversed
course. The state is intimately involved in business and many
aspects of life, but the provision of social insurance—for illhealth, accidents and old age—is either inadequate or non-
7
China
As is often the case in China, foreign firms face huge barriers.
With one exception, they are required to enter the country
through joint ventures or to hold only tiny, direct stakes.
The exception is AIA, which was recently spun out of AIG. Its
erstwhile parent was quick to follow China Merchants in
successfully pushing for a new licence based on its history,
and managed to obtain approvals for five provinces.
AIA’s life-insurance operations have the largest market share
of any foreign firm as a result, at a trivial-sounding 1%. Even
that sliver still accounts for 8% of all its new business, notes
Mark Kellock, an analyst with Barclays Capital. Up that share
just a little and the impact on AIA would be vast. China’s
insurance market may be daunting. Dull it is not.
8
China
9
China
FT.com May 29, 2012 12:26 pm
Banks are therefore desperate to get on deals; PICC’s $6bnodd offering, expected to be split between Hong Kong and
Shanghai, will be critical. If more than 12 banks make the
deal, it would be a global record.
Cornerstone investors: PICC and choose
How many banks do you need to take a company public?
There has to be a twist on the old lightbulb joke when PICC,
the Chinese insurer, told 14 banks they can work on the Hong
Kong aspect of its potential $6bn share sale. Their chances of
earning a fee will depend on their ability to produce
cornerstone investors. PICC is the latest Hong Kong-bound
company to demand guaranteed investors. This trend is not
healthy.
Companies are keen to “de-risk” deals in choppy markets.
Using lots of banks and pre- selling chunks can help. But this
allows process management to take over from the art of
selling a story. The investment banker version of the lightbulb
joke says one is enough to hold the bulb while the world
revolves around him.
Hong Kong-bound companies seem to think the market
revolves around them. Investors outside the cornerstone club
should think about the messages – the need for such a
comfort blanket, the loss of liquidity – sent by these cosy
deals.
Cornerstones get agreed allotments of an IPO in return for
accepting a lock-up period. Early big-name backers can boost
a deal, but tying up large chunks of an offering is like resorting
to Plan B before Plan A – convincing investors of your
corporate story – has been tried. The practice is prevalent in
Asia and it matters because Hong Kong is the world’s biggest
listing market, raising a third more equity than New York, its
nearest rival, in the past three years.
This year cornerstones have taken three-10ths of the listings
in Hong Kong. That is more than at any time in the past 15
years, according to Dealogic. Total listings this year, at $3.3bn,
are running at only a fifth of 2011 levels.
10
China
FT.com May 29, 2012 12:29 pm
management business, from AIG following the insurance
company’s collapse during the global financial crisis. Mr Li,
who is being advised by HSBC, spent several weeks trying to
find a consortium partners who would be interested in the
Japanese or Korean parts of ING’s Asia business, according
to people familiar with his dealings.
Richard Li bids for ING’s Asian assets
By Paul J Davies in Hong Kong
Richard Li has lodged an indicative bid for the south-east
Asian businesses of ING’s $6bn Asian insurance operations,
which the Dutch financial group is selling after taking
government bailout cash during the financial crisis.
However, the Dutch group and its advisers in the sale,
Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, did not allow consortium bids
in the first round of bidding, which closed on May 18, because
it would prefer to sell the businesses as a single unit.
The younger son of Asia’s wealthiest tycoon, Li Ka-shing, is a
surprise entrant to the field of bidders, which had been thought
to include only strategic interest from insurance companies
looking to boost their presence in Asia.
Large North American groups MetLife and Manulife are
thought to have lodged offers for all the Asian businesses,
while Prudential Financial of the US, which had been expected
to do so, dropped out days before the deadline without
bidding, according to people familiar with the situation.
The majority owner of PCCW, the media and telecoms
company, has been given a boost by a pledge from his tycoon
father that he will financially back his son’s business ventures,
giving Richard Li access to extra firepower.
However, most other interested parties, including AIA, the panAsian insurer, are expected to avoid the Japanese unit, which
has a good life assurance group but an opaque and potentially
loss-ridden variable annuity division that writes long-term
income guarantees to policy holders.
Richard Li has three main business interests – telecoms,
property and financial services – according to one close
adviser, so the ING insurance arm would fit with that.
Mr Li previously owned a Hong Kong-based life assurance
company, Pacific Century Life, which he sold to Belgo-Dutch
group Fortis. He also bought Pinebridge, a US-based asset
11
China
The Korean arm has generated some strong interest from
domestic rivals, but the south- east Asian business, which is
dominated by a Malaysian unit, is expected to attract the most
interest and potentially the highest premium.
South-east Asia is seen as promising the highest growth rates
as a burgeoning middle class looks to save for the future and
protect its improving lifestyles.
As a whole, ING’s Asian insurance operations are expected to
fetch between $6bn and $7bn. Mr Li, HSBC, JPMorgan and
Goldman Sachs all declined to comment.
12
China
FT.com July 26, 2012 9:32 pm
The two buyers plan to provide Chinese investors with a
deeper understanding of investment opportunities in Europe in
the wake of the financial crisis while developing renminbi
products for investors sitting in Europe.
China funds near deal for Dexia unit
By Anousha Sakoui, Henny Sender and Hugh Carnegy
Two Chinese private equity funds are closing in on a deal to
buy the asset management arm of Dexia, highlighting the
interest of Asian buyers in European financial assets as banks
look to restructure in the wake of the financial crisis.
Dexia said in June it was in negotiations with three
international investors for the sale of Dexia Asset
Management, and expected a deal in the coming weeks. It
gave no details.
If the sale of the business for about €500m is completed, it
would mark the last stage of a break- up of the twice-bailedout Belgo-French bank, one of the biggest European victims of
successive financial crises during the past four years.
People familiar with the matter said New York Life Insurance
and Macquarie Group had been among those interested.
These companies declined to comment. The sale of DAM will
be the last of six Dexia units hived off in a fire sale of assets
over the past nine months, which have so far raised €8.7bn.
Hony Capital, one of China’s largest private equity groups,
teamed up with GCS Capital, a fund founded by former
investment banker Guocang Huan, to buy the business, which
has about €80bn under management and clients in 25
countries.
The selection of a preferred bidder comes after the departure
last month of Jean-Luc Dehaene, chairman, and Pierre
Mariani, chief executive, who were brought in to rescue Dexia
in 2008 after its first bailout. Dexia declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Pierre Moscovici, French finance minister, said
Paris was close to a deal with the European Commission on
last year’s overall €90bn bailout of Dexia by France, Belgium
and Luxembourg. The commission has so far temporarily
approved only €55bn of the state guarantees.
Additional reporting by Paul J Davies
The two funds have been selected as Dexia’s preferred
bidder, people familiar with the situation said. One of the
people said an agreement in principle was reached in talks in
Paris on Wednesday and was set to be signed next week. A
second person with knowledge of the talks said the group had
offered more than €500m for the unit.
13
China
CHINA-FLAUTE VERUNSICHERT DAXCHEFS
Immerhin: Die Absatzzahlen der deutschen Autohersteller in
der weltweit zweitgrößten Volkswirtschaft wachsen weiter
zweistellig. Auch Adidas, Bayer und Metro verbuchen ein Plus.
Claudia Wanner, Hongkong
FTD.de 31.08.12
Die Ergebnisse passen ins weltweite Bild: Vom Luxusjuwelier
Tiffany bis zum Baumaschinenexperten Caterpillar haben
Konzerne zuletzt in ihren Halbjahreszahlen auf drohende oder
bestehende Umsatzrückgänge in der Volksrepublik
hingewiesen.
Viele deutsche Großkonzerne erwirtschaften inzwischen einen
beachtlichen Teil der Umsätze in der Volksrepublik. Das
nachlassende Wachstum macht diese Abhängigkeit nun zum
Risiko
Die Gewinne chinesischer Industrieunternehmen schrumpfen
seit Jahresanfang. Im Juli lagen sie um 5,4 Prozent unter dem
Vorjahresniveau. Und in einer aktuellen Studie von Goldman
Sachs gehören Sorgen über ein schwächeres Wachstum in
China zu den Topthemen multinationaler Konzerne.
Martin Brudermüller ist vorsichtig geworden. „Mit ein bisschen
Lagerabbau, wie es im Moment läuft, ist die Nachfrage schnell
bei einer Wachstumsrate von null“, beschrieb der AsienVorstand von BASF vor wenigen Tagen das aktuelle Geschäft
in China. Die Kunden seien derzeit sehr vorsichtig.
Folgerichtig ist der DAX-Konzern in China – lange Zeit der
Boommarkt schlechthin – in den ersten sechs Monaten nicht
gewachsen.
Die chinesische Regierung hatte mit dem laufenden
Fünfjahresplan die geplanten Wachstumsraten
heruntergeschraubt; das Ziel für 2012 liegt bei 7,5 Prozent.
Doch die Folgen der Schuldenkrise in der EU, die unsicheren
Aussichten in den USA und eine Reihe hausgemachter
Probleme lassen nach Ansicht vieler Ökonomen auch diese
Vorgabe wackeln. Im zweiten Quartal schaffte die Wirtschaft,
die die Vorgaben in der Vergangenheit stets locker übertroffen
hatte, ein Plus von 7,6 Prozent.
BASF ist kein Einzelfall. Die Halbjahreszahlen einer Reihe
deutscher DAX-Konzerne belegen, dass das China-Geschäft
längst kein Selbstläufer mehr ist. So stagnierten laut einer
Analyse der Münchener Strategieberatung EAC nicht nur bei
den Ludwigshafenern, sondern auch bei der Deutschen Post
und Merck zuletzt die Umsätze in der Volksrepublik. Infineon,
Siemens und Thyssen verzeichneten gegenüber dem
Vorjahreszeitraum sogar leichte Rückgänge.
14
China
Im gebeutelten Europa hört sich das nach viel an. Doch in der
Volksrepublik stehen zahlreiche Branchen nach Jahren des
Wachstums vor massiven Problemen: Die fehlende Kauflaune
in Übersee schwächt die Exporte, zahlreiche Konzerne
produzieren derzeit für ihre Lager. Chinas Banken werden
vorsichtig und reichen weniger Kredite aus, das drückt auf die
Investitionen. Im August ist die Produktion nach ersten Indizes
deutlich geschrumpft.
Investitionsgüter herstellen, wie etwa ThyssenKrupp oder
Siemens.
Und trotzdem: Beobachter raten zur Gelassenheit. „Insgesamt
ist die Lage in China für die deutschen Konzerne immer noch
positiv“, sagt Daniel Berger, Berater bei EAC in Schanghai.
Die vielfach geäußerte Sorge, dass „die Party zu Ende ist“,
teile er nicht. Schließlich komme das schwächere Wachstum
mit Ansage. Dagegen hatte der Société-Générale-Volkswirt
Yao Wei die jüngsten Veröffentlichungen zur
Industrieproduktion „entsetzlich“ genannt und sein
Wachstumsziel in Gefahr gesehen.
Ob nun Crash oder gedrosseltes Tempo: Viele deutsche
Konzerne werden die Folgen in den Bilanzen spüren.
Schließlich sind mit Ausnahme des Energiekonzerns Eon alle
DAX-Konzerne in China aktiv. Die Automobilkonzerne und
Infineon erwirtschaften dort teilweise deutlich über zehn
Prozent der Umsätze. Für den Chiphersteller dürfte es jedoch
schwieriger werden, ebenso für Konsumgüterkonzerne und
Firmen, die mit dem Bausektor verbunden sind oder
15
China
FT.com September 2, 2012 3:46 pm
Partners, Citic Capital Partners, CDH Investments and China
Everbright.
Delisting Chinese groups worry insurers
The growing wave of Chinese companies looking to delist
from US stock markets is rattling insurers that have sold them
millions of dollars worth of cover for defence costs in the event
of shareholder lawsuits.
Companies looking to delist often do so at relatively low
valuations compared with either their past trading history or
their original listing price, and in the US it is extremely
common for shareholders to file “bump-up” lawsuits that seek
to extract a higher price from proposed new buyers.
Insurers in Asia and Europe that are exposed through
directors’ and officers’ liability policies are looking at ways to
exclude this cover, according to lawyers at RPC, the Londonbased firm, though brokers say it would be extremely tough for
them to strip it out of existing policies.
Robin Huang, leader for financial and professional risks in
China at Marsh, the insurance broker, said that about half of
the 27 Chinese groups that have launched a deal to go private
in the past 18 months have faced litigation or at least
investigation from law firms engaged by public shareholders.
At least 16 companies with a value of about $4bn have
already completed deals to take themselves private – often
with private equity backing – as their share prices have
performed poorly and the entrepreneurs and
executives behind them have struggled to engage US
investors and analysts.
US insurers have typically excluded cover for the cost of
defending such suits for some time already, according to
Jeremy Hewitt, a partner at RPC in Singapore. Insurers in Asia
and Europe, however, have not until now.
US companies typically have D&O cover of about $50m –
although that is much larger for the very biggest companies.
Chinese companies listed in the US, where D&O cover is
mandatory, typically have about $15m-$20m. More than 400
Chinese groups are listed in the US after a wave of reverse
mergers and initial public offerings in recent years.
Fresh proposals continue to arise, such as this month’s move
by Focus Media, a Chinese outdoor advertising group worth
$3.5bn, to delist from Nasdaq with funding from Carlyle
Capital of the US, alongside Chinese firms FountainVest
16
China
Mr Hewitt said that excluding such cover from existing policies
in the event that a company goes private would be a “matter
for commercial negotiation”.
“If a company delists then that constitutes a material change
of control, which a company would have to notify its insurer
about. This could then be used to change the terms of cover,”
he said.
Mr Huang of Marsh said that it would be very tough to exclude
defence costs from “bump-up” suits on existing policies. “But
at annual renewal, insurers are now more commonly looking
to exclude any liability related to going private,” he said.
“Sometimes if there is only a low share price or a large holding
controlled by an original owner insurers will look to exclude
cover or at least apply sub-limits.”
Murray Wood, regional managing director for Asia at Aon Risk
Solution, said he was not yet seeing any insurers impose
“bump-up” exclusions on clients, but he was seeing other
specific exclusions related to privatisation deals.
“The market in general is wary of privatisation long-tail risk,”
he said. “So long as there is adequate pre-renewal
communication between the brokers, underwriters and the
‘insureds’, very few insurers will insist on these exclusions
without reasons.”
17
China
China
China
Private equity in China
A big reason for this success is Hony’s political connections.
Mr Zhao is a networking master. That giant table took up over
half the ballroom because it allowed even semi-important
officials to feel loved. But more important than all the small
connections is a big one: Hony is an offshoot of Legend
Holdings, a quasi-governmental investment firm, which also
controls Lenovo, a computer maker.
Hony ahoy
Hony Capital wants to help Chinese firms go global
Sep 1st 2012 | WUHAN | The Economist from the print edition
JOHN ZHAO, the boss of China’s Hony Capital, doesn’t do
understated. At the annual general meeting (AGM) of the
private-equity firm, held this week in Wuhan, he arranged for a
bedecked circular conference table so enormous that even a
Chinese guest whispered that it was “worthy of the central
committee”. The firm’s AGM last year is remembered for a
huge outdoor projection on a building in Shanghai’s Bund
district, showing a gold-laden ship called “Hony” sailing
homeward past foreign landmarks.
Many conservative investors, such as risk- averse funds of
funds, are reassured by the fact that Liu Chuanzhi, Legend’s
founder and the doyen of China’s entrepreneurs, remains
actively involved in Hony. “You just don’t know who else to
trust in China,” confides a foreigner who has invested in Hony.
The firm cannot rely on reputation forever. Its early funds have
performed well: one is on its way to returning over ten times
invested capital. But newer (and far bigger) funds have yet to
sparkle. Returns on a $1.4 billion Hony fund raised in 2008 are
so far below 6%, estimates PitchBook, a research firm. An
investor captures the emerging sentiment: “You took all my
money, where are the returns?”
Mr Zhao has reason to brag. In recent years billions have
flooded into the more-than-5,000 private-equity firms that
focus on China (...), but Hony has emerged as the top dog. It
has raised more money since its founding in 2003 than any
rival in China, according to Preqin, a research firm. It counts
as investors the Gates Foundation, Goldman Sachs, China’s
giant National Social Security Fund and government pension
funds from across North America.
Its latest dollar and yuan-denominated funds have raised $2.4
billion and $1.6 billion respectively.
20
China
But even Hony’s rivals acknowledge its strengths. The Asian
boss of a Western private-equity firm praises Hony’s
sophisticated approach to managing its portfolio and its
investors, as well as its almost un-Chinese transparency. “It
looks the most like a Western institutional fund,” he says,
adding that there have been too few investment cycles to
judge performance—not just of Hony but of the entire sector.
As entrepreneurial as they are, Mr Zhao observes, many small
and mid- sized firms in China lack much of what is common in
the West, in particular good management, proper accounting
and savvy marketing. By helping them acquire such skills, Mr
Zhao says, two-thirds of the 70 or so firms in which Hony has
invested so far have met or beaten expectations and nearly all
have seen improving profits. Such claims are impossible to
validate, but outside experts reckon that Hony has been
unusually adept at improving a firm’s operations.
Mr Zhao is also prepared to be flexible in search of returns.
The firm’s early tack was to reform inefficient state-owned
enterprises (SOEs). Now it focuses on helping Chinese firms
expand abroad. Soon Hony may become an “asset manager”,
says Mr Zhao, although he does not offer details. (Hony is
rumoured to be close to winning the asset- management
business of Dexia, a deeply troubled European bank.) The
unifying thread seems to be his unshakable faith that the
“Chinese are inherently entrepreneurial”.
The logic behind Hony’s shift towards helping Chinese firms
venture abroad is less obvious. In 2008 it advised Zoomlion, a
struggling heavy- equipment SOE that it had previously helped
restructure, on its acquisition of CIFA, an Italian firm. The deal
was ill–timed, coming on the eve of the financial crisis. But it
still made good strategic sense, according to a case study
about the purchase by Josh Lerner of Harvard Business
School.
His own life is evidence. Early in his career he turned down a
job as a bureaucrat to work for a radio factory in Nanjing.
Overcoming resistance from old-timers, he persuaded his
boss to let him try something new. Armed with a suitcase filled
with thousands of yuan, he went off to Shanghai’s Jiao Tong
University, found an academic who had invented a promising
medical device, bought the rights and got it built. A few years
in America strengthened his trust in risk-taking capitalism.
Zoomlion gained new distribution networks in Africa and the
Americas; with Hony’s help, CIFA was able to shift
manufacturing to China, where its parent now offers the Italian
firm’s kit as a premium product. As a result, Zoomlion’s
revenues have shot up more than tenfold since 2006, to $7.4
billion in 2011; its profits are up more than twentyfold, to $1.3
billion.
21
China
Sceptics think such success will be hard to repeat. Why, they
ask, should a Chinese SOE wanting to enter, say, Germany
need a Chinese private-equity firm’s help—rather than that of
big Western firms which have better knowledge of the target
market?
That is not what matters most, Mr Zhao counters: Chinese
firms have a very strong culture and little experience working
with outsiders, which he thinks gives Hony a decisive edge.
He points to Bain Capital’s failed attempt to help Huawei, a
telecoms firm, enter America as an example.
“I’m going to be riding on the wave of Chinese firms going
global,” Mr Zhao insists. But even if he is right, he cannot
relax. Investors will not wait forever for the good ship Hony to
bring them that promised golden bounty.
from the print edition | Finance and economics
22
China
23
China
FTD.de 25.09.2012, 11:40
Streit:
Erzrivalen ABN Amro , den die Belgier im Herbst 2007
zusammen mit der Royal Bank of Scotland und Spaniens
Santander für 72 Mrd. Euro erworben hatten. Im Zuge der
Kriseneskalation nach der Lehman-Pleite im September 2008
dann war Fortis endgültig zusammengebrochen und musste
von Belgien, Luxemburg und den Niederlanden gerettet
werden. In jenem Jahr erwirtschaftete die Gruppe rund 28
Mrd. Euro Verlust.
China zerrt Belgien vor Gericht
Vor fünf Jahren investierte der chinesische Lebensversicherer
Ping An 1,8 Mrd. Euro in den Finanzkonzern Fortis. Ein Jahr
später war Fortis verstaatlicht und das Geld weg. Jetzt fordert
Ping An vor Gericht von Belgien die Rückzahlung.
von Tim Bartz
Jetzt also will Ping An sein Geld zurückbekommen, und
Schauplatz der Auseinandersetzung ist das Internationale
Zentrum zur Beilegung von Investitionsstreitigkeiten
(International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes,
ICSID) in Washington, das Teil der Weltbank ist - und äußerst
verschwiegen.
Der Zusammenbruch seines einstigen Finanzkonzerns Fortis
lässt das schuldengeplagte Belgien nicht los. Zwar gehört das
Bankgeschäft heute der französischen Bank BNP Paribas ,
und die verbliebene Versicherungssparte Ageas, die je zur
Hälfte von Belgien und den Niederlanden getragen wird,
wirtschaftet einigermaßen erfolgreich vor sich hin. Doch die
Spätfolgen des Kollapses im Krisenherbst 2008 holen die
Flamen und Wallonen jetzt wieder ein:
In Deutschland hatte das ICSID im April 2009 zumindest
zeitweise eine gewisse Berühmtheit erlangt: Seinerzeit hatte
Vattenfall die Bundesrepublik auf 1,4 Mrd. Euro
Schadensersatz verklagt. Grund waren die Auflagen, die die
Hamburger Umweltbehörde dem skandinavischen
Energieversorger auferlegt hatte, um im Gegenzug den Bau
des Kohlekraftwerks Moorburg zu genehmigen. Das Verfahren
wurde einvernehmlich beigelegt, die Details der Einigung sind
bis heute nicht bekannt, das Kohlekraftwerk in Moorburg soll
Mitte 2014 in Betrieb gehen.
Ping An, Chinas zweitgrößter Lebensversicherer, klagt gegen
Belgien vor einem internationalen Schiedsgericht. Ping An will
jenes Geld zurück, das der staatlich kontrollierte Konzern im
November 2007 in Fortis-Aktien investiert hatte.
Vor knapp fünf Jahren hatten die Chinesen für damals 1,8
Mrd. Euro fünf Prozent der Fortis-Aktien erworben, nach der
Verstaatlichung des Unternehmens aber Totalverlust erlitten.
So verschluckte sich Fortis erst am Kauf des niederländischen
24
China
Wie der Fachdienst Investment Arbitration Reporter und die
Financial Times berichten, ist die in der vergangenen Woche
eingereichte Klage von Ping An die erste eines chinesischen
Unternehmens beim ICSID überhaupt.
Im Mai hatte die Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
(ICBC) den amerikanischen Ableger der Bank of East Asia
erworben. Und die China Construction Bank hat vollmundig
angekündigt, für Zukäufe oder Beteiligungen an europäischen
Geldhäusern bis zu 12 Mrd. Euro ausgeben zu wollen.
Ping An und Fortis haben nicht das erste Mal Ärger
miteinander: So hatte der Versicherer 2009 gleich zweimal
versucht, die Übernahme des belgischen Fortis-Geschäfts
durch BNP und damit die Zerschlagung des Unternehmens zu
torpedieren, war damit aber gescheitert.
2008, nach dem Zusammenbruch von Fortis, hatte Ping An
die Hilfe der chinesischen Regierung gesucht, um von den
Beneluxregierungen Geld zurückzubekommen - ebenfalls
vergeblich.
Dass Ping An nun Belgien vor Gericht zerrt, nährt
Befürchtungen, dass China mit Investitionen in Unternehmen
im dauerkrisengeplagten Westen zurückhaltender wird.
Dabei schien es zuletzt so, als könnten die Chinesen von
Finanzdienstleistern in Europa und den USA nicht genug
bekommen: Vergangene Woche hatte die chinesische Fosun Gruppe zusammen mit den Vermögensverwaltern Kleinwort
Benson und Blackrock sowie BMW-Großaktionär Stefan
Quandt die Übernahme der Frankfurter Privatbank BHF
vereinbart.
25
China
FT.com Last updated: September 24, 2012 1:31 pm
Ping An registered the request for arbitration proceedings last
week. Its application was first reported by the Investment
Arbitration Reporter news service.
Ping An in arbitration claim over Fortis
By Simon Rabinovitch in Beijing and James Fontanella-Khan
in Brussels
Details of its arbitration request are not yet public but Ping An
had a public feud with the Belgian government in 2009 when it
sold control of Fortis’s Belgian banking operations to France’s
BNP Paribas. Ping An, which held almost 5 per cent of Fortis,
voted against the sale.
Ping An, China’s second-biggest insurer, has filed an
international arbitration claim against Belgium in an attempt to
recoup losses from its investment in Fortis, the now defunct
financial services group.
At the time Ping An said in a statement: “The process with
which Fortis was nationalised and its assets disposed violated
basic principles of corporate governance and has hurt
shareholders’ legal rights”. It added that it would “protect its
legal rights”.
It is the first time that a mainland Chinese company has turned
to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment
Disputes, an arbitration institution under the World Bank that
handles clashes between investors and states.
Ping An wrote off Rmb22.8bn of its Rmb23.9bn investment in
Fortis, a Belgian-Dutch group, when it was dismantled and
nationalised in 2008.
In 2008, when Fortis imploded, Ping An had enlisted the help
of the Chinese government in pressing for compensation from
the governments of Belgium, the Netherlands and
Luxembourg.
The nearly 100 per cent paper loss was the worst of several
high-profile foreign investments made by Chinese financial
institutions just before global markets crashed. Scarred by that
experience, Chinese investors have been very reluctant to
enter the market for US and European banking assets even as
their prices have tumbled since then.
Ping An’s decision to file a formal arbitration claim against
Belgium suggests that its efforts to negotiate a settlement
have failed. A Hong Kong investor previously brought a claim
against Peru to the World Bank’s arbitration centre, but Ping
An is the first mainland Chinese company to do so.
26
China
A Belgian government official said that they were not aware of
the claim and therefore declined to comment on the matter.
The collapse of what was then Belgium’s leading banking and
insurance group affected more than 3,000 retail investors.
Fortis shareholders lost up to 90 per cent of their investments
after the bank was nationalised by Belgian and Dutch
governments.
China Construction Bank, the world’s second biggest by
market value, told the Financial Times
last week that it was scouring Europe for good banks to buy.
Fortis’ troubles began in April 2007 when the Belgian financial
group was forced to raise cash to pay for the €24bn takeover
of ABN Amro, the Dutch bank it had acquired along with
Santander of Spain and the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The acquisition of ABN stretched Fortis’ balance sheet at a
time when global liquidity retreated because of the subprime
crisis. The Belgian and Dutch governments were later forced
to nationalise the group’s banking operations in October 2008
to avoid the collapse of their respective banking sectors, a
move that was firmly opposed by shareholders.
There have been signs in recent months that Chinese banks
have been cautiously rediscovering their appetite for financial
investments in the US and Europe. Industrial and Commercial
Bank of China, the world’s biggest bank by market value,
bought the US arm of Bank of East Asia in May.
27
China
Lex/FT.com September 24, 2012 9:09 pm
One irony worth noting, however, is that international
arbitration can actually be good for business.
Ping An – tussle with Brussels
Who are you gonna call when a government takes your
money? Investors sometimes forget that the flip side of
potentially supernormal returns is extreme risk, and one of the
biggest risks of all is when governments simply expropriate
assets. For example, South American countries, helped by the
likes of Venezuela and Argentina, account for 30 per cent of all
cases registered with the International Centre for Settlement
of Investment Disputes, the arbitration body that deals with
fights between investors and states.
In the late 1980s, Argentina used to sign bilateral investment
treaties in order to spur foreign interest. The message: you
have a chance of getting your money back! Likewise, if Ping
An receives a fair hearing now – or, heaven forbid, actually
receives compensation for its Fortis loss – Chinese companies
will be reminded that overseas investing at the very least
comes with the ultimate in checks and balances.
Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that China Construction
Bank, the world’s second largest by market value, is said to be
shopping for a European bank. Ping An’s pain does not seem
to have put the Chinese off. The only thing worse than risk is
not having the right to be heard.
Unsurprisingly, the developing world makes up the bulk of
governments taken to task by companies. Just 6 per cent of
cases concern North American and western European
countries. That said, the latest claim is against Belgium, filed
by Ping An last week. China’s second-biggest insurer is
peeved that its 5 per cent stake in Fortis was wiped out when
the Dutch-Belgian bancassurer was broken up and
nationalised in 2008. Forget the irony of a Chinese company
complaining that it has been compromised by a state-backed
directive. More important is that Ping An is refusing to be
seen as just a silent money pit, unlike those Middle Eastern
sovereign wealth funds that seem to love quietly losing
billions.
28
China
WSJ.com BUSINESS September 25, 2012, 12:48 a.m. ET
The Investment Arbitration Reporter news service reported on
Saturday that Ping An filed the request for arbitration last week
with the International Center for Settlement of Investment
Disputes, a body under the World Bank.
Ping An Files Claim Over Fortis Loss
Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. has filed an
international arbitration claim in a bid to recover losses arising
from its investment in nationalized Belgian-Dutch financial
services group Fortis NV, after negotiations with the Belgian
government failed.
Ping An first invested in Fortis in October 2007, and eventually
built up a stake of about 5%. The investment was meant to
pave the way for the purchase of half of the financial service
giant's asset-management unit. That plan was scrapped as
Fortis fell victim to the global financial crisis.
China's second-largest life insurer by premiums declined to
say how much compensation it is seeking or give further
details of the claim. Ping An had to write down most of its
23.87 billion yuan ($3.78 billion) investment in Fortis when the
company was nationalized and sold off during the 2008
financial crisis.
The Chinese insurer reported a 99% plunge in net profit in
2008 after taking a 22.79 billion yuan impairment charge on
the investment.
Ping An has also feuded with Belgian authorities over the
government's decision to sell part of Fortis's banking
operations to BNP Paribas SA.
"We have been trying very hard to negotiate with the Belgian
government through different channels on compensation for
our investment losses in Fortis. Regretfully, these negotiations
have not been successful," Ping An spokesman Sheng
Ruisheng said Tuesday.
—Grace Zhu in Beijing and Fiona Law in Hong Kong
contributed to this article.
"The Belgian government's misconduct toward Fortis back in
2008 violated the legitimate rights and undermined interests of
Fortis investors. We have no alternative but to defend Ping
An's rights through legal action," Mr. Sheng said.
29
China
Reuters/Christian Krämer 26.09.2012 09:57 Uhr
China –
einen Marktanteil von weit über 90 Prozent. "Gegen die
kommt man nicht an. Die haben teilweise eine halbe Million
Vertreter und dominieren den Markt."
"Volkseigentum muss nicht versichert
werden"
Bei der Münchener-Rück -Tochter Ergo ist man deswegen
überaus vorsichtig, hat sich nun aber - 20 Jahre nachdem die
ersten ausländischen Versicherer nach China kamen entschieden, zumindest in einer Provinz aktiv zu werden. Zu
spät? Ergo-Vorstand Jochen Messemer wiegelt ab: "Man
muss sich genau überlegen, wo man sich dem Wettbewerb
stellen will."
Autos von Audi und BMW sind in China heiß begehrt und
Statussymbol schlechthin, T-Shirts und Schuhe von Adidas
Kult und ebenso gefragt. Doch nicht alle Unternehmen sind im
Reich der Mitte so vom Erfolg verwöhnt.
Die deutschen Versicherer beispielsweise spielen nur eine
Nebenrolle, selbst die Allianz - immerhin Europas Marktführer
- tritt auf der Stelle. Andere Anbieter trauen sich den Sprung in
den riesigen, aber hart umkämpften Markt nicht zu oder gehen
sehr behutsam vor.
Volkseigentum muss nicht versichert werden
Im kommunistischen China gab es zwischen 1959 und 1979
überhaupt keine Versicherungen. "Früher gab es nur
Volkseigentum, warum sollte man dann etwas versichern?",
erinnert sich Benno von Canstein, Allianz-Repräsentant in
Peking.
Potenzial ist zweifelsfrei da, wie Top-Manager der Branche
betonen. Nur es auszuschöpfen, ist bislang kaum einer
ausländischen Firma gelungen. Das wird sich wohl auch in
den nächsten Jahren nicht ändern.
Ende der 70er Jahre wurde die Branche dann aufgebaut, die
ersten Ausländer kamen aber erst Anfang der 90er Jahre in
den Markt, damals begrenzt auf die Metropole Schanghai.
Alle ausländischen Anbieter überdächten ihre Situation, sagt
Allianz-Vorstand Manuel Bauer, der beim Münchner DAXKonzern für die Märkte in Asien und Osteuropa zuständig ist.
"Es gibt niemanden, der alleine stark genug ist."
Seitdem wird der Markt immer mehr geöffnet, momentan zum
Beispiel bei den bislang abgeschotteten Kfz-Haftpflichtpolicen.
Die lokalen Schwergewichte - Firmen wie China Life , Ping An
oder China Pacific Insurance (CPIC) - kämen noch immer auf
30
China
"Als ausländisches Unternehmen in China erfolgreich tätig zu
sein, ist aber kein Sonntagsspaziergang, sondern eher eine
Bergwanderung mit alpiner Herausforderung", sagt von
Canstein. "Bis zur Profitabilität braucht man, konservativ
gerechnet, im Sachgeschäft fünf bis sieben Jahre. In der
Lebensversicherung sind es sogar zwölf bis 15 Jahre."
Der Markt ändert sich aber - und Ausländer werden
mittlerweile ganz gerne gesehen. Die Regulierungsbehörden
legten einen stärkeren Fokus auf langfristige
Altersvorsorgeprodukte, sagt Ergo-Vorstand Messemer, weil
staatliche Absicherung fehle.
Lebensversicherungen spielten eine wichtigere Rolle.
Allerdings entfalle ein Anteil von gut 95 Prozent auf lokale
Anbieter. "Der Wettbewerb verschärft sich, auch in der
Lebensversicherung, weil es ein sehr stark wachsender Markt
ist."
Da müsse man einen langen Atem haben, auch wenn es in
Europa ähnlich lange dauere. Die Allianz hat in den späten
90er Jahren mit einem Joint Venture in der
Lebensversicherung angefangen und ist heute in neun
Provinzen aktiv. Zusätzlich bietet sie in zwei weiteren
Provinzen Schaden/Unfall-Policen an.
Die Ergo konzentriert sich auf die Provinz Shandong an der
Ostküste, die Partner-Region Bayerns, mit ihren 96 Millionen
Einwohnern. "Dort sind nicht alle großen Anbieter vertreten,
und die Wettbewerbsintensität ist eine andere", sagt
Messemer. "Die Menschen dort haben noch nicht so viele
Versicherungsprodukte wie in Peking oder Schanghai." Ergo
will in den kommenden fünf Jahren zu den zehn bis 15
größten Anbietern gehören und auf Prämieneinnahmen von
umgerechnet 50 bis 70 Millionen Euro kommen - bescheidene
Ziele. Denn der Konzern kam vergangenes Jahr auf Beiträge
von insgesamt 20 Milliarden Euro und investiert im Reich der
Mitte zusammen mit dem lokalen Partner SSAIH rund 72
Millionen Euro.
Klingt wenig, ist aber viel. "Die Marktanteile der ausländischen
Anbieter gehen leicht zurück, stagnieren bestenfalls", warnt
Allianz-Vorstand Bauer. Dementsprechend vorsichtig müsse
man agieren. Hinzu kommen bürokratische Hürden: "In China
muss für jede Provinz eine eigene Lizenz beantragt werden;
eine nach der anderen." Das dauere mittlerweile noch sechs
bis acht Monate. "Also nimmt man sich erst mal die großen,
lukrativsten Provinzen vor, rund um Peking, Schanghai oder
Guangzhou zum Beispiel." In den späten 90er Jahren waren
es teilweise noch eineinhalb Jahre für eine Lizenz und allein
acht Monate für manche Produkte.
Lebensversicherung statt Rente
31
China
Da ist die Allianz schon weiter. Unter die Top 5 zu kommen,
hält Vorstand Bauer aber für unrealistisch. Ziel müsse es
vielmehr sein, stärkste ausländische Firma zu werden. Die
Allianz hat zuletzt ihren Vertrieb in China umgebaut, nach
eigenen Angaben erfolgreichere Vertreter rekrutiert. Die
Münchner kooperieren zudem mit CPIC, einem der
Platzhirsche.
Prozent. Im Gegensatz zu deutschen Autos oder Turnschuhen
seien Versicherungsprodukte viel erklärungsbedürftiger,
strenger reguliert und notwendigerweise auf die lokalen
Bedürfnisse zugeschnitten, sagt Ergo-Vorstand Messemer.
"Das ist bei Autos anders." Sie seien mehr oder weniger gleich
und in China heiß begehrt. "Da geht es stärker um Image und
Prestige." Erfolgreiche Hersteller wie VW oder Audi blickten
zudem auf eine jahrzehntelange Historie in China zurück.
Die Allianz versucht vor allem, über neue Produkte zu punkten
und im Wettbewerb zu bestehen. "Wir haben zum Beispiel
damals als erste in China eine sogenannte verbundene
Leben-Police angeboten, bei der der Ehepartner mit
abgesichert ist", sagt China-Kenner von Canstein. "Das kam
gut an bei den Kunden, wurde dann aber auch schnell kopiert
von der Konkurrenz."
Warum ziehen sich ausländische Versicherer dann nicht
zurück und investieren ihr Geld lieber an anderer Stelle?
So mancher Anbieter geht diesen Weg.
Für Talanx, Deutschlands Nummer drei, ist die Expansion ins
Ausland eines der wichtigsten Argumente beim anstehenden
Börsengang. Nur China spielt dabei keine Rolle. Der Markt sei
im Privat- und Firmenkundengeschäft zu schwierig, sagt
Talanx-Vorstand Torsten Leue. "Deshalb legen wir im Ausland
den Fokus auf unsere strategischen Zielmärkte Zentral- und
Osteuropa sowie Lateinamerika. Dort beobachten wir
attraktive Wachstumsraten bei gleichzeitig weniger
schwierigen Lizenzierungsverfahren als in China."
Das größte Problem bleibe der Vertrieb. Hier sei die lokale
Konkurrenz zahlenmäßig überlegen und zudem landesweit
vertreten. "Mit Banken kann man Kooperationen eingehen,
aber das ersetzt nicht den Breitenvertrieb über Vertreter,
sondern ergänzt ihn allenfalls. Da gibt es keine Überholspur."
Nur Prestige-Produkte gefragt
Die nackten Zahlen sind ernüchternd. In der
Lebensversicherung lag der Marktanteil der Ausländer vor drei
Jahren noch bei sieben Prozent. Mitte 2012 sind es gerade
noch vier Prozent. In der Sachversicherung sind es erst 1,2
32
China
Doch für die Allianz und jetzt auch die Ergo bietet das BoomLand ein zu großes Potenzial, um einfach aufzugeben. Weil
China - angesichts der Ein-Kind-Politik - überaltere, würden
Lebens- und Krankenversicherungen immer wichtiger. "Pro
Kopf haben die Chinesen 2010 im Schnitt 158 Dollar für
Versicherungen ausgegeben", rechnet von Canstein vor. Der
globale Schnitt liege bei 627 Dollar, in Deutschland seien es
1928 Euro (derzeit knapp 2500 Dollar).
Langfristige Altersvorsorge wird aber auch in China immer
wichtiger. Die durchschnittliche Lebenserwartung liegt derzeit
bei etwa 72 Jahren, viele gehen aber schon mit Mitte 50,
Anfang 60 in den Ruhestand. Dann hilft die Familie finanziell
aus.
Bei der eigenen Vorsorge wurden bisher Immobilien und
Aktien vielfach Lebensversicherungen vorgezogen. Gerade
aber an der Börse hätten sich nicht wenige Anleger
verspekuliert, sagt von Canstein. "Das hat den ein oder
anderen vorsichtig werden lassen." In diese Lücke wollen die
Deutschen mit Solidität und ihrer Tradition von oft mehr als
100 Jahren vorstoßen. Ob es gelingt, bleibt offen.
China - die zweitgrößte Volkswirtschaft der Welt - liege in
dieser Kategorie nur auf Platz 61. "Da ist also noch enormes
Aufholpotenzial." Die wirtschaftlich stärkeren Küstenregionen
mit ihren rund 300 Millionen Einwohnern böten die besten
Chancen.
Fraglich ist nur, ob deutsche oder amerikanische Firmen mit
ihren Produkten, die zu Hause erprobt sind, auch den
Geschmack der Chinesen treffen. "Generell investieren
Chinesen gerne kurzfristig, wenn sie Geld haben", sagt
Allianz-Vorstand Bauer.
Der langfristige Schutzgedanke sei - ganz anders als in
Deutschland, wo Verträge meist auf Jahrzehnte angelegt sind
- eher limitiert. "Man schaut auch sehr genau darauf, was eine
Lebensversicherung kurzfristig an Erträgen abwirft und ist
bereit, den Anbieter öfter zu wechseln, wenn man lukrativere
Angebote findet."
33
China
FTD.de 02.10.2012, 11:29
Erdbebenversicherung:
Öffentlich-private Partnerschaften ermöglichen das Abdecken
möglicher Gebäudeschäden, was private Anbieter zu
normalen Preisen nicht leisten können. Das zeigt sich am
Beispiel Neuseeland: Dort zieht die staatliche
Erdbebenkommission Prämien ein und kauft
Rückversicherungsschutz bei Munich Re und anderen
Anbietern. Dank dieses Systems waren mehr als 80 Prozent
der Schäden von 16 Mrd. Dollar versichert, die durch das
Erdbeben von Christchurch im Februar 2011 verursacht
wurden.
Munich Re sieht China in der Pflicht
Nur die wenigsten Bauten in China sind gegen Schäden durch
Naturkatastrophen versichert. Die Regierung soll gemeinsam
mit privaten Anbietern Erdbebenversicherungen anbieten,
fordert der weltweit größte Rückversicherer Munich Re.
von Paul Davies
Mehr Zusammenarbeit des Staates mit privaten Anbietern in
der Erdbebenversicherung: Das wünscht sich Munich Re Chef Nikolaus von Bomhard von Chinas Regierung. Auf diese
Weise könnten Wirtschaft und Menschen im
bevölkerungsreichsten Land der Welt besser geschützt
werden, sagte er der Financial Times.
Wie von Bomhard weiter sagte, wurden die Versicherer 2011
von den Überflutungen in Thailand überrascht. Sie hätten viel
länger gedauert und deutlich höhere Schäden angerichtet als
erwartet, sagte der Konzernchef. Chinas Anfälligkeit für
Naturkatastrophen könnte in ähnlicher Weise unterschätzt
werden. "China sieht sich zahlreichen Katastrophenrisiken
gegenüber", sagte von Bomhard. "Wir sind der Ansicht, dass
es insbesondere für Erdbebenrisiken eine öffentlich-private
Partnerschaft geben sollte."
Zwar wachse Chinas Versicherungsbranche rasch, sagte von
Bomhard weiter. Aber die Wohngebäudeversicherung sei nach
wie vor kaum verbreitet. Lediglich fünf Prozent der Gewerbeund Industriegebäude verfügten über Versicherungsschutz.
Bereits 2003 hatte Chinas Staatsrat Vorschläge der
Erdbebenbehörde und der Versicherungsaufsicht für einen
nationalen Erdbebenpool gebilligt. Aber auch heute, fast zehn
Jahre später, gibt es immer noch kein Versicherungssystem
für das Risiko.
Laut dem Munich-Re-Konkurrenten Swiss Re sind von den
möglichen Erdbebenschäden in China, die rund 990 Mrd.
Yuan (122 Mrd. Euro) betragen, gerade einmal 9 Mrd. Yuan
versichert. "Das Bewusstsein, gegenüber Katastrophen
exponiert zu sein, muss sich in vielen Teilen Asiens noch
entwickeln", sagte von Bomhard.
34
China
Dabei wächst die Assekuranz in China kräftig. So schätzt
Munich Re, dass die Volksrepublik 2020 gemessen an den
Prämieneinnahmen nach den USA weltweit der zweitgrößte
Markt für Versicherungen sein wird.
Der DAX-Konzern selbst wachse in China jährlich um fast 20
Prozent, wie von Bomhard sagte. Das liege vor allem am
Kapitalbedarf der dortigen Versicherer. Die rasch wachsenden
Unternehmen, vor allem die Kfz-Versicherer, müssen
zusätzliche Risiken mit mehr Kapital unterlegen. Der
schnellste Weg dazu ist oft die Rückversicherung.
Hinter dem Wachstum in der Autoversicherung stecken die
Landflucht der Chinesen, die immer stärker in die Städte
drängen, sowie der steigende Wohlstand der Bevölkerung.
Dahinter bleibt das Absichern privater Gebäude deutlich
zurück.
Dabei ist das Land besonders stark von Erdbeben bedroht. So
forderte das Erdbeben in der Provinz Sichuan 2008 rund
100.000 Todesopfer, der volkswirtschaftliche Schaden belief
sich auf 66 Mrd. Euro. Munich Re zufolge war das Beben
sogar das drittteuerste aller Zeiten. Die Versicherer mussten
allerdings trotzdem nur 300 Mio. Dollar zahlen - kaum jemand
war versichert.
35
England
FT.com July 13, 2011 12:01 am
Andrew Morrell, head of Direct Line Home Insurance, said
that, worryingly, more serious crimes such as assault are also
going unreported, both where people have witnessed an
assault or been a victim of one.
Crime maps ‘hit reporting of crime’
By Nicholas Timmins, Public Policy Editor
Millions of people have stopped reporting crime since the
government put “crime maps” on line because they fear it will
damage their property value, according to a survey by Direct
Line Home Insurance.
Back in 2008 before the crime maps were launched, the Royal
Institute for Chartered Surveyors said it feared that to publicise
high crime areas “could literally wipe thousands off house
prices overnight”.
Mr Morell said that “with a struggling housing market, home
owners are concerned about anything that could prevent a
potential property sale or rental” but householders could
struggle to claim on insurance without a crime reference
number.
The disclosure comes the day after Oliver Letwin, the Cabinet
Office minister, praised the value of the crime maps as he
launched the government’s public services white paper,
declaring that “many people said ... that no one would be
interested in them” but that “millions” have now started to use
them since their publication in February.
The Home Office said: “It is the crime that impacts negatively
upon communities. Crime maps will allow residents to hold
their local police to account for the level of crime and
antisocial behaviour in their neighbourhood, pushing police to
tackle crime which really affects the local community.”
An internet poll of more than 2,600 UK adults conducted for
the home insurer found that 11 per cent of respondents –
equivalent to some 5m people nationwide – say they have
seen a crime or antisocial behaviour but have not reported it
“because they were scared it would drive away potential
purchasers or renters” once it was recorded on line.
Of those not reporting crime, 75 per cent had ignored antisocial behaviour such as drug dealing or vandalism, Direct
Line said. Nearly half of those saying they had not reported a
crime claimed to have seen vehicles stolen or vandalised.
36
England
FT.com August 29, 2011 11:22 pm
in 33 defendants pleading guilty to a variety of offences in
connection with £5.3m in insurance and mortgage fraud.
The insurance industry has stepped up its work on fraudulent
claims, which have risen dramatically in recent years.
Insurers pinpoint ‘crash-for-cash’ hotspots
By Jane Croft, Law Courts Correspondent
Motorists in Birmingham, Sheffield and Manchester are the
most likely to be targeted by “crash-for-cash” fraudsters,
research shows.
About 4 per cent of claims by cost in 2009 were fraudulent –
similar to 2008, but twice the figure of five years ago.
Association of British Insurers’ figures show that 122,000
fraudulent claims worth £840m were uncovered in 2009, up 14
per cent on 2008. Motor insurance fraud formed the largest
share, at £410m. Household claims were the most frequent, at
62,000 cases.
The Insurance Fraud Bureau, a company-funded body that
aims to clamp down on organised fraud, analysed data pooled
from insurers to pinpoint fraudulent activity, including networks
of criminals targeting motorists.
Crash-for-cash insurance scams involve criminals staging
traffic accidents and then submitting false insurance claims for
damage to vehicles and whiplash injuries.
In June, insurers agreed to spend £8.2m funding a specialist
police unit dedicated to cracking down on insurance fraud,
which costs an estimated £2bn each year.
The bureau’s software uses a risk scorecard to generate
networks of high fraud risk activity based on its access to
128m insurance records.
The software can identify the number of claimants in each
network by postcode area and district, generating fraud
hotspots. The analysis is run on a quarterly basis using
industry data spanning a six-month period.
A new unit of 35 specialist fraud detectives and police support
staff will be operated by the City of London police’s economic
crime directorate and will focus on opportunist fraudsters as
well as organised criminal gangs.
Police have already targeted some “hot spots”. Luton, which in
the fourth quarter of 2008 was fourth on the list, has dropped
out of the top 20 following a police investigation that resulted
37
England
Resolution buys Bupa business for £165m
However, John Tiner, chief executive of Resolution’s
management company, said the smaller size of the Bupa deal
did not mean that bigger acquisitions were now proving
elusive.
By Adam Jones, FT.com Published: October 15 2010 09:03 | Last
updated: October 15 2010 09:03
“You shouldn’t read anything into this other than that this deal
makes a lot of sense for this business,” he said.
Resolution, the FTSE 100 insurer, has agreed to pay £165m
to acquire Bupa’s income protection, life assurance and critical
illness cover business.
Resolution said the Bupa deal would bring an immediate
financial bonus in the form of a release of reserves valued at
£63m on a post-tax basis, mainly from Friends Provident.
Both companies added that they were also looking at ways in
which they could distribute the other’s products.
It added that the acquisition would strengthen Friends
Provident’s position in the corporate market for income
protection products, while also boosting Resolution’s share of
the market for individual protection products.
Bupa, the privately-owned insurer and healthcare company,
said on Friday that it was selling the unit, known as Bupa
Health Assurance, as part of a strategic refocus on healthcare
products and services.
Mr Tiner said the talks over a potential cross-distribution
arrangement were at an early stage. ...
For Resolution, the purchase is the latest in a series of deals it
has struck since floating in 2008 as a vehicle for the
consolidation of UK life assurance companies and, potentially,
other financial services businesses.
It bought Friends Provident for £1.9bn last year and in recent
weeks completed the acquisition of most of Axa’s UK life
assurance and savings arm for up to £2.75bn.
38
England
FT.com April 26, 2012 5:41 pm
forecasts,” said Peter Eliot at Berenberg Bank. “There is a
notable absence of this [in the] statement this time.”
Admiral shares fall despite sales rise
By Alistair Gray, Insurance Correspondent
Eamonn Flanagan at Shore Capital said he was disappointed
that the group, which owns price-comparison website
Confused.com, declined to provide a figure for ancillary
sources of income such as referral fees.
“We suspect that this figure is under increasing pressure,” he
said.
Admiral’s efforts to persuade the City that it has bounced back
from a profit warning hit a snag as investors looked past the
car insurer’s stable customer claims and questioned UK sales
figures.
Shares in the FTSE 100 company fell as much as 4.1 per cent
on Thursday even after Admiral disclosed a 9 per cent yearon-year rise in group sales to £586m in the first quarter.
The Cardiff-based group provided further evidence suggesting
the spike in claims that prompted the earnings alert in
November was an anomaly. Claims trends had reverted to the
norm in the past two quarters, it said.
The figures come after data from the AA this week showed UK
car insurance premiums fell 1.1 per cent during the first three
months of the year, the first substantial quarter-on- quarter
decline in three years. ...
Henry Engelhardt, founder and chief executive, added: “Our
expectations for the full year remain positive and unchanged.”
In spite of the reassurance, several analysts remained jittery.
Admiral insured 3m UK cars as of the end of March. That was
up from 2.7m a year ago but little changed from the previous
quarter. The 5 per cent annualised growth rate was at the
lower end of the group’s targeted range, analysts said.
“Admiral usually gives guidance in its interim management
statement on whether it is on track to meet analyst earnings
39
England
● FT Comment
With brokers still forecasting an 8 per cent rise in pre-tax
profits this year following a 13 per cent improvement in 2011,
Mr Engelhardt could be forgiven for feeling that bears are
picking holes in a reasonable-looking set of numbers. Yet the
City remains nervous after the profit warning, while the stock’s
premium rating makes investors hard to please.
After outperforming the FTSE 350 non-life insurance index by
28 percentage points since the profit warning, the shares trade
on more than 13 times prospective earnings per share of 90p.
The income-hungry will be tempted by a tasty dividend yield of
almost 7 per cent. But although the shares are on almost half
the extravagant multiple reached in 2010, the chunky premium
to the sector (which trades on 9 times earnings) still looks
demanding.
40
England
FT.com April 23, 2012 12:03 am
week. Barclays set aside £1bn last year to cover such costs,
£435m of which had been consumed by the end of 2011,
according to its annual report. Including Barclays, the five
biggest UK banks have set aside about £6bn to cover
compensation costs.
Claimants in dark about insurance claim fees
By Daniel Schäfer in London
A quarter of consumers seeking compensation for mis-sold
payment protection insurance do not know that claims
management companies take large fees for pursuing claims, a
survey has found. Claims management companies typically
take a 25 per cent cut of the compensation, plus value added
tax. But a quarter of consumers are unaware of this, according
to research published on Monday.
In January. the Financial Services Compensation Scheme
said that more than three- quarters of PPI compensation
claims it had received in the past four years had been
submitted through a claims management company.
This comes despite an analysis by the FSCS showing that
there is no material difference to the success rate of claims
made by individuals.
Only half of a group of 2,000 UK consumers surveyed by
MoneySavingExpert.com and Which?, the consumer finance
advisory groups, knew that using such services would be no
more successful than making the claims themselves.
Banks’ mis-selling of PPI, which covers loan repayments if a
borrower falls ill or loses their job, sparked one of the biggest
consumer scandals in decades. Compensation claims have
surged since UK banks last year dropped a legal challenge
against regulatory scrutiny of the way they dealt with PPI
complaints.
Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com said:
“Sadly, PPI has become a cash bonanza for unscrupulous
claims companies.” The consumer advice group is about to
launch a radio campaign and is staging a “PPI summit” on
Monday with banks and regulators to increase consumer
awareness about how to claim back money themselves.
Barclays said in a regulatory filing last month that it had
observed an increase in complaint volumes in recent weeks.
The rise could prompt the bank to increase its provision for
PPI compensation when it will announce quarterly results this
41
England
FT.com April 25, 2012 12:56 am
Simon Douglas, director of AA insurance, said: “My fear is that
if prices do continue to drop, we’ll see a repeat of 2009, when
industry losses led to premiums suddenly rocketing up
following a long period of little movement.”
Young female drivers see insurance rise
Young women have not benefited from the recent decline in
motor insurance premiums that most other UK drivers have
enjoyed, months before a Brussels ruling introduces “gender
neutral” pricing.
The index is based on the five cheapest quotes. On a “market
average” basis, premiums remained roughly flat during the
quarter. “While a few insurers are heavily discounting to attract
new business, others have continued to increase premiums,”
the AA said.
Premiums rose 4.8 per cent for women aged between 17 and
22 in the first three months of the year and 1.6 per cent for
those aged between 23 and 29, the AA’s Shoparound Index
showed.
The premium falls come after MPs spoke out about the rising
number of personal injury claims, which the industry argues is
a crucial reason why rates rose sharply over several months.
David Cameron, the prime minister, has vowed to clamp down
on what he calls a “damaging compensation culture” and
plans to extend a scheme capping legal fees.
But the index fell 1.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter overall,
suggesting that insurers are starting to increase prices for
women before sex discrimination rules take effect at the end
of the year.
Insurers have also called on the government to act against the
risks involved in insuring young drivers by setting a zeroalcohol limit and imposing a tougher learning regime.
That was the first significant overall decline in three years.
Men in their 50s enjoyed the biggest reduction in the first
quarter, with a 7.7 per cent fall.
Although premiums rose 7.7 per cent across the market on a
year-on-year basis, that was significantly less than last year’s
40 per cent rise. But the AA cautioned that the recent fall in
rates was unlikely to be sustained.
42
England
FT.com May 1, 2012 8:17 pm
to encourage people to go through this fast-track process
rather than pursuing more costly legal routes.
This year the Commons transport committee found that
diagnoses of injuries were “subjective” and were open to
exploitation.
MPs to urge car insurers to cut premiums
By Jim Pickard and Alistair Gray
Ministers will on Wednesday seek to drive down car insurance
premiums through a crackdown on whiplash claims, which
have been described as an “epidemic” by the industry.
At a summit hosted by Justine Greening, transport secretary,
she will urge insurers to cut their premiums for younger
drivers, saying the casualty rate has improved markedly in
recent years.
Otto Thoresen, director-general of the Association of British
Insurers, said insurers faced up to £2bn of unnecessary costs
which needed to be brought down before companies could
offer motorists better deals.
Reform was needed, he said, to “tackle the whiplash claims
epidemic and excessive legal costs that riddle our
compensation system”. “Taking radical action in these areas,
as well as improving the road safety of young drivers, will
reduce the costs of motor insurance.”
Ms Greening will ask companies to follow the example of Cooperative Insurance, which fits “black box” systems into cars
to monitor young drivers’ behaviour in return for lower
premiums.
Insurers insist they are not profiteering, saying that in 2010 the
industry paid out about £1.16 in claims and expenses for
every £1 garnered in premiums. The cost of car insurance has
nearly doubled since 2008 to £971 earlier this year. Drivers
aged between 17 and 22 have the highest premiums, at
£2,977 for a man and £1,682 for a woman.
Meanwhile Ken Clarke, justice secretary, will announce
several measures which could deter fake whiplash injury
claims. Personal injury claims from traffic accidents have risen
by 70 per cent in the past six years, despite the general
downward trend in motor accidents.
Mr Clarke will launch a consultation on setting up an
independent panel to assess whiplash claims, which have
rocketed to more than 1,500 a day. He will consult on raising
the threshold for small personal claims from £1,000 to £5,000
43
England
David Cameron vowed in February to get to grips with a
“damaging compensation culture” amid public rage about the
spiralling motor premiums.
But Liberal Democrat peers have accused ministers of
hypocrisy for blocking measures that would prevent insurers
buying or selling customers’ details to market legal services to
them.
44
England
FTD.de 01.05.2012, 13:08
Geld für Entschädigungen:
Kreditausfälle um 31 Prozent auf 1,7 Mrd. Pfund (2,1 Mrd.
Euro) sank. An der Londoner Börse gewann die Lloyds-Aktie
um die Mittagszeit rund 3,6 Prozent.
Betrugsfälle schmälern Lloyds-Gewinn
Jahrelang haben britische Großbanken ihren Kunden dubiose
Versicherungen verkauft, teilweise sogar ohne sie darüber zu
informieren. Nun holt der Skandal die Geldhäuser, deren
Reputation nach der Finanzkrise ohnehin am Boden ist, mit
aller Macht ein.
von Tim Bartz
Insgesamt hat Lloyds wegen des Skandals um die
sogenannte Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) bereits 3,2
Mrd. Pfund (3,9 Mrd. Euro) zurücklegen müssen, um etwaige
Kundenansprüche zu befriedigen. Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC
und Royal Bank of Scotland hatten Millionen Kunden über gut
zehn Jahre hinweg bei der Vergabe von Krediten
unbrauchbare Restschuldversicherungen verkauft. Sie
springen ein, sobald der Schuldner krank oder arbeitslos wird,
müssen aber aufgrund zahlloser Klauseln selten zahlen, wenn
es ernst wird.
Die teilverstaatlichte britische Lloyds Banking Group ist
operativ gut ins neue Jahr gestartet, leidet aber nach wie vor
unter den Entschädigungszahlungen wegen unlauterer
Beratungspraktiken. Weil sie, wie andere britische Geldhäuser
auch, Kunden ohne Rechtsgrundlage teure
Kreditausfallversicherungen aufgeschwatzt hatte, musste die
Bank, die zu 40 Prozent dem Steuerzahler gehört, 375 Mio.
Pfund Sterling (460 Mio. Euro) für Entschädigungszahlungen
zurückstellen.
Verhandlungen über Verkauf von 632 Filialen
Der Oberste Gerichtshof in London hatte im Mai 2011 die
Überprüfung sämtlicher Restschuldversicherungen
angeordnet. Inzwischen hat die Branche ihren Widerstand
gegen Regressansprüche der Kunden aufgegeben. Insgesamt
wird deren Volumen auf bis zu 8 Mrd. Pfund (9,8 Mrd. Euro)
geschätzt. Barclays hat dafür, einschließlich der jüngsten
Dotierung im ersten Quartal von 300 Mio. Pfund (368 Mio.
Euro), insgesamt 1,3 Mrd. Pfund (1,6 Mrd. Euro)
zurückgestellt, auch HSBC ist betroffen.
Das schmälerte den Gewinn im ersten Quartal, der mit 288
Mio. Pfund (353 Mio. Euro) vor Steuern gleichwohl
zufriedenstellend ausfiel. Im vierten Quartal 2011 hatte Lloyds
zwar sogar 316 Mio. Pfund (388 Mio. Euro) verdient, im ersten
Jahresviertel 2011 war allerdings ein Verlust von 3,5 Mrd.
Pfund (4,3 Mrd. Euro) angefallen. Lloyds konnte auch deshalb
einen Quartalsgewinn ausweisen, weil die Risikovorsorge für
45
England
Bankckef António Horta-Osório sagte, dass es sich bei den
PPI um Betrug gehandelt habe, "den wir gestoppt haben".
Dass Lloyds überhaupt diese Versicherungen verkauft habe,
sei "nicht akzeptabel. Horta-Osório ist seit März 2011 LloydsChef und hatte sich bereits im November völlig überraschend
in eine mehrwöchige Auszeit begeben und gesundheitliche
Gründe angeführt. In Branchenkreisen hieß es seinerzeit,
Horta-Osório sei körperlich und geistig erschöpft. Zu Beginn
dieses Jahres war er an die Lloyds-Spitze zurückgekehrt.
In der vergangenen Woche hatte Lloyds Verhandlungen mit
der neu gegründeten Bank NBNK Investments über den
Verkauf von 632 Filialen in Aussicht gestellt. Daneben werde
weiterhin erwogen, das Filialnetz an die Börse zu bringen,
sagte Horta-Osorio. Das Geldhaus muss die Filialen im
Gegenzug für Staatshilfen in der Finanzkrise und auf Geheiß
der europäischen Wettbewerbshüter abgeben.
46
England
FT.com May 3, 2012 10:57 am
However, he said L&G’s UK retail savings arm had a quieter
quarter, which the company blamed on a “challenging
macroeconomic climate” that had impeded the ability of
customers to invest and save.
L&G posts flat sales on weak UK demand
By Adam Jones
Legal & General posted flat first-quarter sales on Thursday as
international growth was offset by weaker demand for its
savings products from UK retail investors.
Overall, sales of savings products during the quarter were
down 6 per cent on the same period a year earlier at £300m.
However, international sales rose 37 per cent to £56m, driven
by term assurance in the US, the Netherlands and France.
In April the company said it had enjoyed continued strong
flows of institutional money into L&GIM but it said retail
investment conditions remained challenging.
The UK-headquartered insurer said sales in the three months
to March 31 were £434m on an annual premium equivalent
basis, compared with £433m a year earlier, in line with market
expectations.
L&G gave no update on the process of recruiting a successor
to Mr Breedon, who is retiring from the insurer at the end of
2012. ...
However, assets under management at its Legal & General
Investment Management arm rose 3 per cent year on year to
£383bn, reflecting net inflows of £2.6bn, driven by US and UK
institutional investors.
“We are seeing in particular growing interest from US pension
funds for our products,” said Tim Breedon, chief executive.
In the US, L&G said it was winning funds earmarked for
investment in fixed-income products such as bonds, as well as
“liability driven investment”, where the need to meet upcoming
liabilities is prioritised over maximising returns. The demand
reflected the healthier state of the US economy relative to
Europe, Mr Breedon said, adding it was increasing staffing at
its US outpost in Chicago.
47
England
Mr Truell set up Tungsten with his brother Danny, chief
investment officer of The Wellcome Trust, one of the UK’s
largest charities. Tungsten plans to list by the end of May.
Michael Spencer, chief executive of the interdealer broker
Icap, and Peter Kiernan, a former head of UK banking at
Lazard, are among the individuals to agree to become board
members.
Possible Direct Line purchaser emerges
By Alistair Gray and Sharlene Goff
Edi Truell’s new bid vehicle has approached Royal Bank of
Scotland about a possible multi-billion pound purchase of its
Direct Line insurance arm.
Lloyds Banking Group on Monday denied a report in the
London Evening Standard that Tungsten made a takeover
approach for Scottish Widows, its life assurance and pensions
business. Meanwhile, people with knowledge of the process
said Tungsten had not made a formal bid for Direct Line.
Direct Line is Britain’s biggest personal motor insurer by
number of policies. Its brands include Churchill and car
breakdown service Green Flag.
Tungsten, co-founded by the founder of private equity group
Duke Street Capital, has made an informal expression of
interest in the business, which analysts estimate could sell for
up to £4bn.
The state-backed bank had received approaches from several
other parties – mainly private equity groups – in recent
months, people familiar with the matter said. However, RBS
still plans to float Direct Line towards the end of this year,
believing it can extract a better price by going down the initial
public offering route than it could by selling the business to a
private equity buyer.
The home and motor insurer swung into profit in 2011, posting
an annual operating profit of £454m after rising bodily injury
claims pushed it to a £295m loss a year earlier. Ahead of the
expected IPO the group has quit unprofitable businesses,
reduced the number of sites from which it operates and cut its
exposure to riskier areas.
Analysts have questioned the ability of private equity buyers to
raise the required funds and meet increasingly demanding
capital requirements. RBS was ordered to dispose of its
insurance arm as part of a far-reaching state aid agreement
settled after the bank received £45bn of government support
following its near collapse in 2008.
Direct Line raised £500m through a bond sale in April, the
latest step in its plan to spin off from RBS.
48
England
FT.com LOMBARD
April 30, 2012 10:45 pm
pressure from regulators to sell this strong brand. Mr Flanagan
believes it would fetch less than an embedded value of £6bn.
But the buy would still be a big stretch for Tungsten, albeit that
it might pay partly in shares.
Tungsten could give RBS and Lloyds a Plan
B
By Jonathan Guthrie
Wrong, however, to discount both rumours as no more than
low-cost marketing for the Tungsten float. Other recognised
qualities of entrepreneurs are tenacity and an inability to take
No for an answer. Despite initial scepticism, NBNK, Lord
Levene’s bid vehicle, is in talks to buy 632 Lloyds branches.
Tungsten could give RBS and Lloyds useful options if their
priorities change. ...
Boldness is a good quality in an entrepreneur. So the
rumoured interest of financier Edi Truell in Direct Line and
Scottish Widows is to his credit. However, the owners – Royal
Bank of Scotland and Lloyds, respectively – have slung cold
water on the gossip, saying they have no intention of selling to
Tungsten, the cash shell that the financier plans to float by the
end of May, or to anyone else.
RBS is at least readying Direct Line for an initial public offering
of its own, at the insistence of European trustbusters. The first
tranche of shares is due to hit the market this autumn. That
gives Mr Truell an outside chance of intervening. Eamonn
Flanagan of Shore Capital values the motor insurer at close to
its net asset value of £4.5bn. Assuming Tungsten can raise a
mooted £1bn in equity for a deal, debt might supply the
balance.
Buying Scottish Widows may be where Mr Truell’s
aspirations really shade into pipe dreaming. The life and
pensions company, bought for about £7bn in 2000, makes
solid returns for the struggling bank – some £886m in pre-tax
profits in the UK alone last year. Lloyds is under no current
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FT.com May 18, 2012 11:43 pm
John Latter, UK casualty claims director at Zurich, said
genuine victims should have access to justice but added that
as little as half of claimants pursue their cases to settlement.
“What we’re seeing is a drive to commoditise these claims –
regardless of their merits,” he said. “Something recently has
shifted.” The issue of potentially false whiplash claims has
risen up the political agenda and is widely blamed for a sharp
rise in motorists’ premiums. David Cameron, prime minister,
has vowed to get to grips with Britain’s supposed
“compensation culture”. Yet noise- induced hearing loss claims
have attracted scant attention.
Insurers face rise in deafness claims
Deafness has become “the new whiplash” for insurance
groups, who are complaining of a sharp rise in claims from
employees seeking compensation for hearing problems
arising from noisy workplaces.
Zurich, one of Europe’s biggest insurance companies, said
the number of UK deafness claims jumped nearly 25 per cent
in 2011, while a leading law firm estimated total UK claims at
35,000 last year. Insurers argue that many of the emerging
deafness claims are spurious – like neck injuries supposedly
endured in car accidents. They suspect lawyers and claims
management companies are helping to fuel the increase by
offering gimmicks, including free hearing aids, if claims are
pursued.
Loud music fears
While work-induced deafness is generally associated with
Britain’s manufacturing heyday, experts are increasingly
concerned by a contemporary phenomenon: the decibel levels
assaulting the eardrums in nightclubs and music venues,
writes Sarah Neville. This is bad enough for those who limit
their exposure to Jim Byard, head of disease at Weightmans,
a law firm, maintains that such cases are “unquestionably one
of the most lucrative areas for claimant lawyers.” Unlike in
road traffic accident cases, he said, they are able to recover
success fees and hourly rates rather than fixed costs from the
insurer.
However, personal injury lawyers and charities suggested a
recent legal change, which lowered the noise threshold above
which employees may seek compensation, could be behind
the rise. More than 1m employees in Britain are exposed to
levels of noise that puts their hearing at risk, according to the
Health and Safety Executive. About 17,000 already suffer
deafness or other ear conditions caused by excessive noise at
work.
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“Some claims management companies advertise ‘cash back’
or other inducements such as iPhones and hearing aids if
claimants ‘sign up’,” he added.
He added of claimants: “They may have seen adverts [to
make claims], but they are people who have been exposed to
noise – probably, the vast majority, in breach of the employer’s
duty of care.”
Defence lawyers said claims were being made by people who
have worked in a variety of settings, from bars to shops, as
well as those with industrial backgrounds such as miners,
dockers and car plant workers. They maintain the historic
nature of many of the cases means employers can lack the
necessary paperwork to defend themselves. Damages can
cover compensation for hearing loss or tinnitus, as well as
costs of hearing aids but successful claimants need to
demonstrate that their problems have been caused by
excessive workplace noise. “Like many industrial disease
cases you’ve got other competing causes, potentially,” said
Cenric Clement-Evans, a member of the Association of
Personal Injury Lawyer’s executive committee. “But a medical
assessor would look at things like shooting, DIY, music.”
Lawyers said awards made in deafness cases were relatively
low compared with those in car accidents, for which victims
who sustain life-changing injuries can receive multimillion
pound payouts.
Nor is it necessary to cross the portals of a club to run a
heightened risk of damaged hearing. A poll of 1,000 people
found 83 per cent had experienced ringing or buzzing in their
ears and 87 per cent listened to personal music players
Ms Harrison said volumes on MP3 players could reach levels
similar to being close to a pneumatic. “While people wouldn’t
choose to stand near a drill for very long, many spend hours
listening to music at the same dangerous level, without
realising that this could damage their hearing over time,” she
added leisure hours. For the sector’s employees, for whom
there is little let-up, it can be far more serious.
The charity Action on Hearing Loss points to a change in the
law four years ago requiring employers in the music and
entertainment sectors to provide hearing protection if staff are
exposed to noise that exceeds 85 decibels. In nightclubs and
live music venues levels can rise to 110 decibels – “about the
same as an aeroplane taking off”, says director Emma
Harrison.
Mr Clement-Evans said that of all the cases he has been
involved in, one of the highest involved an award of £165,000.
“The poor man’s tinnitus was so bad that he developed
psychiatric problems and actively considered suicide,” he said.
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FT.com May 22, 2012 6:42 pm
£138m, giving earnings per share of 34.6p. The dividend was
increased by 10 per cent to 11.3p.
HomeServe to shrink services in UK
By Gill Plimmer
But with the FSA engaged in a broader crackdown on
insurance type policies, the inquiry had been widely
anticipated by investors. CPP, the identity protection insurer, is
also awaiting the outcome of a long-running investigation by
the regulator, while banks are being forced to pay out billion of
pounds in compensation over missold payment protection
insurance.
Shares in HomeServe, the home repairs group, fell 29 per
cent on Tuesday as the company said that it was shrinking its
UK operations because of a formal investigation by regulators.
The company, which insures nearly 3m people in the UK
against burst pipes, broken-down boilers and problems with
electrical appliances, said it was cutting back its operations
while it awaits the outcome of a Financial Services Authority
investigation into alleged mis-selling practices. HomeServe
could face a large fine or be forced to pay compensation to
customers if it is found they were mis-sold policies.
Mr Harpin, who founded the business in 1993 as a joint
venture with South Staffordshire Water, said that the FSA’s
investigation could take months and the group would focus on
growing international operations instead.
Customer numbers in the UK have already fallen 9 per cent in
the past financial year and this could reduce a further 18 per
cent to 2.2m in the year ending March 31 2013, he said. The
warning prompted analysts at UBS, Barclays and Peel Hunt to
cut earnings estimates for the year ahead by 20 per cent or
more. ...
The formal investigation will come as a blow to Richard
Harpin, the company’s chief executive, who had attempted to
head off the inquiry by announcing a temporary suspension of
sales and marketing activity after discussions began with the
FSA last October.
HomeServe’s UK revenues fell £5.4m to £353.5m in the year
to March 31 as bad publicity took its toll, according to full-year
results released on Tuesday. Overall revenues rose 14 per
cent to £535m, while pre-tax profit was up 32 per cent at
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The company is planning to cut a further 250 staff from its
2,500 UK workforce and reduce the range of products sold so
that it can focus on its core trade of plumbing and boiler
repairs.
“In the UK we are planning to create a smaller, better-focused
business from which we can grow in a year’s time,” Mr Harpin
said.
It has also been overhauling its sales procedures, introducing
penalties for sales staff that receive follow-up complaints, and
improving the clarity of sales and marketing material, he said.
HomeServe is also compensating customers who received
poor service and were left without heating in the bitter winter
of 2010. Last month the telecoms regulator Ofcom fined the
company £750m for breaching its rules on silent and
abandoned calls.
Despite the troubles in its domestic market, HomeServe
confirmed that it was expanding its overseas operations. The
number of international customers rose 14 per cent to 2.2m at
March 31 while revenues in the US grew 56 per cent to
£82.3m. The group is targeting France, Italy and Spain for
growth.
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FT.com May 31, 2012 11:01 am
Regulators are concerned about the conduct of insurers when
their customers are involved in accidents for which they are
not to blame. The costs of repairs and courtesy cars, to which
the crash victim is entitled, are borne by the at-fault driver’s
insurer. However, the victim’s insurer can earn a fee - up to
£400 - by selling their customer’s contact details to mechanics
and car hire companies. If the victim takes services from these
companies, the cost to the at-fault driver’s insurer can be up to
three times higher than usual. The cost of replacement
vehicles in such cases was on average £560 more expensive
than normal market rates, the watchdog found. Drivers would
receive replacement vehicles for longer than required, for
example.
Car insurance market faces full competition
probe
Motor insurers are facing a two-year antitrust investigation
after a consumer watchdog warned that their “dysfunctional”
relationships with repair garages and vehicle hire companies
was pushing up premiums.
Motorists are paying as much as £225m a year more than
they should for insurance because of practices that “prevent,
restrict or distort competition”, the Office of Fair Trading
warned.
The OFT found similar problems in insurers’ relationships with
paint suppliers and parts suppliers. Some insurers have
agreements with approved repairers to charge higher labour
rates, for example. These additional costs are ultimately
passed on to consumers through higher premiums.
The car insurance market has already been under intense
regulatory and political scrutiny in recent months but so far
much of the focus has been on personal injury claims.
The OFT has now provisionally decided to refer the related
issue of insurers’ arrangements with mechanics and
replacement car providers to the Competition Commission.
The Association of British Insurers said that its members
would welcome the regulators’ intervention but investors in
some insurance companies reacted with concern.
Shares in Admiral, the motor insurer, fell 7.2 per cent following
the announcement.
Admiral garners about 60 per cent of its profit from referral
fees and other sources of ancillary income.
However John Fingleton, chief executive of the OFT, warned:
“There does not appear to be an appropriate, quick fix to these
problems.”
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England
The OFT said it was still consulting with interested parties and
expected to reach a final decision on the referral by October,
although people close to the situation said it was almost
certain it would do so.
The Competition Commission has wide-ranging powers to
change market structures and change the way products are
sold. It could also recommend ministers extend the ban on
referral fees, already planned for personal injury cases.
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FT.com May 27, 2012 7:31 pm
Whiplash is caused when the head moves suddenly forwards,
backwards or sideways, damaging ligaments and tendons in
the neck. It is difficult to diagnose and doctors must rely on the
patient’s description of symptoms and the accident that
caused it.
Liverpool is whiplash capital of Britain
Liverpool has emerged as the whiplash capital of Britain,
where the government has recorded more than one
compensation claim for neck injuries sustained in a traffic
accident for every 50 residents.
The data show that nine of the 10 postal areas with the lowest
number of whiplash compensation claims per head were in
Scotland, where the legal system imposes stricter controls on
referral fees. There were only three claims for every 1,000
residents in the Edinburgh and Dundee areas in the year to
March 31 2011. This compared with 22 in Liverpool and 21 in
Uxbridge, west London.
A “heat map” drawn up by the Financial Times after a freedom
of information request, shows a wide geographical disparity in
alleged whiplash injuries, with 20 times more compensation
claims per head in Liverpool, Uxbridge and Oldham than some
other parts of the country.
Only one area in the bottom 10 – around the City of London –
was in England.
Personal injury lawyers suggested regional variations in
accident rates helped explain the figures – but insurers said
they provided one of the clearest signs yet of fraudulent
claims.
“I don’t believe people in Scotland have significantly stronger
necks,” said Dominic Clayden, claims director at Aviva.
Insurers blamed, in large part, companies that manage claims
for encouraging accident victims to apply for compensation.
“Claims management companies have gone to economically
deprived areas where people are vulnerable,” said Adrian
Brown, chief executive of UK and western Europe for RSA,
whose brands include More Than.
Ministers have pledged to crack down on Britain’s supposed
compensation culture and have highlighted whiplash as one of
the biggest problems. They plan to ban so-called referral
fees, which personal injury lawyers pay to insurance
companies and other parties to gather the contact details of
accident victims.
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Data provided by Towers Watson, the consultancy, show a
high density of claims management companies in the whiplash
hotspot areas of north-west England and around Greater
London.
that some people in high risk or complicated cases won’t be
able to get their claim off the ground.”
Insurers have responded to wide variations in whiplash claims
levels by raising premiums, particularly in those areas.
However, underwriting remains lossmaking overall. The
industry paid out £1.06 in claims and expenses for every £1 it
earned in premiums in 2011.
”There’s a whole marketing campaign to get people to claim,”
said Mr Clayden. “There’s text messaging, endless adverts on
telly and in the newspaper.”
The whiplash figures were obtained from the Department for
Work and Pensions by Exane BNP Paribas, the investment
group, under freedom of information legislation. They were
adjusted for population by Experian, the analytics consultancy,
and show a 4 per cent annual reduction in nationwide claims
to 543,000. However, insurers said this reflected fewer
accidents, down in part to less driving activity as a result of the
recession.
The companies also make money by investing the premium
income and from ancillary sources – such as referral fees, a
practice that hurts the industry overall but helps individual
insurers recoup underwriting losses.
Insurers are also facing criticism for the extent of regional
pricing variations. Jack Straw, the former justice secretary who
led a campaign against referral fees, has urged insurers to
stop determining premium rates on postcodes. “Insurers are
essentially saying, ‘Because you live two doors down from
somebody who’s a high risk, we’re going to penalise you’. This
is simply unacceptable.”
Insurers said they would like to challenge more claims but
concerns about legal fees made them more likely to settle out
of court. Ministers have pledged to cap the fees for personal
injury claims.
The Labour MP said the social costs of high motor insurance
were “very serious” and may even be exacerbating Britain’s
youth unemployment problem. “There is no doubt they make
people much less mobile. People need motor cars to get to
work.”
However, lawyers have urged caution. “There are some
spurious claims around but you’ve got to make sure that
people who are injured can be properly represented,” said
John Spencer, director of Spencers solicitors. “I’m concerned
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England
But insurers have hit back. “We operate in one of the most
competitive motor insurance markets in the world,” said Mr
Clayden. “The reality is insurance is very neutral – we will
ultimately charge people for the risk they present us.”
Insurers have also complained claims management
companies are encouraging individuals to make claims in
other areas.
The common symptoms of whiplash include pain, stiffness,
swelling and tenderness in the neck, reduced neck movement
and headaches.
It is hard for a doctor to make a definitive diagnosis of
whiplash, because the injuries cannot be seen on an MRI
scan, CT scan or X-ray (unless they are so severe that the
spine is fractured or dislocated). So the doctor must rely on
the patient’s description of symptoms and his or her account
of the accident that caused it - which may or may not be
accurate.
Zurich said this month the number of UK claims from
employees seeking compensation for hearing problems
arising from noisy workplaces jumped by about 25 per cent on
2011.
Additional reporting by Clive Cookson
Whiplash is a genuine and widespread cause of neck injury,
when the head suddenly and unexpectedly moves forwards,
backwards or sideways. This damages the ligaments and
tendons in the neck.
If you are in a car hit from behind, the head will jolt backwards
before whipping forwards. The collision need not be severe for
someone to develop whiplash, with neck pain and associated
injuries.
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FT.com June 4, 2012 9:47 pm
property lending. Now lenders are coming under strain to
retreat further from writing new loans. Regulatory changes
being swept in under Basel III – the third accord in a
sequential improving of global banking regulation – will force
banks to hold more capital against loans secured on property.
The funding gap has opened the door to a new breed of debt
providers, though, and insurers, pension funds and specialist
debt funds are all on the hunt for the best deals.
New lenders move in after banks retreat
By Ed Hammond, Property Correspondent
When Legal & General announced last year that it was going
to start lending to property companies there was no shortage
of eager applicants.
The insurer’s newly formed lending team held talks with 150
prospective borrowers before settling last month on a £121m
loan to Unite, the UK student housing developer. In issuing its
maiden loan to the sector, L&G joined a growing list of new
lenders trying to seize the opportunity created by the collapse
of traditional bank finance.
“It is not a short-term phenomenon – the banks will be out of
the picture for some time and the funding gap to fill is huge,”
says Bill Hughes, managing director of L&G Property.
However, while the relationship between property companies
and esoteric sources of debt is likely to blossom with the
banks largely sidelined, the profligate lending habits which
helped fuel the boom, and resulting collapse of the market, are
unlikely to resurface.
In the UK, there is £213bn of debt secured against commercial
property – the vast majority of which sits on the balance
sheets of banks. Moreover, 72 per cent, or £153bn, of it must
be refinanced by the end of 2016. This overhang has created
huge pressure. In its recent study of lending attitudes, De
Montfort University found that just 44 per cent of banks
intended to increase lending to property companies during
2012, compared with 57 per cent at the start of 2011.
“Banks had a very aggressive lending profile. In contrast,
insurers will be highly discriminatory and will not take risk that
is excessive in relation to the characteristics of the underlying
real estate. Any loan will be based on a very intrusive and
thorough assessment of all associated risks,” says Mr
Hughes.
The strain is being felt by banks across Europe. Last year,
Société Générale and Eurohypo, once significant sources of
capital to the property market, announced that they would halt
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“We are making the connection between understanding
lending and a full assessment of the collateral. The last wave
of lending was desktop lending. As well as fully understanding
the risk of default, we will really understand bricks and mortar,”
he adds.
basis. It stacks up in its own right in a market where margins
are exceptionally good because of what the banks are doing,”
Mr Skinner adds.
Another class of lenders looking to cash in on the funding gap
are specialist debt providers. Aeriance Investments, for
instance, recently launched a £100m fund to provide bridging
loans for upmarket residential property transactions to make
the most of what it termed the “current dislocation in the shortterm real estate lending sector in the UK”.
The way loans are structured is another important difference
in the way many of the funds stepping in to meet the shortfall
approach the market.
Insurers, as well as pension funds and some long-term debt
funds, are predisposed to holding long-dated loans to match
their liabilities. As well as typically being longer term than the
banks in their lending appetite, insurers and pension funds are
more likely to structure loans with fixed rates of interest and
clauses to discourage early repayment.
In spite of the rush of new entrants into the property lending
market, the shortfall in debt finance is likely to remain an issue
for some time. Even the most optimistic property executives
admit that the combined weight of insurers, pension funds and
other providers of lending will be small beer compared with the
quantities of debt that were available in the years before the
crash.
However, the banks’ pullback means even those lenders
traditionally concerned with providing longer-term financing
are taking up some of the less risky short-term opportunities.
“Insurers have always been in the long-term lending space,
but the retrenchment of bank lending has really opened up the
short-term market for us, too,” says David Skinner, head of
investment strategy and research at Aviva Real Estate.
“Given the prospects for returns in other fixed-income
instruments, such as gilts or asset backed securities, real
estate lending looks good on a total return and a risk adjusted
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FT.com June 17, 2012 10:22 pm
you’re more comfortable dealing with averages,” said Simon
Gadd, annuities managing director at Legal & General.
Life assurers push for medical records
“It has taken a number of years for this [medical underwriting]
to penetrate the individual annuity market. The defined
benefits pension scheme is much, much earlier in that journey.
But I suspect in five years’ time there will have been a
reasonable number of deals where some form of medical
underwriting has been done.”
Life assurers are stepping up efforts to persuade UK pension
fund trustees to gather health records from their members,
saying the disclosures could reduce the cost of bulk annuity
transfers by up to 15 per cent. Some insurers are even
considering offering scheme members gift vouchers worth
about £20 to overcome scepticism about why they should
provide the confidential details, people close to the
transactions under consideration said. Medical underwriting is
already commonplace in the individual annuity market.
Legal & General has been focusing on seeking to obtain
medical details for a small number of individuals – such as
former senior directors – who account for a high proportion of
some schemes’ liabilities. The FTSE 100 insurer has
completed some bulk annuity deals that have involved this
level of disclosure.
Retirees who have built defined contribution pension pots can
enjoy higher annuity income by agreeing to disclose medical
conditions or habits such as smoking that reduce their life
expectancy. Doctors typically receive fees of about £100 for
providing health records with the consent of their patients.
Until now, however, medical underwriting has been virtually
unheard of for bulk annuity deals, under which insurers
assume the longevity and investment risk for corporate
defined benefit schemes. Members of such schemes have no
obvious financial incentive to provide the detailed personal
information. The insurers have traditionally relied on basic
information about members such as age, postcode and
estimated wealth. “You’re dealing with a group of people, so
Meanwhile, companies that provide so-called enhanced
annuities for individual pensioners – under which they secure
health details – are looking at entering the bulk annuity
market. They include Partnership and Just Retirement.
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Will Hale, director at Partnership, said the group had been in
talks with about 30 schemes and maintained it was likely to
sign its first deal “within weeks”.
“There’s no obvious immediate [financial] uplift for members in
the DB scheme,” he said. “But actually we found that we’ve
almost had between a 90 and 100 per cent take up of the
engagement in the [health] questionnaires.”
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Lex/FT.com Last updated: June 27, 2012 4:03 pm
tax profits in 2011. But here too there is pressure. The Office
of Fair Trading recently launched an investigation into the
insurers’ relationships with repair garages and car hire
companies.
UK motor insurers: take cover
Meerkats, opera singers, toy dogs and telephones on wheels.
UK insurers leave no stone unturned when it comes to finding
ways to market their products. You have to wonder why they
bother.
Investors could soon have a whole new range of ways to play
the UK motor insurance market. RBS is planning to float its
Direct Line business this year, while smaller rivals
Esure and Hastings are also looking at listing. Anyone
planning to invest should take a close look at the core
business. Investment returns and ancillary income are all well
and good, but unless the company can get its underwriting
right, investors should drive straight by.
According to Ernst & Young, the motor insurance industry
will not make underwriting profits either this year or next.
Although the combined ratio of claims to premiums fell from
122 per cent to 106 per cent in 2011, the industry will not
manage in the short term to push it below the 100 per cent
mark that would signify profitability. That is no surprise – it has
failed to make an underwriting profit since 1994.
A combination of claims inflation and the marketing menagerie
that keeps customers shopping around is to blame.
The insurers’ response to the dismal underwriting environment
is to look for profits elsewhere. For years that meant relying on
investment returns to keep the show on the road, but finding
good homes for cash is tough these days. The other avenue is
to push on ancillary revenues such as referral fees from
personal injury lawyers.
At Admiral, the only pure-play motor insurer on the UK stock
market, ancillary income accounted for 58 per cent of UK pre-
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FT.com July 6, 2012 10:59 pm
The FSCS was set up in 2001 to protect retail investors and
banking customers. The scheme, which is funded by a levy on
companies, guarantees retail investments up to £50,000, and
deposits up to £85,000, if a financial company fails.
Mis-sold PPI doubles FSCS claims
By Elaine Moore
The number of claims made on the Financial Services
Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the last year has more than
doubled due to mis-sold payment protection insurance.
In April members of the scheme were hit with a £44m increase
in the annual levy paid to the FSCS, mainly due to a small
number of investment failures such as MF Global and CF Arch
Cru.
But despite a dramatic rise in claims the overall cost of
repaying customers of failed financial companies fell to
£347m, down from £535m paid out the previous year.
The FSCS said that high value claims relating to major
banking failures in previous years, including Icesave and
Bradford & Bingley, had mostly been dealt with and had been
replaced with smaller, although more numerous, claims for
PPI.
The way in which the scheme arranged to compensate
customers of the defunct companies has been heavily
criticised by UK financial companies which say the levy
system is unfair.
Although Keydata’s fellow investment “intermediaries” were
the first to meet the cost of compensation their contribution
was capped at £100. The rest of the £226m owed was paid by
fund managers, who were considered the group closest to
intermediaries.
Around two-thirds of the 97,000 claims made to the financial
services safety net in 2011/12 related to a single subprime
lender, Welcome Financial Services. Welcome, which boasted
that it would “give a warm welcome whatever your credit
history” was declared in default last year, mainly due to the
backlog of compensation claims for mis-sold PPI policies.
The FSCS expects PPI claims to continue to rise in 2012/13,
following the decision by UK courts allowing consumers to
reclaim mis-sold policies.
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Guy Sears, director of wholesale at the Investment
Management Association, said that the way in which
companies were grouped together by the regulator did not
make sense.
“We support the need for a well funded compensation
scheme,” he said. “But our principal concern is who bears the
burden of funding. The levy from Keydata is equivalent to a
significant tax on our industry. As fund managers we bear
responsibility for other fund managers, but the feeling is that
being grouped with intermediaries is wrong.”
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FT.com Last updated: July 8, 2012 6:39 pm
The ABI said it expected the cost of the floods to be the
highest since the flash floods in the summer of 2007, leading
to £3bn being paid out in claims.
Insurers face hefty bill as floods continue
By Alice Ross
Insurers also paid out £175m after flooding in Cumbria in
2009, which saw 1,000 homes affected.
UK insurers are bracing themselves for the biggest payouts for
flood damage since the summer of 2007, as heavy rainfall
continues.
Many regions are still on high alert for floods this week, after
heavy rain that has seen areas in the south west of England
receive a month’s rainfall within the space of a day.
Analysts have warned that this summer’s floods could see
insurers raise their premiums for such damage again, with
some insurers raising home insurance premiums by 10 per
cent following the 2007 floods.
The insurance industry expects the cost of the bad weather
that has seen 18,000 properties receive flood alerts in recent
days to run into hundreds of millions of pounds.
The Environment Agency has three grades of flood warnings
for regions. Severe flood warnings – in which there is a risk of
danger to life – had all been removed by Sunday.
Temporary accommodation for people forced to leave their
homes because of flood damage as well as the cost of
repairing property are among the claims that insurance
companies are expecting.
However, 22 regions in the Midlands, the north east and the
south west remained on a flood warning – where problems are
expected and immediate action is required. Another 103
regions were on flood alert at the weekend, with residents
warned to be prepared for possible flooding.
“At the moment we are estimating low hundreds of millions but
that could change depending on when the rain recedes,” said
the Association of British Insurers. “It’s too early to tell at this
point as we have to wait for the flood waters to recede before
we can estimate the damage.”
The north west was the only region to have all its flood
warnings and alerts removed by the weekend, while the
Midlands remained the region most at risk.
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The agency removed 148 flood warnings and flood alerts over
the weekend. However, it has warned that flood risks could
increase again during the week as more rain showers affect
England and Wales. It said that parts of east Devon and west
Dorset received 75-120mm of rain in just 24 hours, levels that
were above the average rainfall in an entire month.
The floods played havoc at Silverstone, forcing organisers for
the British grand prix to request that ticket-holders for
Saturday’s practice and qualifying session not to show up
because the public parking areas were saturated.
The qualifying session had to be aborted, but Formula 1
organisers were able to return to business as usual for the
race on Sunday, when a crowd of 125,000 was expected.
The Met Office is warning that long spells of hot and sunny
weather “look very unlikely”, with “below average sunshine
amounts” forecast in the south for late July and early August.
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FT.com July 20, 2012 10:12 am
in the form of a share buyback in October and the rest was
supposed to be returned in the first half of this year.
However, the group put the plans on hold in March. At the
time, Resolution said it would take into account “the impact of
planned management actions to further optimise capital”, as
well as financial market performance, in determining whether it
would press ahead at a later date.
Resolution cancels plan to return £250m
By Alistair Gray and Adam Jones
Resolution has cancelled a plan to return £250m to
shareholders, blaming the external environment for a decision
that wiped out almost 7 per cent of the life insurer’s market
capitalisation.
The disclosure on Friday that the company had scrapped the
payment pushed the shares down 15.4p to 212.5p, leaving
them trading at about half of book value.
The group, the brainchild of insurance entrepreneur Clive
Cowdery, said it would be “inappropriate” to pay out the sum
given jittery markets and regulatory pressure. The decision
puzzled some analysts, however, who questioned the extent
to which the factors cited by the group, which has also
undergone a series of recent management changes, were to
blame.
Mike Biggs, chairman, said he understood that investors
would be disappointed. But the company added its capital
position was “robust”, with an estimated £1.9bn surplus at
June 30, and that its dividend policy remained unchanged.
The move comes at an important juncture for Resolution,
which is under pressure to improve returns.
Several other FTSE 100 companies, including
GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson Matthey and Severn Trent, have all
confirmed plans to pay special dividends or buy back shares
this year. “Markets have performed adequately,” said Trevor
Moss at Berenberg Bank. “One is still left none the wiser as to
what is going on ... It is easy to be fed up with Resolution and
seemingly the constant changing of goalposts.”
Resolution has been examining plans to split into two
businesses, one containing historic insurance policies, the
other still writing new business. However, some analysts have
urged the company to reconsider, questioning the purpose of
the break-up.
Resolution said about a year ago it would return a total of
£500m to investors. The first tranche of £250m was distributed
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Resolution started life as a cash shell in 2008 and then bought
three insurance businesses: Friends Provident, most of Axa’s
UK life assurance operations and Bupa Health Assurance.
The company made an approach for Phoenix last year and
several analysts expect it to take another look at its rival. The
company has also been scouring for other potential deals
across western europe and North America, people with
knowledge of the matter said.
Resolution said it would give a detailed update on its cash and
capital position with its interim results on August 15.
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FT.com July 25, 2012 8:34 pm
case, that meant investment “intermediaries” chipped in first,
but their contributions were capped at £100m so investment
managers were on the hook for the rest.
FSA proposes compensation shake-up
By Brooke Masters, chief regulation correspondent
The proposal issued on Wednesday still requires each
subsector to look after its own losses, but then it slices up any
remaining bills based on how the industry will be supervised
when the FSA is broken up next year.
The Financial Services Authority, the City watchdog, has
proposed an overhaul of the scheme that compensates retail
customers when financial firms fail which would essentially
split off the protection of depositors and insurance policy
holders from that of other investors.
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which pays
out up to £85,000 to bank depositors and £50,000 to investors
who are caught up in failed firms, is funded by levies on the
broader industry. It has paid out more than £26bn to more
than 4.5m consumers since it was set up in 2001.
Banks and insurers, who will be supervised by the Prudential
Regulatory Authority, will form one compensation pool, and
everyone else – investment managers and various kinds of
intermediaries such as brokers and independent financial
advisers which come under the Financial Conduct Authority –
will form another.
The scheme is widely seen as critical to maintaining investor
confidence in the City, but the funding mechanism drew
harsh criticism last year. Investment managers were angry
that they – rather than the entire financial services industry –
were required to help fund a special £326m interim levy to
reimburse clients of the defunct investment group Keydata.
In an effort to limit the need for large, quick infusions of extra
cash, the FSA proposal also allows the scheme to use a
longer, three-year time horizon when setting out the annual
levy for each sector. However, the result would be that
investment managers – rather than banks and insurers –
would still have had to pay for Keydata.
Groups like Rathbone Brothers and Brewin Dolphin urged the
FSA, to review the mechanism, which essentially taps the
competitors of a failed firm first and then parts of the sector
that the FSA considers to be closely related. In Keydata’s
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Richard Saunders, chief executive of the Investment
Management Association, called the proposals “shocking and
astonishing”.
“While it is essential that consumers receive any
compensation they are due speedily and in full, the financing
burden needs to fall on firms in a fair and equitable way,” he
said. “These proposals expose different types of firms to
completely different liabilities in a totally inequitable way.”
But Sheila Nicholl, FSA director of conduct policy, said:
“Compensation funding inevitably means that different sectors
have competing interests. Our role has been to walk the
middle ground and produce a workable solution that we
believe the entire industry can afford and live with.”
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FT.com August 7, 2012 10:19 am
He was speaking as L&G increased its interim dividend by 18
per cent, with pre-tax profits up from £471m to £525m in the
six months to the end of June.
The new chief executive of Legal & General has signalled a
greater willingness to make acquisitions, saying the FTSE 100
group would consider “bolt-on” purchases of asset
management and general insurance companies.
L&G wrote £2.32bn worth of premiums in the first half, down
slightly on £2.38bn a year earlier. However, a 22 per cent
improvement in investment returns to £9.47bn helped total
revenue rise 16 per cent to £12bn.
Presenting his first set of results since taking over from Tim
Breedon at the end of June, Nigel Wilson said there would be
“a lot more opportunities to accelerate our growth through bolton acquisitions ... I think it [can be] a useful way for
businesses to grow.”
L&G said it had restated its 2011 results due to what the
company called “more prudent” actuarial assumptions.
The company generated £407m of net cash in the period,
broadly flat on a year earlier.
L&G willing to make bolt-on acquisitions
Legal & General nevertheless declared an interim dividend of
1.96p, an 18 per cent improvement from the year before,
payable from diluted earnings per share of 6.85p (6.03p).
Mr Breedon, who stepped down after 25 years at the life,
pensions and investment group, has been sceptical about
mergers and acquisitions in the sector.
Trevor Moss at Berenberg Bank said: “While the company
continues to ramp up dividends ... I still think that [it] has
sufficient excess capital to look at both capital options – small
bolt-on acquisitions or capital repatriation to shareholders.”
However, Mr Wilson, formerly finance director, said he was not
planning to depart radically from the company’s strategy.
“Tim and I looked at a number of acquisitions together over
the last few years,” he said. “We’ve just always been
disciplined about what we want to buy. “If we do buy things,
and I wouldn’t take it as a given but we’ll certainly be
looking ... they won’t be departures from our core business.”
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The earnings improvement was driven by L&G’s risk division,
which sells insurance and annuities and where operating
profits rose 15 per cent to £272m.
The profits improvement was more modest at LGIM, the
investment management business, and the savings division,
which provides unit trusts, ISAs, bonds, index trackers and
pensions.
At LGIM they ticked up 2 per cent to £117m while at the
savings operation they rose 7 per cent to £73m.
Mr Wilson added he was keen on expansion of the insurer’s
fund management business internationally, highlighting the US
and Asia in particular.
Operating profit at the international business was flat at £64m.
Meanwhile, operating profit at the general insurance business
fell from £17m to £8m, including the hit from summer flooding
as well as freezing weather and storms earlier in the year. ...
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Ms Winchester added that the lending market on student
housing was focused on large- scale loans secured against
well-located portfolios. “But debt remains restricted for new
entrants, single property deals and projects outside of
London”.
Investment in student accommodation
doubles
By Ed Hammond, Property Correspondent
Investment in student accommodation more than doubled to
£800m during the first six months of the year, underlining the
international and domestic appetite for low-risk property
assets.
The lack of student housing has forced many students into
private rented accommodation – usually a more expensive
alternative. The number of students in private rental property
has risen by 155,000 since 2007, according to CBRE.
Meanwhile, the average vacancy rate of student housing is
about 1 per cent.
The spending surge in the sector, up from £375m for the same
period a year earlier, comes as long-term investors, such as
pension funds and insurers, move to meet the financing
shortfall created by the slowdown in bank lending.
This combination of a supply shortfall and rising numbers of
university applicants has attracted a spate of big deals this
year.
Student housing is among a handful of niche property types
viewed by investors as exceptionally low risk, according to a
new report from CBRE, the property services group. The
market suffers from chronic under-supply, while the level of
accommodation under construction is not sufficient to meet
expected demand from UK and foreign students.
In April, Legal & General, the insurer, made its first foray into
property lending and provided Unite, the UK’s largest
developer and manager of student housing by units, with a
£121m loan. The move is the start of what L&G hopes will
become a multibillion-pound lending business, much of which
will be directed at the student housing market.
“There is no shortage of investor demand, but the market is
hampered by a shortage of new high-quality development
opportunities,” said Jo Winchester, head of student housing
advisory at CBRE.
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A week later, M&G, the fund management arm of the UK
insurer Prudential completed one of the largest commercial
property lending deals of the year when it agreed to finance a
£266m acquisition of a central London student housing
portfolio.
The arrival of new lenders in the student housing sector
reflects a trend across the property industry, as the slowdown
in bank lending creates opportunities. The role of banks is
expected to decline further, as changes to global banking
regulation require lenders to increase the amount of capital
held against loans secured on commercial property.
“We are seeing very strong demand for student housing from
investors not just across the UK, but globally,” said Charlie
Cunningham, chief executive of Fresh Start Living, the student
housing provider.
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The OFT has pointed to a limited number of big healthcare
private providers – as well as health insurers – and highlighted
“pockets of particularly high concentration” in some areas.
Health insurers face patient exodus
Bupa said on Wednesday that the numbers leaving
underscored the need for structural changes.
“Medical inflation has been running materially higher than
consumer inflation,” said Stuart Fletcher, Bupa’s chief
executive. “When incomes are under pressure and costs are
going up less people are feeling able to take private medical
insurance.”
The UK’s biggest health insurer has warned that treatment
costs have become so expensive that hundreds of thousands
of people are abandoning private medical cover.
Bupa said on Wednesday that it had lost 142,000 customers
in the UK – 5 per cent of its total – during the first half of the
year compared with 2011, blaming in large part a lack of
competition between hospitals for ramping up costs.
“Frankly a lack of competition and effective control of prices
charged by providers is an important factor.” “The Competition
Commission has the power to require either divestment or
changes in the [way] those hospitals conduct their business.”
Other health insurers had endured a similar exodus, Bupa
said, with the overall number of people who have individual
medical insurance cover now standing at its lowest level since
1995.
Mr Fletcher said the lack of competition was most acute in
central London, where HCA had “a very high” concentration.
Individuals from all demographics were turning their back on
the private sector in favour of the NHS, Bupa maintained.
The figures come as the Competition Commission begins an
investigation into the private healthcare market. The Office of
Fair Trading earlier this year said it had uncovered evidence
that suggested some practices in the sector “prevent, restrict
or distort competition”.
In a statement, HCA, which operates six hospitals in central
London, said: “London is a very competitive market with eight
different independent providers including Bupa, which has its
own hospital, plus a substantial number of NHS private units.”
It added: “Approximately a third of HCA’s patients are from
overseas and of the UK business most patients have private
medical insurance.
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“The number of patients with PMI [private medical insurance]
coming to us is actually increasing.”
Other private providers in the UK include Spire Healthcare,
Ramsay Healthcare, BMI Healthcare and Nuffield Health.
Bupa previously operated hospitals itself in the UK but sold 25
of them to Cinven, the private equity house, for £1.44bn five
years ago to focus on its insurance business. It now operates
only one in the country, the Bupa Cromwell Hospital, in west
London.
The group has been expanding internationally and now does
about two-thirds of business outside the UK, including in
Australia, Spain and the US.
Pressure in the UK contributed to a 22 per cent fall in first-half
profits at Bupa’s Europe and North America operations.
Across the group, however, pre-tax profits were up 5 per cent
at £255.3m.
Bupa is a private company, not a provident, a mutual nor a
charity. However, it is without share capital, meaning it has no
shareholders, and profits are reinvested back into the
organisation.
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FT.com August 15, 2012 11:47 am
A contract between the two entities was renewed last
December and stays in effect until 2013.
Resolution abandons plans to split
One top 10 shareholder said on Wednesday he had been
concerned that several funds could ultimately have been
forced to sell their holdings if Resolution kept the structure, as
the company risked losing its premium listing.
Resolution is to scrap its complex corporate structure in the
face of regulatory pressure as part of revamp under which the
FTSE 100 life insurer has also abandoned plans to break itself
up.
“There was an accountability issue and it was quite a
significant cloud over the share price,” the shareholder said.
“They’ve addressed that and there is a sense of relief. They’re
making the best of a bad situation.”
The listed company, comprised entirely of non- executive
directors and domiciled in Guernsey, is to stop outsourcing its
leadership to an external London-based entity run by founder
Clive Cowdery.
As a result of the shake-up, Mr Cowdery will join the board of
the listed entity for the first time.
The move comes after the Financial Services Authority this
year pledged to crack down on unconventional corporate
structures, which threatened Resolution’s position in the FTSE
100.
John Tiner, a former head of the FSA and chief executive of
the advisory company Resolution Operations, is to leave. He
had previously criticised the City watchdog’s planned
clampdown, saying the case down had not been made for it.
The FSA has said these “externally managed companies” in
effect placed management “beyond the reach of some of the
key controls and protections for shareholders”.
However, Mr Cowdery on Wednesday downplayed the
regulatory threat. He linked the changing management to
other developments.
Resolution Limited pays an annual fee of about £20m to
Resolution Operations, an arrangement one analyst described
as akin to having an “investment bank on a retainer”.
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Resolution is cancelling proposals to split its “back book” – the
part of the group that no longer writes new policies – from the
one that continues to write new business.
Resolution is also to review its Guernsey domicile.
Another top 10 shareholder said: “This is a sensible cleaning
up of the strategy.”
The company, which had previously downplayed the prospect
of pursuing further deals, went further on Wednesday by
saying it would “no longer seek acquisitions” whatsoever in the
UK.
Shares in Resolution, which have underperformed the FTSE
350 life insurance index by 29 per cent over the past year,
rose 2.9 per cent to close at 226.3p.
“This structure was always temporary,” said Mr Cowdery.
He added: “From the moment it becomes clear that we do not
need to keep a separate team working on acquisition or
planning an exit event, let’s get on with a normalised structure
and take off the table something that might cause a
distraction.”
Andy Briggs, chief executive of Friends Life, will become the
group’s chief executive and Tim Tookey, formerly of Lloyds
Banking Group who joined the company last year, will become
finance director.
Amid Hussain, analyst at Jefferies, said he questioned “the
need for the unusually high .!.!. number of executive directors
on a board for what will essentially be a conventional life
insurance business – further streamlining of the board is
likely.”
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trade at a 40 per cent discount to book value, with the UK life
assurance sector on a slight premium, underscoring investors’
disappointment.
Resolution battles to console investors
Resolution recently cancelled a plan to return £250m to
shareholders.
After Clive Cowdery fetched the tidy sum of about £5bn selling
his first Resolution vehicle four years ago, backers of his new
venture had high hopes that the insurance entrepreneur could
repeat the trick.
“He started with companies that weren’t top flight – and it’s a
really really tough market to sell new business into,” says
Kevin Ryan at Investec. “You can’t just sprinkle fairy dust on a
life company to turn it round.”
But rather than becoming an aggressive consolidation vehicle,
Wednesday’s restructuring plan leaves Resolution “mark two”
looking more like a conventional UK life insurer – and an outof-favour one at that.
Wednesday’s plan, which overhauls the group’s management,
aims to address concerns in the City of London about
Resolution’s strategy and management structure.
Trevor Moss at Berenberg Bank described the company’s
plight on Wednesday as trying to “make the best of a cobbled
together pack of mis-aligned businesses”.
The first Resolution project generated solid returns by
mopping up life insurance companies that had closed to new
business and selling them on.
For months analysts have been questioning the rationale for
Resolution’s preferred “exit plan”. The company planned to
slice itself into two – a conventional life insurer open to new
business, and a so-called run-off vehicle that would manage
the existing policies – and float them separately.
Its successor had a wider remit, acquiring companies that
were still open to new customers.
But several brokers cautioned the proposals would release
little value.
Resolution bought Friends Provident, most of Axa’s UK life
assurance operations and a small part of Bupa. But the shares
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Investors have had to grapple with a management structure
that regulators have indicated raises corporate governance
concerns.
Investors are likely to be more concerned that the duller
Resolution continues to eke out operational improvements.
“We are focusing on the operating performance of the
business,” says Mr Cowdery. “We don’t need the complex
structure that was put in place at the start.”
In the context of the strategic changes, the financial results on
Wednesday were something of a sideshow. Some headline
figures looked lacklustre – interim operating profits fell 58 per
cent to £163m and the company posted a statutory pre-tax
loss of £133m.
Revenue fell from £3.76bn to £3.57bn as premium income and
investment returns came under pressure.
But several analysts said Resolution had addressed fears
about a weak balance sheet. The company says its capital
strength is “robust”, with the underlying business generating
£120m of cash in the first half. Resolution is raising its interim
dividend by 5 per cent to 7.05p a share.
Although the listed company says it will no longer seek
acquisitions, Mr Cowdery still has his eye on other projects
outside the UK including possible purchases of European
insurers.
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An accounting disciplinary appeals tribunal fined Ernst &
Young £500,000 and ordered it to pay £2.4m in costs two
years ago for failing to warn investors properly about the risks.
An earlier tribunal had demanded E&Y pay almost £10m in
fines and costs.
No more action against Equitable actuaries
Policyholders who lost money after Equitable Life almost
collapsed have criticised a disciplinary board’s “deplorable”
decision to close a probe into actuaries.
Paul Braithwaite, general secretary of the Equitable Members’
Action Group, said of Friday’s decision: “Actuaries have a
great deal to answer for in the loss of people’s pensions.
“It is weary resignation to the actuarial and accounting
professionals closing ranks and saying ‘not me guv’.
“The Equitable Life saga alone is enough to make any
sensible person think twice about trusting the financial
services industry, regulators or the actuarial and accounting
professions that service them,” he said.
In a brief statement on Friday after an investigation that lasted
almost four years, the Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline
Board said there was “no realistic prospect” that a tribunal
would find against them.
The AADB said it would not pursue any further action
against an actuary from Ernst & Young, which audited the
company’s accounts, and others from the Government
Actuary’s Department, which provided advice to regulators.
Two years ago ministers said they would set aside about
£1.5bn for compensation to policyholders. However,
campaigners have criticised the sum as inadequate.
At the time of E&Y’s fine, the Joint Disciplinary Scheme, which
oversees the auditing profession, said the case gave rise to
concerns about the dominance of the Big Four accountancy
firms.
Campaigners said they were disappointed but not surprised by
the decision and that very few individuals had been held
accountable for a debacle that left thousands out of pocket.
England’s oldest mutual insurer, which had 1.5m policyholders
at its peak, closed to new business 12 years ago after being
forced to honour expensive guarantees that stretched back 30
years.
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However, E&Y said any lessons from its audit of Equitable had
“long been learnt and embedded in our audit systems and
procedures” and the relevant people involved had retired.
E&Y and the Government Actuary’s Department declined to
comment on Friday.
The Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board, which is part
of the Financial Reporting Council, said in Friday’s statement it
was independent of the professions it disciplines and operated
in the public interest.
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„ZUSAMMENGESCHUSTERTES PAKET“
Cowdery gründete die erste Resolution-Gruppe. 2008
verkaufte er die Bestände für rund 5 Mrd. Pfund (6,4 Mrd.
Euro) weiter – mit hohem Gewinn.
FTD.de Herbert Fromme, Köln 17.08.12
Eigentlich wollte die britische Resolution
Versicherungsbestände aufkaufen und mit Gewinn
weiterverkaufen. Jetzt bleiben die Investoren auf ihnen sitzen
Kein Wunder, dass ihm 2008 für die Neuauflage von
Resolution viel Kapital zufloss. Er kaufte Friends Provident,
den größten Teil von Axa Life und weitere Bestände.
Das Geschäftsmodell schien gut, das Spitzenpersonal noch
besser. Doch jetzt fürchten große Anleger des Londoner
Versicherers Resolution um ihr Geld.
Das Modell: Der Versicherer Resolution sitzt auf der
Kanalinsel Guernsey mit all ihren Steuervorteilen. Er hat keine
Angestellten. Die Arbeit macht als Dienstleister Resolution
Operations in London für 20 Mio. Pfund Gebühr pro Jahr. Die
Chefs: Clive Cowdery und John Tiner.
Immerhin hatte Gründer Clive Cowdery 2008 an strategischer
Stelle bei Resolution einen gewissen John Tiner platziert. Der
war vorher Chef der Finanzaufsicht Financial Services
Authority (FSA). Doch jetzt hat ausgerechnet die FSA dem
Geschäftsmodell ein Ende bereitet. Cowdery und die
Investoren stehen vor großen Problemen, Tiner geht.
Jetzt will die FSA das Spiel stoppen. Durch das Konstrukt sei
das Management außerhalb ihrer Kontrolle, die Kunden kaum
geschützt. Cowdery muss sich fügen: Die Managementfirma
wird mit dem Versicherer verschmolzen.
Cowdery war lange Chef der Versicherungstöchter des
Mischkonzerns General Electric.
Viel Fantasie ist ohnehin nicht mehr in seinem Modell. Die
Aktie dümpelt dahin, die niedrigen Zinsen wirken sich negativ
aus. Der Halbjahresumsatz sank spürbar auf 3,6 Mrd. Pfund,
der Gewinn brach um 58 Prozent auf 163 Mio. Pfund ein.
2004 erkannte er eine strategische Lücke: Immer mehr
britische Versicherer wollten Lebensversicherungsbestände
loswerden – zu wenig Gewinn, zu viel Ärger mit der Aufsicht,
zu viel gebundenes Kapital.
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England
Cowderys Ausstiegsplan, nämlich neue Börsengänge einmal
des Teils mit aktivem Geschäft und separat des Teils nur mit
Abwicklung, hat kaum Chancen.
Jetzt muss Resolution weitermachen, mit einem
„zusammengeschusterten Paket von nicht
zueinanderpassenden Unternehmensteilen“, wie Analyst
Trevor Moss von der Berenberg Bank der Financial Times
sagte.
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England
On top of the closure of a call centre in Stockton-on-Tees,
further job losses are expected to be spread across Direct
Line’s other UK operations.
Royal Bank of Scotland’s insurance arm Direct Line has
warned it plans to make about 900 employees redundant as
part of a cost-cutting drive ahead of an expected flotation.
Just two days after the company set out a target to boost
shareholder returns, Direct Line began to detail the “first
phase” of its push to save £100m by 2014.
The company highlighted plans to reduce costs at its head
office in Bromley, which employs more than 2,000 people.
The insurer, which has 14 other sites across the country with
big centres in Croydon, Leeds and Glasgow, also indicated it
was targeting savings in marketing, IT and various other back
office functions.
The north-east of England is likely to endure the worst of the
job losses as the home and motor insurer plans to close a site
in Teeside that employs 500 people. “This is yet another knife
in the back of Teesside,” said Alex Cunningham, Labour MP
for Stockton North. “The state-owned RBS has targeted our
region.”
The Direct Line workers are not represented by a union, unlike
those in other parts of RBS. The company said it had begun a
consultation with affected employees.
Direct Line to cut 900 jobs
The insurer’s headcount has remained broadly static in recent
years at about 15,000 – unlike that of RBS overall, which by
the end of last year had cut its employee tally by 11 per cent
since the start of 2010.
RBS is just weeks away from selling the first chunk of shares
in a planned stock market launch of Direct Line. The insurer is
one of several assets European regulators ordered the partnationalised lender to dispose of after its government bail-out.
However, this week several top fund managers told the
Financial Times now was a wrong time for a flotation, with one
saying the market feared RBS could fetch as little as £1.5bn
for the business – about half the sum analysts have expected.
Direct Line, whose brands include the eponymous home and
motor insurer as well as Churchill and breakdown service
Green Flag, said it would try to help the employees find work
elsewhere within the group or with other employers.
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England
“We have not made these proposals lightly and fully
understand the impact this will have on our people,” said Paul
Geddes, chief executive. “As we have done in the past, we will
be open and honest, dealing fairly and carefully with those
affected.”
The planned cuts by Direct Line are the latest blow to UK
insurance workers. Two weeks ago Aviva, the FTSE 100
insurer, warned that as many as 800 jobs at its UK business
were at risk under a cost-cutting push.
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England
Marcus Barnard, an analyst at Oriel, noted that the number of
vehicles insured by the company was up only 1.6 per cent in
the UK – by far Admiral’s most important market – since the
group’s full-year results.
Insurers face pain, Admiral chief says
Aggressive pricing and rising customer claims are likely to
weigh on UK motor insurers for at least another six months,
the founder of Admiral has warned.
Speaking after the car insurer disclosed that it had cut UK
expansion, Henry Engelhardt said that rivals had yet to “wake
up to the fact that they’re getting pinched”.
The Cardiff-based company said this was a “sensible
response” to the intensifying competition and denied claims by
analysts that Admiral’s growth had slowed permanently.
“This is a very cyclical industry,” said Mr Engelhardt. “Prices
will start to go up again. It’s all about survival of the fittest ...
and we are arguably the fittest.”
Motor insurers have sought to capitalise on spiralling
premiums in recent years, but the increasing competition had
recently put prices into reverse, he said.
Pre-tax profits rose from £160.6m to £171.8m in the six
months to June and diluted earnings per share from 43.2p to
47.2p.
Mr Engelhardt, who is also chief executive, cited industry data
showing that premium rates had fallen almost a tenth over the
past year and added: “I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s still
more aggression left in the market. I would expect rates to
probably continue to fall ... [for] another year, maybe.”
Admiral raised its interim dividend by 15 per cent to 45.1p a
share – worth about £15m to Mr Engelhardt, who holds a 13
per cent stake in the company.
However, several analysts said Admiral’s profits were
benefiting from previous expansion and warned that the group
would struggle to hit full-year earnings forecasts....
Admiral insured 3.5m vehicles as of the end of June. Although
this represented an 11 per cent increase over the past 12
months, the rate of growth was down sharply on the 33 per
cent achieved the previous year.
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England
Profits from the domestic operations helped to offset losses at
Admiral’s fledgling international businesses in Spain, Italy,
France and North America, which widened to £8.9m.
Mr Engelhardt said: “In general, you need a six to 10-year
timeframe to create a profitable business. Our oldest business
is not yet six years old ... we’re quite a number of years away.”
Revenue from insurance premiums rose from £425.2m to
£560.5m. Admiral cedes an unusually high amount of this –
more than half – to reinsurers.
Net sales rose 15 per cent to £488.4m. Shares fell 34p to
£11.62.
90
England
FT.com September 8, 2012 12:03 am
One senior broker involved said: “The man and women in the
street will certainly be given the chance to buy this deal. If it
gets a good write up in the press, your average pensioner or
saver with a bit of money will probably want to buy.”
Another person familiar with the IPO said a so-called ‘retail
allocation’ was a “strong possibility”. RBS declined to
comment.
Direct Line IPO may include public
By Alistair Gray and David Oakley
Royal Bank of Scotland is sounding out retail stockbrokers
about offering shares in Direct Line to the public, when the
part-nationalised bank floats its insurance business, said
people with knowledge of the plan.
Direct Line plans to file a formal intention to float as early as
next week, although a final decision has not yet been taken,
people familiar with the matter said.
The unusual move – an echo of Margaret Thatcher’s “Tell Sid”
privatisations – would give individuals the chance to buy
shares directly in what is set to be the biggest flotation of a
British company in six years.
The shares are expected to be sold in chunks and the first
tranche – a minority stake – may not involve retail investors.
European regulators are forcing RBS to sell Direct Line,
whose brands include Churchill and Green Flag, to meet rules
on state aid, following the bank’s government bailout.
Few companies that have listed in London in recent times
have offered shares directly to private investors, meaning
small savers have to wait to buy them on the secondary
market.
But they have given the bank until the end of 2014 to divest its
entire stake in the insurer.
Brokers say involving retail clients in initial public offerings can
be more time-consuming and expensive than dealing
exclusively with prospective institutional investors.
This week Direct Line, which is Britain’s biggest motor insurer
by number of policies, set targets to improve its profitability
and announced plans for 900 redundancies, in an attempt to
save £100m by 2014.
However, people involved in the Direct Line process said RBS
was much more receptive to the idea – partly because the
Direct Line brand is well-known among consumers, but also
because of the bank’s part-nationalised status.
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England
Analysts said RBS should fetch about £3bn for Direct Line,
putting it in the FTSE 100.
However, one major City fund manager said on Friday:
“Buyers – whether they are institutional or retail – will want it at
a discount.”
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England
England
England
England
England
England
However, insurance companies are facing a potentially bigger
upheaval than those in other sectors.
Mutual insurers warn over rules switch
For the private insurers GAAP is aligned with existing
solvency standards. These are being phased out in favour of
the European Union’s so-called Solvency II regime from the
start of 2014. However, this is before the switch to the new
accounting standard is likely to be introduced, so smaller
insurers could be required to collate Solvency I data to meet
the standards while also needing to comply with Solvency II.
Britain’s mutual insurers have sounded the alarm about plans
from accounting standard-setters to change their system of
bookkeeping, warning some will struggle to bear the costs.
The mutuals, which cover about 7 per cent of the UK
insurance market, said they were concerned they would be
forced to make “expensive and impractical” changes to their
financial statements.
The picture is further complicated as IFRS for insurers is itself
set to change. The International Accounting Standards Board
is trying to agree on a new standard for insurance accounting
with the US Financial Accounting Standards Board.
“It’s enough that some organisations will begin to look at
whether or not they can justify remaining independent,” said
Martin Shaw, chief executive of the Association of Financial
Mutuals, whose 50-plus members cater for 20m
people.
A new global standard could make it easier for investors to
compare companies in different jurisdictions, ultimately
encouraging capital to flow into the sector. However, the
smaller UK insurers – less reliant on international capital
markets – argue this benefit hardly applies to them.
Mr Shaw said the mutuals were also concerned the new
standard could require them to make regular re-evaluations, a
potentially costly process.
The insurers are concerned they will be caught in the middle
of various – and possibly incompatible – accounting and
regulatory changes that are set to be introduced in the coming
years.
All private British companies are being required to follow their
listed peers and switch from the UK’s Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles to a version of International Financial
Reporting Standards from 2015.
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England
“We like UK GAAP. It’s something that in an ideal world we
would like to see retained,” he said, while recognising there
was little or no prospect of that.
Mr Shaw added insurers were paying “fairly astronomical
rates” for professional services advisers to help them comply
with the planned changes.
Roger Marshall, chair of the UK Financial Reporting Council’s
accounting council, said: “We’re consulting on how to make
life easy for small insurers in the interim period when Solvency
I gets switched off.
“Our main concern is to make sure we don’t put a
disproportionate burden on small insurers.”
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England
FTD.de 17.09.2012, 12:14
Wohngebäudeversicherung mit knapp 20 Prozent Anteil. Die
Gruppe erzielte 2011 Prämieneinnahmen von 4,2 Mrd. Pfund.
Zu ihr gehören auch die Marken Churchill und Green Flag, ein
Pannendienst.
Autoversicherung: Direct Line geht an die
Börse
Die britische Großbank Royal Bank of Scotland bringt ihre
Tochter Direct Line Group an die Börse. Damit erfüllt sie eine
Auflage der EU-Kommission, die staatliche Hilfe für die Bank
genehmigt hatte.
von Herbert Fromme
Analysten schätzen den Wert der Firma auf rund 3 Mrd.
Pfund. Im ersten Schritt will RBS 25 Prozent verkaufen. Das
teilte die Bank am Freitag mit.
Direct Line wäre einer der größten Börsengänge dieses
Jahres. Das Scheitern des Börsenganges von Talanx in
Deutschland beeindruckt die RBS-Manager nicht. Die Lage in
Großbritannien sei nicht vergleichbar.
Britische Autofahrer zahlen deutlich mehr für ihre
Autoversicherungen als die in Deutschland. Durchschnittlich
betrugen die Prämien nach Auskunft des Autoclubs AA Ende
2011 921 Pfund oder 1140 Euro pro Jahr und Fahrzeug - mehr
als doppelt soviel wie hierzulande. 2004 zahlte ein britischer
Fahrer nur 456 Pfund. Die höchsten Preissteigerungen
setzten die Gesellschaften seit 2010 durch.
Eigentlich hätte die Bank noch bis Ende 2013 Zeit,
mindestens die Hälfte abzugeben, bis Ende 2014 muss der
Rest folgen.
Für die Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) ist das eine gute
Nachricht. Denn mehrheitlich dem Staat gehörende Institut
muss sich bis spätestens 2014 von den
Versicherungsbeteiligungen trennen. Das verlangt die EUKommission im Gegenzug für die Zustimmung zu staatlichen
Hilfen von 45 Mrd. Pfund, mit denen die Bank 2008 und 2009
vor dem Kollaps gerettet werden musste.
Dass RBS schon jetzt auf die Tube drückt, hat gute Gründe.
Die Bank will die vergleichsweise gute Konjunktur für
Autoversicherer mit ihren hohen Preisen ausnutzen, solange
es noch geht.
Ein großer Brocken dabei ist der Autoversicherer Direct Line,
der britische Marktführer in der Kfz- und
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England
Denn die britischen Autoversicherer müssen sich im Moment
heftiger Kritik von Verbraucherschützern und Politikern wegen
dubioser Provisionspraktiken erwehren. Wenn es schlecht für
sie läuft, kommt eine deutliche Verschärfung der
Aufsichtsregeln heraus - die teuer wird für die Branche.
Eine kleine Rolle spielt die Deutschlandtochter der Direct Line
mit Sitz in Teltow bei Berlin. Das Unternehmen kam 2011 auf
162 Mio. Euro Prämieneinnahmen und erzielte einen
Minigewinn von 2,2 Mio. Euro, allerdings 0,7 Mio. Euro mehr
als im Vorjahr.
Das staatliche Office of Fair Trading (OFT) setzte im Mai die
Kartellkommission Competition Commission in Marsch, die
eine Untersuchung begann.
Vor allem die Provisionseinnahmen britischer Autoversicherer
stören das OFT. Bei einem Haftpflichtschaden zwischen zwei
Fahrzeugen wickelt der Versicherer des nicht verantwortlichen
Fahrers den Schaden für ihn ab - mit merkwürdigen Folgen.
Der Versicherer lässt den Wagen in einer Werkstatt
reparieren, mit der er eine Provisionsvereinbarung hat. Solche
Vereinbarungen haben Versicherer auch mit Mietwagenfirmen.
Laut OFT kostet ein so zur Verfügung gestellter Leihwagen
pro Unfall 560 Pfund mehr als ein privat angemietetes
Fahrzeug. Die Werkstattrechnungen liegen im Schnitt155
Pfund pro Reparatur höher.
Diese Provisionseinnahmen von Werkstätten und
Autovermietern sind aber wichtige Gewinnquellen für britische
Versicherer. Werden sie verboten, geraten die Ergebnisse
unter Druck - mit negativen Folgen für das Interesse von
Anlegern am Börsengang.
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England
The sale equates to little more than half of the company’s
book value and 5 times 2011 earnings, according to Exane
BNP Paribas – discounts to the wider UK general insurance
sector.
Ageas agrees deal for Groupama UK arm
By Alistair Gray
Ageas has moved to bulk up its presence in the British general
insurance market with an agreement to buy the UK operations
of Groupama, the troubled French mutual, for £116m.
François Boissin, Exane BNP Paribas analyst, said Ageas
investors would be reassured by the price and strategic fit.
“Investors were concerned about acquisition risk and excess
cash deployment after expensive acquisitions over the past
years,” he added.
The Belgian financial services group, formerly known as
Fortis, said the acquisition would make it the fifth-biggest nonlife insurer in the UK with a 5 per cent market share.
Groupama has already sold its Spanish unit to Grupo
Catalana Occidente and property and casualty assets of its
Gan Eurocourtage brokerage business to Germany’s Allianz.
Groupama has run into some of the most notable financial
difficulties of internationally significant European insurers in
recent months, after enduring losses on Greek sovereign debt
and stock market investments.
The French group, which until last year was the 15th largest in
Europe by premiums, put its UK business up for sale to shore
up its capital position.
The UK business employs more than 600 people. Eamonn
Flanagan, analyst at Shore Capital, said redundancies “have
to be inevitable, it’s a sad thing. “This is not a highly
aggressive, high-growth business.” Ageas said it was too early
to say whether jobs would go.
102
Europa
CEA member associations
Netherlands (NL) — Verbond van Verzekeraars
Norway (NO) — Finansnæringens Fellesorganisasjon (FNO)
Poland (PL) — Polska Izba Ubezpieczeń (PIU)
Portugal (PT) — Associação Portuguesa de Seguradores
(APS)
Romania (RO) — Uniunea Naţională a Societăţilor de
Asigurare şi Reasigurare (Unsar)
Slovakia (SK) — Slovenská asociácia poist’ovní
Slovenia (SI) — Slovensko Zavarovalno Združenje (SZZ)
Spain (ES) — Unión Española de Entidades Aseguradoras y
Reaseguradoras (Unespa)
Sweden (SE) — Sveriges Försäkringsförbund
Switzerland (CH) — Schweizerischer Versicherungsverband
(ASA/SVV)
Turkey (TR) — Türkiye Sigorta ve Reasürans Şirketleri Birliği
United Kingdom (UK) — The British Insurers’ European
Committee: Association of British Insurers (ABI)
International Underwriting Association of London (IUA) Lloyd’s
Quelle: CEA European Insurance - Key Facts September
2010
Austria (AT) — Versicherungsverband Österreich (VVO)
Belgium (BE) — Assuralia
Bulgaria (BG) — Association of Bulgarian Insurers (ABZ)
Croatia (HR) — Hrvatski ured za osiguranje
Cyprus (CY) — Insurance Association of Cyprus
Czech Republic (CZ) — Česká asociace pojišt’oven (ČAP)
Denmark (DK) — Forsikring & Pension (F&P)
Estonia (EE) — Eesti Kindlustusseltside Liit
Finland (FI) — Finanssialan Keskusliitto
France (FR) — Fédération Française des Sociétés
d’Assurances (FFSA)
Germany (DE) — Gesamtverband der Deutschen
Versicherungswirtschaft (GDV)
Greece (GR) — Hellenic Association of Insurance Companies
Hungary (HU) — Magyar Biztosítók Szövetsége (MABISZ)
Iceland (IS) — Samtök Fjármálafyrirtækja (SFF)
Ireland (IE) — Irish Insurance Federation (IIF)
Italy (IT) — Associazione Nazionale fra le Imprese
Assicuratrici (Ania)
Latvia (LV) — Latvijas Apdrošinātāju asociācija (LAA)
Liechtenstein (LI) — Liechtensteinischer
Versicherungsverband
Lithuania (LT) — Lietuvos draudikų asociacija
Luxembourg (LU) — Association des Compagnies
d’Assurances (ACA)
Malta (MT) — Malta Insurance Association
103
Europa
104
Europa
105
Europa
106
Europa
107
Frankreich
EUREKO SELLS IMPÉRIO FRANCE TO
SMABTP GROUP
Within the framework of SMAvieBTP, Império will be dedicated
to the continuation of its strategy serving the
Portuguese community.
© 2011 eureko
Zeist, 21 December 2010
Eureko today announces that it signed an agreement involving
the sale of Império France to SMABTP group. Império France
is Eureko’s smallest operating company outside The
Netherlands. Closing of the deal is foreseen in the first half of
2011. Finalisation of the transaction is subject to approval by
the regulatory authorities.
The sale of Império fits within Eureko’s international strategy.
Império serves a niche market – the Portuguese community in
France - and distributes its products through its partner,
Banque BCP, and a network of agents.
As a consequence, Império is a typical example of a company
which does not entirely fit in Eureko’s international strategy.
After the sale, Império will be better positioned to ensure its
future development.
SMATBP group comprises two mutual insurance companies:
SMABTP, specialized in goods damages and liabilities and
SMAvieBTP, dedicated to persons insurance (savings,
pensions, health). The company aims to increase its client
database.
108
Griechenland
Versicherungsdurchdringung 2005 in
Prozent
AIG, ING, Eureko, Credit Agricole, AXA
Allianz liegt auf Platz 12, die Victoria Hellas auf Rang 20
Großbritannien
12,7
Belgien
10,2
Frankreich
9,8
EU-Durchschnitt
8,5
Portugal
7,8
Deutschland
6,8
Spanien
5,7
Griechenland
2,2
Quelle: Verband der griechischen Versicherungsunternehmen
(EAEE)
in 1996: 139 Versicherungsgesellschaften
in 2006: 95 Versicherungsgesellschaften
im Lebensbereich kontrollieren die zehn führenden
Unternehmen fast 90 Prozent des Marktes
Ausländische Versicherer kontrollieren rund 25 Prozent des
Nicht-Leben-Sektors und 45 Prozent des
Lebensversicherungsmarktes
Rangliste
1.
2.EFG Eurolife (EFG Eurobank, zweitgrößtes griechisches
Kreditinstitut)
viele Griechen sind drastisch unterversichert
bei der Versicherungsdurchdringung wird das
Prämienaufkommen in Relation zum BIP gesetzt.
Griechenland liegt noch unter dem Niveau von
Schwellenländern wie Estland, Polen und der Slowakei.
Mentalität: größere Sorglosigkeit mit mehr Mut zum Risiko
kein Vertrauen in Versicherer
aber das Rentensystem steht vor dem Kollaps
die AXA übernahm im Oktober 2006 die Athener Alpha
Insurance, eine Tochter der Alpha Bank, dem drittgrößten
griechischen Kreditinstitut, für 255 Mio.Euro,
Marktanteil 4%
Szenario in 2050: das Rentensystem trägt 35 Prozent des
Haushaltsdefizits und treibt die Staatsverschuldung auf 450
Prozent des BIP
unter den ersten zehn der griechischen Versicherungsbranche
sind nach der Übernahme der Alpha Insurance bereits fünf
ausländische Konzerne vertreten -
109
Indien
FT.com July 27, 2012 9:51 am
the rest of us,” says Andy Kuper, co-founder and president of
Leapfrog Investments, a two-year-old, US-based private
equity fund dedicated to promoting micro-insurance.
Micro-insurers target India’s poor
By Amy Kazmin in New Delhi
Leapfrog – which raised $135m from investors like the Soros
Economic Development Fund, the International Finance
Corporation; and JPMorgan – has invested $15m in an
arm of the Shriram group and is now helping design the firm
design new micro-insurance products, and expanded its
distribution of policies.
Losing a breadwinner on India’s notoriously dangerous roads
is a real risk. So Indian truck drivers that own their own
vehicles are being offered low-cost life assurance to protect
their working class families in the event of a tragedy.
The Shriram group, India’s biggest truck finance company that
helps independent truckers buy their own vehicles, began
offering them insurance five years ago.
“The poor live on the edge,” Mr Kuper says. “Any sudden,
unexpected event – the death of a breadwinner or illness –
can precipitate them falling ever deeper into poverty. If you
can put a safety net – a floor – under those people, you can
literally end the cycle of poverty.”
It has not been an easy sell. Though monthly premiums range
from only $13.50-$25, many truckers earning less than $400
per month are put off by the idea of paying for benefits they
may never claim.
The spurt in selling low-cost insurance in the developing world
is rooted in the global microfinance explosion, which
demonstrated the commercial potential of profit-oriented
financial services for the poor.
“These guys have no experience with life insurance,” says
G.S. Sundararajan, managing director of Shriram Capital. “In
their hierarchy of payments, insurance will never be there.”
Yet rather than give up, Shriram has now designed a new life
assurance policy – with lower premiums and higher payouts –
that it hopes will be more attractive to its target market.
“The poor are systematically more vulnerable to shocks than
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Indien
Confronting saturation in developed markets, many global
insurance companies see microinsurance as a new frontier,
although getting models right is not easy.
“You should not be getting a company selling a broken bones
policy with an osteoporosis exclusion,” he says. “It’s not fair to
the policy holder to make it complex.”
Swiss Re, the reinsurer, estimates the potential market for
microinsurance policies to protect the poor against such risks
as death, accidents, illness, crop failure and nature disasters
could be as high as 4bn people, generating up to $40bn in
premiums.
Distribution is another challenge. Typically, insurers rely on
commission-based sales agents. But now companies are
testing innovative channels – such as churches, retail stores,
trade unions, employers, and even governments – to reach
their large numbers of people in their target market in more
cost-effective ways.
The International Labour Organisation recently estimated that
about 500m people already have some form of
microinsurance policies, many from global insurers such as
Zurich, Allianz and AIG.
South Africa’s Sanlam is distributing funeral insurance – a
locally popular type of life assurance to cover high funeral
costs – to members of the Zion Christian Church, while the
country’s Old Mutual sells accident and funeral insurance
policies through Shoprite, a large food retailer targeting low
income consumers.
“Micro-insurance is a very useful proposition for insurance
companies,” says Clarence Wong, chief economist in Asia for
Swiss Re. “They are going to tap into a group of people who
will be richer in future, and will be buyers of conventional
insurance. So it’s a long-term strategy. And the success of
microfinance has helped ease concern about the viability of
micro-insurance.”
Some experts, such as David Dror, chairman of the New
Delhi-based MicroInsurance Academy, are sceptical that
commercial insurers can offer genuine protection to the poor.
Mr Kuper believes micro-insurance must be simple, so poorlyeducated customers can clearly understand their policies,
without analysing pages of fine print.
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Indien
“Most insurance businesses float products not on know-yourcustomer, or true knowledge, but on ‘will it, or will it not,
generate profits?’” says Mr Dror, whose organisation promotes
community-based micro-insurance schemes in rural India.
“Unless we have a re-engineering of business processes of
insurance – to make it driven by demand, based on local input
and creating a stake for people to be in it – micro-insurance
cannot work.”
Leapfrog’s Mr Kuper argues that only commercial insurers
have the muscle to bring the benefits of insurance to large
numbers of people. He says the fund’s portfolio companies in
Asia and Africa have reached 8m people, of whom 6.5m are
below the poverty line, and 5m are women and children.
“We’ve got to start doing this stuff at scale,” says Mr Kuper.
“We can’t keep sitting with small schemes that help a few
people, and are really nice, but fundamentally leave 99 per
cent of the people untouched.”
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Indien
WSJ.com BUSINESS Updated July 11, 2012, 10:04 p.m. ET
chairman and managing director of state-owned Shipping
Corp. of India, the country's biggest shipper of crude from Iran.
India is taking other steps, including asking Iran's state-owned
shipping company to deliver oil in its vessels, but it is unlikely
Iran will have sufficient spare capacity, industry executives
say.
Insurance Woes Slow India Deals for Iran Oil
By SANTANU CHOUDHURY And ANIRBAN CHOWDHURY
NEW DELHI—India has been forced to seek its own
arrangements to insure its purchases of Iranian oil, officials
said, even as it reduces imports under pressure from U.S. and
European Union sanctions.
The problems facing India show the effectiveness of policies
aimed at squeezing Iran financially in a bid to force the country
to take measures that guarantee its nuclear program isn't
being used for weapons development. Tehran says the
program is for peaceful purposes.
Indian state-owned insurers, shipping lines and government
officials met to discuss the situation in Mumbai on Wednesday.
India's state-run insurance firms have agreed to offer
coverage of up to $50 million for each Indian ship carrying
Iranian crude. The state-run General Insurance Corp. will
reinsure the cargoes. Such coverage is much lower than the
up to $1 billion that European insurers would normally give per
ship to cover third-party claims in the event of an oil spill or
other accident.
Iranian oil output tumbled to its lowest level in more than 20
years last month as U.S. and European sanctions clamped
down on the Islamic Republic's export markets, a monthly
report from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
showed Wednesday.
U.S. and European sanctions drove Iran's oil production down
by 188,500 barrels a day in June, to 2.96 million barrels a day,
according to data OPEC analysts gathered from secondary
sources. The last time Iran's annual average production fell
below three million barrels a day was 1990. New OPEC
forecasts suggest world markets will be able to cope well with
lower Iranian oil supplies through 2013.
But Indian industry executives involved in Wednesday's
meeting said they had little other choice as European
insurance companies have pulled out of the Iran oil trade. An
EU embargo on Iranian oil imports, which took effect on July
1, also stops European firms from insuring Iranian shipments.
"Our exposure would run into billions of dollars, but since there
haven't been many insurance claims in the last several years,
we have taken a pragmatic view," said Sabyasachi Hajara,
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Indien
The International Energy Agency estimating lost production is
costing the country $8 billion in lost revenue per quarter.
The U.S. sanctions threaten to penalize buyers of Iranian
crude if they fail to adequately cut back on imports of Iranian
oil. The U.S. determined that India, China and other big
buyers of Iranian oil have complied.
said it had stopped transporting Iranian crude from July 1
because of insurance concerns. Others said the move to rely
more on state-owned Indian insurance companies could be
risky. "I don't think anybody would like to compromise on the
insurance cover," said Deepak Mahurkar, an oil and gas
analyst with PricewaterhouseCoopers India. "So, I would say
that companies would work overnight to ensure that covers
are available from some of the other reinsurers."
Washington says it will reassess in six months whether
countries have continued to reduce purchases.
Indian shipments from Iran fell 5.7% in the financial year
ended March 31 to slightly under 350,000 barrels a day. Iran is
now India's fourth-largest supplier of crude, down from No. 2
last year.
An executive at an Indian private shipping company said
India's attempts to insure vessels could work despite the $50
million insurance coverage. "This figure is low but we can call
it a workable solution," the executive said. "Liabilities in case
of an accident in Indian or Iranian waters is also less than in
U.S. waters."
The country aims to further cut Iranian imports by 11% to
about 15.5 million tons in the year to end March 2013. But
officials say they need to still buy Iranian crude until they can
ramp up alternative imports from nations such as Saudi Arabia
and Iraq.
The Indian shipping industry was also pushed to accept low
insurance coverage because it doesn't want to see its
business going to Iranian tankers, the executive said. "The
petroleum ministry wants to bring crude in Iranian vessels
which will hurt business for Indian ships, so we accepted this
figure," he said.
—Sarah Kent and Summer Said contributed to this article. ...
Indian shippers, such as Shipping Corp. of India, Great
Eastern Shipping Co. and Mercator Ltd., handled a total of
about six to seven ships carrying Iranian crude every month
before the EU ban, said Anil Devli, head of the Indian National
Shipowners Association. For some Indian shipping
companies, the new insurance coverage is too low. A
spokeswoman for Great Eastern Shipping, a private company,
114
Irland
FT.com June 21, 2012 12:20 pm
The fine, while tiny by US and UK standards, is yet another
strike at systems and controls at UBS, which settled with US
tax authorities after a long wrangle, suffered a $2bn rogue
trading loss last year and is being investigated, along with
other banks, for possible manipulation of the London interbank
lending rate, known as Libor. UBS received a substantial
discount – roughly a third – for co-operating and settling early.
“All control weaknesses identified by the CBI have been
remediated,” UBS said. “BSIL is a licensed entity operating
according to and abiding to the rules and regulations set out
by the Irish authorities. The anti-money laundering standards
[that] UBS Group applies across its entire organisation are
among the strictest worldwide.”
Ireland fines UBS for lack of controls
By Brooke Masters, Chief Regulation Correspondent
UBS’s international life assurance arm has been
hit with Ireland’s first ever fine for failing to comply with a 2010
law aimed at preventing financial companies from being used
to launder money and finance terrorism.
The €65,000 penalty handed out to the Swiss bank’s unit is
part of Ireland’s broader effort to strengthen oversight of the
banking sector after the financial collapse that forced the
country to seek a €67.5bn bailout from the EU and
International Monetary Fund.
The fine is the first to emerge from a review of industry
controls that included visits to Irish insurers, banks, brokers,
fund managers and administrators. The transgression was
spotted in a December 2010 inspection. “We have identified
many instances where firms do not appear to have
comprehensively reviewed their business models to assess
the impact of the 2010 [law] on their businesses nor devised
or deployed effective implementation plans,” Mr Oakes said.
“This is serious to us and we want boards of directors to pay
attention,” said Peter Oakes, who joined the Central Bank of
Ireland to head the enforcement directorate in 2010.
Bank supervision was folded back into the Central Bank of
Ireland in 2009, and it created a standalone enforcement
directorate in 2010 to provide greater deterrence. A new law
that year also strengthened anti-money laundering rules and
gave the central bank powers of enforcement.
Irish regulators found that UBS failed to put in place the
necessary controls after the law was passed or instruct its
directors on the anti-money laundering rules.
115
Irland
Since June 2006, Ireland’s central bank has sanctioned 50
financial companies resulting in €18.5m in fines and nine
disqualifications for various other violations. Most of the fines
– €11m – have been imposed since the creation of the
enforcement directorate.
UBS, which uses Ireland as the base for life assurance
products aimed at wealthy clients, wrote €688m in gross
premiums last year, and was among Ireland’s top 10 insurers
in the most recent rankings from the central bank.
“Firms must adopt robust and effective policies and
procedures to prevent and detect money laundering and
terrorist financing including ensuring that policies, procedures
and business practices are updated in timely manner on foot
of changes to regulatory requirements,” Mr Oakes said.
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Italian Treasuries, where 10-year BTPs have dropped in prices
by more than 5 per cent this year.
Italy relaxes capital rules for insurers
By Paul J Davies in London and Rachel Sanderson in Milan
The amendment relaxes solvency capital calculations when
there are unrealised losses on government bonds. Cheuvreux
analysts said they believed that ISVAP’s “main goal is to allow
insurers to continue to invest” in Italian sovereign debt. Italian
insurance companies hold more than €200bn ($271.5bn) in
Italian Treasury bonds, more than 10 per cent of the total
outstanding.
The Italian government has given local insurers a get-out from
the pressures of the eurozone sovereign debt crisis by quietly
relaxing the rules for recognising the full effect of falling
government bond prices.
The Italian insurance regulator, ISVAP, said the measure was
aimed at “containing the impact of financial asset
devaluations, in particularly those from Treasury bills”.
Analysts said the move had precedent in 2008, when Italian
regulators and others including those in Germany relaxed
rules on recognising the full price declines of corporate debt.
Groups such as Generali, Fondiaria SAI, Unipol and
Mediolanum, as well as the Italian arms of European
companies such as Axa, Allianz, ING and Zurich Financial
Services, could all benefit from the change, which means they
do not have to take a capital charge for all of the unrealised
losses on eurozone government bonds.
Duncan Russell, analyst at JPMorgan, estimates that if all
European insurers calculated their capital on an economic
basis – as they will under new capital rules due to be
implemented in 2013-14 – they would have had their collective
capital cut by about €40bn, or 10 per cent, mainly due to
Italian and Greek debt.
However, for the large multinational insurers there is unlikely
to be a significant impact at the group level, Axa and Allianz
said.
The move, which was pushed through in an amendment to the
government’s austerity measures on Tuesday but has not
been officially announced, follows a sharp decline in prices of
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However, he added that there was no consistency across
Europe under the current Solvency I capital regime and that
some countries such as France were already allowing their
insurers to do similar things.
“What it is showing us is that insurance capital requirements
and available capital are still a mess – ie no one knows what
to do,” he said. “The hope was that Solvency II would help, but
even that now is looking less and less like the answer
because of some of the assumptions. For an industry that is
all about balance sheet and ‘renting’ capital to your clients,
that’s quite a problem.”
Italian insurers have all had share price gains of more than 10
per cent over this week since the regulator said the rule
change should be finalised, with Unipol up 20 per cent since
last Friday’s close.
Specifically, the rule change permits 30 per cent of the
solvency capital requirement to be made up by the difference
between the market value and the acquisition costs of
securities when the unrealised losses are at least 75 per cent
of eurozone government bonds.
This rises to 40 per cent of the total solvency capital in the
case that all of the unrealised losses are in eurozone Treasury
bills. The previous limit was 20 per cent.
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FTD.de 17.04.2012, 21:00
...:
nicht nur um das Erschaffen eines neuen Schwergewichts auf
dem Versicherungsmarkt, sondern auch um Kredite in
Milliardenhöhe, die Mediobanca und Unicredit als Gläubiger
von Fondiaria-Sai im Feuer stehen haben.
Hochzeit auf Italienisch
... Die Karten auf dem Versicherungsmarkt in Italien werden
neu gemischt. Unipol aus Bologna will den Konkurrenten
Fonsai schlucken - und damit zur Nummer Zwei hinter
Generali werden.
von Tobias Bayer Mailand
Die Versicherungsgesellschaft weist eine gefährlich dünne
Eigenkapitaldecke auf, die Solvenzquote sank unter die als
kritisch geltende Marke von 100 Prozent. Die Quote misst, wie
gut die Zahlungsverpflichtungen mit Eigenmitteln unterlegt
sind. Über den Ausweg Unipol - das Unternehmen gilt als
solide kapitalisiert - könnten die Banken ihren Einsatz retten.
Die Fusion der Versicherer Unipol und Fondiaria zu Italiens
zweitgrößter Versicherungsgesellschaft hinter Generali steht
kurz vor dem Abschluss. Unipol aus Bologna einigte sich nach
zähen Verhandlungen am Montagabend mit der
Muttergesellschaft des Rivalen Fondiaria-Sai über die
Konditionen für eine Kapitalerhöhung von 400 Mio. Euro. Am
Ende der komplexen Transaktion strebt Unipol knapp 67
Prozent am gemeinsamen Unternehmen an. Die
Kontrollgremien von Fondiaria-Sai und der Gesellschaft
Milano Assicurazioni, die ebenfalls Teil des
Zusammenschlusses ist, sollen sich am Donnerstag und
Freitag treffen, hieß es am Dienstag. Eine wegweisende
Entscheidung könnte Ende der Woche fallen.
Sollten alle Beteiligten grünes Licht geben, würde die Ära von
Salvatore Ligresti zu Ende gehen. Der 80-Jährige steht hinter
Premafin, der Muttergesellschaft von Fondiaria-Sai. Er wird
wegen seines großen Einflusses "Don Salvatore" genannt.
Aus einfachen Verhältnissen stammend schaffte der Sizilianer
den Aufstieg in die Mailänder Gesellschaft. Der Freund des
ehemaligen Ministerpräsidenten Silvio Berlusconi installierte in
den Führungsgremien Vertraute und seine drei Kinder, die
deswegen hohe Honorare einstreichen konnten.
Mit Spannung wird erwartet, wie viel Ligresti selbst bei dem
Verkauf seines hoch verschuldeten Imperiums verdienen wird.
Die Offerte von Unipol zeigt schon einmal auf, wie viel Wert
vernichtet wurde. Premafin schrieb die Beteiligung an
Fondiaria-Sai zuletzt von 7 Euro auf 3,95 Euro je Aktie herab.
Das Ringen um Unipol und Fondiaria-Sai hält die italienische
Finanzszene seit Wochen in Atem. Bei dem
Zusammenschluss von insgesamt vier Parteien - Unipol,
Premafin, Fondiaria-Sai und Milano Assicurazioni - geht es
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Unipol bietet nun 0,195 Euro je Premafin-Aktie. Das entspricht
wiederum 3,38 Euro je Fondiaria-Sai-Aktie, was einem
Abschlag von 14 Prozent gegenüber dem bereits nach unten
revidierten Kurs gleichkommt. Die Bedingungen für den
Aktientausch nach der Kapitalerhöhung sind noch zu
verhandeln.
Die Konkurrenz gibt sich gelassen. Lorenzo Pellicioli, der im
Beirat von Generali sitzt, sieht den Zusammenschluss
zwischen Unipol und Fondiaria-Sai als Chance: "Je mehr sich
die Rivalen schwächen, desto besser ist das für uns", sagte er
am Dienstag.
Die Fusion könnte auch noch am Widerstand der
Aufsichtsbehörden und der Staatsanwaltschaften scheitern.
Die italienische Börsenaufsicht Consob fordert Auskünfte zu
den Zahlungen an das ehemalige Topmanagement von
Fondiaria-Sai - dabei geht es vor allem um die Entlohnung von
Ex-Vorstandschef Fausto Marchionni - und hat Nachfragen zu
dem ein oder anderen Bilanzposten, insbesondere zu den
Reserven und zu firmeneigenen Geschäften. Bis Donnerstag
müssen die Informationen vorliegen.
Die Mailänder Staatsanwaltschaft hegt den Verdacht, dass
Ligresti die Insolvenz verschleppt haben könnte. Die Ermittler
haben nach Informationen der Nachrichtenagentur Reuters
bei den beiden Gesellschaften Sinergia und Imco, die
zusammen 20 Prozent an Premafin halten, ein Kapitalloch von
100 Mio. Euro ausgemacht. Sie dringen nun darauf, dass ein
Insolvenzverfahren eingeleitet werde, hieß es am Dienstag.
Der Staatsanwalt Luigi Orsi eröffnete im vergangenen Jahr ein
Verfahren, weil er auf mehrere Ungereimtheiten gestoßen war.
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Lex/FT.com April 27, 2012 5:11 pm
Only in Italy
Mario Monti, Italy’s technocrat prime minister, is ambitiously trying to dismantle the convoluted web of cross-shareholdings and
board-level influence that have become such a drag on corporate Italy. This week’s law barring directors of banks and insurers from
board seats at other financial sector companies has sent ripples through Italian boardrooms. But such is the allure of power that
some directors are going to absurd lengths to hang on to it.
Take Marina Berlusconi, who manages Fininvest, her father Silvio’s holding company. Fininvest owns 36 per cent of Italian
bancassurer Mediolanum. So the new law means that Ms Berlusconi has had to vacate her board seat at influential Milanese bank
Mediobanca.
Never mind. She has simply proposed that her brother Pier Silvio takes her place.
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FT.com May 14, 2012 7:55 pm
amassed a combined 8 per cent stake in the insurer in
February.
Buyout chief takes on Italian heavyweights
By Eric Sylvers
Mr Arpe, former chief executive of Italian bank Capitalia, says
that if he succeeds in gaining control of Fondiaria-Sai he will
be doing nothing short of altering the way corporate Italy
works and how it is perceived abroad.
Having had a hand in organising the financing that allowed
Olivetti to buy Telecom Italia in 1999, a !60bn deal that at the
time was Europe’s biggest hostile takeover, Matteo Arpe
knows something about the mean streets of corporate Italy.
Thirteen years ago Mr Arpe, who was then aged 34 was
running Mediobanca’s investment banking business, was on
the winning side. Now he is again front and centre in an Italian
corporate takeover clash, only this time he has lined up
against his former employer as well as a host of other
heavyweights that include UniCredit, Italy’s largest bank by
assets.
“If we succeed here this could be a sign to the international
community just as the new Monti government has been a
sign,” says Mr Arpe, referring to Mario Monti, the technocratic
prime minister who took over from Silvio Berlusconi late last
year with the job of restoring Italy’s image abroad while saving
the country from a sovereign default. “This would show
change is possible in Italy and that the fence that rings the
country can be breached.”
Mr Arpe’s private equity fund and an allied fund last week
offered to inject as much as !400m into Fondiaria-Sai,
Italy’s second-largest insurer by premiums, as part of a capital
increase worth at least !800m. The funds would end up with a
controlling stake of between 35 per cent and 45 per cent.
Breaching that fence will not be easy. Fondiaria-Sai, controlled
by heavily indebted Premafin, the holding company of the
Ligresti family, has all but signed up for the other
deal.
At a board meeting on Tuesday, Fondiaria-Sai will consider
the offer made by the two funds – Mr Arpe’s Sator and
Palladio Finanziaria – as well as a competing offer involving
three capital increases and a four-way merger that seemed
destined to pass uncontested until Sator and Palladio
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Under that proposal, Unipol, Italy’s third-biggest insurer, would
take a controlling stake in Premafin and would then participate
in a capital increase by Fondiaria-Sai to take control of it.
Unipol then would fold Premafin, Fondiaria-Sai and a small
subsidiary, Milano Assicurazioni, into itself.
Milano Assicurazioni following the four-way merger. While
Italian law requires a buyout offer for all remaining shares
when new ownership passes the 30 per cent threshold,
Consob could waive the requirement if the market regulator
rules the tie-up is a “rescue”. If Consob requires the full buyout
it could scuttle the Unipol plan since the insurance company is
already stretched on the financing.
“The four-way merger has a very complex structure that is not
very clear and it gives you the impression this is an example
of old style Italy,” says Thomas Noack, an analyst with WestLB
AG in Düsseldorf. “You don’t see a clear picture and there are
so many parties involved that it is hard to evaluate.”
With countermeasures expected on both sides, it is too early
to say if Mr Arpe will be celebrating a victory or if the
jubilations will be done at the headquarters of his former
employer and current foe Mediobanca.
Turin-based Fondiaria-Sai insures almost one in four cars in
Italy, making it the market leader. The company, with a market
valueof about !500m, has almost !11bn in total premiums and
20 per cent of the country’s non-life business.
Mr Arpe dismisses any suggestion that Italy’s insurance
regulator, ISVAP, might block his offer on the grounds that
private equity groups should not own insurance companies.
“We have already successfully taken over a bank and that is
even more delicate than an insurer,” says Mr Arpe. “We don’t
use leverage, we are long-term investors, we are managers
not looking for a quick sale.”
Separately on Tuesday, Consob, Italy’s market regulator, may
say whether Unipol must buy out minority shareholders in
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FT.com May 18, 2012 12:04 pm
point controlled by Unipol, would then participate in a
Fondiaria-Sai capital increase. Unipol and the newly
capitalised Fondiaria-Sai would then merge with Premafin and
a small Fondiaria-Sai subsidiary, Milano Assicurazioni.
Fondiaria moves ahead with merger plan
By Eric Sylvers in Milan
Fondiaria-Sai, the Italian insurer, has rebuffed an offer from
two private equity funds and is moving forward with plans for a
four-way merger that will create a company it says will be
better able to take on market leader Generali.
The two funds had said they were trying to open a dialogue
with Fondiaria-Sai and that their offer was non-binding,
meaning the contested insurance company could continue to
discuss the particulars of the four-way merger. Those
particulars are proving to be a sticking point, with the
companies involved unable to reach an agreement on the
percentages each party will own following the deal.
Following a board meeting that began on Thursday afternoon
and finished early on Friday morning, Fondiaria-Sai said that
while it would continue “to look into the terms of the offer” from
the two funds, Sator and Palladio, once an agreement on the
merger is reached it would move forward with that plan.
After the board meeting concluded, Fondiaria-Sai sent a letter
to Premafin, Milano Assicurazioni and Unipol giving its
proposal for the ownership structure of the new company
following the merger. Fondiaria said it should have 27.45 per
cent of the combined company. Unipol would get 61 per cent
of the company, Milano Assicurazioni 10.7 per cent and
Premafin 0.85 per cent.
Sator and Palladio, which together own 8 per cent of
Fondiaria-Sai, have offered to pump as much as !400m of
their own money into the insurance company as part of an !
800m cash call. The funds, which have one representative on
Fondiaria-Sai’s board, would end up owning a stake of
between 35 per cent and 45 per cent in the insurance
company.
With Premafin owning a controlling stake in Fondiaria-Sai and
with the latter controlling Milan Assicurazioni, the number that
has been the main sticking point is how much Unipol will have
in the new group. Unipol said it had not yet formally received
the Fondiaria-Sai offer and would decide what to do once it
had.
Under the four-way merger, Unipol, Italy’s third-biggest insurer
by assets, would take a controlling stake in Premafin, which
owns 36 per cent of Fondiaria-Sai. Premafin, at this
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Unipol has said publicly that it wants a 67 per cent stake in the
merged entity, but people briefed on the matter have said it is
willing to accept 61.8 per cent. That would indicate that the
gap between what Fondiaria-Sai is offering and what Unipol
wants is 0.8 percentage points.
To avoid further delays to the deal, a decision about the stakes
must be decided by Tuesday, when Premafin has a
shareholders’ meeting in which the company is expected to
approve a cash call worth up to !400m reserved for Unipol.
The Fondiaria-Sai board member representing Palladio and
Sator, which is run by former Capitalia chief Matteo Arpe,
voted against the insurance company’s decision to rebuff the
funds. The funds said they had not yet decided what their next
move would be....
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FT.com June 25, 2012 8:08 pm
years and has teetered near insolvency, Mediobanca helped
organise the insurer’s rescue.
Unipol chief pitches €1.1bn cash call
Mr Cimbri says he will pay back €250m to Mediobanca within
three years with another €100m reduction in debt coming from
loans held in assets he plans to sell to win antitrust approval
for the four-way merger. “Having only one creditor is risky and
we will address that as quickly as possible,” says Mr Cimbri. “If
market conditions permit us to have better results than
forecast we’ll reduce the debt even more.”
By Eric Sylvers in Milan
The chief executive at the helm of a merger between Italy’s
second- and third-largest insurers by premiums has pledged
to distance the group from the influence of investment bank
Mediobanca, its biggest creditor.
Carlo Cimbri, chief of Unipol, Italy’s third-largest insurer, will be
in London on Tuesday and Wednesday pitching his merger
plans as he seeks to persuade investors to take part in a
€1.1bn cash call set to be launched next month.
Mr Cimbri says the Unipol-led merger will help Italy’s
insurance market develop by creating a player better
positioned to take on Generali, Europe’s third-biggest insurer
and the market leader in Italy. After the merger the new
Unipol-Fondiaria-Sai, including the latter’s Milano
Assicurazioni unit, will still have only about a third of the
premiums of Generali.
The funds will allow Unipol, based in Bologna and controlled
by a group of local co-operatives, to finance its merger with
rival Fondiaria-Sai, Italy’s second-biggest insurer, and its
parent company Premafin.
Fondiaria-Sai owns 3.8 per cent of Mediobanca, a stake Mr
Cimbri promises to sell following the merger, which he says
will be completed by the end of the year. Fondiaria- Sai’s 1.1
per cent stake in Generali will also be sold. The four-way
merger plan has overcome numerous regulatory and legal
hurdles and is now only waiting for the green light from
Consob, Italy’s market regulator. A ruling is expected this
week.
“Unipol is far from the traditional halls of power in Italian
finance and above all it is far from Mediobanca,” says Mr
Cimbri during an interview in Unipol’s Milan offices. “Unipol is
independent now and that will not change after the merger.”
Fondiaria-Sai owes Mediobanca €1.1bn and Unipol owes the
investment bank another €350m. To protect the money loaned
to Fondiaria-Sai, which lost a combined €2bn over the last two
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FTD.de 16.07.2012, 11:15
Versicherer-Fusion:
und einer Konkurrenzofferte der Fonds Sator und Palladio
geriet das Fusionsprojekt jedoch zu einer Hängepartie.
Eine Kapitalerhöhung der beiden Gesellschaften zu
Niedrigkonditionen soll den italienischen Versicherungen die
Fusion ermöglichen. Die Emission verwässert die Anteile der
Altaktionäre erheblich. Die Börsenaufsicht Consob ist
beunruhigt.
von Tobias Bayer
Nachdem die Börsenaufsicht Consob am Donnerstag grünes
Licht gab, scheint der Weg nun frei zu sein.
Einfach dürfte es nicht werden, die Kapitalerhöhung
durchzubekommen. Um den Investoren den Einstieg
schmackhaft zu machen, werden die neuen Aktien regelrecht
verramscht.
Die Fusion zwischen Unipol und Fondiaria-Sai zum
zweitgrößten italienischen Versicherer nach Generali biegt in
die Zielgerade ein. An diesem Montag beginnt die
Kapitalerhöhung der beiden Gesellschaften, die für den
Zusammenschluss erforderlich ist. Unipol und Fondiaria-Sai
werden jeweils Aktien im Wert von 1,1 Mrd. Euro ausgeben.
Ein Konsortium von elf Banken begleitet die Emission.
Fondiaria-Sai bietet die rund 917 Millionen Aktien mit einem
Abschlag von knapp 25 Prozent gegenüber dem Kurs vom 5.
Juli an, Bezugsrechte herausgerechnet. Unipol wirft die 423
Millionen Aktien mit einem Rabatt von 27 Prozent auf den
Markt. Die Emission verwässert die Anteile der Altaktionäre
erheblich.
Unipol und Fonsai verhökern Aktien
Das scheint die Consob zu beunruhigen. In einer
Stellungnahme warnte die Behörde vor außergewöhnlichen
Preisschwankungen und erinnerte die Marktteilnehmer an das
Leerverkaufsverbot. Solch eine Mitteilung der Consob ist
äußerst unüblich. Bei Leerverkäufen veräußern Marktakteure
Papiere, die sie nicht besitzen - und hoffen, sie später zu
niedrigeren Kursen mit Gewinn zurückzukaufen.
Es könnte das letzte Kapitel einer Geschichte sein, die Italien
seit Monaten in Atem hält. Die angeschlagene
Versicherungsgesellschaft Fondiaria-Sai benötigt nach Jahren
des Missmanagements der Eigentümerfamilie Ligresti
dringend frisches Kapital. Die beiden größten FondiariaGläubiger, Mediobanca und Unicredit, werben seit Monaten
um den Zusammenschluss mit Unipol aus Bologna, um ihren
Einsatz zu retten. Wegen juristischer Probleme der Ligrestis
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Für die organisierenden Konsortialbanken - Barclays, Credit
Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Mediobanca, Nomura, UBS,
Unicredit, Banca Akros, Banca Aletti, Banca Carige und
Centrobanca - ist die Kapitalerhöhung riskant. "Der Abschlag
erscheint mir gar nicht einmal so groß zu sein", sagte ein
Mailänder Analyst, der anonym bleiben wollte. "Einige Institute
dürften wohl Angst haben, am Ende auf den Aktien sitzen zu
bleiben."
Transaktionen mit anderen Ligresti-Firmen bescherten dem
Versicherer seit 2005 ein Minus von geschätzt 400 Mio. Euro.
"Retter" Unipol befindet sich selbst in einer schwierigen Lage.
Im ersten Halbjahr übertraf der Versicherer mit einem
Nettogewinn von 30 Mio. Euro zwar die Erwartungen der
Analysten. Ein Portfolio strukturierer Wertpapiere von 3,5 Mrd.
Euro. könnte jedoch einen Verlust von 620 Mio. Euro
verursachen.
Die Banken drückten deshalb eine Klausel durch, die es ihnen
erlaubt, das Konsortium zu verlassen, sollte das Rating
Italiens noch einmal um zwei Stufen gesenkt werden zusätzlich zu der Herabstufung durch Moody's am
vergangenen Freitag, dem Tag der Vertragsunterzeichnung.
Die Banken seien über die Moody's-Entscheidung im Bilde
gewesen, hieß es.
Die Zeit drängt. Die italienische Versicherungsaufsicht Isvap
fordert mit Blick auf die Kunden, die Kapitaldecke von
Fondiaria-Sai möglichst schnell zu stärken. Geschieht das
nicht, könnte sie eine Sonderverwaltung durchsetzen. Über
die vergangenen zwei Jahre häufte Fondiaria-Sai Verluste von
rund 2 Mrd. Euro an.
Schuld daran war unter anderem das Gebaren des LigrestiClans, der die Gesellschaft ausgenommen haben soll.
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Schumpeter
Italian finance
vehicles have been forced into bankruptcy. Mr Ligresti is under
criminal investigation.
The Economist Aug 7th 2012, 19:32 by D.L. and M.V. | MILAN
It might be tempting to view such a public fall from grace as a
sign that things are changing for the better in Italy, whose
prime minister, Mario Monti, used a recent speech to bemoan
the role played by the salotto in ensuring the survival of
“Italianness” in business.
Circling the yachts
SALVATORE LIGRESTI (...) made his fortune in construction.
But it was his financial holdings that won the Sicilian entry to
the salotto buono—the figurative “good drawing room” where
Italy’s top financiers and industrialists fix deals and exchange
favours.
But subsequent manoeuvres by the remaining members of the
inner circle, led by Mediobanca, suggest otherwise. The deal
they have stitched together to minimise their potential losses
as leading lenders to Ligresti companies is convoluted and
inequitable.
He bought a stake in Mediobanca, Milan’s equivalent of
Goldman Sachs, and since the 1980s he has moved
aggressively into insurance, securing control of Fondiaria- SAI
(Fonsai), one of Italy’s largest insurers, and Milano
Assicurazioni, a smaller rival.
Moreover, the companies’ boards and their regulators have
helped make sure that a credible alternative plan hatched by
upstart private-equity firms never stood a chance. At a time
when Italy sorely needs investment, the affair suggests that
connections will continue to count as much as competence in
Italian finance.
Mr Ligresti was convicted in the Tangentopoli bribery scandal
of the early 1990s, but soon bounced back. This year,
however, the 80-year- old and his high-living family have been
brought down to earth again amid judicial probes into market
rigging by offshore trusts, secret side- agreements and assetshuffling.
Some 40% of the shares in Mr Ligresti’s holding company
have been seized by courts, and two other key corporate
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Mr Ligresti and his three children spun a complex corporate
web in which the insurers were controlled by a listed holding
company, Premafin, which was itself majority-owned by two
family building firms and numerous trusts (see chart). The
family did not shy from using its positions in the firms it
controlled.
were suspected of trying to prop up Premafin’s share price by
making large end-of-day purchases.
As the Ligresti empire has buckled, Mediobanca and
UniCredit, Italy’s largest bank, have tried to engineer a
purported rescue of Fonsai, which after three straight years of
losses has been ordered by insurance regulators to beef up its
solvency ratio.
Concerns about related-party transactions between family
building companies and Fonsai triggered investigations by the
insurer’s statutory auditors. They reported in March that Mr
Ligresti had received over €40m for consulting and that his
daughter Giulia’s luxury-goods firm, Gilli, had benefited from
contracts with the insurer, which had even sponsored a horse
owned by another daughter.
The deal entails a complex series of mergers and rights issues
involving Fonsai, Premafin, Milano and Unipol, a large
Bologna-based insurer owned by co-operatives. Earlier this
month Fonsai and Unipol completed their capital hikes, raising
a combined €2.2 billion.
What the Ligrestis received directly was far less than the flows
of money from Fonsai to the building companies, such as the
insurer’s 2008 purchase of a troubled hotel group from one of
them. Despite these inflows, a hole of €110m opened up in the
building firms’ accounts. In June a court declared them
insolvent and appointed a liquidator to take control of their
20% stake in Premafin, the holding company.
But they have had to pay steeply: including an “incentive fee”,
banks in the syndicate earned 10% or more of the amount
underwritten, three to four times the norm for such offerings.
The hefty fees signal that the transaction is a stinker, argue
opponents. Chief among them is Matteo Arpe, head of Sator,
one of the two Italian private-equity firms (the other being
Palladio) that held a combined 8% of Fonsai and put forward
the rival bid.
Two months earlier, a Milan prosecutor assigned to the case
had obtained the seizure of another 20% stake in Premafin,
owned by two Bahamas trusts linked to Mr Ligresti. The trusts
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To some, Mr Arpe’s intervention appeared to be driven by
personal enmity. He and Alberto Nagel, Mediobanca's chief
executive, had risen together through the investment bank’s
ranks (both are 47). Mr Arpe was seen as a possible future
boss but left in 1999 after clashing with, among others, Mr
Nagel. Relations between them remain frosty.
Unipol gets 61% of the combined group, but it is no white
knight. The company is saddled with a dicey-looking portfolio
of interest-rate derivatives, some of it highly structured (and
reportedly sold by JP Morgan). This had incurred €625m of
mark-to-market losses as of March 31st.
Unipol Banca, its retail bank, was recently downgraded by
Moody’s because of its “very high” level of non-performing
loans. Some think Unipol is in worse shape than Fonsai,
whose woes have as much to do with its forced property
entanglements as with any intrinsic weakness.
But the alternative plan had advantages, not least simplicity.
Instead of being entangled in a complex four-way merger,
Fonsai would remain independent and get a new management
team.
A total of €800m of fresh capital would be injected, half of that
coming from the two private-equity firms. Mediobanca’s
supporters accused Sator and Palladio of lacking proper
funding for their bid and intending to “flip” Fonsai quickly.
The debate over who is rescuing who is not purely academic,
since under Italian law acquirers can seek a waiver from
having to launch a full buyout of minority shareholders if the
target is troubled. Unipol secured just such a pass. Fonsai’s
shareholders have reason to feel particularly aggrieved since
the restructuring calls for Premafin’s hefty debts to be dropped
in their laps.
Mr Arpe responded by securing a bank guarantee and pointing
out that Sator can hold stakes for up to 10 years. But with the
financial establishment rallying round the Mediobanca plan,
the private- equity firms withdrew their offer on August 1st.
Who’s rescuing whom?
Backers of the Mediobanca plan say it will create a
powerhouse that can better compete with Generali, Italy’s
insurance giant. But the deal’s billing as a bail-out of Fonsai is
disingenuous.
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By contrast, the deal is gentle on lenders, which is hardly
surprising given that chief among them is Mediobanca itself. It
has €1.5 billion of exposure to Fonsai and Unipol, a sum equal
to 60% of its market capitalisation.
spells out directors’ duty to oppose measures they know to be
against the company’s interest.
Shareholders never got to vote on the rival plans. Fonsai’s
rights-issue prospectus says the board felt it prudent to accept
the sub-optimal exchange ratio “to overcome the current
uncertainty regarding the future of [Fonsai].”
UniCredit, meanwhile, is a big creditor of Premafin. Easy to
see, then, why they were at pains to craft a deal, however
tortuously structured, that avoided bankruptcies anywhere
along the Ligresti chain.
Questions also hang over regulators’ role in the affair. A week
after conditionally approving the Unipol/Fonsai tie-up, ISVAP,
which oversees Italian insurers, sent a letter to Unipol
expressing concern that its statutory reserves had dipped far
below the level considered adequate.
Some question whether Fonsai’s board has stood up forcefully
enough for its shareholders. It accepted management’s
narrative that there was no viable alternative to the Unipol
merger, even after seeing presentations from Goldman Sachs
and Ernst & Young that highlighted Unipol’s problems. The
only board member who voted against the plan was Salvatore
Bragantini, a former regulator.
Yet ISVAP waved through the capital increases without
requesting the shortfall be disclosed. Curiously, the task of
vetting the Unipol deal was moved to a new team within
ISVAP after members of the original team questioned the
transaction’s viability.
According to Mr Bragantini, a committee of nominally
independent Fonsai directors reported to the full board that the
exchange ratios were outside the range considered
reasonable, but recommended they be accepted anyway as
there was “no choice”.
The first group was later brought back into the process, but
too late for it to scupper the other team’s positive evaluation.
This was “strange”, he says, because there was a credible, if
somewhat speculative, alternative in Sator/Palladio. He says
he reminded the board of the article of the Civil Code that
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Furthermore, ISVAP controversially ruled Sator and Palladio’s
joint bid to be a “shareholder pact” rather than a “consultation
pact”, which blocked them from raising their stakes in Fonsai
above 10% and gave the impression of bias towards the
Mediobanca-led plan.
The establishment solution rammed through by Mediobanca
and its allies is not quite a done deal, however. Sator is likely
to bring multiple lawsuits, including over the procedural
oddities at ISVAP and against Fonsai’s board for giving its
offer short shrift. Smaller shareholders are planning to sue too.
Cases could be brought for “false communication” if Unipol’s
position turns out to have been worse than presented.
The Monti government plans to fold ISVAP’s responsibilities
into the Bank of Italy, a move believed by some to be partly
motivated by concerns that the regulator has become
captured by powerful financial interests.
The biggest threat to the deal is the recently opened
investigations by a prosecutor and Consob into an alleged
secret side-agreement, under which the Ligrestis would
support the merger with Unipol in exchange for a cash pay-off
of more than €40m and other perks. Mediobanca denies any
such pact was signed, though it acknowledges the existence
of a list of requests from the Ligrestis, on which Mr Nagel
scribbled his initials to show he had read it. If Consob finds
that he did reach an agreement with the Ligrestis, it could
insist on a full buy-out of Fonsai shareholders. This, in turn,
could scupper the merger with Unipol, put Mediobanca’s €1.1
billion of loans at risk and undermine Mr Nagel’s position. If it
can’t be proved that the agreement was signed, the flawed
Mediobanca-led plan will most likely be consummated and the
occupants of the salotto buono will be able to breathe a
collective sigh of relief.
The role of Consob, the stockmarket watchdog, is also under
the spotlight. When the prosecutor investigating the Ligrestis
wrote to Consob about Unipol’s problems, it replied that it
would examine these more closely after the merger—the
equivalent of giving a driving licence to a teenager months
before his test.
The most financially savvy member of Mr Monti’s cabinet,
economic- development minister Corrado Passera, who is a
former head of Intesa Sanpaolo, a big bank, nurses deep
reservations about the Unipol deal, according to someone
familiar with his thinking. But it appears that no one in
government—which admittedly has bigger worries—has
pushed back against the transaction.
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UPDATE 1-
Caratozzolo's mandate ends on Jan. 31, and his powers
regarding legal action supersede those of the insurer's board
of directors.
12:23pm IST (...)
Fondiaria-SAI had planned to call a shareholders' meeting by
Oct. 31 to approve legal action against the former owners and
management.
Italy regulator takes over stalled Fondiaria
probe
MILAN, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Italy's insurance sector regulator
says Fondiaria-SAI is stalling over legal action against its past
management and former owners and is bypassing the insurer
to deal with the "serious irregularities" it identified in June.
The regulator began an investigation in Oct. 2010 after a
complaint by activist fund Amber Capital, which owns less
than 2 percent of Fondiaria.
Regulator ISVAP says Fondiaria, Italy's second-largest
insurer, may have committed serious irregularities in real
estate operations and other dealings with the Ligresti family,
which controlled the group until recently.
Amber said the Ligrestis were benefiting from real estate
operations done between different units of the Fondiaria
group. Consultancy fees worth around 40 million euros ($50
million) were also paid to Ligresti patriarch Salvatore.
The company's actions "were not adequate to enact a change
in the situation...in light of...Fondiaria SAI's inertia to cease the
violations pointed out and to remove their effects," the
regulator was quoted as saying in a statement by the
company late on Wednesday.
The market capitalisation of Fondiaria has shrunk to 700
million euros from 5 billion five years ago.
Smaller insurer Unipol agreed in January to rescue Fondiaria
in a complex four-way merger involving three capital
increases.
ISVAP named Matteo Caratozzolo "to undertake or have
others undertake actions including legal action" against the
insurer's former owners and its management, the insurer said
late on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Jennifer Clark; Editing by David Cowell)
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FT.com July 13, 2012 12:18 am
and Prudential Financial of the US, dropped out of the race in
the first round.
Sale considered of ING Japanese unit
Only one Japanese bidder, Dai-Ichi Life, remains, while other
large strategic bidders, Manulife of Canada and AIA, the Hong
Kong based pan-Asian insurer, are mainly interested in the
south-east Asian business and potentially the Korean unit,
according to people with knowledge of the process. Sun Life
of Canada, which has a much smaller Asian presence, may
also still bid.
Nomura is working on a potential sale or refinancing for ING’s
Japanese business as the final round of bidding for the Dutch
group’s Asian insurance operations approaches, according to
people familiar with the situation.
The Japanese arm and particularly its variable annuity
business, which holds billions of dollars worth of difficult to
hedge liabilities, has attracted least interest of the three main
units up for sale by ING, which also includes its Korean and
south-east Asian operations.
Mark Wilson, a former chief executive of AIA, is reported to
have backing from a consortium including private equity group
Blackstone and reinsurer Swiss Re to launch a bid for the full
set. However, analysts and bankers with knowledge of the
process thought it would be much more difficult for a financial
buyer to get regulatory approval in all the different countries.
Mr Wilson, who declined to comment, worked very closely with
Blackstone’s advisory team on a planned initial public offering
of AIA in 2009 when its former parent AIG of the US was
looking to raise capital by selling the group.
Final bids for the units, which could fetch a combined $7bn,
are due on Monday after parties that made it into the second
round spent eight weeks doing due diligence and preparing
their offers.
Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, which are the main advisers
on the sale, Nomura and ING all declined to comment.
That IPO was overtaken by the ultimately abortive bid for the
group from Prudential of the UK in 2010. Mr Wilson was
ousted from AIA as that process collapsed in acrimony and
Mark Tucker, a former chief executive of the Pru, was brought
in to pursue a fresh listing of AIA in October 2010.
The units are expected to be sold separately, or at least
without significant chunks of the Japanese business, after two
of the strategic buyers with most experience in Japan, MetLife
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Japan
Blackstone had been approached to work with Richard Li, son
of Li Ka-shing, in his bid for the south-east Asian operations of
ING, according to a person familiar with the talks. However, it
did not believe the unit would be competitive as a standalone
business, the person said.
Richard Li is preparing a final bid for the south-east Asian unit
and has plenty of funding since his billionaire tycoon father
pledged financial backing for his son’s business ventures.
ING’s Korean arm has attracted separate interest from two
leading domestic financial companies, Kookmin and Korea
Life.
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FTD.de 05.07.2011, 12:35
Nippon Life beteiligt sich an Allianz
Der japanische Versicherer hatte sich zuletzt an indischen und
amerikanischen Versicherern beteiligt. Weil die
Bevölkerungszahlen in Japan rückläufig sind, schrumpft der
dortige Lebensversicherungsmarkt. Die Versicherer suchen
daher außerhalb ihres Heimatmarktes nach neuen
Einnahmequellen.
Der japanische Versicherer will eine Anleihe der Allianz über
500 Mio. Euro kaufen, die später in Aktien umgewandelt
werden kann. Damit würde das Unternehmen zu einem
bedeutenden Aktionär des Münchener Konzerns. von
Friederike Krieger
Die Beteiligung über den Umweg einer Wandelanleihe hat für
Nippon Life den Vorteil, dass regelmäßige Zinszahlungen
fließen und das Risiko geringer ist als bei einem direkten
Aktienkauf. Wenn die Aktien der Allianz abstürzen, würde
Nippon Life unmittelbar in Mitleidenschaft gezogen. Bei einer
Anleihe gibt es das Geld dagegen zurück, vorausgesetzt die
Allianz geht nicht insolvent. Für die Allianz ist von Vorteil, dass
der Coco-Bond unter den neuen EU-Regeln Solvency II zum
Eigenkapital zählt.
Der japanische Versicherer Nippon Life strebt eine langfristige
Partnerschaft mit der Allianz an und will sich an dem
Unternehmen beteiligen. Die Allianz SE hat dazu erstmals
eine nachrangige Wandelanleihe mit einem Volumen von 500
Mio. Euro speziell für Nippon Life ausgegeben. Die
Transaktion soll am kommenden Donnerstag abgeschlossen
werden.
Das Papier, auch Coco-Bond genannt, hat eine Laufzeit von
30 Jahren und wird in den ersten zehn Jahren unter
bestimmten Bedingungen automatisch in Allianz-Aktien
umgewandelt. Zudem hat Nippon Life die Option, die Anleihe
innerhalb dieses Zeitraums in Aktien umzutauschen.
Damit würde Nippon Life nach Angaben der Allianz einen
Anteil von 1,5 Prozent an dem Münchener Konzern erlangen.
"Ziel dieses Investments ist der Aufbau einer langfristigen
Partnerschaft zu beiderseitigem Nutzen", sagte Yoshinobu
Tsutsui, Präsident von Nippon Life. Konkrete Pläne für die
Zusammenarbeit gibt es aber noch nicht.
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FT.com July 5, 2011 3:43 pm
The investment mirrors a broader move by Japanese
companies to make overseas acquisitions in the face of a
stagnating domestic market, taking advantage of the strong
yen. The euro has slumped 30 per cent against the yen since
mid 2007.
Like other life assurers from mature markets, Nippon Life, one
of Japan’s largest private life assurers, which is also known as
Nissay, has been looking to emerging markets to gain access
to new growth.
Earlier this year it bought a 26 per cent stake in India’s
Reliance Life Insurance for $680m, the largest foreign direct
investment in the country’s insurance industry. However,
investments by Japanese life assurers have mostly remained
conservative as yet.
Nippon Life plans €500m Allianz investment
By Lindsay Whipp in Tokyo and Chris Bryant in Frankfurt
Nippon Life plans to invest €500m ($725m) in a unit of Allianz,
marking the private life assurer’s first investment in a
European peer and the first time that the German insurer has
issued contingent capital, popularly known as cocos.
The purchase of Allianz Financial II’s 30-year convertible
subordinated bonds is the assurer’s second overseas
acquisition this year.
Japan’s life assurance industry, under pressure to find
alternative sources of growth due to a saturated and ageing
domestic market, is starting to take steps to move overseas.
Dai-ichi Life is the only Japanese life assurer that has made
an offshore acquisition of more than $1bn, with its $1.2bn
takeover of Tower Australia Group that was finalised this year.
It has also invested in several emerging Asian markets.
Without more detail it is unclear what the real benefits of this
deal are for Nippon Life, partly as the transaction is not so big
and as the European market is already mature, one analyst
said. Nippon Life is a mutual company and it said it has
currently no plans to demutualise.
Nippon Life said that the transaction was part of its long-term
strategy and would help build a strong relationship with
Allianz, through which it aims to benefit from co- operation
For Allianz, the deal represents a further measure to prepare
itself for upcoming Solvency II rules that will require insurers to
more closely match their capital to the risks on their bonds.
Cocos, bonds that convert to equity once a pre-agreed
measure of financial stress has been breached, have grown in
popularity as they enable issuers to bolster capital reserves
without issuing expensive equity.
"With this transaction, we are among the first companies to
participate in the growing market for contingent convertible
notes,” Michael Diekmann, chief executive of Allianz, said.
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Japan
The Allianz bonds can be converted into equity within 10 years
under undisclosed conditions, giving Nippon Life an
approximately 1.5 per cent stake in the German insurer.
Nippon Life has made similar investments in the past. In 2009
it purchased $500m in a US-based unit of Prudential using a
similar convertible bond structure. It also invested $250m in
bonds, or surplus notes, of Northwestern Mutual Life last year.
Nippon Life has a venture with Schroeder’s of the UK, but this
is its first direct investment into a company in the region.
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WSJ.com DEALS & DEAL MAKERS APRIL 29, 2011, 2:56 A.M.
ET
further growth, as Japan's population is shrinking and its lifeinsurance industry is seen as saturated.
Mitsui Sumitomo to Buy Stake in Indonesian
Insurer
Japan's largest life insurer, Nippon Life Insurance Co. last
month agreed to buy about a 26% stake in India's Relianace
Life. Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. in December agreed to buy
Tower Australia Group Ltd. for about ¥99.6 billion, making the
insurer a wholly-owned unit.
By ATSUKO FUKASE
TOKYO—Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. will buy a 50%
stake in the life insurance unit of Indonesia's conglomerate
Sinar Mas, as parts of its efforts to ramp up business in Asia, a
person familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Non-life insurers are even more active in overseas
acquisitions. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance bought a 30% stake
in Hong Leong Assurance Bhd., the sixth-largest life insurer in
Malaysia, while smaller rival Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.
acquired a 94% stake in midsize Turkish firm Fiba Sigorta
Anonim Sirketi for ¥28.1 billion last year.
Japan's second largest life insurer by premium revenue is
likely to spend about ¥70 billion ($858.5 million) on the deal
and is expected to reach an agreement as early as Monday,
the person said.
The deal would be one of the biggest acquisitions made by a
Japanese nonlife insurer targeting emerging markets.
Mitsui Sumitomo's move is the latest in a string of Japanese
life and non-life insurers' overseas shopping sprees.
In recent years, major insurance companies have been
aggressively looking for acquisition or investment targets to
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Japan
Japan’s MS&AD buys stake in Indonesian
insurer
Last month, Nippon Life, Japan’s largest life insurer by
premiums, agreed to buy a 26 per cent stake in India’s
Reliance Life for $680m, while in December, Dai-ichi Life
Insurance agreed to buy Tower Australia Group for about
$1.2bn. In the non-life sector, Tokio Marine, one of Japan’s
leading non-life insurance companies, acquired Philadelphia
Consolidated, a US property and casualty insurance company,
for $4.7bn in 2008. MSI aims to raise the overseas
contribution of a targeted Y150bn in core profits in fiscal 2013
to Y30bn, or 20 per cent, from a forecast 10 per cent
contribution for the year ended March 2011.
By Michiyo Nakamoto in Tokyo, FT.com Published: May 2 2011 12:40 |
Last updated: May 2 2011 12:40
MS&AD Insurance Group, Japan’s largest property-casualty
insurance group by premiums, is expanding its footprint in
Asia with the acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in Sinarmas
Life, a leading Indonesian life insurer, for Y67.2bn ($825m).
Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, the core operating unit of
MS&AD, will subscribe to new shares in a third-party allotment
and will jointly control Sinarmas Life with Sinar Mas Multiartha,
a financial holding company of Indonesia’s Sinar Mas Group.
The deal is the latest move by SMI, which is largely dependent
on its Japanese non-life insurance business, to diversify
operations for a greater emphasis on life insurance markets
overseas.
It is keen to expand its life insurance business in Asia, where it
is already one of the largest operators in the non-life insurance
markets of China, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Indonesia is an
attractive market for Japanese life insurers because of its
large population and low penetration of life insurance policies.
Although its population is about double Japan’s, the ratio of
life insurance premiums to GDP is still very low, at 1 to 2 per
cent compared with 7.2 per cent in Japan, MSI said. MSI
expects that as Indonesia’s economy grows, its middle class,
which represents 40 per cent of the population, will require
more life insurance products.
Japanese life and non-life insurance companies have
increasingly looked abroad for growth in the face of a
saturated market at home, where a shrinking population is
making it particularly difficult for life insurers to boost profits.
“It’s very difficult to grow the top line in the domestic market,
so companies with capital resources are going outside Japan,”
said Jun Shiota, Daiwa Securities analyst.
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Japan
Last year, the group acquired a stake in Sinatay Life Insurance
in China and as well as a 30 per cent holding in the life
insurance business of Malaysia’s Hong Leong Financial Group
for M$940m. The deal in Indonesia is also MSI’s second
involvement with an Islamic insurance, or takaful, company,
following its investment last month in a Hong Leong group
company that operates a takaful business in Malaysia.
Separately, MS&AD slashed its group net profit outlook to
Y5bn for the fiscal year ended in March, from Y40bn, citing
insurance payments for the March 11 earthquake and
tsunami.
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DJ Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance To Team Up
With Spain's Mapfre -Nikkei
May 23, 2011 16:37 ET (20:37 GMT)
23/05/2011 21:37 |
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. will forge a
tie-up with Spain's largest insurer, Mapfre SA (MAP.MC), to
complement each other's casualty insurance operations in
foreign markets, The Nikkei reported early Tuesday.
Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance contends that the partnership with
Mapfre, which has subsidiaries in 18 South and Central
American countries, will help double its premium income in the
region in five years. Such income stood at around Y20 billion
($243.9 million) in fiscal 2010.
Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance will market Mapfre's products to
Japanese companies operating in South and Central America,
where it doesn't have any local subsidiaries. The Spanish firm
will refer its customers to Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance's
products in Asia, where the MS&AD Insurance Group
Holdings Inc. (MSADY) unit has subsidiaries in 13 countries.
The partners will also mutually reinsure operations as part of
risk management. Their risk advisory units will establish a
partnership as well.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
146
Japan
WSJ.com BUSINESS April 23, 2012, 3:59 a.m. ET
But according to consultancy IHS Automotive, auto sales
prospects in Asia remain mouth-watering. In ASEAN countries,
sales are expected to reach 2.6 million this year, compared
with just over 1 million a decade ago, IHS forecasts, adding
annual sales could grow to nearly to 4 million in 2019 in the
region.
Japan Insurers Eye Emerging Markets
By ATSUKO FUKASE
TOKYO—As auto demand grows in emerging markets, it's not
just Japan's car makers scoping out new business chances
overseas: the country's insurance companies are also on the
lookout for acquisitions.
For Kengo Sakurada, president of NKSJ Holdings, Inc., the
Southeast Asian market may be ripe with potential.
"We may consider M&As as a tool for tapping more auto
policies in emerging countries, including Indonesia and
Thailand," the head of Japan's third-largest non-life insurer by
market capitalization said in a recent interview.
Flush with cash and backed by the strong yen, Japanese nonlife insurers see significant growth potential for auto policy
demand across Asia at a time when their domestic auto
segments are stagnating.
He said that although his company has received many deal
proposals, it would be considering acquisitions cautiously.
Highlighting this caution, NKSJ unit Sompo Japan only spent
about ¥50 billion on acquisitions since 2010 despite having
said it plans to spend about ¥200 billion on acquisitions
through 2014.
It's a trend born of necessity. Though Japan auto policies still
account for about half of all net premium revenue for the
country's non-life insurers, a declining population and
comparatively sluggish auto sales are encouraging domestic
insurers—sometimes seen as reluctant to venture abroad
compared with their international peers—to hit the overseas
mergers and acquisitions trail.
According to the General Insurance Association of Japan, auto
insurance revenue in 2010 totaled about ¥3.4 trillion ($41.82
billion), roughly down 6% from ¥3.7 trillion about a decade
ago. Though currently boosted by government incentives to
buy fuel-efficient cars, auto sales in Japan have been slack.
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Japan
Sakurada didn't comment on the details of future M&A
budgets, and stressed the insurer isn't chasing deals as an
end in themselves. "We'll consider deals not as our goal, but
as a tool to boost overseas profits" to ¥20 billion a year by
2015 from the current ¥4 billion to ¥5 billion annually.
According to a person familiar with the situation, Tokio Marine
is in talks to buy MUI Continental Insurance Bhd. for about ¥5
billion from Malayan United Industries Bhd., a publicly traded
company in Malaysia, with a view to tapping into the auto
insurance business there.
NKSJ Holdings was established after the management of
Sompo Japan and Nipponkoa was integrated in April 2010.
Both units are now expected to fully merge in 2014, NKSJ
chairman, Masaya Futamiya said.
In 2011, Japan's insurers spent $5.4 billion on overseas deals,
according to data provider Dealogic, ranking the industry 5th
in terms of value.
Any deals may take time to generate significant earnings for
an industry that's open to the damaging impact of natural
disasters. For the just ended fiscal year, Japan's top three
nonlife insurers, Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., NKSJ and
MS&AD Holdings Inc. are expected to report weak results that
were dented by increased payouts to cover extreme flooding
in Thailand last year.
But an upcoming deal by Tokio Marine provides a telling sign
of the kind of moves Japan's insurers are likely to keep
making.
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Japan
forced companies to redesign their products to reduce the
fees to consumers embedded in them.
Japan insurer to buy stake in Indian venture
However, the growth of an emergent middle class and the lack
of state welfare means the country has the potential for rapid
growth once the regulatory overhaul is complete, according to
executives and bankers.
Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance will buy a 26 per cent stake in
India’s Max New York Life, continuing a run of deals by
Japanese life companies across Asia.
“There are few insurance markets in the world that present the
demographic opportunity of India,” said Donald Lacey, who
leads Citigroup’s insurance investment banking practice
for Asia and advised MSI on its investment.
The Rs27.3bn ($535m) deal comes as a period of regulatory
upheaval in India reaches its conclusion. Bankers are
forecasting a revival of initial public offering plans by larger
partly foreign-owned insurance companies over the next year.
Japanese insurers are looking to exploit the strength of the
yen to gain access to growth and higher returns overseas
while escaping poor growth and low returns on assets at
home.
Foreign companies are restricted to a maximum of 26 per cent
ownership of insurance joint ventures in India and many have
been hoping for an increase in this limit before listing their
ventures to raise further capital for expansion.
MSI itself spent Y67.2bn last year for a 50 per cent stake in
Indonesia’s Sinarmas Life just a month after Nippon Life
bought 26 per cent of India’s Reliance Life for $680m. Nippon
followed that up last month by taking a 5 per cent strategic
stake in AIA, the pan-Asian life assurer. Dai-Ichi Life
Insurance, another Japanese group, bought Tower Australia
for $1.2bn in late 2010.
The British insurer Standard Life’s joint venture with HDFC
has long been expected to seek a listing and some bankers
also say that ICICI’s venture with Prudential of the UK could
also seek a listing next year.
Sales of life assurance in India have fallen dramatically for a
number of companies in the past year after the regulator
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Japan
However, other bankers disagree that there will be a rush of
initial public offerings, saying restrictions on foreign ownership
are likely to remain unchanged, meaning a listing would be
more likely to see a foreign owner diluted in its holdings of a
venture.
MSI will buy New York Life’s stake in its Indian insurance
venture, marking the latest phase in the US company’s exit
from Asia after it sold businesses in Hong Kong, China,
Thailand and South Korea. The deal is subject to regulatory
approval.
The remainder of the Indian venture is owned by Max India
Limited, which has businesses in insurance and healthcare.
Once the deal is completed, the insurer, which has about
Rs168bn in assets, will change its name to Max Life
Insurance. ...
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Japan
WSJ.com BUSINESS May 25, 2012, 5:50 a.m. ET
Spain at the end of March, almost half the ¥839.3 billion they
held as of September.
Japanese Life Insurers Likely to Maintain
JGB Support
"We don't expect JGB yields to jump right away, as the yields
have stayed low amid uncertainties over the global economy
and relatively safe JGBs receiving risk-off demand," a senior
official at Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance said.
By MEGUMI FUJIKAWA
TOKYO—Major Japanese life insurers are likely to keep
providing strong support to Japanese government bonds in
the near term, as they steadily increase their buying of JGBs
while turning away from euro-denominated bonds.
"However, we need to manage our portfolio with the risk of
yield spikes in mind in the medium- to long-term, given the
(Japanese) government's debt problems," he added. The
benchmark 10-year JGB yield declined to a nine-year low of
0.815% last week due to risk aversion amid Europe's debt
concerns. It stood at 0.885%, as of Friday afternoon.
But company officials say they remain alert for any sudden
spikes in JGB yields over the medium to long term as Japan
continues to grapple with the worst debt situation among
industrialized nations.
Some analysts point to the possibility that JGB yields will
rebound in June when parliamentary discussions over a sales
tax increase in Japan are expected to reach their climax
before the current session ends on June 21.
The combined holdings of domestic bonds by the country's
seven biggest life insurers totaled ¥68.965 trillion ($865.3
billion) at the end of the last business year in March, up from
¥61.120 trillion as of the end of March 2011, as they continue
to look for safe, long-maturity yen bonds.
With Japan's gross debt load at more than triple annual
economic output, progress in moves to increase the tax are
being closely watched by JGB market players and rating firms
as a measure of success in Japan's efforts to sort out its dire
finances.
The current unpopularity of euro-denominated bonds amid the
European debt crisis could also help the flow of money back
into domestic bonds.
The seven life insurers collectively held ¥448.4 billion of bonds
issued by fiscally troubled Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and
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Japan
Fitch Ratings on Tuesday downgraded Japan's sovereign
rating to A-plus, citing a "leisurely" approach to solving the
country's spiraling debt problems.
Meanwhile, the combined core profit of the seven life insurers
totaled ¥1.695 trillion as of the end of the last fiscal year. That
compares with an aggregate profit of ¥1.466 trillion a year
earlier.
Core profit is an indicator of life insurers' earnings, which
consist of operating income plus interest and dividend gains,
and subtracts temporary factors such as capital losses from
sales of securities. Thus, it measures earnings in the core life
insurance business.
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Japan
BETRÜGER BRINGT JAPANS RENTNER UM
MILLIARDEN
Tatsächlich aber produzierte AIJ unter Asakawas Leitung mit
Derivategeschäften horrende Verluste, wie Japans
Börsenaufsicht Securities and Exchange Surveillance
Commission (SESC) bei einer Untersuchung bereits im März
herausfand. Die SESC hatte dem Unternehmen die Lizenz
entzogen, nachdem der Skandal Ende Februar durch
Recherchen der Wirtschaftszeitung „Nikkei“ aufgeflogen war.
FTD.de 20.06.12
Chef von Investmentfirma verhaftet // Sorge um Pensionen
Wegen eines milliardenschweren Betrugsskandals hat die
Polizei in Tokio den Chef der Investmentfirma AIJ
festgenommen. Kazuhiko Asakawa wird vorgeworfen,
institutionelle Investoren durch den Verlust von 109 Mrd. Yen
(1,1 Mrd. Euro) an Pensionsgeldern betrogen zu haben.
Neben ihm verhaftete die Polizei am Dienstag noch zwei
weitere Personen im Zusammenhang mit dem Skandal.
Betroffen sind fast 100 Pensionsfonds vor allem von kleineren
Unternehmen, die insgesamt 145 Mrd. Yen (1,45 Mrd. Euro)
bei AIJ angelegt hatten. Die Fonds von AIJ waren auf den
Kaimaninseln in der Karibik domiziliert. Investoren bekamen
aber gefälschte Angaben über die Wertentwicklung ihrer
Anlagen. Mehr als zwei Drittel der Anlagesumme sind durch
Azakawas Verluste aufgezehrt. Jetzt müssen rund 880 000
Menschen um ihre Betriebsrenten bangen.
Der Betrugsfall hat in ganz Japan Sorgen um die Sicherheit
von Rentenansprüchen ausgelöst. Japan zählt zu den am
schnellsten alternden Gesellschaften der Welt. Die
Pensionsfonds des Landes verwalten laut Daten der
Beratungsfirma Towers Watson mit umgerechnet insgesamt
2550 Mrd. Euro den weltweit zweitgrößten Topf an
Altersvorsorgebeiträgen. Da Japans Staatsanleihen nur
Minizinsen abwerfen, sind die Fonds stets auf der Suche nach
Renditebringern.
Internationale Hedge-Fonds nutzen die Lage und werben nun
verstärkt um Geld von japanischen Pensionsfonds, darunter
Neuberger Berman, Winton Capital und Financial Risk
Management.
Bloomberg, DPa, FTD
AIJ soll Gelder von Pensionsfonds durch Vortäuschung von
hohen Renditen auf Investmentanlagen erschwindelt haben.
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Japan
WSJ.com BUSINESS July 29, 2012, 2:07 p.m. ET
insurers have paid out more than ¥150 billion for insurance
claims.
Nippon Life Insurance has been on top of the Japanese lifeinsurance industry for decades. It is one of the world's largest
institutional investors, with more than ¥50 trillion, or about
$637 billion, in assets, yet the unlisted insurer, known as
Nissay, has been relatively low profile in overseas strategy.
Mr. Tsutsui, who has worked at the insurance company for 35
years, sat down with Atsuko Fukase in Tokyo to discuss the
company's strategy in a challenging market, in one of the
world's most earthquake-prone countries.
Keeping a Low Profile At the Top of the Heap
The following interview has been edited.
Yoshinobu Tsutsui, who took the helm of Japan's No. 1 lifeinsurance company in April last year, said the company is still
at an early stage for making a big overseas acquisition and
will stick to minority investments or business tie-ups for now.
WSJ: Japanese insurers once dominated the world's
insurance industry in terms of market capital in the late 1980s
to early 1990s. Do you feel Japanese life-insurance
companies are losing a position as a global player?
Nippon Life has a capital alliance with global insurers including
Prudential Financial Inc., Allianz and AIA Group Ltd.
Mr. Tsutsui: Japan has the most rapid and serious aging
problem in the world, so we, insurers, have diversified
products over years. As an insurance company in an aging
society, we would like to share our experience and a knowhow with our peers in other countries.
He's bullish on the domestic market, which has faced a
shrinking population and aging society. The downward trend in
the industry, he says, is inevitable, but he sees opportunity in
a range of products for seniors.
As a matter of fact, a lot of Asian insurance firms have asked
for advice and experience on how we deal with rising
longevity. So, yes, we still have place to play an international
role.
Mr. Tsutsui became Nippon Life's president shortly after the
Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami last year, and
played a key role in coordinating the industry's response as
chairman of the Life Insurance Association of Japan, a post he
left earlier this month. Since the March 11 disaster, life
154
Japan
WSJ: What is your perspective on the Japanese life-insurance
industry?
because it brings risk, so we always form a long-term
partnership with a strong financial institution.
Mr. Tsutsui: It's been said for a while that our industry will see
a downward trend due to the country's shrinking population.
But I have an opposing view on that. Yes, it's true—the
downward trend is inevitable—but I see a big potential for
business opportunities in the domestic market, too. Seniors'
demand for insurance products diversifies in a range of health
insurance, nursing insurance and savings insurance.
There are certain phases in global expansion. The first phase
would be coordination of financial products and services and
personnel exchange with a company. After that, we may enter
the next phase—something close to mergers and acquisitions,
but we don't set a time frame on that.
We'll continue looking for new alliances as there are still some
high-growth areas where we haven't found a partner.
Our business strategy and sales approach are different from
foreign players like American Family Life Assurance Company
(Aflac) and Prudential that have boosted their presence in
Japan since the late '90s but their presence made us feel that
we again need to build a solid position. There's still room for
us to make extra efforts in this market.
Still, we're not jumping at deals, even when the investments
look reasonable. We've built a trust in a relationship with
India's Reliance Life and Prudential over a couple of years,
sharing our business philosophy. That's our approach for
overseas expansion.
WSJ: Rival insurance firms are aggressively making
acquisitions to beef up international operations. How do you
want to explore overseas business opportunities?
WSJ: With tighter regulations, how do you manage your
portfolio? Are you considering cutting back risky assets such
as stockholdings?
Mr. Tsutsui: We're not targeting a particular area, but currently
we offer life-insurance business outside Japan only in the
U.S., China, Thailand and India through a capital tie-up or a
joint venture. We're not expanding overseas by ourselves
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Japan
Mr. Tsutsui: I see some other life and nonlife insurers are
decreasing equity holdings because of current market
instability and regulatory constraints. But we have to think
what it means for institutional investors to cut back their
holdings in Japanese stock market. It's important to play a role
as a stable shareholder and revitalize the market. But we will
have to consider how we deal with new solvency rules in the
future.
We also would like to propose our thoughts about regulatory
issues including new solvency rules and accounting standards
[to global regulators].
WSJ: We had a big earthquake last year in Japan. How did it
affect your business?
Mr. Tsutsui: I'm from Kobe, and when an earthquake hit in
1995 I felt that it's really our responsibility to make sure that
people were covered by insurance.
And I realized again the importance of our role—that we need
to make sure for our customers that our insurance services
help them.
156
Japan
Résumé
Education: B.A. in Economics, Kyoto University, 1977
Career:Joined Nippon Life in 1977. Worked in various
departments including research and public relations before
becoming president in 2011.
Extracurriculars:Golf, reading
157
Japan
WSJ.com DEALS & DEAL MAKERS Updated August 10,
2012, 10:45 a.m. ET
A 20% stake in Janus would be worth about $288 million
based on the U.S. shares' closing price in New York on
Thursday.
Janus Sets Alliance With Japanese Insurer
By KENNETH MAXWELL And JEREMY HARTLEY
TOKYO—Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. and Janus Capital Group
Inc. unveiled a strategic alliance under which Japan's secondlargest life insurer will invest $2 billion and acquire a 15% to
20% stake in the Denver-based money manager.
In a statement, Dai-ichi Life said it is "very confident in the
long-term prospects of Janus" and plans to use the alliance to
increase know-how in global asset management. It said the
tie-up is its first overseas alliance in asset management since
its demutualization and listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in
August 2010.
The deal comes as money managers with heavy exposure to
stocks feel the pressure of weak markets world-wide. With
about 90% of its $150 billion-plus assets in stocks, Janus has
a greater focus on stocks than other fund managers and is
particularly vulnerable when investors move to the sidelines.
As part of the alliance, Dai-ichi Life will support Janus's
distribution initiatives in Japan. Once the insurer has built at
least a 15% stake in Janus, it will nominate a candidate to
serve on the money manager's board.
Dai-ichi Life's investment of $2 billion in general-account
assets will be a boost for Janus, whose shares closed
Thursday more than 20% below their 52-week high hit March
26. The money manager's shares leapt Friday on the news.
The deal comes as Janus keeps bolstering its financial profile,
using a hedging program in recent years to buffer its balance
sheet from the market volatility of its "seeded" investment
products it develops.
Under terms of the deal, Dai-ichi Life, ranked second among
Japan's insurers with assets of about $400 billion, will acquire
at least 15%, and no more than 20%, of outstanding Janus
shares through open-market purchases. Dai-ichi Life will also
be able to buy new shares through an option issued by Janus.
Earnings have been weak so far this year. Last month Janus
reported second-quarter profit fell 44% as it recorded a
double-digit fall in revenue and saw assets under
management decline.
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Japan
Still, in May this year Moody's Investors Service raised its
outlook on Janus to stable from negative, pointing to the
company's improving debt picture.
The money manager's ratings will benefit if Janus succeeds in
re-establishing positive inflows across its equity business
lines, reverses its negative performance fees and sustains
favorable debt-to-earnings levels, Moody's said.
159
Japan
FuW.ch MÄRKTE / MAKRO 10:39 28. AUG 2012
japanische Unternehmen mit starkem Engagement in der
Volksrepublik beinhaltet, ist um 1,2% gesunken.
Japans Regierung sieht Wachstum bedroht
ALEXANDER TRENTIN
Kiyohiko Nishimura, stellvertretender Gouverneur der Bank of
Japan, erklärte gestern in einem Vortrag, dass der Raum für
«unkonventionelle» geldpolitische Massnahmen – also
monetäre Lockerung durch den Ankauf von Staatsanleihen –
noch nicht ausgeschöpft sei. Insbesondere Japan, das
langfristig wegen der demografischen Entwicklung wohl nur
schwaches Wachstum zeigen wird, müsse sich durch eine
aktive Geldpolitik vor negativen Schocks schützen.
Die exportabhängige Nation leidet unter dem globalen
Wachstumsrückgang. Die Wirkung der konjunkturellen
Impulse, die durch den Wiederaufbau nach der
Naturkatastrophe entstanden waren, lässt nach.
Der monatliche Bericht des Kabinettsbüros der japanischen
Regierung zeigt sich besorgt über die Aussichten der
japanischen Wirtschaft. Die bisher starke Binnennachfrage
werde wohl weniger steigen, aber besonders würden die
Exporte durch die schwächere Weltwirtschaft bedroht.
FuW.ch 28.08.2012
Die Regierung hat ihre Aussichten für die USA, China, Europa
und den Rest Asiens ausser Indien zurückgenommen. Die
Industrieproduktion werde wohl nicht weiter wachsen.
Bisher wurde das Wachstum durch den Wiederaufbau nach
dem Tsunami im vergangenen Jahr unterstützt, doch diese
Sondereffekte geben nun langsam nach. Das Handelsdefizit
war im Juli grösser als erwartet. Die Ausfuhren nach Europa
fielen vergangenen Monat um 25%, nach China um 12%.
Der Nikkei 225 fiel gestern um 0,6% auf ein Zweiwochentief.
Belastend sind die weiter schlechter werdenden Aussichten
für die chinesische Wirtschaft. Der Nikkei China 50, der
160
Kanada
FT.com May 15, 2012 9:23 pm
Sun Life considers selling UK arm
By Alistair Gray and Anousha Sakoui
Life assurers cease writing new business because profitability
is disappointing, capital positions inadequate, or they are
making strategic changes.
Sun Life Financial, the Canadian insurer, is examining plans to
sell its UK business in the latest sign that overseas operators
are retreating from the market.
Darko Mihelic, analyst at Cormark Securities in Toronto, said
the UK was absent from Sun Life’s list of “core” areas. A sale
would aid Asian expansion.
The Toronto-listed company is lining up Morgan Stanley to
advise on a possible sale, people familiar with the matter said.
The mooted disposal comes as Dean Connor, Sun Life’s new
chief executive, attempts to revive the group’s fortunes.
“Like all insurance companies in Canada they have been
looking to strengthen their capital position,” said Michael
Goldberg, analyst at Desjardins Securities in Toronto. “Low
interest rates are a disaster for the industry.”
Sun Life and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
Sun Life’s century-old UK business, which has £11.8bn of
assets under management, stopped writing new business in
December 2010.
It is among the 77 UK life assurance companies that have
over the past 15 years or so stopped writing new policies,
according to Ned Cazalet, the financial services consultant.
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Kanada
WSJ.com EARNINGS August 9, 2012, 2:33 p.m. ET
Sun Life's net income plunged to C$51 million, or nine
Canadian cents a share, from C$408 million, or 68 Canadian
cents a share, a year earlier. Canada's third-largest life insurer
last quarter introduced a new operating net income measure
that strips out market-related factors that create volatile
earnings. On this metric, Sun Life said it earned C$379 million,
up from C$357 million in the first quarter.
Weak Markets Hit Canada Insurers Manulife,
Sun Life
By CAROLINE VAN HASSELT
TORONTO—Two of the Canada's largest life insurers,
Manulife Financial Corp. and Sun Life Financial Inc., posted
poor second-quarter results Thursday, underscoring the
damage being done to global insurers as falling financial
markets hurt their profit.
The Canadian firm's woes reflect wider troubles in the global
life-insurance market, as falling shares and low interest rates
crimp profits and tie up capital. Insurers invest the insurance
premiums paid by customers in financial markets. Equity
volatility and low interest rates has made it difficult for insurers
to turn profits, including on the annuities that guarantee
minimum levels of lifetime income.
Manulife, Canada's biggest life insurer, posted its third loss in
four quarters and warned its target of four billion Canadian
dollars (US$4.02 billion) in earnings in 2015 is a "stretch"
because of "unfavorable economic conditions."
Given weak markets, analysts had been expecting an ugly
quarter. Life-insurance earnings are more volatile in Canada
than in the U.S. because Canadian accounting standards
require them to mark to market assets backing policy
obligations. That leads to a mismatch in yield between assets
and long-dated policy liabilities and exceptionally volatile
earnings.
The company said it swung to a loss of C$300 million, or 18
Canadian cents a share, from a year-earlier profit of C$490
million, or 26 Canadian cents, largely due to a charge of more
than C$700 million related to volatile equity markets and lower
interest rates.
Manulife said it earned C$551 million, down from C$673
million a year earlier, when results are adjusted to exclude
items such as a C$677 million charge for long-term interestrate assumptions.
162
Kanada
"The expectations were very low," said John Kinsey, a portfolio
manager at Caldwell Securities Ltd. "Patience is going to be
key with regard to these Canadian life-insurance companies,
and we'll need to plod along until we get some traction in the
markets."
through the end of 2015. "It's manageable," Sun Life Chief
Executive Dean Connor said in an interview.
One bright spot for Sun Life was the performance of U.S.
mutual-fund unit MFS Investment Management, where profit
rose 52% to C$67 million.
The two life insurers, both based in Toronto, expect future
earnings hits as they cope with superlow interest rates.
Manulife said it expects a third-quarter charge of up to C$1
billion following an annual review of actuarial methods and
assumptions. Most of the charge relates to products and
businesses that aren't a substantial part of the company's new
business plans, it said.
"While both Manulife and Sun Life reported weak earnings
based on the impact of the markets, they were both better
than expectations," said Barclays analyst John Aiken in a note.
Its minimum continuing capital and surplus requirements, or
MCCSR, ratio, a closely watched regulatory measure of
capital adequacy, was 213% versus 241% a year earlier. Sun
Life's MCCSR ratio declined to 210% from 231% a year
earlier.
If current rates persist, Sun Life said its net income in the
second half will be reduced by C$50 million per quarter due to
declines in fixed-income reinvestment rates in its policyholder
liabilities.
It also said net income for the 2013 to 2015 period will be
reduced by about C$500 million if rates stay at June 30 levels
163
Österreich
164
Österreich
165
Österreich
Wirtschaftsblatt.at
rechnet vor, dass bei einem Gebäude im Wert von 300.000 €
etwa 60 € pro Jahr zusätzlich anfallen würden.
Neue Forderung nach Pflichtversicherung
24.07.2012 | 09:32 | Christian Kreuzer (Wirtschaftsblatt)
Steigende Zahl von Schadensfällen
Die Assekuranzen kämpfen heuer wieder mit steigenden
Schäden. Die Generali verzeichnet bisher Schäden aus
Unwettern von rund 40 Millionen €, bei der Städtischen liegen
ohne die Unwetter der vergangenen Tage mehr als 8000 Fälle
vor. Die Uniqa weist ein doppelt so hohes Volumen wie im
Vorjahr auf. Insgesamt dürften sich die Schäden auf bis zu
300 Millionen € summieren, schätzen Branchenvertreter.
Versicherungen. Wegen der steigenden Unwetterschäden
wird über eine Pflichtversicherung diskutiert. Versicherer
sehen nun die "die Politik am Ball".
Wien. Die massiven Unwetterschäden vor allem in der
Steiermark bringen einen alten Vorschlag der Versicherungen
wieder aufs Tapet: Sie wollen eine Pflichtversicherung, da
Gefahren wie etwa Hochwasser weder vom Staat über den
Katastrophenfonds noch von der privaten
Versicherungswirtschaft abgesichert werden können. "Diese
Modelle gibt es bereits in der Schweiz, in Spanien und
Frankreich", sagt Harald Steirer, Vorstand der Generali
Versicherung.
Kooperation verlängert
Die Generali Versicherung hat indes ihre Kooperation mit der
Bawag bis zum Jahr 2023 verlängert. Neben der
Lebensversicherung sollen in Zukunft auch
Sachversicherungen wie Unfall- und Haushaltspolizzen über
den Bankschalter verkauft werden.
Konkrete Vorschläge wurden dem Finanzministerium bereits
vor Jahren unterbreitet, doch bisher gab es keine Bewegung.
"Der Ball liegt bei der Politik, die den rechtlichen Rahmen
dafür schaffen muss", heißt es aus dem
Versicherungsverband.
Die Ziele der Bawag PSK Versicherung, die zu 75 Prozent der
Generali gehört, sind jedenfalls ehrgeizig: Bis 2015 soll das
Prämienvolumen auf 350 Millionen € anwachsen - im Vorjahr
lag es bei 207 Millionen €.
Für die konkrete Form der Umsetzung der Pflichtversicherung
gibt es mehrere Modelle. Eine Variante wäre eine
Prämienerhöhung der Haushaltsversicherung. Die Generali
166
Österreich
Die Hoffnung, dieses Ziel zu erreichen, liegt in erster Linie in
den neuen Bawag-Post-Filialen. "380 von insgesamt 515
Standorten wurden österreichweit bereits umgebaut", sagt
Wolfgang Klein, Privatkunden-Vorstand der Bawag. Bis
Jahresende sollen die restlichen Filialen folgen.
© Wirtschaftsblatt.at
167
Russland
Ingosstrach: Streit um einen Goldesel
finanzieren. So kaufte er die Minderheitsaktionäre ignorierend
Anteile seiner 2008 fast pleite gegangenen Bank Sojus über
Ingosstrach zurück und will sie nun wieder ganz übernehmen.
Zudem musste Ingosstrach mehrfach als Kreditgeber für
Deripaskas Firmen einspringen.
29.07.2011 | 00:29 | Andre Ballin (Wirtschaftsblatt)
Moskau. Russland ist für Ausländer ein Abenteuer, auch für
Versicher. Es ist aber ein Abenteuer, das sich lohnt, denn der
26 Milliarden € schwere russische Versicherungsmarkt
gewährt glänzende Chancen. "Mittel-und langfristig bietet der
russische Markt eine Wachstumsstory, weil die Russen
systematisch unterversichert sind", sagte Boris Tawakkoli,
Senior Relationship Manager der zur Allianz gehörenden
Versicherungsgesellschaft ROS- NO, dem WirtschaftsBlatt.
Freilich werden nicht alle der über 600 Versicherer in
Russland diesen Boom noch erleben, viele stehen vor
finanziellen Schwierigkeiten, aber "die großen Player machen
Gewinne", ist Tawakkoli überzeugt.
Schlichter VTB
Generali versucht nun, die Staatsbank VTB als Schlichter zu
gewinnen. Die Italiener haben ein Joint Venture mit der VTB
im Versicherungsbereich gegründet, in das auch die Anteile an
der Ingosstrach einfließen sollen. Die VTB ist einer der
größten Gläubiger des hochverschuldeten DeripaskaImperiums. Der russischen Staatsbank dürfte es also deutlich
leichter fallen, Deripaska zum Einlenken zu bewegen, zumal
sie notfalls ihre Rechte vor russischen Gerichten leichter
durchsetzen kann als Ausländer. Sollte das gelingen, könnte
sich das Investment am Ende doch auszahlen, schon weil
Ingosstrach über Deripaskas Imperium auch zahlreiche
Kunden gewinnen kann. Seit Juli sollen sich so RusalMitarbeiter (61.000) bei Ingosstrach krankenversichern
können.
Auch die tschechische Finanzholding PPFI des Milliardärs
Petr Kellner hielt den Einstieg in Russland 2007 daher für eine
lukrative Sache. Gemeinsam mit der italienischen Generali
besitzt die PPFI nun 38,5 Prozent an Ingosstrach, einem der
ältesten und größten Versicherer Russlands.
Viel Freude haben sie jedoch nicht daran, denn Aktionär Oleg
Deripaska (besitzt 60 Prozent) versuchte erst den Anteil der
Minderheitsaktionäre durch eine Kapitalerhöhung zu
verwaschen, dann sie aus dem Aufsichtsrat zu drängen.
Bis zuletzt nutzte Deripaska Ingosstrach auch als Geldkuh, die
er molk, um weniger lukrative Geschäftsbereiche zu
65,2 Millionen € Reingewinn hat Ingosstrach 2010 erzielt. Im
Gegensatz zu den Vorjahren wird heuer weder eine Dividende
noch ein Bonus für den Aufsichtsrat gezahlt. Ingosstrach führt
beim Verkauf von Kfz-Haftpflichtversicherungen. Der
Marktanteil liegt bei 8,7 Prozent.
168
Schweiz
BVG entschlossen verbessern
Was Bâloise-Schweiz-Chef Michael Müller am
Vorsorgesystem ändern würde
Menschen immer gewohnter sind, in beinahe jedem
Lebensbereich Wahlmöglichkeiten zu haben. Damit
verbunden wäre aber auch die Übernahme des
Anlageschwankungsrisikos
Sparbeiträge
Skala der lohnabhängigen Beitragssätze flacher, d. h. weniger
progressiv halten, um ältere Personen im Arbeitsmarkt
weniger zu benachteiligen und den öfter bogenförmigen
Karriereverläufen besser zu entsprechen
Teilvariable Rente
Eine zu Teilen vom jährlichen Anlageertrag abhängige
Rentenzahlung läuft gegen die Vorsorgezielsetzung der
Gewissheit und Berechenbarkeit der finanziellen Leistung
FuW Nr. 48, 16.06.2012, p. 9
Prämienhöhe
Die minimal vorgeschriebenen Prämiensätze erhöhen, damit
das Vorsorgeniveau trotz absehbarer und nötiger
Umwandlungssatzsenkung gehalten bleibt
Beginn der Beitragspflicht
Von derzeit 25 auf 20 Jahre bzw. auf
Beschäftigungsaufnahme vorziehen, um zumindest den
Berufsgebildeten ein rascheres Vorsorgesparen zu
ermöglichen
Pensionierungszeitpunkt
Möglichst hohe Flexibilisierung zulassen und fördern, da die
Bedürfnisse an die Altersvorsorge sehr unterschiedlich sind
Wahl der Anlagestrategie
Zumindest im Überobligatorium zu ermöglichen, da die
169
Schweiz
Helvetia packt die Chance
Die Bereiche Lebens- und Sachversicherung standen
gemessen am Umsatz im Verhältnis 2 zu 1 zueinander. Auf
Niveau des operativen Gewinns waren die beiden Segmente
beinahe auf gleicher Höhe.
CH Ausbau in Sachversicherung
Mit dem Erwerb des Transportversicherungsgeschäfts aus
dem Portfolio der französischen Groupama verdreifacht
Helvetia ihr dortiges Sachversicherungsgeschäft. Der Schritt
folgt auf eine erste ähnliche Transaktion 2009. Die mit 38,5
Mio. € bezifferte Akquisition bringt ein Prämienvolumen von
rund 160 Mio. € zusätzlich auf die Bücher der Schweizer
Assekuranzgruppe, was einer Einnahmensteigerung um 3%
gleichkommt. Der Kaufpreis wird aus vorhandenen Mitteln
finanziert. Die Transaktion wird nach Zustimmung der
Aufsichtsbehörden im Verlauf des zweiten Semesters
abgeschlossen.
Die Helvetia-Aktien notieren zu einem Discount von gut 20%
gegenüber dem zuletzt veröffentlichten Bilanzwert. Die
Papiere sind gemessen an der erwarteten Dividendenrendite
von 5,6% ausschüttungsstark. Die Niedrigzinslage drückt zwar
auf die Ertragsperspektiven, doch der nachteilige Einfluss
sollte begrenzt bleiben (...).
TH, FuW Nr. 57, 18.07.2012, p. 9
Akquisitorisches Wachstum über kleine Schritte gehört seit
Jahren zur Strategie von Helvetia. Der Ausbau des
Transportversicherungsgeschäfts bekräftige die Ambition, in
ausgewählten Marktsegmenten bedeutender zu werden, wird
Konzernchef Stefan Loacker in der Medienmitteilung zitiert.
Helvetia hat im zurückliegenden Jahr 4,1 Mrd. Fr. in der
Schweiz und weitere 2,8 Mrd. Fr. in den Einheiten in
Deutschland, Italien, Spanien, Österreich und Frankreich
eingenommen.
170
Schweiz
Versicherer investieren aggressiver
vier Fünftel des Gesamtvermögens aus. Immobilien und
weitere Alternativanlagen sowie Aktien haben begrenztes
Gewicht (...).
Schweiz Moderate Anlageumschichtungen summieren sich –
Lieber Unternehmens- als Staatsanleihen – Aktien eng
begrenzt
Thomas Hengartner
Solvenzregime ändert wenig
An der Grundausrichtung der Vermögensanlagen halten die
Versicherer auch zur Mitte des Jahres fest, wie eine Umfrage
per Mail von «Finanz und Wirtschaft» ergibt. Im 120 Mrd. Fr.
Portefeuille von Swiss Life haben Unternehmensanleihen
nicht zuletzt dank der zinsmarktbedingten Preisavance an
Gewicht zugelegt, wie Anlagechef Patrick Frost im ... Interview
darlegt. Anhaltende und gar zunehmende Beachtung fänden
Investments mit dauerhaft hohem laufenden Geldfluss, etwa
Immobilien und Infrastrukturvorhaben.
Die Versichererbranche ist einer der ganz grossen Sparhäfen.
Über das Lebensversicherungs- und Vorsorgegeschäft poolen
die Assekuranzhäuser die enorme Summe von 25 Bio. $. Das
ist ähnlich viel, wie global von der Anlagefondsbranche
verwaltet wird und nur leicht weniger, als staatliche und
betriebliche Träger der Altersvorsorge kollektiv betreuen
(hochgerechnet 29 Bio. $).
Die Anlagen der Versicherer nehmen jährlich zu, vor allem
wegen des steigenden Bedarfs an finanzieller Altersvorsorge
in den Industrie- und den Schwellenländern. Selbst wenn die
Anlagestrategie im Kern über Jahre bestehen bleibt und nur
moderate Anlageumschichtungen vorgenommen werden,
verschieben die Versicherer an den Finanzmärkten leicht
Milliardenbeträge.
Befürchtungen, aufsichtsrechtliche oder sonstige Einflüsse
würden den Anlagemix massgeblich verändern, sind also
übertrieben. Aufsichtsregimes wie der Schweizer Solvenztest
SST und die im restlichen Europa vorgesehenen Solvenz-IIRegeln verlangen, dass die Vermögensanlagen abhängig vom
Ausmass der historischen Preisschwankungsbreite mit
Risikokapital zu bedecken sind. Das würde die Versicherer
gleich reihenweise aus den Immobilieninvestments drängen,
war zeitweise spekuliert worden.
Allein die kotierten Schweizer Versicherer führen Investments
von 600 Mrd. Fr. Bedeutendste Anlageklasse sind
Unternehmensanleihen (inkl. pfandgesicherte Obligationen),
noch vor Staatsanleihen und Hypothekar- sowie sonstigen
Darlehen. Insgesamt machen die zinstragenden Investments
171
Schweiz
Der Vermieterlös von Bestandesliegenschaften sei als
«stabiler, wiederkehrender Ertrag» für Bâloise wesentlich,
begründet der Versicherer vom Rheinknie. Ein Verkauf
grösserer Portfolioteile sei deshalb keine Option. «Alternativen
zu Immobilien als Anlageklasse stehen derzeit nicht zur
Verfügung.»
hätten sich Immobilienanlagen als «stabil und nachhaltig»
erwiesen.
Aus Hedge Funds habe sich Helvetia verabschiedet. Anlagen
in Infrastruktur würden beobachtet: «Wegen der Illiquidität und
der teilweise rechtlichen Intransparenz der Anlagevehikel sind
wir jedoch zurückhaltend», begründet die Medienstelle.
Im Bereich der Obligationen würden aus
Bonitätsüberlegungen strenge Richtlinien angewendet.
«Wesentliche Umschichtungen zu Emittenten mit geringerer
Benotung sind nicht geplant.»
Bleibt das Aktiensegment, in das die Schweizer Versicherer
lediglich 2 bis 5% des Vermögens – mithin zusammen knapp
20 Mrd. Fr. – investieren. Wegen der Schwankungsanfälligkeit
von Aktieninvestments verlangen die erwähnten
Aufsichtsbestimmungen der Assekuranzbranche eine hohe
Unterlegung mit Eigenkapital. Deshalb ist das Aktiengewicht in
den Vermögen der Versicherer begrenzt. Gleichwohl wird
nach Optimierungen gesucht. Helvetia hat sich «auf eine
stärker dividendenorientierte Aktienselektion» ausgerichtet.
Renditejagd mit Vorsicht
Zurich Insurance, die umgerechnet 200 Mrd. Fr. Vermögen
bilanziert, bestimme die Gewichte der Anlageklassen in
Hinsicht auf Fristen, Währungen und Zinsverpflichtungen der
Versicherungsverbindlichkeiten (Asset-Liability-Match). Das
habe «in den vergangenen Jahren der fortdauernden
Finanzmarktkrisen als nützlicher Kompass» gedient. Die
eigentliche Anlageumsetzung bzw. Wertpapierselektion
überlässt Zurich übrigens auf Mandatsbasis externen
Spezialisten.
Auch Bâloise betont die Fokussierung auf
ausschüttungsstabile Beteiligungsrechte: «Das bewährt sich
gerade im derzeit volatilen Marktumfeld.»
Die mit der Vermögensanlage verbundenen Unwägbarkeiten
gelten als bremsende Faktoren der Börsenbewertung von
Versicherungsunternehmen.
Helvetia will an der bestehenden Mischung von Staats- und
Unternehmensanleihen qualitativ guter Emittenten festhalten
und sie «keineswegs einer Jagd nach Rendite opfern». Weiter
investiert werde auch in Wohnobjekte. Über all die Jahre
172
Schweiz
Die Zinsbaisse untergräbt mit zunehmender Dauer den
künftigen Anlageertrag der Versicherer. Ein massgebliche
Störung von Ertragskraft und Ausschüttungsfähigkeit ist allein
deswegen dennoch wenig wahrscheinlich.
So gesehen sind die Papiere von Bâloise, Helvetia und Swiss
Life mit Aussicht auf gut 5% Dividendenrendite und einem
Discount gegenüber Buchwert von mehr als 20% fundamental
günstig bewertet. Die ebenfalls ausschüttungsstarken ZurichValoren sind wegen der Internationalität und der breiteren
Geschäftsabstützung des Konzerns teurer. Sie notieren leicht
über Buchwert.
FuW Nr. 57, 18.07.2012, p. 9
173
Schweiz
174
Schweiz
175
Schweiz
FTD.de 18.07.2012, 11:12
Übernahme:
Helvetia kauft Gan-Transportgeschäft
Das Transportversicherungsgeschäft der französischen Gan
Eurocourtage geht an die Schweizer
Versicherungsgesellschaft Helvetia. Der vereinbarte Kaufpreis
beträgt 39 Mio. Euro.
von Herbert Fromme
Der Schweizer Versicherer Helvetia übernimmt das
Transportversicherungsgeschäft der französischen Gan
Eurocourtage. Verkäufer ist der angeschlagene Versicherer
Groupama.
Das Maklergeschäft der Gan Eurocourtage hatte im Juni
bereits die Allianz übernommen. Helvetia zahlt 39 Mio. Euro,
kauft dafür aber nicht eine bestehende
Versicherungsgesellschaft, sondern den Vertragsbestand mit
einem Prämienvolumen von 166 Mio. Euro.
Damit verdreifachen die Schweizer ihre Präsenz im
französischen Transportversicherungsmarkt, wo sie bislang
auf 83 Mio. Euro Prämie kommen. Der zum
Genossenschaftslager gehörende Versicherer Groupama
hatte sich mit einer expansiven Auslandsstrategie verhoben.
176
Schweiz
Helvetia Holding AG : Helvetia becomes
number two in the French transport
insurance market
The purchase price is EUR 38.5 million - without equity
capital, which is not the object of the portfolio. This remains
subject to adjustments in balance sheet performance up to 30
September 2012. The purchase will be financed through the
capital resources of Helvetia.
07/17/2012 | 12:17pm US/Eastern
The Helvetia Group is to take over the French transport
insurance portfolio of Gan Eurocourtage, a subsidiary of
Groupama SA. The transaction will lead to Helvetia becoming
the number two in the French transport insurance business.
This is the second expansion step in quick succession on the
French market after the purchase of L'Européenne
d'Assurance Transport (CEAT) in 2009.
With this acquisition, Helvetia France, the former number five
on the French transport insurance market, will become the
strong number two. Its existing position will be strengthened
by the portfolio acquisition especially in the maritime transport
insurance business and will thus ensure even better insurance
coverage for the French transport industry.
Alain Tintelin, Director of Helvetia France, does not just see
this strategic move from the perspective of growth: "The
management and employees of Gan Eurocourtage enjoy an
excellent reputation on the market. In addition to growth, this
acquisition reinforces our know-how and our innovative drive."
St. Gallen, 17th July 2012- The Helvetia Group is to buy the
French transport insurance portfolio of Gan Eurocourtage, a
subsidiary of Groupama SA. In 2011, the portfolio of Gan
Eurocourtage, domiciled in Le Havre, France, comprised a
premium volume of approximately EUR 150 million.
Stefan Loacker, Chief Executive Officer of the Helvetia Group,
underlines the significance of the acquisition: "The purchase of
the French transport insurance portfolio of Gan Eurocourtage
confirms the ambitions of the Helvetica Group to
systematically strengthen its position in selected markets, in
particular in the traditional transport insurance business."
As a result, the existing portfolio of the transport insurance
specialist Helvetia France, whose premium volume had
amounted to EUR 82.5 million at the end of 2011, will be
tripled. Provided that the responsible regulatory authorities
grant their approval, the transaction will be completed in the
second half of 2012.
177
Schweiz
Analysts Media Helvetia Group
Nicola Maria Breitschopf
Head of Investor Relations
Dufourstrasse 40
9001 St.Gallen
T +41 (0)58 280 56 04
F +41 (0)58 280 55 89
E-Mail: Nicola Maria Breitschopf
www.helvetia.com
in the life, property and casualty and reinsurance business,
and almost 4,900 employees provide services to more than
2.5 million customers. With a business volume of CHF 7.2
billion, Helvetia posted a net profit of CHF 288.7 million in the
2011 financial year. The Helvetia Holding registered share is
traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the symbol HELN. ...
Helvetia Group Andreas Notter
Corporate Communications and Brand Management
Dufourstrasse 40
9001 St.Gallen
Tel.: +41 58 280 57 61
Fax: +41 58 280 55 89
E-Mail: Andreas Notter
www.helvetia.com
In over 150 years, Helvetia Group has grown from a number
of Swiss and foreign insurance companies into a successful
insurance group that does business everywhere in Europe.
Today, Helvetia has branch offices in Switzerland, Germany,
Austria, Spain, Italy and France, and routes some of its
investment and financing activities through subsidiaries and
fund companies in Luxembourg and Jersey. The Group is
headquartered in St. Gallen in Switzerland. Helvetia is active
178
Schweiz
Nationale Suisse 29. August 2012 18:34
nach Kräften weiter ausgebaut und vertieft", so Hans Künzle,
CEO von Nationale Suisse.
Verschiebungen im Aktionariat von Nationale
Suisse: Helvetia erwirbt 7.69 % der Aktien
Helvetia wird neuer Kernaktionär
Die Helvetia hat mit dem Erwerb dieses Aktienpakets ihren
Anteil auf total 12.05 % erhöht und wird damit grösster
Einzelaktionär von Nationale Suisse. "Offensichtlich werden
wir als attraktives, erfolgreiches Unternehmen beurteilt", hält
Hans Künzle fest. "Gerne werden wir unsere Zusammenarbeit
mit der Helvetia weiter ausbauen." Die Helvetia gehört neu zu
den Kernaktionären des Versicherers.
Die Helvetia Beteiligungen AG hat von der Basler
Kantonalbank zusätzliche Aktien im Umfang von 7.69 % an
Nationale Suisse erworben. Damit ist die Helvetia
Beteiligungen AG neu im Besitz von einem Anteil an Nationale
Suisse von insgesamt 9.59 %; die Patria Genossenschaft hält
weitere 2.46 %. Die Helvetia wird so grösster Einzelaktionär
der international tätigen Schweizer Versicherungsgesellschaft.
Nationale Suisse wird ihren Weg auf Basis ihrer erfolgreichen
Strategie auch mit der neuen Aktionariatsstruktur eigenständig
weitergehen. Die Kooperation zwischen Nationale Suisse und
der Bank Coop wird durch diese Transaktion nicht
beeinträchtigt.
Mit dem Erwerb des zusätzlichen Anteils hält die Helvetia
Beteiligungen AG nun 2'115'980 Namenaktien der
Schweizerischen National-Versicherungs- Gesellschaft AG
(Nationale Suisse), was 9.59 % des im Handelsregister
eingetragenen Aktienkapitals entspricht. Zusätzlich ist die
Patria Genossenschaft im Besitz von 2.46 %. An der
Stimmrechtsbeschränkung für Aktionäre von 5.0 % wird
Nationale Suisse festhalten.
Die Basler Kantonalbank ist mit dem Verkauf ihres
Aktienanteils von 7.69 % an die Helvetia nicht mehr
Grossaktionär von Nationale Suisse. Der Entscheid der Basler
Kantonalbank wird die strategische Partnerschaft von
Nationale Suisse mit der Bank Coop, die zu 57.6 % (per
31.12.2011) der Basler Kantonalbank gehört, aber nicht
beeinflussen.
Nationale Suisse als feste Grösse in der Branche etabliert
Hans Künzle unterstreicht: "Die Verschiebung im Aktionariat
wird keinen Einfluss auf unser Geschäft haben und ändert
nichts an unserer Überzeugung: Nationale Suisse hat als
eigenständiger und erfolgreicher Player im Markt eine
Zukunft."
"Die seit 2007 bestehende Kooperation mit der Bank Coop zur
Erweiterung der Marktpräsenz unserer Gesellschaften wird
179
Schweiz
Dank der konsequenten Ausrichtung auf ausgewählte
Zielgruppen und der zielgerichteten Entwicklung der Specialty
Lines, aber auch dank den Anstrengungen bei der
Optimierung aller Geschäftsprozesse, hat sich Nationale
Suisse als feste Grösse in der Versicherungsbranche etabliert.
Das Unternehmen ist hervorragend aufgestellt und verfügt
über eine exzellente finanzielle Solidität. Der
Halbjahresbericht 2012 wird am 5. September 2012 publiziert.
Ihre Ansprechspartner
Remo Meier
Investor Relations
Tel. +41 61 275 22 45
Fax +41 61 275 22 21 [email protected]
Christina Hartmann
Media Relations
Tel. +41 61 275 23 40
Fax +41 61 275 22 21
[email protected]
Kurzprofil
Nationale Suisse ist eine innovative, international tätige und
unabhängige Schweizer Versicherungsgruppe, die attraktive
Risiko- und Vorsorgelösungen in den Bereichen Nichtleben
und Leben sowie zunehmend auch massgeschneiderte
Specialty-Lines-Deckungen anbietet. Die Bruttoprämien
belaufen sich konsolidiert auf 1.5 Milliarden Schweizer
Franken (2011). Die Gruppe umfasst das Stammhaus und
rund 20 Tochtergesellschaften und Niederlassungen, die mit
fokussierten Produktlinien in den Versicherungsmärkten
Schweiz, Italien, Spanien, Deutschland, Belgien,
Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Lateinamerika und Türkei tätig sind.
Der Hauptsitz der Schweizerischen National-VersicherungsGesellschaft AG ist in Basel. Die Aktie der Gesellschaft ist an
der SIX Swiss Exchange kotiert (NATN). Am 31. Dez. 2011
beschäftigte die Gruppe 1 874 Mitarbeiterinnen und
Mitarbeiter (Vollzeitstellen).
180
Schweiz
Nationale Suisse 29. August 2012 18:39
Mobiliar in Zukunft besonders im Heimmarkt Schweiz weiter
verstärken."
Verschiebungen im Aktionariat von Nationale
Suisse: Mobiliar erwirbt 11.35 % der Aktien
Neu hält die Schweizerische Mobiliar Holding AG (Mobiliar)
2'503'137 Namenaktien der Schweizerischen NationalVersicherungs-Gesellschaft AG (Nationale Suisse) was 11.35
% des im Handelsregister eingetragenen Aktienkapitals
entspricht. An der Stimmrechtsbeschränkung für Aktionäre von
5.0 % wird Nationale Suisse festhalten.
Die Mobiliar hat Aktien im Umfang von 11.35 % an Nationale
Suisse erworben und wird damit neuer Kernaktionär der
Schweizer Versicherungsgruppe. Die Aktien wurden bisher
von der Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) gehalten.
Nationale Suisse wird ihren Weg auf Basis ihrer erfolgreichen
Strategie auch mit der neuen Aktionariatsstruktur eigenständig
weitergehen.
Nationale Suisse als feste Grösse in der Branche etabliert
Hans Künzle unterstreicht: "Die Verschiebung im Aktionariat
wird keinen Einfluss auf unser Geschäft haben und ändert
nichts an unserer Überzeugung: Nationale Suisse hat als
eigenständiger und erfolgreicher Player im Markt eine
Zukunft." Dank der konsequenten Ausrichtung auf
ausgewählte Zielgruppen und der zielgerichteten Entwicklung
der Specialty Lines, aber auch dank den Anstrengungen bei
der Optimierung aller Geschäftsprozesse, hat sich Nationale
Suisse als feste Grösse in der Versicherungsbranche etabliert.
Das Unternehmen ist hervorragend aufgestellt und verfügt
über eine exzellente finanzielle Solidität. ...
Die LBBW hat ihren Aktienanteil von 11.35 % an Nationale
Suisse der Mobiliar veräussert. Mit dieser Transaktionen
gehört die LBBW nicht mehr zu den Grossaktionären von
Nationale Suisse. Die Bank hat die strategische
Neuausrichtung der Versicherungsgruppe über die letzten
Jahre mit einem soliden Fundament massgeblich unterstützt.
"In der Zwischenzeit haben wir Nationale Suisse aber im
Markt nachhaltig positioniert", hält Hans Künzle, CEO von
Nationale Suisse, fest.
Mobiliar wird neuer Kernaktionär
Die Mobiliar gehört nun mit einem Anteil von 11.35 % zu den
Kernaktionären von Nationale Suisse. "Offensichtlich werden
wir als attraktives, erfolgreiches Unternehmen beurteilt", so
Hans Künzle. "Gerne werden wir die Zusammenarbeit mit der
181
Schweiz
FuW.ch UNTERNEHMEN / FINANZ 16:18 30. AUG 2012
Unterschiedliche Definitionen
Gleichzeitig hat die Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW)
ihren 2006 erworbenen Nationale-Anteil von 11,4% an die
Mobiliar veräussert. Der Schritt der grössten Landesbank
Deutschlands überrascht nicht, musste sie doch während der
Finanzkrise Staatshilfe in Anspruch nehmen und baut nicht
strategische Beteiligungen ab.
Kuriose Konstellation im Aktionariat von
Nationale Suisse
ARNO SCHMOCKER
Im Kernaktionariat haben Helvetia und Mobiliar zwei Banken
abgelöst. Damit wird die Mehrheit des Nationale-Kapitals von
sechs Versicherern gehalten. Das minimiert die Gefahr einer
unerwünschten Übernahme.
Die Mobiliar sieht ihr Engagement «strategischer Natur», wie
sich Pressesprecher Peter Marthaler ausdrückt. Die beiden
Unternehmen arbeiten im Bereich Motorfahrzeuge zusammen,
wo die Mobiliar für Nationale die Schadeninspektion
wahrnimmt. Umgekehrt werden Ideen gewälzt, dass Nationale
für die Berner ihre Spezialität Kunstversicherung anbietet.
Nationale Suisse versucht sich als Anbieter von
Spezialversicherungen zu profilieren. Speziell sind auch die
Verhältnisse im Aktionariat des kleineren Basler Versicherers.
Neu dazugekommen im Club der Kernaktionäre sind Helvetia
und Mobiliar. Damit halten nun sechs Versicherer, zum Teil
Konkurrenten, 55% des Kapitals von Nationale. Was steckt
hinter den Verschiebungen im Aktionariat?
Zum grössten Einzelaktionär von Nationale Suisse mit 12,05%
rückt Helvetia vor . Es handle sich um ein
«Finanzengagement», kommentiert Martin Nellen,
Mediensprecher von Helvetia. Nationale sei solide finanziert
und wie Helvetia in einigen Märkten positioniert, die
Wachstum versprächen.
Die Helvetia-Gruppe hat von der Basler Kantonalbank eine
Beteiligung von 7,7% übernommen. Die Bank verbucht mit der
Transaktion einen Gewinn von knapp 15 Mio. Fr. Während für
die Basler KB der strategische Charakter der Beteiligung nicht
mehr gegeben war, wird die seit 2007 bestehende
Produktkooperation zwischen ihrer Tochter Bank Coop und
Nationale weitergeführt.
Bislang beschränkt sich die Kooperation der beiden
Versicherer auf den IT- Bereich in Italien. Weiter gehende
Vorschläge würden
182
Schweiz
«Es muss etwas passieren»
Weniger zurückhaltend ist der CEO von Nationale Suisse,
Hans Künzle, im Gespräch mit «Finanz und Wirtschaft»: «Es
muss etwas passieren.» Konkret setzt Künzle darauf, dass die
Zusammenarbeit mit jedem «Kernaktionär» erweitert wird.
Nationale habe sich als Spezialversicherer positioniert, und es
zähle zur Schlüsselkompetenz des Unternehmens,
Partnerschaften einzugehen.
vieles richtig macht und die Titel, besonders bezogen auf den
Buchwert, unterbewertet sind.
Übernahmespekulationen sind fehl am Platz. Die
Unabhängigkeit des Unternehmens dürfte mit den zwei
Transaktionen gestärkt worden sein, die sechs Grossaktionäre
halten sich gegenseitig in Schach. Und an der
Stimmrechtsbeschränkung für Aktionäre von 5% hält
Nationale Suisse fest.
Für eine Zusammenarbeit braucht es immer zwei. Mit Bâloise,
die seit gut zehn Jahren 10% hält, haben sich offenbar keine
Anknüpfungspunkte ergeben. Künzle zählt den Konkurrenten
auf dem Platz Basel denn auch nicht zur Kategorie der
«Kernaktionäre».
An der Telefonkonferenz zum Halbjahresergebnis sagte CEO
Martin Strobel zu den Transaktionen in Nationale lediglich, es
handle sich um markante Veränderungen im Aktionariat, die
man prüfen werde. Dass Bâloise vor einigen Jahren eine
Erhöhung des genehmigtes Kapitals von Nationale abgelehnt
hat, deutet ebenfalls auf ein distanziertes Verhältnis hin.
Stimmrechtsbeschränkung bleibt
Die Nationale-Aktien reagierten am Donnerstag mit einem
Kursgewinn. Die Beteiligung von Helvetia und Mobiliar lässt
sich als Anerkennung interpretieren, dass Nationale Suisse
183
Schweiz
FuW.ch UNTERNEHMEN / SCHWEIZ 09:06 5. SEP 2012
Der Ausstieg aus dem Pensionsgeschäft, das im
Vorjahressemester einen Gewinn von 6 Mio. Fr. beisteuerte,
hat das Profil von Nationale als Sach- und
Haftpflichtversicherer geschärft. In der Schweiz ist das
Geschäft hochprofitabel.
Nationale Suisse stärkt das Profil
ARNO SCHMOCKER
Der Schweizer Versicherer hat den Gewinn in einem
schwierigen wirtschaftlichen Umfeld 7,4% gesteigert. Die
Prämieneinnahmen haben die Erwartungen der Analysten
aber verfehlt.
Mit sogenannten Specialty Lines (Spezialversicherungen wie
Engineering, Marine, Kunst etc.) ist Nationale bestrebt, sich
ein unverwechselbares Profil zu geben. Der Anteil von 30%
am Prämienvolumen der Gruppe soll bis 2014 auf 40%
ausgedehnt werden.
Der Einstieg von Mobiliar und das verstärkte Engagement von
Helvetia haben zu einer «Beruhigung und Stabilisierung» im
Aktionariat von Nationale Suisse beigetragen. CEO Hans
Künzle verfocht an der Präsentation zum Halbjahresergebnis
die Meinung, das Ziel des Versicherers, eigenständig zu
bleiben, sei gestärkt worden. Der Semesterausweis liefert
keinen konkreten Anlass, an der Selbständigkeit von Nationale
zu zweifeln.
Im Ausland halfen Sanierungsmassnahmen in Belgien, wieder
einen kleinen Gewinn zu erwirtschaften.
Das Verhältnis Kosten zu Prämien der Gruppe ging auf 91,5%
(94,7) zurück, wozu die erwähnte Reduktion des
Diskontsatzes 1,2 Prozentpunkte beitrug. Trotz Verbesserung
unbefriedigend bleibt das Auslandgeschäft mit 101,5% (111,3).
Auch die grösseren Helvetia und Bâloise bekunden Mühe,
ausserhalb des Heimmarktes auf einen grünen Zweig zu
kommen.
Ohne Sondereffekte stieg der Gewinn 6,8%, mit waren es
7,4%: Im ersten Semester 2011 hatte ein Gewinn aus dem
Verkauf des Kollektivlebengeschäfts (BVG) das Resultat
verbessert, dieses Jahr kam Nationale eine Änderung im
Pensionskassenreglement (Senkung des Diskontsatzes zur
Berechnung der Vorsorgeverbindlichkeiten) in der Schweiz
zugute.
Schweiz hochprofitabel
184
Schweiz
Das Lebengeschäft trägt wenig zum Gesamtgewinn bei.
Niedrige Zinsen, verschärfte behördliche Auflagen und
intensiver Wettbewerb belasten die Rentabilität. Nach der
Bereinigung des Portfolios lautet das Ziel, den Bereich mit der
Lancierung kapitalschonender Produkte besser zu
positionieren.
Das Anlageresultat fiel mit einer annualisierten Rendite von
3,4% solide aus. Bemerkenswert: Nationale hat den
Aktienanteil von 3,1 auf 4,9% erhöht, indem sie Qualitätstitel
mit hoher Dividendenrendite zugekauft hat.
Nicht schlafraubend
Einen Sondereffekt gab es auch im Eigenkapital. Weil
Nationale neue IAS-Regeln zur Personalvorsorge vorzeitig
anwendete, schrumpfte das Eigenkapital 120 Mio. Fr.
Finanzchef Thomas Widmer hat deswegen aber «keine
schlaflosen Nächte». Die Gruppe sei auch im Swiss Solvency
Test (SST) gemäss Finma-Vorgabe ausreichend kapitalisiert.
Der Fortsetzung der Dividendenpolitik stehe nichts im Weg.
Eine durchdachte Strategie und der hohe Anteil mehrerer
Wettbewerber mit meldepflichtigen Anteilen sprechen dafür,
dass ein Engagement in Nationale nicht ganz falsch ist.
185
Schweiz
Nationale Suisse verzeichnet im ersten
Halbjahr 2012 einen höheren Gewinn bei
nachhaltigem Prämienwachstum und eine
Solvency 1 Ratio auf konstant hohem Niveau
Exzellente Combined Ratio von 91.5 % (94.7 % im ersten
Semester 2011)
Zunahme des Eigenkapitals gegenüber Ende 2011 um 2.7 %
auf CHF 816.7 Mio.
Hohe annualisierte Eigenkapitalrendite von 14.2 % (15.9 % im
ersten Semester 2011)
Solvency 1 Ratio auf einem konstant sehr soliden Niveau von
249.4 % (234.4 % per Ende 2011)
Nationale Suisse erzielte im ersten Halbjahr 2012 einen
erfreulichen Gewinnanstieg. Trotz dem nach wie vor sehr
schwierigen Umfeld weist die Versicherungsgruppe ein
nachhaltiges, rein organisches Prämienwachstum aus.
Sämtliche Zahlen sind um die Einmaleffekte, welche sich
durch die vorzeitige Anwendung des geänderten IFRSStandards IAS 19 ergaben, bereinigt.
Dieses war insbesondere getrieben vom Segment Nichtleben
Schweiz. Gleichzeitig zeigt Nationale Suisse im
Nichtlebengeschäft eine exzellente Combined Ratio. Zudem
verbesserte sich die bereits hohe Solvency 1 Ratio erneut. Für
das Geschäftsjahr 2012 bleibt Nationale Suisse verhalten
optimistisch.
Die wichtigsten Kennzahlen des Semesterergebnisses 2012
auf einen Blick:
Gesteigerter Gewinn und Solvency 1 Ratio auf konstant
hohem Niveau
Nationale Suisse erzielte im ersten Semester 2012 einen im
Vergleich zum Vorjahr um 7.4 % höheren Gewinn von CHF
56.8 Mio. "Diese Steigerung konnten wir trotz dem nach wie
vor sehr schwierigen Wirtschaftsumfeld erzielen", hält CEO
Hans Künzle fest.
Steigerung des Konzerngewinns um 7.4 % auf CHF 56.8 Mio.
Nachhaltiges, rein organisches Wachstum der Bruttoprämien
um währungsbereinigt 3.4 %
Stattliches Prämienwachstum der Specialty Lines von 14.6 %
ohne Berücksichtigung des konjunkturabhängigen Credit-LifeGeschäfts
"Gerade in den Auslandmärkten spürten wir die europäische
Schuldenkrise, konnten aber dennoch auf Gruppenstufe ein
nachhaltiges, rein organisches Wachstum der Bruttoprämie
verzeichnen." Währungsbereinigt resultierte ein
Prämienanstieg von 3.4 % auf CHF 909.9 Mio. (VJ CHF 894.3
Mio.).
186
Schweiz
Gegenüber Ende 2011 konnte das Eigenkapital per
30.06.2012 um 2.7 % auf CHF 816.7 Mio. gesteigert werden.
Die Solvency 1 Ratio liegt damit trotz der Belastung aus der
vorzeitigen Anwendung des geänderten Standards von IAS 19
auf einem konstant sehr soliden Niveau von 249.4 %.
stiegen, ist auf die Steigerung von beeindruckenden 9.4 % im
von den Schweizer Nichtlebeneinheiten gezeichneten
Geschäft zurückzuführen.
Die Specialty Lines haben ohne Berücksichtigung des
konjunkturabhängigen Credit-Life-Geschäfts mit einem
stattlichen zweistelligen Wachstum von 14.6 % entscheidend
zum Gesamtwachstum der Gruppe beigetragen (inklusive
Credit Life +4.1 %).
Vorzeitige Anwendung von IAS 19 revised und Anpassung
im Pensionskassen-Reglement
Der Halbjahresabschluss 2012 ist von zwei Besonderheiten
geprägt: Einerseits wurde der geänderte IFRS-Standard IAS
19 für das Geschäftsjahr 2012 bereits umgesetzt. Durch die
Anpassung der Vorperioden resultiert per 31.12.2011 daher
ein um CHF 119.5 Mio. tieferes Konzerneigenkapital von CHF
795.0 Mio. Zudem führte die Anpassung in der Vorperiode zu
höheren Vorsorgekosten, welche den Halbjahresgewinn 2011
um CHF 1.0 Mio. auf CHF 53.0 Mio. schmälerten.
Im Halbjahresabschluss 2012 wurde das HNWI-Geschäft
(High Net Worth Individuals) von der Specialty Line HNWI/Art
in das Zielgruppengeschäft umgegliedert, was den Anteil der
Specialty-Lines-Prämien am Gesamtvolumen entsprechend
beeinflusste. Er konnte von 30.6 % (angepasst um HNWI) auf
aktuell 30.8 % gesteigert werden.
Anderseits wurde das Pensionskassen-Reglement in der
Schweiz angepasst, was den Semestergewinn 2012 einmalig
um CHF 6.8 Mio. (nach Steuern) erhöhte. Der Gewinn des
fortgeführten Geschäfts verbesserte sich ohne diesen
Einmaleffekt um 6.8 % auf CHF 50.0 Mio.
Nichtlebengeschäft mit exzellenter Combined Ratio
Im ersten Halbjahr 2012 konnte Nationale Suisse im
Nichtlebengeschäft die Combined Ratio dank einer anhaltend
tiefen Schadenbelastung sowie erheblich tieferen Kosten auf
ein exzellentes Niveau von 91.5 % senken (VJ 94.7 %).
Starkes Prämienwachstum Nichtleben getrieben vom
Segment Nichtleben Schweiz
Dass die Bruttoprämien Nichtleben der Gruppe insgesamt im
ersten Halbjahr 2012 währungsbereinigt stark um 6.7 %
187
Schweiz
Der Schadensatz der Gruppe fiel um 0.6 Prozentpunkte auf
60.0 %, was unter anderem auf die im vergangenen Jahr
abgeschlossene Portfoliosanierung in Belgien zurückzuführen
ist.
beabsichtigt Nationale Suisse, im Lebensegment zu
profitablem Wachstum zurückzufinden.
Starkes Anlageresultat ohne Einmaleffekte - merkliche
Spuren der rekordtiefen Zinsen
Die kontinuierliche Ausrichtung des Portfolios auf Anlagen mit
guter Kreditqualität ermöglichte ungeachtet der Schulden- und
Finanzkrise der Eurozone ein starkes Anlageresultat ohne
Einmaleffekte.
Der Kostensatz konnte sogar um 2.6 Prozentpunkte auf 31.5
% gesenkt werden. Hier zeigen sich insbesondere die
positiven einmaligen Auswirkungen der Änderung im
Schweizer Pensionskassen-Reglement, aber auch die
Ergebnisse aus den Massnahmen zur Verbesserung der
Effizienz im Kundenservice und Vertrieb im Schweizer
Geschäft.
Mit CHF 83.2 Mio. lag der Nettoertrag aus Kapitalanlagen 10.9
% tiefer als im ersten Semester 2011. Die annualisierte
Kapitalanlagerendite erreichte in der Berichtsperiode 3.4 %
(VJ 3.6 %). Darin machen sich die Spuren der rekordtiefen
Zinsen nun deutlicher bemerkbar.
Produktbezogene Neuausrichtung im Lebengeschäft
aufgrund historisch tiefer Zinsen
Die bewusst selektive Zeichnung von traditionellem
Einmalprämiengeschäft mit Zinsgarantien
und das aufgrund seiner Konjunkturabhängigkeit rückläufige
Credit-Life-Geschäft bewirkten im ersten Semester 2012 einen
Rückgang der Lebenprämien um währungsbereinigt 14.5 %
auf CHF 118.6 Mio.
Der Anteil der Festverzinslichen wurde im ersten Semester
2012 um 1.4 Prozentpunkte auf 69.0 % abgebaut. Im Rahmen
der Umschichtung aus dem Finanzsektor zu anderen privaten
Schuldnern sind die überdurchschnittliche Qualität des
Obligationenportfolios und die hohe Marktgängigkeit erhalten
geblieben.
Angesichts des historisch tiefen Zinsniveaus setzt Nationale
Suisse auf eine Neuausrichtung des Lebengeschäfts.
Attraktive und kapitalschonende Produkte - speziell im Bereich
Zielgruppen - sind dabei zentral. Mit dieser Neupositionierung
188
Schweiz
Die bereits stark reduzierte Exponierung gegenüber GIIPSStaaten wurde weiter abgebaut. Sie besteht grösstenteils aus
italienischen Staatsanleihen, welche im Anlagebestand der
italienischen Lebengesellschaft gehalten werden.
Kapitalanlagerendite. Trotz diesen herausfordernden
Bedingungen sind wir für das Geschäftsjahr 2012 verhalten
optimistisch."
...
Kurzprofil
Nationale Suisse ist eine innovative, international tätige und
unabhängige Schweizer Versicherungsgruppe, die attraktive
Risiko- und Vorsorgelösungen in den Bereichen Nichtleben
und Leben sowie zunehmend auch massgeschneiderte
Specialty-Lines-Deckungen anbietet. Die Bruttoprämien
belaufen sich konsolidiert auf 1.5 Milliarden Schweizer
Franken (2011). Die Gruppe umfasst das Stammhaus und
rund 20 Tochtergesellschaften und Niederlassungen, die mit
fokussierten Produktlinien in den Versicherungsmärkten
Schweiz, Italien, Spanien, Deutschland, Belgien,
Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Lateinamerika und Türkei tätig sind.
Der Hauptsitz der Schweizerischen National-VersicherungsGesellschaft AG ist in Basel. Die Aktie der Gesellschaft ist an
der SIX Swiss Exchange kotiert (NATN). Am 30. Juni 2012
beschäftigte die Gruppe 1 877 Mitarbeiterinnen und
Mitarbeiter (Vollzeitstellen).
Ihre Ansprechspartner
Remo Meier Investor Relations Tel. +41 61 275 22 45
Fax +41 61 275 22 21 [email protected]
Nationale Suisse Steinengraben 41 4003 Basel Schweiz ...
Durch die Aufstockung von Qualitätstiteln mit hohen
Dividendenrenditen stieg der Aktienanteil von 3.1 % auf 4.9 %
(nach Absicherung 4.2 %).
Ausblick: Versicherungstechnik stimmt positiv, tiefe
Zinsen erschweren Anlagetätigkeit
Die Unsicherheit, welche von der Entwicklung der
Europeripherie ausgeht, dürfte das Wirtschaftsumfeld
weiterhin beeinträchtigen und die Versicherungsmärkte
bleiben unter Druck.
Somit haben Versicherungstechnik, insbesondere
Risikoselektion, Zielgruppenfokussierung und
Preisgestaltung, sowie Kostenbewusstsein nach wie vor hohe
Priorität.
Aus den Unwettern von Anfang Juli 2012 resultierten für
Nationale Suisse in der Schweiz Schäden von brutto rund
CHF 8 Mio. CEO Hans Künzle kommentiert: "Für das
versicherungstechnische Geschäft im Gesamtjahr 2012 sind
wir aber positiv gestimmt. Die Anlagetätigkeit bleibt
anspruchsvoll und die rekordtiefen Zinsen nagen weiter an der
189
Schweiz
Nationale Suisse stärkt das Profil
Mit sogenannten Specialty Lines (Spezialversicherungen wie
Engineering, Marine, Kunst etc.) ist Nationale bestrebt, sich
ein unverwechselbares Profil zu geben. Der Anteil von 30%
am Prämienvolumen der Gruppe soll bis 2014 auf 40%
ausgedehnt werden.
CH Versicherer auf gutem Weg
Der Einstieg von Mobiliar und das verstärkte Engagement von
Helvetia haben zu einer «Beruhigung und Stabilisierung» im
Aktionariat von Nationale Suisse beigetragen. CEO Hans
Künzle verfocht an der Präsentation zum Halbjahresergebnis
die Meinung, das Ziel des Versicherers, eigenständig zu
bleiben, sei gestärkt worden. Der Semesterausweis liefert
keinen konkreten Anlass, an der Selbständigkeit von Nationale
zu zweifeln.
Im Ausland halfen Sanierungsmassnahmen in Belgien, wieder
einen kleinen Gewinn zu erwirtschaften.
Das Verhältnis Kosten zu Prämien der Gruppe ging auf 91,5%
(94,7) zurück, wozu die erwähnte Reduktion des
Diskontsatzes 1,2 Prozentpunkte beitrug.
Ohne Sondereffekte stieg der Gewinn 6,8%, mit waren es
7,4%: Im ersten Semester 2011 hatte ein Gewinn aus dem
Verkauf des Kollektivlebengeschäfts (BVG) das Resultat
verbessert, dieses Jahr kam Nationale eine Änderung im
Pensionskassenreglement (Senkung des Diskontsatzes zur
Berechnung der Vorsorgeverbindlichkeiten) in der Schweiz
zugute.
Trotz Verbesserung unbefriedigend bleibt das
Auslandgeschäft mit 101,5% (111,3). Auch die grösseren
Helvetia und Bâloise bekunden Mühe, ausserhalb des
Heimmarktes auf einen grünen Zweig zu kommen.
Das Lebengeschäft trägt wenig zum Gesamtgewinn bei.
Niedrige Zinsen, verschärfte behördliche Auflagen und
intensiver Wettbewerb belasten die Rentabilität. Nach der
Bereinigung des Portfolios lautet das Ziel, den Bereich mit der
Lancierung kapitalschonender Produkte besser zu
positionieren.
Schweiz hochprofitabel
Der Ausstieg aus dem Pensionsgeschäft, das im
Vorjahressemester einen Gewinn von 6 Mio. Fr. beisteuerte,
hat das Profil von Nationale als Sach- und
Haftpflichtversicherer geschärft. In der Schweiz ist das
Geschäft hochprofitabel.
190
Schweiz
Das Anlageresultat fiel mit einer annualisierten Rendite von
3,4% solide aus. Bemerkenswert: Nationale hat den
Aktienanteil von 3,1 auf 4,9% erhöht, indem sie Qualitätstitel
mit hoher Dividendenrendite zugekauft hat.
Nicht schlafraubend
Einen Sondereffekt gab es auch im Eigenkapital. Weil
Nationale neue IAS-Regeln zur Personalvorsorge vorzeitig
anwendete, schrumpfte das Eigenkapital 120 Mio. Fr.
Finanzchef Thomas Widmer hat deswegen aber «keine
schlaflosen Nächte». Die Gruppe sei auch im Swiss Solvency
Test (SST) gemäss Finma-Vorgabe ausreichend kapitalisiert.
Der Fortsetzung der Dividendenpolitik stehe nichts im Weg.
Eine durchdachte Strategie und der hohe Anteil mehrerer
Wettbewerber mit meldepflichtigen Anteilen sprechen dafür,
dass ein Engagement in Nationale nicht ganz falsch ist.
As, FuW Nr. 71, 08.09.2012, p. 7
191
Schweiz
Schutzwall um Nationale gefestigt
Deutschlands überrascht nicht, musste sie doch während der
Finanzkrise Staatshilfe in Anspruch nehmen und ist dabei,
nicht strategische Beteiligungen abzubauen.
Schweiz Sechs Versicherer halten die Aktienmehrheit –
Helvetia und Mobiliar neue Kernaktionäre – Stimmrecht auf
5% beschränkt
Arno Schmocker
Die Mobiliar betrachtet ihr Engagement «strategischer Natur»,
wie sich Pressesprecher Peter Marthaler ausdrückt. Die
beiden Unternehmen arbeiten im Bereich Motorfahrzeuge
zusammen, indem die Mobiliar für Nationale Suisse die
Schadeninspektion wahrnimmt. Umgekehrt wird die Idee
gewälzt, dass Nationale für die Berner ihre Spezialität
Kunstversicherung anbietet.
Wenn sich im Aktionariat von Nationale Suisse etwas tut,
horchen die Anleger auf. Der Anbieter von
Spezialversicherungen gilt seit Jahren als Übernahmeziel in
der Branche. Nun sind Helvetia und Mobiliar neu zum Club
der Kernaktionäre gestossen. Damit halten sechs Versicherer,
zum Teil Konkurrenten, 55% des Kapitals von Nationale – eine
an der Schweizer Börse einmalige Konstellation. Was steckt
hinter den Verschiebungen im Aktionariat?
Zum grössten Einzelaktionär von Nationale Suisse mit 12,05%
rückt Helvetia vor. Es handle sich um ein
«Finanzengagement», kommentiert Martin Nellen,
Mediensprecher von Helvetia. Nationale sei solide finanziert
und wie Helvetia in einigen Märkten positioniert, die
Wachstum versprächen. Bislang beschränkt sich die
Kooperation der beiden Versicherer auf den IT-Bereich in
Italien. Weiter gehende Vorschläge würden geprüft, sagt
Nellen.
Die Helvetia-Gruppe hat von der Basler Kantonalbank eine
Beteiligung von 7,7% übernommen. Die Bank verbucht mit der
Transaktion einen Gewinn von knapp 15 Mio. Fr. Während für
die Basler KB der strategische Charakter der Beteiligung nicht
mehr gegeben war, wird die seit 2007 bestehende
Produktkooperation zwischen ihrer Tochter Bank Coop und
Nationale weitergeführt.
Weniger zurückhaltend ist der CEO von Nationale Suisse,
Hans Künzle, im Gespräch mit «Finanz und Wirtschaft»: «Es
muss etwas passieren.»
Unterschiedliche Motive
Gleichzeitig hat die Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW)
ihren 2006 erworbenen Nationale-Anteil von 11,4% an die
Mobiliar veräussert. Der Schritt der grössten Landesbank
192
Schweiz
Konkret setzt Künzle darauf, dass die Zusammenarbeit mit
jedem «Kernaktionär» erweitert wird. Nationale habe sich als
Spezialversicherer positioniert. Es zähle zur
Schlüsselkompetenz des Unternehmens, Partnerschaften
einzugehen. Am Willen von Nationale werde es nicht fehlen,
betont Künzle.
Helvetia erneut auf eine Übernahme des kleineren Basler
Versicherers spekuliert wird.
Bâloise auf Distanz
Für eine Zusammenarbeit braucht es immer zwei. Mit Bâloise,
die seit gut zehn Jahren 10% des Aktienkapitals hält, haben
sich offenbar keine Anknüpfungspunkte ergeben. Künzle zählt
den Konkurrenten auf dem Platz Basel denn auch nicht zur
Kategorie der «Kernaktionäre».
Das Engagement von Helvetia und Mobiliar ist vielleicht
einfach Ausdruck dafür, dass Nationale Suisse vieles richtig
macht, die Aktien bezogen auf den Buchwert unterbewertet
und mit über 4% Dividendenrendite im heutigen
Niedrigzinsumfeld nicht zu verachten sind.
Doch die sechs Grossaktionäre halten sich gegenseitig in
Schach. Ausserdem hält Nationale Suisse an der
Stimmrechtsbeschränkung von 5% für Aktionäre eisern fest.
FuW Nr. 69, 01.09.2012, p. 6
An der Telefonkonferenz von Bâloise zum Halbjahresergebnis
sagte CEO Martin Strobel zu den Transaktionen in Nationale
lediglich, es handle sich um eine markante Veränderung im
Aktionariat, deren Auswirkungen man prüfen werde. Dass
Bâloise vor einigen Jahren eine Erhöhung des genehmigten
Kapitals von Nationale abgelehnt hat, deutet ebenfalls auf ein
distanziertes Verhältnis hin.
Die Nationale-Aktien wurden am Donnerstag reger als üblich
gehandelt und reagierten mit einem Kursgewinn. Seit Anfang
Jahr haben sie 15% gewonnen. Gut möglich, dass mit dem
Einstieg von Mobiliar und dem Ausbau der Beteiligung durch
193
Schweiz
194
Schweiz
195
Schweiz
196
Schweiz
www.fuw.ch UNTERNEHMEN / FINANZ 09:19 3. SEP 2012
Höhere Naturgrossschäden wegen Frost, Sturm und Hagel
In der Nichtlebensparte verschlechterte sich die Combined
Ratio (netto) leicht auf 93,1%, nach 92,5%. Der Gewinn der
Nichtlebensparte ging auf 84,2 Mio. Fr., nach zuvor 90,1 Mio.,
zurück.
Robustes Ergebnis von Helvetia
Der Erstversicherer erlitt als Folge von Grossschäden einen
Gewinnrückgang. Die Erwartungen der Analysten wurden
dennoch übertroffen.
Naturereignisse wie der Frost im Februar, der «Andrea»Sturm im Januar, Hagel und Erdbeben hätten den SchadenKosten-Satz der Gruppe mit insgesamt 2,1 Prozentpunkten
belastet, während 2011 keine derartigen Grossschäden
stattfanden. Aus den Hagelunwetter im Juli dürfte eine
Schadenbelastung im Gesamtjahr von 0,5 bis zu 1
Prozentpunkt entstehen.
(AWP/CD) Die Versicherungsgruppe Helvetia weist für das
erste Halbjahr 2012 ein robustes und über den Erwartungen
liegendes Ergebnis aus. In einem herausfordernden
Marktumfeld gingen Gewinn sowie Geschäftsvolumen nur
leicht zurück, und die Gruppe bleibt weiterhin stark
kapitalisiert.
Robust zeigte sich die Gewinnentwicklung im Lebengeschäft:
Der Gewinn stieg um 7% auf 66,3 Mio. Fr.
Diese Stärke nutzt Helvetia, um den Wachstumskurs mit
gezielten Akquisitionen fortzusetzen. Die Aktien notieren im
frühen Handel 0,2% höher.
Hoher Ertrag aus Anlagen
Mit den Kapitalanlagen erwirtschaftete die Gruppe eine direkte
Rendite von annualisiert 2,9% und eine Anlageperformance
von 2,3%. Das Ergebnis aus Anlagen und Liegenschaften
stieg auf 543 Mio. Fr., nach 454 Mio. Fr. im Vorjahr.
Der Gewinn sank in der Berichtsperiode um 5,2% auf 162,7
Mio. Fr., übertraf damit aber die Analystenprognosen von
155,7 Mio. Die Helvetia- Gruppe habe erneut ein robustes
Ergebnis erzielt, wird CEO Stefan Loacker in der Mitteilung
vom Montag zitiert. Gute operative Resultate und eine solide
Anlagepolitik hätten dazu beigetragen. Die annualisierte
Eigenkapitalrendite wird mit 8,9%, nach 10,4% im Vorjahr,
angegeben.
Auch im ersten Halbjahr 2012 habe die europäische
Schuldenkrise für das Anlage- und Risikomanagement von
Helvetia eine Bewährungsprobe dargestellt.
197
Schweiz
Mit dem breit diversizierten Anlageportfolio seien so stabile
laufende Erträge und Bewertungsgewinne erzielt worden. Der
moderate Wertrückgang auf italienischen und spanischen
Staatsanleihen sei durch den Anstieg der Eidgenossen sowie
von erstklassigen Emittenten bei weitem kompensiert worden.
(AS) Seit vergangener Woche ist Helvetia mit 12,1% der
grösste Einzelaktionär von Nationale Suisse. «Uns ist ein
Paket angeboten worden, und wir haben die Gelegenheit gern
genutzt», erläuterte Stefan Loacker, CEO der St. Galler
Versicherungsgruppe, an einer Telefonkonferenz zum ersten
Semester.
Das Geschäftsvolumen der Gruppe sank in Franken um 2,4%
auf 4,53 Mrd. Fr. im Vergleich zum Vorjahr. In Lokalwährungen
betrug der Rückgang 0,7%.
Der Preis habe sich am Substanzwert des Basler Versicherers
orientiert. Er übertrifft den Börsenkurs derzeit um 12%.
Helvetia dürfte für das zusätzliche 7,7%- Engagement also
etwa 70 Mio. Fr. bezahlt haben; sie war zuvor schon seit
Jahren mit 4,4% an Nationale beteiligt gewesen.
In der Nichtlebensparte wuchsen die Prämieneinnahmen
währungsbereinigt um 2,1%, in der Lebensversicherung
gingen sie um 2% zurück. Aufgrund der tiefen
Neuanlagenzinsen in der Schweiz zeichnete die Helvetia
BVG-Neugeschäft deutlich selektiver als im Vorjahr. Ein
erfreuliches Wachstum in den übrigen Sparten habe den
daraus entstandenen Prämienrückgang weitgehend
kompensiert.
Helvetia wird die Beteiligung laut Loacker langfristig halten.
Die bislang erst in Ansätzen bestehende Kooperation soll vor
allem in Auslandmärkten «selektiv vertieft» werden. NationaleChef Hans Künzle hatte versichert, an seinem Unternehmen
werde es nicht liegen, wenn es um eine Ausweitung von
Partnerschaften gehe.
Akquisitionen werden noch 2012 abgeschlossen
Die beiden Akquisitionen – ein Transportversicherungsportfolio
in Frankreich und ein Einzellebenportfolio im Schweizer
Heimmarkt werden, die Zustimmung der Aufsichtsorgane
vorausgesetzt, noch 2012 abgeschlossen.
Ob daraus einmal mehr wird, ist offen. Helvetia ist auf jeden
Fall nicht abgeneigt, Gelegenheiten beim Schopf zu packen.
2010 übernahm sie in der Schweiz die beiden
Versicherungsgesellschaften Alba und Phenix. In diesem Jahr
hat sie zwei weitere Zukäufe angekündigt.
Beteiligung an Nationale Suisse
198
Schweiz
In Frankreich verbessert sich die Gruppe im Bereich
Transportversicherung durch die Integration eines Portfolios
von 150 Mio. € von der fünften auf die zweite Position, mit
einem Marktanteil von 20%. Den Kaufpreis von 38,5 Mio. €
berappte Helvetia aus frei verfügbaren Eigenmitteln.
Vergangene Woche folgte die Ankündigung, die SEV
Versicherung zu übernehmen – gemäss Philipp Gmür, CEO
Schweiz von Helvetia, «eine der seltenen Möglichkeiten, im
ertragsstarken Markt Schweiz akquisitorisch zu wachsen».
Zusammen werden die beiden Übernahmen das
Prämienvolumen um 200 Mio. Fr. bzw. 3% erhöhen und
bereits 2013 einen Gewinnbeitrag liefern.
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Helvetia packt die Gelegenheiten
2010 übernahm sie in der Schweiz die beiden
Versicherungsgesellschaften Alba und Phenix.
Schweiz Beteiligung an Nationale ist «langfristig» –
Ergänzende Zukäufe – Aktien sind kaufenswert
In diesem Jahr hat sie zwei weitere Zukäufe angekündigt. In
Frankreich verbessert sich die Gruppe im Bereich
Transportversicherung durch die Integration eines Portfolios
von 150 Mio. € von der fünften auf die zweite Position, mit
einem Marktanteil von 20%. Den Kaufpreis von 38,5 Mio. €
berappte Helvetia aus frei verfügbaren Eigenmitteln.
Seit vergangener Woche ist Helvetia mit 12,1% der grösste
Einzelaktionär von Nationale Suisse. «Uns ist ein Paket
angeboten worden, und wir haben die Gelegenheit gern
genutzt», erläuterte Stefan Loacker, CEO der St. Galler
Versicherungsgruppe, an einer Telefonkonferenz zum ersten
Semester. Der Preis habe sich am Substanzwert des Basler
Versicherers orientiert. Er übertrifft den Börsenkurs derzeit um
12%. Helvetia dürfte für das zusätzliche 7,7%-Engagement
also etwa 70 Mio. Fr. bezahlt haben; sie war zuvor schon seit
Jahren mit 4,4% an Nationale beteiligt gewesen.
Vergangene Woche folgte die Ankündigung, die SEV
Versicherung zu übernehmen – gemäss Philipp Gmür, CEO
Schweiz von Helvetia, «eine der seltenen Möglichkeiten, im
ertragsstarken Markt Schweiz akquisitorisch zu wachsen».
Zusammen werden die beiden Übernahmen das
Prämienvolumen um 200 Mio. Fr. bzw. 3% erhöhen und
bereits 2013 einen Gewinnbeitrag liefern.
Helvetia wird die Beteiligung laut Loacker langfristig halten.
Die bislang erst in Ansätzen bestehende Kooperation soll vor
allem in Auslandmärkten «selektiv vertieft» werden. NationaleChef Hans Künzle hatte versichert, an seinem Unternehmen
werde es nicht liegen, wenn es um eine Ausweitung von
Partnerschaften gehe.
Wende in Deutschland
Im ersten Semester sei Helvetia nach dem zweistelligen
Wachstum 2011 in einer Konsolidierungsphase, sagte
Loacker. Namentlich im Bereich der beruflichen Vorsorge
(BVG) wurde Neugeschäft selektiver gezeichnet. Das
gesamte Prämienvolumen war leicht rückläufig. Der 5%
niedrigere Gewinn entsprach den Erwartungen der
Finanzanalysten.
Schlag auf Schlag
Ob daraus einmal mehr wird, ist offen. Helvetia ist auf jeden
Fall nicht abgeneigt, Gelegenheiten beim Schopf zu packen.
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Rund 12% weniger, aber immer noch zwei Drittel des Gewinns
stammten aus dem Heimmarkt. In Deutschland gelang, nach
Tarifanpassungen im Motorfahrzeugbereich, die Rückkehr in
die schwarzen Zahlen.
Im Nichtlebengeschäft blieb der Kosten-Schaden-Satz
(Combined Ratio) mit 93,1% (92,5) auf sehr gutem Niveau.
Naturereignisse beeinträchtigten das Verhältnis um 2,1
Prozentpunkte. Der Segmentgewinn ging 84 (91) Mio. Fr.
zurück.
Im Lebensegment resultierte hingegen, trotz
Niedrigzinsumfeld, mit 66 (62) Mio. Fr. ein höheres Resultat.
Wiederum solide war die Rendite der Kapitalanlagen mit
annualisiert 3%. Sie ermöglicht eine «gesunde
Marge» (Loacker) nach Abzug der Zinsgarantien an die
Versicherten.
Solvenz und Bilanz erlauben weitere Ergänzungsakquisitionen
und eine Fortsetzung der grosszügigen Dividendenpolitik. Mit
einem Kurs-Buchwert-Verhältnis von 0,8 sind die Aktien
fundamental unterbewertet, zählt Helvetia doch zu den
risikoarmen Branchenvertretern.
AS, FuW Nr. 70, 05.09.2012, p. 6
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FuW.ch UNTERNEHMEN / SCHWEIZ 16:22 28. AUG 2012
Die jährliche inländische Prämiensumme von rund 55 Mrd. Fr.
bzw. fast 7000 Fr. je Bewohner wirkt dennoch enorm.
«Versicherer sind finanzsystemstützend»
THOMAS HENGARTNER
Wir sind eines der bestversicherten Länder der Welt, was mit
dem überdurchschnittlichen Wohlstand unserer Bevölkerung
zusammenhängt. Ein erheblicher Teil der vereinnahmten
Prämien fliesst jedoch als Versicherungsleistungen – nach
Sach- oder Haftpflichtschäden bzw. durch Ablauf von Lebensund Vorsorgeverträgen – zurück an die Menschen und in die
Wirtschaft. Nach Bezahlung von Gehältern, Betriebskosten
und Steuern bleiben 5 bis 10% der Wertschöpfung als Gewinn
zur Verzinsung des Risikokapitals und für die Innovation.
Urs Berger, der Präsident des Schweizer
Versicherungsverbandes, fordert im Interview mit «Finanz und
Wirtschaft» angepasste Aufsichtsregeln und verteidigt die
Ertragsaufteilung im Vorsorgegeschäft.
Versicherer sind, gemessen an der Pro-Kopf-Wertschöpfung,
die produktivste Branche der Schweiz. Knapp 50 000
Mitarbeitende – also lediglich 1% der landesweit
Erwerbstätigen – erwirtschaften 24,3 Mrd. Fr. bzw. 4,3% des
gesamten Bruttoinlandprodukts.
Was setzen Sie dem Vorwurf entgegen, auf dem
Pensionsgeschäft würden unverhältnismässige Überschüsse
erzielt?
Herr Berger, streichen die Versicherer überhöhte
Gewinnmargen ein?
Die im BVG-Segment aktiven Unternehmen legen jährlich eine
detaillierte Betriebsrechnung vor. Daraus geht hervor, dass
von den Bruttoeinnahmen des Vorsorgegeschäfts in der Regel
um die 95% – und somit deutlich mehr als die
vorgeschriebenen mindestens 90% – über Leistungen und
Rückstellungen an die Kunden gehen.
Nein, der Wettbewerbsdruck begrenzt die erzielbare
Verdienstspanne. Durch unseren Wirtschaftssektor fliessen
jedoch sehr grosse Geldmittel, weshalb wir Versicherer wie
auch die Banken hochproduktive Zweige sind. Wesentlich für
die volkswirtschaftliche Wertschöpfungsrechnung unserer
Branche ist wohl, dass die Unternehmen die Dienste in
grossem Umfang selbst erbringen und nur geringe externe
Vorleistungen abzuziehen sind.
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Dabei garantieren die Versicherer, anders als die
Pensionskassen, vollständig für Kapital und Zinsen. Bezogen
auf das dafür zu reservierende Risikokapital ist die
Gewinnmarge im Vergleich zu anderen Versicherungssparten
unterdurchschnittlich. Wir lehnen deshalb das Begehren der
politischen Linken strikt ab, den vorerwähnten
Ertragsschlüssel zulasten der Versicherer abzuändern.
gegenüber Branche und Land vorgegangen wird. Wichtig ist
mir festzuhalten, dass die Schweizer Versicherer solche
Insurance Wrapper nur für Vermögen anbieten, die im
Domizilland des Kunden versteuert sind.
Diesen Ansatz transparent zu machen und durchzusetzen, ist
wichtig und richtig für das Mantelgeschäft, das latent immer
wieder in Zusammenhang mit angeblicher
Steuerhinterziehung gebracht wird.
Droht deshalb Ihre Branche mit dem Rückzug
aus dem Vorsorgegeschäft?
Wechseln wir zu den Sach-, Haftpflicht- und
Unfallversicherungen, deren Volumen seit Jahren nur mehr
schwach wächst. Wird die Konjunkturverlangsamung gar eine
Stagnation provozieren?
Nein. Ich höre von keinem unserer Mitglieder, dass
ein Ausstieg erwogen wird. Allerdings wird diese
Frage im Falle geänderter Rahmenbedingungen sicher
neu gestellt werden. Es ist auch die anhaltende
Niedrigzinslage, die das garantielastige Pensionsgeschäft –
aber auch Teile der übrigen Lebensversicherungen – massiv
erschwert. Nur noch schwer findet sich eine risikoarme und
dennoch genügend einträgliche Anlagestrategie.
Unsere Branche bemüht sich, mit innovativen Produkten
veränderte Bedürfnisse abzudecken. Zudem geht ein
Nachfrageimpuls von der Zunahme der Landesbevölkerung
und der Gesundheitskostenentwicklung aus.
Angegriffen werden die Versicherer, die über ausländische
Tochtergesellschaften sogenannte Versicherungsmäntel um
Grossvermögen begüterter Privater anbieten. Wie verteidigen
Sie diese politisch heikle Geschäftssparte?
Stossend ist in diesem Zusammenhang die Expansion einiger
öffentlich-rechtlicher Wettbewerber. Die kantonale
Gebäudeversicherung von Glarus und von Bern und auch die
Schweizerische Unfallversicherung Suva stossen mit
staatlicher Rückendeckung zunehmend in bislang den
Privatversicherern vorbehaltene Geschäftssegmente vor.
Aus den Besprechungen mit den betreffenden Unternehmen
habe ich den Eindruck gewonnen, dass verantwortungsvoll
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Schweiz
In der Gesundheitsversicherung wollen politische Kreise
erneut die Einheitskrankenkasse schaffen, womit die
untereinander in nützlicher Konkurrenz stehenden privaten
Anbieter ausgebootet würden.
Da stellt sich auch die Frage nach der Systemrelevanz der
Versicherungswirtschaft, da gerade die grossen
Branchenunternehmen Verpflichtungen von Hunderten von
Milliarden Franken auf dem Buch haben.
Während Monaten hat Ihr Verband sich beschwert, die
Finanzmarktaufsicht würde den Schweizer Solvenztest SST
zu rigide durchführen. Hat die Branche nun Erleichterungen
erhalten?
Selbst die Grössten unserer Branche haben in keinem
Geschäftsfeld eine dominante Stellung. Der Ausfall eines
dieser Unternehmen wäre nicht ansteckend, da die
Versicherer untereinander nur wenige Geschäftsbeziehungen
haben.
Es sind noch nicht alle strittigen Punkte geregelt, aber wir
stehen mit der Finma in einem konstruktiven Dialog. Mit dem
SST sind wir in der Schweiz erheblich weiter als die anderen
europäischen Länder, die noch am ähnlich konzipierten
Solvenz-II-Regime arbeiten. Schweizer Anbieter mit EuropaAktivitäten sind somit zwischen zwei ungleichen
Aufsichtsnormen eingeklemmt.
Dies betrifft auch die Rückversicherung, weil Erstversicherer
ihren Bedarf immer auf mehrere Rückversicherer aufteilen.
Illiquidität bzw. Zahlungsunfähigkeit ist in unserer Branche
selbst für ein angeschlagenes Unternehmen – anders als im
Banksektor – unwahrscheinlich, da
Versicherungsverpflichtungen nur im Schadenfall bzw. bei
Fristablauf einverlangt werden können.
Wir fordern, die hiesige Finanzmarktbeaufsichtigung besser
mit der erst entstehenden neuen europäischen Norm
abzustimmen. Absehbar ist, dass dazu das
Versicherungsaufsichtsgesetz geändert werden muss. Wenn
der politische Prozess im Parlament die nötige Anpassung
verzögert, entsteht unseren Unternehmen unnötigerweise ein
Wettbewerbsnachteil gegenüber europäischen Konkurrenten.
Eine systemische Gefährdung kann jedoch dann geschehen,
wenn die Versicherer ihre milliardenhohen Investments wegen
Vorkommnissen am Finanzmarkt gesamthaft und gleichzeitig
umschichten würden.
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Unsere Unternehmen haben die Anlagestrategie langfristig
stabil ausgelegt, sodass auch heftige kurzfristige Bewegungen
am Finanzmarkt keine volumenreichen Umschichtungen
provozieren.
Berger begann seine Laufbahn in einem Versicherungsbroker.
Danach wechselte er zur Zurich-Gruppe und später zur
Bâloise, wo er 1999 die Leitung des Heimmarktgeschäfts
übertragen erhielt. Er wirkt u. a. im Verwaltungsrat der
deutschen Gothaer Versicherungsgenossenschaft.
Die Planbarkeit eines Grossteils der
Versicherungsverpflichtungen macht unsere Branche vielmehr
zu einem Stabilisator des Finanzsystems. Das trifft derzeit
besonders für den Immobilienmarkt zu.
Einzelne Banken stossen selbst genutzte Liegenschaften ab,
um das Eigenkapital zu stärken. Die Assekuranz ist am
Erwerb solcher Objekte interessiert, da sie eine wertstabile
Geldanlage mit langfristig vertraglich gesichertem
Vermietertrag sind.
FuW.ch 28.08.2012
Zur Person
Urs Berger ist seit Mitte 2011 Präsident des Schweizerischen
Versicherungsverbands, der die Interessen der Erst-, Rückund Krankenversicherer vertritt. Im gleichen Jahr wurde der
61-Jährige auch zum Präsidenten der Mobiliar Versicherung
und ihrer Besitzergenossenschaft gewählt. Zuvor hatte der
Ökonom die Mobiliar während acht Jahren operativ geleitet.
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NZZ.CH
langem sehr niedrigen Zinsen und um Lockerungen
hinsichtlich aufsichtsrechtlicher Interventionen gehe. Zum
Ersten kann in den Jahren 2013, 2014 und 2015 die
Bewertung von Verbindlichkeiten auch anhand einer
risikobehafteten Zinskurve – und nicht der risikolosen
Zinskurve – vorgenommen werden. In der Praxis führt dies
dazu, dass Altbestände dank höherem Diskontzins leichter
werden.
Swiss Solvency Test
Luft zum Atmen für die Lebensversicherer
Die Eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht lässt eine laxere
Bewertung von Verpflichtungen zu, was vor allem
Lebensversicherern helfen soll. Die ultraniedrigen Zinsen und
Verzögerungen bei der «EU Solvency II» sind Gründe für die
Aufweichung.
nz.
Schnieper erinnert daran, dass die Zinsen, gemessen an der
Rendite zehnjähriger Bundesobligationen, innerhalb eines
Jahres nochmals stark abschmolzen, und zwar von 1,5% auf
unter 0,7%.
Die schwierigen Marktverhältnisse lassen es bei der
Umsetzung des Swiss Solvency Test (SST) als ratsam
erscheinen, mit Augenmass und einem Schuss Pragmatik ans
Werk zu gehen. Wie der Direktor der Eidgenössischen
Finanzmarktaufsicht (Finma), Patrick Raaflaub, bereits Anfang
Monat hatte durchblicken lassen (NZZ 4. 9. 12), werden jetzt
temporär geltende Erleichterungen des SST vorgeschlagen.
Ein entsprechendes Rundschreiben ist soeben veröffentlicht
worden, nachdem der Bundesrat einer Änderung der
Aufsichtsverordnung bezüglich der Definition der für das
Diskontieren von Verbindlichkeiten verwendeten Zinskurve
zugestimmt hatte.
Neu sollen zur Herleitung des Diskontsatzes Swapsätze, mit
einem Abschlag von 10 Basispunkten für das
Gegenparteirisiko, zum Zuge kommen. Allerdings ist
vorgesehen, 2016 – doch wer kennt schon die Zukunft? –
wieder zur risikolosen Zinskurve zurückzukehren.
Viel Wert legt die Finma auf die Differenzierung zwischen Altund Neugeschäft. Man wolle keine falschen Anreize setzen,
sagt dazu Schnieper. Wenn es um neu zu zeichnende
Versicherungskontrakte gehe, solle zu den harten SSTKonditionen kalkuliert und bewertet werden.
Nicht im luftleeren Raum
René Schnieper, Leiter der Finma-Versicherungsaufsicht,
erläutert, dass es im Kern um die Rücksichtnahme auf die seit
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Die Finma betont, die Erleichterungen seien temporär, somit
reversibel. Die Assekuranz ist skeptisch, wenn
Verbindlichkeiten mit zwei verschiedenen Zinssätzen
diskontiert werden; vermutlich wird sie in der soeben
lancierten Anhörung zum Rundschreiben auf ihrem
Standpunkt beharren.
einige Schweizer Versicherungen hätten mit Blick auf den
SST schon zuvor Kapitalerhöhungen durchgeführt und/oder
Risiken abgebaut, was insgesamt allen genützt haben dürfte.
Eine Errungenschaft des SST, der auf Anfang 2006 im
Versicherungsaufsichtsgesetz festgeschrieben wurde, ist es
denn auch, die Sinne der Versicherer für diverse Risiken früh
geschärft zu haben.
Warten auf «EU Solvency II»
Doch nicht nur die niedrigen Zinsen veranlassen die
Aufsichtsbehörde dazu, punktuelle Erleichterungen
zuzulassen. Die Finma weist explizit darauf hin, dass die
neuen Solvenzbestimmungen der EU (Stichwort: «EU
Solvency II») nicht gemäss dem ursprünglichen Fahrplan in
Kraft gesetzt werden. Was Anfang 2012 hätte realisiert werden
sollen, wird sich voraussichtlich um mindestens zwei Jahre
verzögern – und in der Substanz wird es ohne Zweifel lange
Übergangsfristen geben. Laut Schnieper ist selbst der
Einführungstermin 1. 1. 2014 nicht in Stein gemeisselt. Es sei
überdies nicht klar, was wann wie komme; zurzeit würden in
Europa diverse Erleichterungen bei der Kapitalunterlegung
diskutiert.
Die Finma geht noch einen Schritt weiter, wenn es um
temporäre Entlastungen geht. So werden die
Interventionsschwellen angepasst, das heisst, es wird auf
Massnahmen bei der Unterschreitung bisher gesetzter SSTSchwellenwerte verzichtet. Auch werden längere Fristen
eingeräumt, um anvisierte Werte – definiert als
risikotragendes Kapital in Prozent des SST-Zielkapitals – zu
erreichen.
Konkret könnte bei SST-Werten zwischen 80% und 100% das
Auszahlen einer Dividende oder die Zuteilung von
Überschüssen an Versicherte zulässig bleiben. Ein SSTQuotient von mindestens 60% würde das Schreiben von
Neugeschäft erlauben. Doch bestünde die Finma in derartigen
Konstellationen darauf, dass klar dargelegt wird, wie eine
Versicherungsgesellschaft Remedur schaffen will.
Die neuste Finma-Initiative erklärt sich nicht zuletzt damit,
virulenter werdende Wettbewerbsnachteile der Schweizer
Versicherungswirtschaft zu verkleinern bzw. nicht zu gross
werden zu lassen. Der SST ist seit 2011 in Kraft, damit hat die
Schweiz einen zeitlichen Vorsprung. Schnieper hält fest,
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Finma kommt den Versicherern entgegen
Schweiz Aufsicht plant Zugeständnisse an die Branche –
Zinsproblematik wird entschärft – Wettbewerbsnachteile
verhindern – Solvenztest SST weniger streng
Arno Schmocker
Dramatische Zuspitzung
Die Assekuranz ächzt seit Jahren unter den historisch
niedrigen Zinsen. Sie erschweren es vor allem
Lebensversicherern zunehmend, den notwendigen
Kapitalertrag zu erwirtschaften, um die relativ hohen
Garantieversprechen aus der Vergangenheit zu decken.
Die Finma lässt den Versicherungen mehr Luft zum Atmen.
Die Aufsichtsbehörde nimmt Rücksicht auf die Klagen der
Branche über die Folgen der niedrigen Zinsen und die
wachsenden Wettbewerbsnachteile gegenüber der
Konkurrenz in der EU. Vorübergehend will sie zwei
Zugeständnisse im Schweizer Solvenztest SST machen.
Bis 19. Oktober läuft eine Anhörung unter den Betroffenen.
Die Branche bewirtschaftet in der Schweiz insgesamt 303
Mrd. Fr. gebundenes Vermögen. Zudem: Je niedriger die
Zinsen, desto geringer in der Solvenzbetrachtung das
risikotragende Kapital und damit letztlich die Risikofähigkeit
eines Versicherers.
Gemäss dem Vorschlag der Finma können die
Versicherungsverpflichtungen zwischen 2013 und 2016 mit
höheren Zinsen bewertet werden. Dadurch erhöht sich das
risikotragende Kapital der Unternehmen indirekt deutlich.
Risikotragendes Kapital ist im Wesentlichen die Differenz
zwischen marktnah bewerteten Aktiven und marktnah
bewerteten Verpflichtungen.
Besonders 2011 hat sich das Zinsumfeld für
Lebensversicherer dramatisch verschärft. So fiel die Rendite
für eine zehnjährige Bundesanleihe von rund 1,7 auf circa
0,7%. «Wegen der dadurch weiter akzentuierten und generell
ausserordentlichen Zinssituation sowie der Verzögerungen in
der Einführung des europäischen Regelwerks Solvency II
haben wir Erleichterungsmassnahmen beschlossen», erläutert
René Schnieper, Leiter des Geschäftsbereichs
Versicherungen der Finma.
Zudem schränkt die Finma ihre Interventionsmöglichkeiten bei
Unterschreiten der Mindestausstattung von risikotragendem
Kapital ein. Sie erfüllt damit zwei wichtige Anliegen eines
Wunschkatalogs des Versicherungsverbands.
Konkret sollen die Unternehmen ihre
Versicherungsverpflichtungen nicht mehr mit der risikolosen
Rendite von Bundesobligationen diskontieren müssen.
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Stattdessen können sie höhere Swapsätze anwenden, die –
wie in der EU vorgesehen – um zehn Basispunkte reduziert
sind. Durch die geringere Bewertung der Verpflichtungen in
der Solvenzbilanz wachse das risikotragende Kapital bis ein
Drittel, sagt Schnieper. Konkret ist es weniger, weil die Finma
für die Berechnung von sehr langfristigen Verpflichtungen
schon 2011 ein weniger strenges Verfahren anwandte.
nach neusten Meldungen von dieser Woche wohl erst 2015
fallen.
Die Erleichterungen der Finma würden auf jeden Fall für drei
Jahre gelten. Die fixe Dauer soll den Versicherern eine
verlässliche Kapitalplanung ermöglichen. Das Zugeständnis
gilt aber nicht für das Neugeschäft ab Anfang 2013. Damit soll
vermieden werden, dass die Versicherer verlustbringendes
Neugeschäft zeichnen und zu viele Risiken eingehen.
Auch die Solvenzquote der Lebensversicherer gemäss SST
(Swiss Solvency Test, ...) wird aufgepeppt. Das scheint nötig:
2011 hat sich die SST-Quote der zwanzig überwachten
Lebensversicherer von 145 auf 105% verschlechtert (die der
Sachversicherer von 225 auf 188). 100% sind die
Mindestvorgabe der Finma.
Mehr Flexibilität
Die zweite temporäre Erleichterung im Solvenztest betrifft die
Interventionsschwellen. Unter einer SST-Quote von 100% sind
die Interessen der Versicherten gefährdet, die Finma kann
einschreiten. Neu gilt ab Anfang 2013 für drei Jahre, dass die
Finma im «gelben» Bereich (Solvenzquote 80 bis 100%) unter
bestimmten Voraussetzungen darauf verzichtet,
Dividendenzahlungen an die Aktionäre und die Auszahlung
von Überschüssen an die Versicherten zu unterbinden.
Mit dieser Massnahme reagiert die Finma auch darauf, dass
die Solvenzanforderungen für Lebensversicherer in der EU
auf Druck der Branche laufend aufgeweicht werden. Der SST
wird laut René Schnieper «nicht im luftleeren Raum
umgesetzt. Wir behalten die internationale Entwicklung im
Auge.» Die Konkurrenzfähigkeit der Schweizer Anbieter soll
erhalten bleiben.
Zudem sieht sie davon ab, bei einer Solvenzquote von 60 bis
80% das Neugeschäft zu verbieten.
Die verbindliche Einführung des Regelwerks Solvency II ist in
der EU zudem mehrmals verschoben worden. Ursprünglich
auf den 1. November 2012 anberaumt, wird der Startschuss
Drittens wird die Frist für die Rückkehr in den «grünen»
Bereich (über 100%) von einem auf drei Jahre verlängert.
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«Damit räumen wir den Versicherungsunternehmen mehr
Flexibilität ein und signalisieren den Finanzmärkten, dass eine
vorübergehende Unterschreitung von 100% in den jetzigen
Märkten keine Katastrophe ist», kommentiert der Leiter
Versicherungsaufsicht der Finma.
Die Massnahmen sind aus Sicht der Finma nicht ohne
Risiken. Sie schränken vorübergehend ihre
Interventionsmöglichkeiten ein, auch wenn das an
Bedingungen geknüpft ist. Dennoch werde es anspruchsvoller,
die Hauptaufgabe der Finma, den Schutz der Versicherten vor
Insolvenzrisiken von Versicherungsunternehmen, zu erfüllen,
sagt René Schnieper. Wie dem auch sei: Die Erleichterungen
der Finma sind gute Nachrichten für Lebensversicherer – und
ihre Aktionäre.
FuW Nr. 75, 22.09.2012, p. 9
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Schweiz
Versicherer nur teilweise zufrieden
Folglich werde es kaum zu einer forschen oder gar
unvorsichtigen Expansion der Assekuranzunternehmen
kommen, wie kritische Beobachter vielleicht befürchteten,
meint Chuard.
Die Versichererbranche hat in Gesprächen mit der Finma über
Erleichterungen im Solvenztest SST weitere Anliegen ohne
Erfolg vorgebracht, u. a. eine ebenfalls befristete Aussetzung
der verlangten Stresstests bzw. Szenarioberechnungen.
«Obwohl die Finma mehrere unserer Vorschläge abgelehnt
hat, ist der Versichererverband mit den vorgeschlagenen
temporären Regulierungserleichterungen zufrieden», sagt
Marc Chuard, der im Verband das Ressort Finanz und
Regulierung leitet.
TH, FuW Nr. 75, 22.09.2012, p. 9
Die bis 2015 angebotenen Lockerungen machten die
Schweizer Aufsichtsnorm immer noch strenger als das von der
EU angestrebte Solvenz-II-Regime, das voraussichtlich erst
2015 bindend wird, betont Chuard: «Von den zur
Verpflichtungsdiskontierung anzuwendenden Swap-Sätzen
wird hierzulande ein Sicherheitsabzug von 0,1 Prozentpunkten
vorgeschrieben, während die Aufsichtsbehörden anderer
europäischer Länder gar Zuschläge zulassen.»
Mit den geplanten Erleichterungen werde keinesfalls eine zu
wenig risikoorientierte Darstellung des
Versicherungsgeschäfts einhergehen, entgegnet der
Verbandsvertreter: «Wegen der wie erwähnt im Vorschlag
eingebauten Sicherheitsmarge werden die Versicherer die
Verpflichtungen auch im erleichterten Regime konservativ
bewerten.»
214
Schweiz
SST besteht Test
Zinsrisiken und niedrigerer Kapitalbindung entwickelt haben.
Einige Anbieter sind sogar so weit gegangen, dass sie aus
einem Geschäftszweig (z. B. Zurich Insurance, Generali und
Nationale Suisse aus der beruflichen Vorsorge) ausgestiegen
sind.
Das vergleichbare aufsichtsrechtliche Rahmenwerk in der EU,
Solvency II, sollte im November 2012 eingeführt werden. Nun
ist das wohl erst 2015 der Fall. Dann, ebenfalls mit
Verspätung, dürfte nach Einschätzung von René Schnieper
auch die sogenannte Äquivalenz erreicht werden, die
Anerkennung des schweizerischen Aufsichtssystems durch
die EU als gleichwertig mit Solvency II.
Der Solvenztest SST gilt für die Schweizer Versicherer seit
Anfang 2011 verbindlich. Den Zweck hat er erfüllt, sagt René
Schnieper, Leiter Geschäftsbereich Versicherungen der
Finma: «Wir sind extrem froh, dass wir mit dem SST ein viel
besseres Instrument für die Risikomessung in der Hand haben
als in der Vergangenheit», betont er. Die Finma kann
eingreifen, sobald ein Versicherungsunternehmen in
Schieflage gerät. Das Vorgängerregime, Solvenz I, hätte laut
Schnieper während der Finanzkrise 2008/09 verunmöglicht,
die Stabilität der Assekuranz zu beurteilen.
Während Solvenz I auf Volumen und historischen Kosten
beruhte, reagiert der SST rasch auf Veränderungen an den
Finanzmärkten. Er gründet auf marktnahen Bewertungen,
risikobasierten Kapitalanforderungen und einem
Gesamtbilanzansatz (Asset & Liability Management). Sowohl
Anlagen wie auch Verpflichtungen in der Bilanz werden nach
einem ökonomischen Prinzip bewertet. Der SST liefert mithin
ein akkurateres Bild der Risikosituation eines Versicherers,
allerdings zum Preis höherer Wertschwankungen (Volatilität).
In einer Prüfung durch die Eiopa (Europäische
Aufsichtsbehörde für Versicherungen und Pensionskassen)
wurde schon 2011 eine weitestgehende Gleichwertigkeit
festgestellt. Eine Ausnahme seien die Anforderungen zur
Offenlegung z. B. der Solvenzquote durch die einzelnen
Versicherungen, wie der Leiter Versicherungen der Finma
erläutert. Punkto Transparenz habe die Schweiz ein Defizit.
Seine Behebung werde die Finma 2013 «in Angriff nehmen».
Gut, wenn Medien und Investoren nicht mehr mit der
Allerweltsformel «Wir sind im SST-Test im grünen Bereich»
abgespeist werden.
Die Versicherer hatten ab 2006, also während fünf Jahren,
Zeit zur Vorbereitung. Heute windet ihnen Schnieper ein
Kränzchen. «Das Risikomanagement ist dank der
Auseinandersetzung mit dem SST deutlich besser geworden»,
sagt er. Die Unternehmen haben die Aktienquote gesenkt und
ihr Angebot angepasst, indem sie Produkte mit weniger
AS, FuW Nr. 75, 22.09.2012, p. 9
215
Singapur
Lex/FT.com Last updated: June 26, 2012 5:28 pm
quarter. And as Singapore’s banks face a slowdown and
shrinking spreads in regional trade finance, wealth
management is an important source of growth.
Asian private wealth: rich pickings
As the rich in Europe and the US dodge tax and defend
unpopular pay rises, wealth creation in Asia looks relatively
effortless. Someone living in a smart part of Singapore, for
example, is likely to live next to, on top of, or below a
millionaire. The country has the highest density of dollar
millionaire households in the world. That makes Singapore’s
banks, DBS, OCBC and UOB, well connected enough to
benefit.
Yet private banking is still a small part of their overall business.
It accounts for 30 per cent of revenues at OCBC, compared
with less than a 10th at DBS and UOB, but it includes sales
from its life assurance arm Great Eastern Holdings.
Moreover, staff and compliance costs are a challenge. The
cost-to-income ratios of Asia’s wealth managers hit 80 per
cent in 2011, BCG estimates – 4 percentage points above
offshore managers in Europe. Singapore’s advantages make
for rich pickings, but watch to whom they accrue.
Private wealth in Asia excluding Japan grew more than five
times faster than the 2 per cent global average in 2011, to
$24tn, or a fifth of global wealth, according to Boston
Consulting Group. That proportion is projected to grow to 27
per cent by 2016.
Singapore’s location, regulated economy and favourable tax
system have helped its banks to gain share. Growth in assets
under management at the private banking divisions of DBS,
OCBC and UOB outpaced the 11 per cent growth in regional
private wealth in 2011.
OCBC has made some of the biggest inroads, helped by its
purchase of ING’s Asian wealth business in 2009, which it
used to create Bank of Singapore. The private bank’s AUM
jumped by 25 per cent from a year ago to $35bn in the first
216
Spanien
Grupo Catalana Occidente buys Groupama
Spain unit
Tue, Jun 19 2012
PARIS (Reuters) - Grupo Catalana Occidente (...) and majority
shareholder INOCSA have agreed to buy French insurer
Groupama's Spanish unit in a deal valuing it at 404.5 million
euros ($512.77 million), the companies said in a statement on
Tuesday.
Groupama Seguros y Reaseguros, the business being sold,
had revenue of 940 million euros last year, with 1,000 staff.
"This transaction further consolidates Grupo Catalana
Occidente as a leading independent insurance group in the
Spanish market for family and small and medium enterprise,"
the companies said in the statement.
(Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Elena Berton)
© Thomson Reuters 2011.
217
Südafrika
THE MONDAY INTERVIEW
“Ja,” he says in his softly spoken South African accent, before
quickly checking himself. “Well no, I’m not a health freak,
that’s too strong a word. I’m obsessed with staying fit. I’m
obsessive ... I run fire escapes ... Whenever I travel, I find the
fire escape in the hotel.”
The running man of insurance
By Andrew England
Fit for purpose: Adrian Gore’s Discovery offers incentives to
policyholders to keep in shape
As a child growing up in Johannesburg, Adrian Gore helped
pack cigarettes for the family business, which bought from
wholesalers and sold on to cafés around the city. The irony of
this in the light of the quest he pursues today is not lost on
him. “It’s bizarre that I’ve spent my life trying to reverse that,”
he says.
Over the past 20 years, he has built Discovery into a company
that tries to pass that passion on to millions of others. It
provides health and life cover to 4.5m people across South
Africa, the UK, the US and China. In the UK, it owns 75 per
cent of PruHealth and PruProtect in a venture with Prudential,
while in China it has a 20 per cent stake in Ping An Insurance.
In each of these markets it is experimenting with products to
incentivise healthier lifestyles. “People over-consume
healthcare but they under-consume wellness,” he says.
The founder and chief executive of Discovery, South Africa’s
largest health insurer, has turned his job into something of a
crusade for healthier lifestyles.
“So we figured, if you could create incentives around wellness,
you could break that cycle – people would see the benefits
immediately of giving up that chocolate or going to the gym.”
To prove his point, he quotes research that indicates that 50
per cent of mortality in the UK is avoidable through lifestyle
change. “So there’s a massive shift in policy towards trying to
make people healthy, and at the same time the realisation you
have to incentivise people,” he says.
The company’s flagship product, a policy called Vitality, offers
incentives for those covered to maintain better lifestyles, with
discounts on healthy food items and gym memberships.
For his own part, Mr Gore – the grandson of Jewish
immigrants who fled Poland in the 1930s – can lay claim to
completing the London, New York and Berlin marathons. So is
the amiable 47-year-old something of a health freak?
218
Südafrika
During his schooling, Mr Gore’s passion was for mathematics.
He considered deploying it either in engineering or in actuarial
science. He chose the latter, studying through the Faculty of
Actuaries in Scotland before joining Liberty Life.
Yet when Discovery was in embryonic stages, it was unclear
what direction South Africa would take, with many forecasting
doom and gloom. But Mr Gore spoke to a friend at Rand
Merchant Bank, which had inherited a dormant life insurance
licence, and after a few meetings the investment bank agreed
to provide R10m in seed capital.
That was in the 1980s, when South Africa was still under
apartheid, with a health system that mirrored segregation in
the country, focusing on minority whites while non-whites, who
account for around 90 per cent of the population, suffered with
the most basic of care.
It proved a sound investment: nearly 20 years on, Rand
Merchant Insurance retains a 25 per cent stake in Discovery,
which has swelled to boast a market capitalisation of about
R25bn ($3.2bn). In the financial year to June 2011, the group’s
gross income rose 44 per cent to R17.85bn, while its profit
before tax was up 38 per cent to R3.45bn.
As the country inched towards democracy in the early 1990s,
that health system was clearly going to change. “The state
healthcare system was really a microcosm of apartheid –
these public sector hospitals in Johannesburg that were
brilliant, and then you had absolutely no healthcare or very
poor primary healthcare in the then black areas,” Mr Gore
says.
“It’s big social shifts like this that take place during times of
uncertainty,” he says. “That’s the choice you’ve got to make.
Either you run from it, or you run in to it. I took a view that with
these massive social changes, there’s a big opportunity.”
But there was also “chaos on the streets” as the business was
being set up – the 1992 Bisho and Boipatong massacres, in
which dozens of people were killed, spring to Mr Gore’s mind
as he reflects on the early days.
“There was an explicit refocusing of spending into a broaderbased primary care,” he adds. “And with that ... anyone who
could afford private healthcare would up and out and buy a
medical scheme cover to get maximum private healthcare.”
For Mr Gore, the transformation created an opportunity and in
1992 – two years before the first democratic election – he
launched Discovery to fill the gaps in a public health system
that still struggles.
219
Südafrika
“For white South Africans this was like the Mau Mau uprising
[in Kenya]; this is the beginning of the end,” he says. “It was
hairy times, but the truth of it is that while my mates
were messing around and running, I was building. I had a kind
of a free run for a while, and it’s always taught me that it’s in
tough times that the biggest opportunities emerge.”
learning comes from that experience of what competitive
markets are like,” he says.
The future business model is likely to be similar partnerships
to the one it has with Prudential in the UK and China’s Ping
An, although he does not rule out acquisitions. “We have just
started to internationalise,” he says. “The truth of it is I’d say in
the last two or three years we’ve been really starting to
understand how to do it.”
Indeed, Mr Gore is an optimist on his country’s broader
outlook, choosing to see the glass half-full rather than halfempty, while others in corporate South Africa question the
direction the young democracy is taking.
That is likely to mean more international travel for Mr Gore,
particularly to Asia, where he sees a “whole number” of
markets with potential.
He says he is scared of being “bullish and naively optimistic”,
but believes South Africa has “unbelievable potential”.
“Whenever I read any article about South Africa ... there’s
always [the question] ‘will it last?’ Most countries you don’t get
that. I actually don’t buy it, I don’t believe it. I figured it’s going
to last, it’s just the form it’s going to take and how do I
maximise my position and add to society.”
And he stills sees his home country – “our engine room” – as
a growth area for Discovery as he looks to build overseas.
But there have been tough lessons along the way. In 2000
Discovery sought to establish itself in the US market through
the launch of Destiny Health. But nearly eight years and
$100m later the plug was pulled, after Destiny struggled to
compete against established American players. “All of our
220
Südafrika
The CV
● Born: May 16 1964
● Education: Bachelor of science, actuarial science, University
of Witwatersrand
● Career: 1986 joins Liberty Life as a trainee actuary and goes
on to become actuary responsible for product development
● 1992 sets up Discovery Holdings. He is also chairman of
Prudential Health and PruProtect in the UK and the Vitality
Group in the US
● 2009 invited on to the Global Health Advisory Board of the
World Economic Forum
● 2010 appointed director of PingAn Health Insurance
● 2011 joins Massachusetts General Hospital Center for
Global Health Advisory Board
● Family: Married with two daughters and a son
● Interests: Running and cycling; has completed the London,
New York and Berlin marathons
221
Südkorea
WSJ.com BUSINESS Updated May 13, 2012, 11:00 a.m. ET
Insurance
He held the buy rating through 2011, a year when Hyundai
Marine & Fire shares grew 35%. The company gained market
share through the year, closing the gap with industry leader
Samsung Fire & Marine Co., and its net income more than
doubled.
South Korea's insurance industry is on the verge of being
shaken up by the arrival of more competitors from Europe and
the U.S. as free-trade agreements from those regions go into
effect.
Also in late 2010, Mr. Yun issued a buy call on Dongbu
Insurance, which experienced a 21% jump in share price
through 2011 and a 1.5% jump in market share. In late April
2011, he issued buy ratings on Korean Reinsurance and
Tongyang Life Insurance Co. Shares in both companies were
up nearly 30% for the year.
But the top analyst in the sector in the Asia's Best Analysts
survey, C.J. Yun of Macquarie Securities, a unit of Macquarie
Group Ltd., in Seoul, found success by becoming an early
believer in a turnaround at the nation's No. 2 nonlife insurance
company, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Co.
Mr. Yu, who is 31 years old and has been at Macquarie for two
years, said he's now keeping an eye out for when South
Korea's central bank will start to raise interest rates, which
have held steady for nearly a year. Higher interest rates are
likely to improve insurers' savings margins.
The company's net profit for fiscal 2010 fell 14% versus 2009,
hurt in part by a 17% jump in net claims paid and a 44%
increase in provisions for policy reserves. The company is led
by the seventh son of the founder of the Hyundai empire, one
of South Korea's largest collections of businesses. It operates
separately from the three Hyundai conglomerates—Hyundai
Motor Group, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hyundai Group—
led by other offspring and in-laws of the Hyundai founder.
The impact of the free-trade agreements, meanwhile, is a
longer-term competiveness issue for South Korea's insurers,
as the pacts call for the gradual opening of the market.
—Evan Ramstad
Mr. Yun in late November 2010 put a buy rating on Hyundai
Marine & Fire. "We made a strong push for the stock in
anticipation of a turnaround in the auto insurance cycle and
improvement in underwriting efficiency," he said.
222

England - Institut für Risikomanagement und Versicherung

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