XPRIMM News No. 242, March 27, 2014

		Insurance Newsletter, No. 242, March 27, 2014 Click here to subscribe! Click here to unsubscribe!

TOP NEWS BARENTS Re opens a representative office in Moscow by alina.ciobanu@mxp.ro, 2014-03-27 The largest privately owned reinsurance company in Latin America, BARENTS Re, opens a representative office in Moscow this April. The Head of the Moscow's branch was appointed Dmitry GARMASH, who will be responsible for the company's operations in Russia, CIS and Central and Eastern Europe, including business development and underwriting. Before BARENTS Re, the last 7 years, he worked as Deputy General Director of UNITY Re reinsurance company. More Продолжение MUNICH Re targets profit of EUR 3 billion in 2014 by alexandru.ciuncan@mxp.ro, 2014-03-20 MUNICH Re, the world's largest reinsurer, is aiming for a profit of EUR 3 billion in 2014, after the company reported the third best result in its over 130 years of history in 2013 - a profit of EUR 3.3 billion -, the company's representatives announced during a press conference organized on the 20th of March in Munich. More Продолжение VIDEO: BERNARDINO: Consumers are rapidly changing, concept of fairness is continuously evolving, insurers need to adapt by daniela.ghetu@mxp.ro, 2014-03-17 "In today's society, consumer satisfaction is taken as the best guarantee for any company's continuity. "Rule number one "in the financial sector business should be: the consumer should be at the heart of the provider's business, not the other way round," stated Gabriel BERNARDINO, Chairman EIOPA, at the International Consumer Protection Conference in Bucharest. More Продолжение AVIVA to sell Turkish general insurance unit to EMF Capital Partners by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2014-03-27 British insurer AVIVA agreed to sell its Turkish general insurance business AVIVA Sigorta to a private equity consortium led by EMF Capital Partners. "This agreement is part of AVIVA's strategy to narrow the group's focus on businesses where it has a leadership position and can generate attractive returns", the insurer said on Tuesday. More Продолжение RUSSIA FY2013: Worrisome trends, but still in the double digit growth territory by daniela.ghetu@mxp.ro, 2014-03-27 The Russian insurance market ended 2013 with an overall 11.84% y-o-y growth in gross written premium, to about RUB 904.8 billion (EUR 20.12 billion). Although impressive as compared with the market dynamics recorded al over Europe, the last year's result seems unsatisfying for the local players, which perceive it as a sign of stagnation after the over 20% growth rates recorded in the past years. In fact, according to Expert RA analysts, this market shrinking may lead to the withdrawal from the market of a number of insurers. More Продолжение ROMANIA, FY2013: Nothing unusual! by alex.rosca@mxp.ro, 2014-03-27 Already used with the downward trend of recent years, 2013 was not a surprise from the total amount of GWP perspective although EUR 1.9 billion is a constant of the past 4 years for the insurance market. The slight decrease we can easily call as market stagnation is, in fact, a EUR 6 million decrease as compared with 2012 results. More Продолжение PZU FY2013: 98% increase of the net profit following the insurance portfolio restructuring by daniela.ghetu@mxp.ro, 2014-03-27 The Polish insurance market's leader, PZU, ended 2013 with GWP of PLN 8.27 billion (EUR 1.96 billion), about 2% down y-o-y. In order to maintain profitability PZU continued pursuing its corporate insurance portfolio restructuring programme which resulted in an almost double net profit figure as compared with 2012, i.e. of PLN 5.1 billion (EUR 1.2 billion). The company maintained its over 30% market share on the non-life insurance market. More Продолжение MARIBOR acquisition pushed up the FY2013 figures of SAVA Re Group by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2014-03-27 In 2013, the SAVA Re Group wrote EUR 386.7 million in premiums, representing an increase of 43% over 2012, according to the preliminary figures published by the Slovenian Re/Insurance Group. At the same time, the value of gross claims paid totaled EUR 221.2 million (or 62.3% more y-o-y), while the combine ratio improved 4.5% to 94.2%. More Продолжение BULGARIA, FY2013: Change reporting pushed up the market by 8% by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2014-03-27 The figures published by FSC - Financial Supervision Commission indicate for the financial year 2013, an 8% y-o-y increase of the Bulgarian insurance market to EUR 884 million. The growth rate may be affected by the fact that for FY2013 the market figures contain data for insurance companies specializing in voluntary health insurance segment. More Продолжение LATVIAN insurance market up 5.3% in 2013 by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2014-03-27 Financial and Capital Market Commission - FKTK reports that, in 2013, the Latvian insurance market grew by 5.3%, reaching EUR 471 million. The gross written premiums by local insurers decreased 1% y-o-y to EUR 350 million, while the gross premiums written by the EU branches totaled EUR 121 million or 30% more y-o-y. More Продолжение ARMENIA: 2013, an unprofitable year for the insurance market by olesea.adonev@mxp.ro, 2014-03-27 At the end of 2013 Armenian insurance market recorded a 4.31% y-o-y, decrease to EUR 63.86 million comparing with the results of 2012, when insurance companies had collected EUR 66.74 million in premiums. At the same time, it should be noted that the size of claims paid by insurers amounted to EUR 35.25 million, 29.51% more than a year before, according to data presented by the ArmInfo News Agency. More Продолжение GENERALI Group 2013: EUR 1.9 billion net profit, the highest in six years by daniela.ghetu@mxp.ro, 2014-03-27 The progress achieved over the year in the turnaround of the business allowed the GENERALI Group to register a boost in profitability despite an uncertain economic recovery, low interest rates and high natural catastrophe losses. Thus, the Group closed the year with an operating result of EUR 4.20 billion (+5.3%; EUR 3.99 bil FY12) reflecting growth in all the lines of business. More Продолжение TALANX expects lower net profit in 2014 by vlad.boldijar@mxp.ro, 2014-03-27 Boosted by the sale of shares in SWISS Life and deferred income tax, Germany's third biggest insurer TALANX closed the financial year 2013 with an operating profit of EUR 1.8 billion, or 2.1% more y-o-y while, the Group net income improved by 21.7% to EUR 762 million. At the same time, the value of gross written premiums increased across all divisions and totaled EUR 28.1 billion in 2013 compared with EUR 26.7 billion in 2012. More Продолжение Global insurance trends, analyzed during the 6th International Insurance Conference organized by Insurance Europe by adina.tudor@mxp.ro, 2014-03-27 Technology, ever-changing regulation and low interest rates are among the main challenges the insurance industry must face today. Key-note speakers and global professionals from the industry will gather on June 12 2014 to discuss these problems and find solutions, during the 6th International Insurance Conference, "The challenge of change: global insurance trends", organized by Insurance Europe. More Продолжение Transparency and product documentation rules are key elements for the insurance industry by adina.tudor@mxp.ro, 2014-03-27 Nowadays, the need for insurance manifests globally, and the insurance companies must be there to fill that gap. "There are two misconceptions on insurance concerning the protection gap and the perception gap. The first one refers to the fact that consumers do not need insurance, when, in fact, according to SWISS Re estimations, the protection gap is USD 86 trillion globally, of which USD 13 trillion is in Continental Europe", Eric CLURFAIN, Regional Head for Central Europe, METROPOLITAN Life, explained. More Продолжение PRESS CUTTINGS ARMENIANS are not ready to pay for health insurance Aviva's life and pensions business in TURKEY, AvivaSA, is unaffected by the sale AZERBAIJAN to introduce new tools of investment by life insurance companies BULGARIA and SERBIA ink agreement on the use of the European health insurance card CZECH REPUBLIC: PSCP takes over the client portfolio of RPS Insurance market of AZERBAIJAN sharply reorganized: Chartis resumed its activity; Era Trans is in technical bankruptcy Insurer Ingosstrakh reduces terrorism and riot coverage underwritten by UKRAINIAN subsidiary Lukashenko: BELARUS' insurance market needs a boost Missing aircraft of Malaysia Airlines reinsured by KAZAKH insurance company Most vehicles in LITHUANIA are stolen in Vilnius and Palanga New types of mandatory insurance discussed in BELARUS RUSSIA's insurance company cuts operations in Ukraine TALANX would eye chances to build POLAND business UKRAINE: ALLIANZ Ukraine increases premiums collections by 28% y/y in 2013 Up to 20% growth expected in AZERBAIJAN's insurance market

EDITORIAL What says about us the insurance policy we sell? "The cars we drive say a lot about us," said once a popular character. Maybe it wouldn't be wrong to add ... "as well as the kind of insurance we buy for it." In fact there are not so rare the cases when, after choosing his/her new car with maximum care, the owner "forgets" to get a Motor Hull policy or chooses the cheapest MTPL policy. Unfortunately, also pretty often happens that such owners have the opportunity to find out on their own expense that their risk management policy was wrong ... More INTERVIEW Branko VUJOVIC President of the Council of the Insurance Supervision Agency Prioritising insurance sector as one of vital contribution to the economy, we are therefore committed to developing Montenegrin insurance market to one of most competitive in the region. The presence of renowned international groups already proves the stable and favourable business environment and regulatory framework in Montenegrin insurance market. More STATISTIC UPDATES Russia FY2013 Romania FY2013 Bulgaria FY2013 Latvia FY2013 Armenia FY2013 EVENTS IIF 2014 - International Insurance Forum April 6-7, 2014 Istanbul, Turkey Pera Palace Hotel Media coverage: XPRIMM Publications For details: www.internationalinsuranceforum.com XVIII All-Russian Reinsurance Conference - "National peculiarities of Russian reinsurance" April 8-9, 2014 Russia, Moscow President-Hotel Organizer: All-Russian Insurance Association (ARIA), Reinsurers' Committee Media Partner: XPRIMM Publications For details: www.en.re-conference.ru 2nd Annual Life Insurance Forum April 9 - 10, 2014 Amsterdam, Netherlands Organizer: Fleming Europe Media Partner: XPRIMM Publications For details: finance.flemingeurope.com X - Annual International Risk Management Conference April 10-11, 2014 Almaty, Kazakhstan Organizer: JSC Eurasia Insurance Company Media Partner: XPRIMM Publications For details: www.theeurasia.kz VIII International Conference "Insurance in Central Asia" April 15-16, 2014 Holiday Inn Hotel Almaty, Kazakhstan Organised with the support of the Kazakhstan Association of Insurers Media Partner: XPRIMM Publications For details: www.allinsurance.kz 7th Tashkent International Conference on Insurance and Reinsurance May 19th-23rd, 2014 Taskent, Uzbekistan Organizer: SAIPRO Media Partner: XPRIMM Publications For details: www.saipro.uz FIAR 2014 - The International Insurance - Reinsurance Forum May 25-29, 2014 Brasov, Romania Organizer: Media XPRIMM Media coverage: XPRIMM Publications For more details: www.fiar.ro Russian Insurance Summit 2014 June 5-6, 2014 Moscow, Russia Ritz-Carlton Hotel Organizer: All-Russian Insurance Association (ARIA) Media Partner: XPRIMM Publications For details: www.insuranceconference.ru 2nd Annual Bancassurance Forum 2014 June 5-6, 2014 Budapest, Hungary Organizer: Global Leading Conferences Media Partner: XPRIMM Publications For details: globalleadingconferences.com 4th Annual Africa Insurance & Reinsurance Conference - AIRC 2014 June 10-11, 2014 Nairobi, Kenya Media Partner: XPRIMM Publications For details: aidembs.com AIIF - 2014 Azerbaijan International Insurance Forum June 19-20, 2014 Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan 4th Annual Risk Management Forum 2014 September 11-12, 2014 Vienna, Austria Media Partner: XPRIMM Publications Organizer: Global Leading Conferences For details: globalleadingconferences.com STATISTICS Albania Armenia Bosnia Azerbaijan Bulgaria Belarus Croatia Georgia Czech Rep. Kazakhstan Estonia Kyrgyzstan Hungary Moldova Kosovo Russia Latvia Turkmenistan Lithuania Tajikistan Macedonia Ukraine Montenegro Uzbekistan Poland   Romania   Serbia Cyprus Slovakia Greece Slovenia Turkey