China Insurance Watchdog Warns Sector of Cash Crunch, Low Returns

January 25, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleCommentsSome Chinese insurers may face a cash crunch this year as many policies mature, and as the sector faces sliding investment returns and rising costs, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) said.

Insurance companies need to broaden their investment channels to improve their returns, the CIRC said late on Thursday in its annual work report. The commission said it would also promote reform on the launch of infrastructure and real estate debt projects and introduce new types of investors.

“We see many more difficulties in ensuring steady growth of the insurance industry this year due to a comparatively lower investment return rate and the imminent peak of due payments on policies,” Xiang Junbo, the commission’s chairman said in the report.

With existing average investment returns for insurers being lower than the interest rate of five-year deposits, more policyholders are expected to surrender their policies — a trend which may cause a number of insurers to face a cash crunch, the CIRC said.

After enjoying an average growth of more than 20 percent in the past two decades, China’s insurance premium income slowed to single-digit growth in 2012.

The premium income increased 8 percent to 1.55 trillion yuan ($249 billion) last year, with health insurance premiums leading the growth, the commission said, while total assets of the insurance industry jumped 22.29 percent on year to 7.35 trillion yuan

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No Change in Rate of Nonfatal Injuries, Illnesses in Private Sector in Texas

November 8, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Private industry workplaces in Texas reported a total of 196,642 nonfatal injuries and illnesses during 2011, an incidence rate of 2.7 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers, which was unchanged from the previous year, according to the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (TDI-DWC).

The rate in Texas was below the national rate of 3.5 cases per 100 full-time workers for 2011.

The 2011 nonfatal injury and illness data in this release are the latest available from the annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses conducted by the TDI-DWC in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The occupational injury and illness rates are based on a statistical sample of private and public firms in Texas.

Highlights of the 2011 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII)In the private sector, the incidence rate for goods producing industries increased from 2.8 in 2010 to 2.9 in 2011.The rates in the mining and construction industries increased from 1.4 to 1.8 (29 percent) and 2.5 to 2.8 (12 percent), respectively.Service providing industries incidence rate increased overall from 2.6 in 2010 to 2.7 in 2011. Within this group, the utilities industries experienced a rate increase of 95 percent, from 2.1 in 2010 to 4.1 in 2011.Other industries that experienced increases in the service providing group are wholesale trade, information, financial activities, and leisure and hospitality. Professional and business services (1.2) and education and health services (3.4) remained the same.Of the major private sector industries with the 10 highest incidence rates in 2011, air transportation, and couriers and messengers are the top two.Motion picture and sound recording industries reported the largest increase of 148 percent from 2.5 in 2010 to 6.2 in 2011.Couriers and messengers reported the largest decrease at 22 percent from 9.3 in 2010 to 7.3 in 2011.In the public sector, incidence rates are available for heavy and civil engineering construction and educational services within state government and hospitals within local government. The incidence rates for these industries were 1.7, 3.5, and 7.2 respectively. Of the total cases in each of these industries, the greatest frequency involved other recordable cases, which did not involve days away from work or job transfer or restriction.

Source: TDI-DWC

 

 

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Aon Launches Risk Pooling Practice for Public, Private Sector Groups

October 12, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Aon Risk Solutions, the global risk management business of Aon plc, has formed the Aon Risk Solutions’ Risk Pooling Practice, providing property, casualty and employee benefits pooling products for private and public sector organizations that make group purchasing decisions. The Risk Pooling Practice will address issues such as pool administration and optimal risk transfer products in an ever tightening budget environment.

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