what is insurance

best insurance stock - Indonesia insurance property market forecast 2013 : Property insurance market share continues to shrink . Data General Insurance Association of Indonesia ( AAUI ) in the first semester of this year noted, the property insurance market share slipped to 27.4 % from the same term last year's 29.9% . Property market share surpassed by motor insurance rose to 30.1% from the previous 29% . Until the beginning of the semester , the total general insurance premiums Rp 18.89 trillion, grow 12.8 % compared to the same period last year of Rp 16.74 trillion . Property insurance contributions Rp 5.1 trillion or an increase of 3.5% from the same period last year of Rp 5 trillion . While gross property insurance claims actually grew 24.6 % to Rp 2 trillion from Rp 1.6 trillion in the previous period . Premium of Rp 5.6 trillion, up 17.2% from Rp 4.8 trillion . Increasingly shrinking property insurance e...

best insurance stock - 2013 Asian commercial insurance rates :Continued economic growth and low natural catastrophe losses, combined with strong competition between insurers in most classes of business, will continue to provide favourable market conditions for buyers of commercial insurance in Asia during 2013, according to a report published today by Marsh. Organisations across Asia, especially those with little or no exposure to natural catastrophe risk or with good loss histories, should be able to secure reductions on their insurance rates, continuing a trend begun in the second half of 2012, Marsh noted in its Asia Insurance Market Report 2013 . However, Asian companies offering employee benefit programs can expect more challenging conditions this year as medical cost inflation continues to escalate significantly, putting upward pressure on rates. For example, Marsh expects insurers to seek average rate increases of up to 35% in Thailand where medical inflation is...

Nigeria insurance market trends by  A.M. Best Co : Economic development and the demand for energy infrastructure projects has been fuelled by Nigeria�s oil and gas industry, resulting in the country�s insurance market becoming the largest in West Africa, according to a new report from A.M. Best Co. �Africa�s Diverse Insurance Markets Offer Growth Opportunities, Untapped Demand� In the report entitled, �Africa�s Diverse Insurance Markets Offer Growth Opportunities, Untapped Demand� , A.M. Best notes total insurance premium in Nigeria reached USD 1.6 billion in 2011, although insurance penetration is modest at 0.6%. The report states the Pension Reform Act, which makes pension insurance compulsory for companies employing more than five people, is likely to drive further growth in life premiums. A.M. Best considers the development of the life portfolio in Nigeria as positive for insurers� diversification, although management teams may need to demonstrate their skills in these new ar...

best insurance stock - Nigeria insurance market expected 2017 : Nigeria, Africa�s most populous nation, plans to more than triple the value of its insurance market in four years by improving the reputation of the industry, Insurance Commissioner Daniel Fola said. �Our people don�t trust insurance ,� he said in an interview today in Dubai. �We�ve done a considerable amount of housekeeping to make sure the companies respect the rules.� The value of insurance contracts should rise to about 1 trillion naira ($6.4 billion) in 2017, about 3 percent of gross domestic product, from 300 billion naira now, or less than 1 percent of GDP, he said. Penetration should increase to 22.5 percent of the insurable population in four years from 10 percent currently, Fola said. Compulsory motor-vehicle insurance, which makes up most contracts now, should remain at about 10 percent by 2017, while life insurance should constitute 7 percent, general business insurance 3 percent and petroleum companies� in...

best insurance stock -Lithuania non- life insurance market forecast 2013 : Lithuanian insurers can expect the non-life sector to grow by up to 7% this year owing to the increased spending power of its citizens, RSA said today.  Assuming output growth of about 3%, Lithuania's non-life insurance market will expand by at least 6% to 7%, RSA's Lithuanian unit Lietuvos Draudimas AB told Bloomberg in an emailed statement. "This is a young market with much opportunity and room for business development," the firm is quoted as saying, adding that less than half of private homes and less than a quarter of apartments in the country have insurance. Lithuania is the European Union's second fastest growing economy. Private individuals in Lithuania spent an average 437 litai on insurance last year, which is forecast to grow 15% in 2013 to 501 litai per capita, according to Lietuvos Draudimas.

2016 Opportunities Non-Life Insurance in China : The Chinese non-life insurance segment continued to grow at a healthy rate, largely unaffected by the on-going uncertainties surrounding the global economy. Allowing foreign insurers to write compulsory motor third-party liability insurance has provided an impetus for growth. However, large domestic insurers are anticipated to continue to dominate the segment over the forecast period (2012-2016) while smaller operators are projected to gradually increase their market share. Although the Chinese non-life insurance segment recorded rapid growth during the review period (2007-2011), it remains largely underpenetrated due to low levels of product awareness, weak penetration rates in rural areas and restrictions for foreign insurers. Key Highlights Although the Chinese non-life insurance market recorded rapid growth over the review period, it remains largely underpenetrated because of various limitations, including low product awareness, lo...

Best Insurance stock - US life insurance industry forecast 2013 : The credit outlook for the U.S. life insurance industry is stable for 2013, reflecting the industry's strong balance sheet fundamentals and improved liquidity profile, according to Fitch Ratings. These positive factors have somewhat mitigated Fitch's ongoing concerns over the challenging macroeconomic environment that continues to pressure operating fundamentals. While Fitch believes the industry is well positioned to withstand macroeconomic challenges over 2013, the outlook is vulnerable to severe, albeit unexpected shocks to the economy. The 'fiscal cliff' and Eurozone debt crisis remain the predominant risk for the global economic and credit outlook, although Fitch's base case assumption is that policy makers will take necessary steps to avoid disorderly shocks. Fitch expects that sustained low interest rates will limit earnings growth, but will not have a material negative effect on industry capi...

best insurance stock today - China insurance market growth prediction 2013 : The Chinese life insurance market had total gross written premiums of $134.7 billion in 2011, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.1% between 2007 and 2011. The life insurance segment was the market's most lucrative in 2011, with total gross written premiums of $128.7 billion, equivalent to 95.5% of the market's overall value. The performance of the market is forecast to decelerate, with an anticipated CAGR of 10.9% for the five-year period 2011 - 2016, which is expected to drive the market to a value of $225.5 billion by the end of 2016. Fitch Ratings maintains a "stable" outlook for China's insurance sector , but recent exits by overseas investors' stirred concerns about the sector's profitability. "Our view is that the sector will be stable over the next 12 to 24 months," Terrence Wong, director of Fitch's insurance team, said on Monday. Propert...

best insurance stock - Vietnam Insurance market prediction 2013 : in 2012 going through many difficulties, challenges than the original data, make it difficult for the insurance industry plans 17% growth target. Preparation of business plan for next year, many companies in the industry no longer sets growth "year after year". Phung Dac Loc, Secretary General of the Vietnam Insurance Association (AVI) said that the insurance market in 2013 will certainly encounter similar difficulties in 2012. "Congress passed the indicators of socio-economic development in 2013 with GDP growth of 5.5%, public investment accounted for 30% of GDP, the CPI rose by 8%, which means predicts the economy can not start excellence, "said Loc. Along with his views Loc, many industry experts predicted, more likely, the insurance industry's sales growth in 2013 of around 10%. Thus, this will be the third consecutive year, the insurance market revenue growth regressed. 2012 new longer than...

Best Insurance stock - Insurance industry forecast 2013 : be depressed in the near term as a result of downward pressures on investment yields. Overall, the industry remains well capitalized whereby policyholder surplus for the P&C sector stood at $567.8 billion at June 30, 2012, an increase of $17.5 billion from yearend 2011. Policyholder surplus for life and accident & health sector was $318.4 billion June 30, 2012, compared to $310.4 billion at Dec. 31, 2011. In spite of this, both the P&C and life sectors continue to trade below book  value. The NASDAQ Insurance Index was up 4.52 percent for the first nine months of 2012 compared to 11.28 percent for the S&P 500. To counter this lackluster stock market performance, insurance companies are expected to create shareholder value by aggressively relying on share repurchases. Several carriers have recently announced their intention of doing this, and we expect this trend to continue well into 2013. On the investment...