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Fortis Back in the Black announces New Brand Strategy

Reporting a 2009 net profit of US$1.62 billion (EUR 1.19 billion), chiefly due to the profitable performances of its remaining insurance operations, Fortis also announced its re-branding strategy which aims to reflect the transformation it went through during the past year that made it a focused insurance company.

The profit reported by the Dutch-Belgian financial group for 2009 is a positive contrast with the net loss of US$38.2 billion (EUR 28 billion) in 2008.

As yet another casualty of the global financial crisis, the governments of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands bailed out Fortis during the last week of September 2008 due to wild fluctuations in its share price. The company went through a painful restructuring exercise under which the Dutch government removed all its Dutch operations, and BNP Paribas acquired its Belgian operations plus Fortis Bank, causing the ire of its then shareholders. All that remained of the original Fortis after completing the restructuring exercise were its insurance segments.

Fortis will change its name to ageas (in lowercase). As per explanation from the company, the first two letters – ag – are a reference to AG Leven, the root of the group back in 1824. The subsequent two letters – ea – are a reference to Europe and Asia, the key markets of the group. Finally, the last two letters of the new name ageas – as – refer to the first two letters of the word assurance, the focus of Fortis’ core insurance business.

The new branding identity of Fortis will take place once the new name ageas is formally approved by the shareholders next month.

Insurance Company mentioned:

Fortis

Fortis is an international insurance company consisting of: 75% ownership of AG Insurance, Fortis Insurance International, a 45% stake in Royal Park Investments – a structured credit portfolio entity – and the financial assets and liabilities of various financing vehicles. AG Insurance is the undisputed leader of the Belgian market for Individual Life and Employee Benefits and is also one of the top players in Non-Life. The international insurance activities (Fortis Insurance International) are located in the UK, where Fortis is the third largest player in the market for private car insurance, France, Hong Kong, Germany, Turkey and Ukraine. In addition, Fortis operates in partnership through joint ventures in Luxembourg (Life), Italy, Portugal, where Millenniumbcp Fortis is among the market leaders, China, Malaysia, India and Thailand.

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Medicare International offering health insurance with ‘passive war cover’

London-based international medical insurer Medicare International has now added ‘passive war cover’ as an option on its health polices to provide coverage for contractors and workers in war torn nations.

Medicare has recognized there is a growing number of people working in and around zones of conflict in the world and has tried to cater to contractors and NGO staff by offering passive war cover options on top of their regular benefits for both individual and group international health insurance policies.

Senior Executive Director of Medicare International, David Pryor, said “In an age where localised conflicts seem to be ever present, whether in the form of a full scale encounter such as that in Afghanistan or on a more localised basis in other world hotspots, the reconstruction and rebuilding of economies is of vital importance. As a contractor or voluntary worker attached to an NGO, preparing yourself for the reality of entering such areas is a must, as the type of medical care which will be needed is quite different from standard healthcare practice. For those companies involved in reconstruction and aid, attracting the necessary highly-skilled specialists can be helped if they know they can at least have full medical cover.”

While most insurance policies have a complete war exclusion, Medicare International’s policies with passive war cover come with the full range of benefit options such as medical and evacuation, as well as rehabilitation coverage of up to £100,000 (US$149,330) which would go towards reconstructive plastic surgery and prosthetics. The plans with passive war cover also provide cover in the event of a terrorist attack. Medicare International also generally offers premium discounts on groups of 3 or more lives insured.

Companies Mentioned:

Medicare International

With 25 years of providing expatriates top quality international health insurance, Medicare International has grown by ensuring quick and easy access to their services 24 hours a day. The company currently covers clients from 86 nationalities in 114 countries around the world.

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British Government tired of picking up bill for medical tourists, mulls changes

The British Government is looking at a number of proposals that would attempt to curtail the number of medical tourists who leave without paying the bill, such as forcing visitors to show proof of medical insurance before entering the country.

The British Home Office has put forward ideas on ways to curtail the abuse of the National Health Service (NHS) system by visitors as the Department of Health is seeking to recover £22 million (US$32.9 million) in debt from foreign nationals that have received NHS services in the last 2 years without paying for them.

Numerous individual NHS Trusts are said to be seeking repayment of over £1 million in outstanding medical costs, including: London’s Imperial College Healthcare which is seeking £1.4 million including two £50,000 unpaid bills, one for a patient from the United Arab Emirates and one from Egypt; Pennine Acute Trust in Manchester has £1.2 million in outstanding bills, of which £34,000 is owed by a Malawian national with HIV; and Barts and the London NHS Trust is seeking repayment of £1.3 million, including a £52,000 surgery bill for a Chinese citizen.

On average, unsettled bills are £1,000, while numbers from the British Department of Health show that 50% of outstanding bills are not settled within one year of receiving treatment and 5% of overseas patients have three or more invoices that haven’t been paid. In total the NHS has to swallow £5 million in medical costs owed by foreigners every year.

At the moment, immigration laws only allow for barring people that already have an outstanding balance with the NHS from coming into Britain specifically for medical treatment. However, the proposals would seek to prevent abuse of the NHS system by making changes to immigration laws including making non-resident foreign nationals show proof that they have health insurance when they go through immigration, and extending the amount of time British expatriates can spend overseas before losing access to NHS services.

Any foreign visitor who already owes money to the NHS would be barred from entry into Britain, while any already in the country would be refused an extension of their visa until the debt has been settled. Also, any migrant seeking British citizenship will have their application delayed until any money they owe the NHS has been repaid. However, the proposals do allow free health care for failed asylum seekers who cannot be returned to their home nations at that time.

The proposals would not cover people who are from countries in the European Economic Area or those nations where Britain has reciprocal healthcare agreements. There are however, some concerns due to the fact that the proposals would mean sharing information on non-paying individuals with the Border Agency, which may be in conflict with patient confidentiality rules.

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Costa Rica welcomes First US Insurance Company to join Local Competition

The regulatory agency responsible for overseeing the insurance superintendency in Costa Rica has approved “Pan American Life Insurance de Costa Rica, S.A.” as provider of insurance coverage in the country. This makes of Pan-American Life Insurance Group, an international insurance provider and financial planning service based in New Orleans, Louisiana, the first US insurance company to be officially welcomed into the Costa Rican market.

The Costa Rican insurance market remained closed up till 2009 when competition was opened, after the passing of the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA). For slightly over 84 years, the National Insurance Insitute (INS) had been the sole provider of insurance to Costa Ricans, together with Seguros del Magisterio, a company providing life insurance to teachers.

Over the years of presence in Latin America, Pan-American Life is the main provider of both individual and group life and health insurance policies in the region comprised by Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

“Pan American Life Insurance de Costa Rica, S.A.” is the name of the local corporation through which the Pan-American Life Insurance Group will compete in the Costa Rican insurance market, together with the other five approved providers of insurance coverage in the country: Seguros del Magisterio, Mundial-MAFRE, Alico Costa Rica, Assa Compania de Seguros and INS.

As per statement released by the regulatory agency overseeing the Costa Rican insurance superintendency (SUGESE), these companies will begin selling their products within the next few months.

Insurance Company mentioned:

Pan-American Life Insurance Group

The Pan-American Life Insurance Group was established in New Orleans in 1911 and now has operations in 47 U.S. states, as well Puerto Rico, Colombia, Guatemala, Panama, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras and the Cayman Islands. In Costa Rica, the company will offer term life insurance, universal life insurance, health and medical expense insurance and accident insurance.

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Bharti AXA General offers discount in honor of International Women’s Day

Indian company, Bharti AXA General Insurance Co. Ltd. announced on the eve of International Women’s Day (March 8^th) that they will be offering a 10% discount for all health insurance products for women all over the country.

“The purpose of our Women’s Day special promotion is to express our support to women across the country and to educate them and their families on the growing significance and benefit of a health insurance.” Said Dr. Amarnath Ananthanarayan, CEO of Bharti AXA General Insurance Co. Ltd.

Bharti AXA’s discount will be available until March 31^st, 2010 and covers health insurance products such as Smart Health Insurance, Critical Illness policies, Hospital Cash Cover policies and the Smart Health High Deductibles Insurance Policy.

Incorporated on the 13^th July 2007, Bharti AXA General Insurance Co. Ltd. is a joint venture company, 74% owned by Bharti Group and 26% owned by AXA.

Companies Mentioned:

AXA Group

AXA Group is a worldwide leader in Financial Protection. AXA’s operations are diverse geographically, with major operations in Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific area.

Bharti AXA General Insurance

Bharti AXA General Insurance is a joint venture between Bharti Group and AXA Group. Founded in July 2007 in Bangalore, India it now has over 40 branches across India offering a variety of insurance products for retail, commercial and rural customers.

Globalsurance International Health Insurance - Expat Medical insurance products for you and your family no matter where in the world you live.

Cuba to require visitors to carry medical insurance

Starting May 1^st, a new Cuban government measure will require all foreigners, and Cubans living abroad, to possess travel insurance with medical cover in order to enter the country.

Cuba’s Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers published the new law in the nations Official Gazette, stating that tourists, and Cuban emigrants must have health insurance before being allowed in the country. Foreign citizens who have temporary residence in Cuba must have medical insurance that covers them for the duration of their stay.

The measure states that only foreign insurance companies that are recognized by Cuba will be allowed to issue the approved insurance plans. Also, there will be sales points at every point of entry into Cuba where travelers can buy insurance from local Cuban insurance entities.

In the published measure, diplomats and members of accredited international organizations will be exempt from this rule, although the measure does not reveal the cost of the mandatory insurance.

The Havana Times has an English translation of the published measure, available here.

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HuaKang awarded First National Insurance Agency Licence by Chinese Insurance Regulator

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) has recently granted HuaKang Financial Services Inc. authorisation to consolidate its existing 17 subsidiaries under their subsidiary in Shenzhen, which in turn will allow all these subsidiaries to be upgraded into branches.

HuaKang Financial Services Inc. is the first and largest Chinese life insurance agency. The company was founded in 2006 and is based in Guangzhou, China.

With permission of CIRC, new branches in China can now be setup under the name Shenzhen HuaKang Insurance Agency Co. Ltd. and carry on developing insurance agency businesses, which the company plans to augment to up to a 30% share of the national market, and aiming to float its shares by next year.

According to HuaKang, their market share in the Chinese life insurance agency sector during the first 3 quarters of last year was 25%, and more than 50% market share in the provincial markets of cities such as Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, Tianjin and Chongqing.

The business strategy for the year 2010 announced by HuaKuang is to remain focused and further develop the suburban markets of first-tier cities in China.

The current 17 subsidiaries of HuaKang are located in Zhejiang, Shandong, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Hebei, Henan, Guangzhou, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing, Anhui and Liaonin.

Insurance Company mentioned:

HuaKang Financial

Huakang is the first nationwide independent insurance intermediary company in China which focus on individual life insurance business,in particular regular life insurance business. Huakang’s nation-wide branches and profesional sales and services teams provide customers personalised, unbiased insurance and financial planning services thanks to its dominating market share and tremendous influence in the insurance intermediary industry. Huakang has won the overall recognition from the Media, competitors and investors. IDG capital and Matrix Partners China have concluded investing RMB500 million into Huakang.

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ING Asia Business attracts interest from European Insurers

The high-growth of Asian markets is proving to be a tempting proposition for some European Insurers currently making unsolicited bids for the business of ING in that region. As per comments made by industry analysts it is thought that Zurich Financial Services Group, Allianz and Axa may be among the potential suitors for ING’s Asia insurance unit.

As part of the restructuring deal mandated by the European Union, ING is splitting off of its global insurance operations and an IPO had been the initial preferred route, although they would keep their options open as communicated by a spokesman.

The bailout deal reached by ING with the authorities in the Netherlands was valued at more than GBP 7 billion back in 2008. Under the terms of the bailout package the European Commission regulators demanded ING to sell its insurance business within four years and focus on its banking operations.

There seems to be a growing number of trade buyers interested in targetting plans for IPOs. The announcement of Prudential Plc buying AIA from AIG is a good example of the type of interest some European companies are demonstrating, playing their role as industry consolidators, after emerging relatively unscathed of the financial crisis in insurance.

According to a recent comment by ING’s CEO, there have been several companies interested in acquiring their Asia business, although Zurich Financial, AXA and Allianz all have declined to comment whether they are prospective purchasers.

Insurance Companies mentioned:

ING

ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, investments, life insurance and retirement services serving more than 85 million private, corporate and institutional customers in Europe, North and Latin America, Asia and Australia. ING Group is active in banking, investment management, life insurance and retirement services across 14 major economies in the Asia Pacific region, employing over 23,000 staff.

Allianz

With nearly 155,000 employees worldwide, the Allianz Group serves approximately 75 million customers in about 70 countries. On the insurance side, Allianz is the market leader in the German market and has a strong international presence. In fiscal 2009 the Allianz Group achieved total revenues of over 97.4 billion euros. Allianz is also one of the world’s largest asset managers, with third-party assets of 926 billion euros under management at year end 2009.

AXA

AXA Group is a worldwide leader in Financial Protection. AXA’s operations are diverse geographically, with major operations in Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific area.

Zurich

Zurich Financial Services Group is an insurance-based financial services provider with a workforce of approximately 60,000 people. Founded in 1872, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, and serving their customers in more than 170 countries. Aims to become one of the top five global insurers.

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AIG and Prudential agree on breakup fee clause

As American Insurance Group’s (AIG) sale of American International Assurance (AIA)to Prudential PLC moves forward, Prudential has agreed to pay American Insurance Group a fee of GB£153 million (US$231 million) should the deal for Asian life insurance unit AIA fall through.

American Insurance Group announced the deal on Monday, March 1^st for approximately US$35.5 billion, divided up between US$25 billion in cash, US$8.5 billion in equity and equity-linked securities at nominal value, and US$2 billion in preferred stock. AIG expects the deal to be closed by the end of 2010.

Based on late Friday filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Prudential has not only agreed to the US$231 million breakup fee, but also payments 0.4% of the outstanding cash value of the deal, possibly over US$100 million per month, should it not be wrapped up by September 1^st, 2010. The board members of both Prudential and AIG have given their approval, but the deal still awaits regulatory and shareholder approval.

The deal already has been given the go-ahead by the U.S. Government, which owns nearly 80% of AIG due to a taxpayer funded bailout of the company for US$182.3 billion. While AIG still owes nearly US$130 billion, it plans on using the US$25 billion cash portion of AIA’s sale to Prudential to buy back US$16 billion of preferred interests in the special purpose vehicle holding AIA stocks from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY), and also pay back a further US$9 billion held by the FRBNY Credit Reserve. In total, money paid back from the sale of AIA would make up nearly 20% of the outstanding debt held by taxpayers.

Companies Mentioned:

AIA

AIA is a Hong Kong-based life insurance company doing business across Asia that has been in business since 1919. They service over 20 million policies through 23,000 employees and 300,000 agents throughout markets in Asia, including; Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Philippines, New Zealand, Malaysia, Macau, Indonesia, India, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Brunei and Australia.

AIG

The American International Group is a leading international insurance organization with operations in more than 130 countries and jurisdictions globally.

Prudential P.L.C.

Prudential has been in the insurance and financial services business since 1848. Today they operate throughout the UK, US and Asia offering international health insurance and retirement planning services, supported by 27,000 employees worldwide.

Globalsurance International Health Insurance - Expat Medical insurance products for you and your family no matter where in the world you live.

CIGNA International offers health assessment on Expatriate Benefits plans

CIGNA International is to begin offering an international health assessment tool to help identify health risks for expatriate employees.

The preventative tool is aimed at identifying areas of health risk for employees that may endanger their work assignment, and comes with any CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits (CIEB) standard health plan to fully insured customers at no extra charge.

The assessment comes as a multilingual online questionnaire, which CIGNA says can be completed in about 20 minutes on CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits secure website www.CIGNAenvoy.com. The questionnaire, developed by London-based CIGNA company vielife, can also be customized to contain questions relating to specific geographical areas and will be available in 20 languages by the end of 2010.

CIGNA says that once the customer answers a series of questions about their lifestyle and health habits, upon completion they will be sent an electronic report detailing potential health risks as well as a section on the customers’ current health status and recommendations for improving their health. CIGNA notes that the questionnaire is both voluntary and confidential.

Sonny Patel, CIEB’s Senior Director of Global Health Solutions said “Completing a health assessment provides individuals with practical, appropriate and achievable recommendations in areas such as stress, nutrition, physical fitness, sleep and work/life balance. It’s an important resource in helping employers ensure their expatriate employees can fulfill their work assignments and enjoy life while away from home,”

Companies Mentioned:

CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits

For more than 125 years, CIGNA has been helping people lead healthier, more secure lives. The company provides health care and related benefits offered through the workplace. Key product lines include health care products and services (medical, pharmacy, behavioral health, clinical information management, dental and vision benefits, and case and disease management); and group disability, life and accident insurance. In addition, CIGNA also provides life, accident, health and expatriate employee benefits insurance coverage in selected international markets, primarily in Asia and Europe.