In a move that has caught agents and brokers off guard, Nordic Healthcare, a provider of international health insurance, has announced that it will cease sales of new individual policies in all but its core markets.  This means that, with immediate effect, Nordic will no longer be issuing new IPMI policies anywhere in the world except Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam. The announcement…

Low interest rates "an enormous stress"

The current European economic climate, created by efforts to try to stimulate economic growth and rescue an ailing banking sector, is placing the insurance industry under "enormous stress". This according to Nikolaus von Bomhard, Chief Executive of Munich Re, one of the world's largest investors with a portfolio of more than €200 billion (US$245…

With the flooding in Thailand beginning to abate after it first started in July, the cost of covering all the P&C (property & casualty) insurance claims and other flood-related claims may come to upwards of US$10 billion for the insurance industry. With the rains during Thailand's monsoon season causing flooding across many parts of the country over the last few months, the loss of life and property…

Munich Reinsurance Co., the world's largest reinsurer, could be seeking to expand its operations in the United States.

More established players in the reinsurance market are set to release their quarterly accounts and reassess their capacity to now meet annual growth targets.

Perils AG, an insurance industry initiative which aims to improve the availability of catastrophe insurance market data, has released a loss index suggesting that the latest US$63.25 million (EUR 50 million) reinsurance transaction between Allianz Risk Transfer and Munich Re, for coverage of European wind risk, has contributed to the US$250 million (EUR 198 million) total placements of insurance transactions during the first six months of 2010. The deal between Allianz Risk Transfer and Munich RE was brokered by Willis Re, a leading reinsurance broker.

Munich Re has been licensed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to open a reinsurance unit called Munich Re Underwriting Agents (DIFC) Ltd. in the Dubai International Financial Center, making it the first of the biggest reinsurance companies in the world to do so. Operating out of the Dubai International Financial Center will allow Munich Re Underwriting Agents to service the entire…