Finance Minister Colm Imbert As Finance Minister Colm Imbert prepares to deliver his mid-term budget review next week, an insurance executive is appealing to him to make sure the long-delayed Insurance Bill is high on Government’s legislative agenda. Robert Soverall, managing director of Scotia Life of T&T (Scotia Insurance) said even as the Government seeks to devise new strategies to cushion citizens from the effects the recession and the impact of falling energy prices, ma

Bankers are blaming tensions in the repo world on the increasing cost of renting out their balance sheets. As we’ve broken down already, leverage and liquidity requirements make it harder than in the past for banks to borrow cheaply to buy (mostly) riskless and lend those same assets on at higher rates than they have to pay to their own creditors. Which is another way of saying…new guys in the investment scheme don’t get to accrue the same rate of return from new asset purcha

Brit, the global specialty insurer, has launched a Lloyd’s consortium for commercial general aviation. Now quoting business, the consortium is being led by Brit with capacity also being provided by Kiln, Hiscox, Apollo and Pritchard, and is the only Lloyd’s consortium set up purely for commercial general aviation. The consortium is unique in the aviation space in being able to offer a 100 percent placement solution in Lloyd’s. In response to market demands for increasing effi

Falling investment returns compound squeezed underwriting margins A continued high level of reserve releases helped Lloyd’s deliver a profit of £2.1bn ($2.96bn) for 2015, but the headline figure – down 30% on last year – masks the extent to which returns are diminishing. See link below to read more. https://www.insuranceday.com/ece_incoming/reserve-releases-help-maintain-underwriting-profit-at-lloyd-s.htm

A deal between oil producers to freeze output would be meaningless, an IEA executive has said. (iStock) A deal between Russia and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to freeze oil production could be "meaningless", as Saudi Arabia is the only country capable of increasing output, a senior International Energy Agency (IEA) executive said. On 16 February, Saudi Arabia, Russia – the world's two largest crude producers – Venezuela and Qatar reached an agreeme

The recent story of A Surrey, B.C., couple’s vacation gone wrong just goes to show how important it is for Canadians to fully understand the so-called “cheap” insurance policies they’re buying. Mel Milaney and her husband, Tom, were going on a three-week trip to Florida and the Caribbean in 2012. They considered purchasing health insurance from Pacific Blue Cross, their provider, but instead opted for a cheaper policy from RBC Insurance. As they recounted to the CBC, Mel fell

Photo Courtesy of Flazingo Photos Summary: Foreign investment – especially from Japan and China – will fuel U.S. deals activity for the foreseeable future. Insurance M&A activity in the U.S. rose to unprecedented levels in 2015, surpassing what had been a banner year in 2014. There were 476 announced deals in the insurance sector, 79 of which had disclosed deal values with a total announced value of $53.3 billion. This was a significant increase from the 352 announced deals i

Ride-hailing service Uber has sounded out car companies about placing a large order for self-driving cars, an auto industry source said on Friday. “They wanted autonomous cars,” the source, who declined to be named, said. “It seemed like they were shopping around.” Loss-making Uber would make drastic savings on its biggest cost — drivers — if it were able to incorporate self-driving cars into its fleet. Volkswagen’s Audi, Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz, BMW and car industry supplier

Chip Sa Gomes, chairman of Tatil and Tatil Life, presents a trophy to Trudy Pedro, 2015 Best All Round Producer during the insurance company’s Annual Salespersons Awards yesterday at the Trinidad Hilton and Conference Centre. PHOTO: SEAN NERO There is no likelihood of a food shortage if consumers shift their tastes from imported to local items, Executive Director of the Ansa McAL Group of Companies Ray Sumairsingh said yesterday. “We have been living on the exotic end of the

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) announced today that 20 automakers have agreed to make automatic emergency braking (AEB) standard by September 1st, 2022, representing "more than 99 percent" of the US auto market. NHTSA has long praised automatic braking systems as a safety win, but the technology has only recently started rolling out on a wide scale. Using forward-looking sensors, automatic braki