Latest Asia Headlines

All the headlines from our Asia Topic Page, ordered by recency.

AIA Group’s New Business Growth Up 23%

Oct 17 2014 // AIA Group Ltd., the second-largest insurer by market value based in Asia, posted a higher-than- expected value of new business growth of 23 percent in the third quarter, aided by expansion in its largest markets.The...

Best Upgrades Ratings of Taiping Reinsurance

Oct 9 2014 // A.M. Best has upgraded the financial strength rating to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating to “a” from “a-” of Taiping Reinsurance Company Limited (TPRe) (Hong Kong). The...

Hong Kong Protests Prompt Financial Firms to Relocate Staff

Oct 1 2014 // Some banks and other financial firms have begun moving staff to back-up premises on the outskirts of Hong Kong to prevent growing unrest in the financial hub from disrupting trading and other critical functions, two...

Swiss Re’s Chief Economist Analyzes a Difficult Reinsurance Market

Sep 22 2014 // Over the past 13 years Swiss Re’s Chief Economist, Kurt Karl has been through a succession of reinsurance market ups and downs, but the current situation is somewhat new, and, as he told the IJ at the Reinsurance...

Ko Appointed Chairman of Willis Asia

Sep 8 2014 // Willis Group Holdings plc has appointed Huichih Ko as Chairman of Willis Asia, effective September 9. He will be initially based in the Singapore HQ of Willis Asia, which employs around 890 associates in 36 offices.The...

Argo Group Hires Ribeiro as Head of International Businesses

Sep 2 2014 // The Bermuda-based Argo Group International Holdings announced that Jose Ribeiro has been hired to the newly created position of head of international, effective immediately. He will be based in the company’s London...

CGSC Launches Marine Specialists Latitude in Hong Kong

Sep 2 2014 // Latitude Brokers Ltd., previously the Marine Division of Cooper Gay Asia, has been launched as a separate entity. The change follows the receipt of regulatory approval in July 2014 by the Hong Kong Confederation of...

Beattie to Head Miller’s Expanded Asia Construction Offering

Aug 29 2014 // UK-based broker Miller Insurance Services LLP announced that it has “implemented plans to grow its Asia construction book with the appointment of producer Paul Beattie as Head of Construction, Asia.”Beattie has...

Berkshire Hathaway Hires Two Sr. Execs from AIG Asia – WSJ Report

Aug 14 2014 // Berkshire Hathaway has hired two senior executives from American International Group’s Asia operations to boost its insurance business in the region, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the...

AIG’s 13-Year Wait Gets Longer as Modi Rebuffed: Corporate India

Aug 14 2014 // American International Group Inc. has waited 13 years in India to raise its stake in a local venture from a maximum allowed 26 percent. That wait is about to get longer.Opposition lawmakers, during the current session of...

U.S., Rockefeller $100M Fund Promotes Natural Disaster Mitigation, Insurance for Poor

Aug 6 2014 // The U.S. Agency for International Development and the Rockefeller Foundation are starting a $100 million project to prepare vulnerable communities for climate- caused humanitarian disasters before they happen.The...

Singapore Tells Airlines to Review Conflict Zone’s Risk Assessments

Jul 23 2014 // Singapore’s civil aviation authority has asked airlines based in the city-state to review their risk assessment of conflict zones following the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner over Ukraine last week.The...

Airlines Shocked by Jet Attack; Ask Why No-Fly Zones Are So Rare

Jul 22 2014 // A universal no-fly area declared in eastern Ukraine after the downing of Malaysian Air Flight 17 is a rare restriction currently shared only with North Korea, prompting airlines including Deutsche Lufthansa AG to question...

Gen Re Announces Senior Appointments in Asia Pacific

Jul 22 2014 // Berkshire Hathaway’s General Re has announced a number of senior appointments in the Asia Pacific region, as follows:Pietro Toffanello will assume the role of Property/Casualty Regional Manager for Asia Pacific, in...

As America Overall Ages with Boomers, Energy States See Youth Boom

Jul 21 2014 // Seven states, including five in the Great Plains, saw their median age decline between 2012 and 2013, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. At the same time, the median age for the United States as a whole ticked up...

Dryad Maritime Reports ‘Increasing Threat’ of Piracy in Southeast Asia

Jul 10 2014 // Marine intelligence specialist Dryad Maritime has issued a warning of an increasing threat from Southeast Asia piracy following the release of their second quarter figures, which show that the area continues to experience...

As America Overall Ages with Boomers, Energy States See Youth Boom

Jul 7 2014 // Seven states, including five in the Great Plains, saw their median age decline between 2012 and 2013, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. At the same time, the median age for the U.S. as a whole ticked up from 37. 5...

As America Overall Ages with Boomers, Energy States See Youth Boom

Jun 26 2014 // Seven states, including five in the Great Plains, saw their median age decline between 2012 and 2013, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. At the same time, the median age for the U.S. as a whole ticked up from 37.5...

Japan’s MS&AD Planning on Insurance Acquisitions for Growth in Southeast Asia

Jun 24 2014 // MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc., Japan’s largest non-life insurer, will seek acquisitions in Southeast Asia to expand its overseas business, said President and Chief Executive Officer Yasuyoshi...

ACE Names Chen Underwriting Manager for Asia Property, Terrorism

Jun 23 2014 // ACE Group has appointed Cassie Chen as regional Property and Terrorism underwriting manager for Asia. She will be based in the Singapore regional office and will report to Jason Keen, head of Property for Asia. Chen joined...