Latest Asia Headlines

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

A.M. Best to Open Branch in Dubai for Middle East, Africa, Asia

Feb 21 2012 // Rating agency A.M. Best’s London office said it has obtained the necessary approvals to establish a branch operation in the Dubai International Financial Center in Dubai, UAE. The new office will serve Middle...

Prudential Picks Merrill for Advisor on ING Asia Bid

Feb 13 2012 // Prudential Financial Inc , the No.2 U.S. life insurer, has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch to advise on its possible bid for ING Groep NV’s Asian insurance operations, South Korean media reported, in what is...

ING to Split Investment Unit from Insurance Sale

Feb 9 2012 // ING has decided to split the sale of its Asian insurance business by auctioning its investment management business separately, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.ING has hired Credit Suisse as the...

People

Feb 6 2012 // Marsh & McLennan Companies has appointed AIG executive Julio Portalatin as CEO of Mercer, MMC’s human resource consulting unit. Portalatin succeeds M. Michele Burns who left the firm last October. Portalatin...

Korea Life Considers Bid for ING’s Asia Insurance Business

Feb 2 2012 // Korea Life Insurance Co. Ltd said on Thursday that it is reviewing the feasibility of bidding for ING Groep NV’s Asia-Pacific insurance operations.The potential $6 billion deal is also expected to attract the...

Chartis Realigns Global Business Units Amid Departure of Key Executive

Jan 18 2012 // Chartis said it is streamlining its geographic structure to add greater focus on its growth economies initiatives. The move comes amid the departure of Chartis Growth Economies CEO Julio Portalatin, who is leaving the...

AIA May Bid $6B for ING Asian Business

Jan 17 2012 // AIA Group Ltd, Asia’s No.3 insurer and about one-third owned by American International Group Inc., may bid for the $6 billion Asian insurance operations of ING Groep, sources said, with the prospective sale expected...

Aon Benfield Appoints 2 in Asia Pacific Region

Jan 13 2012 // Aon Benfield announced two new appointments within its Asia Pacific division.Henry To will become non-executive chairman for Greater China. To has been with the firm for 30 years, having served most recently as chief...

Aon Benfield 2011 Catastrophe Study: $107 Bn Insured Losses; $435 Bn Economic

Jan 10 2012 // Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon Corp, has issued its “Annual Global Climate and Catastrophe Report,” which aggregates and analyses the natural disaster perils that...

Ratings: QBE Del Istmo, Asia Capital Re, Lloyd’s Syndicate 570 (Atrium)

Jan 9 2012 // A.M. Best Co. has assigned a financial strength rating of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings of “a-” to Panama-based QBE Del Istmo Reinsurance Inc, Del Istmo Assurance Corp and Liffey...

Ratings Recap: Evergreen Re, Asian Re, Toa Re, Meritz

Dec 27 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a” of Bermuda-based Evergreen Reinsurance Company, Ltd. (ERCL), both with stable outlooks....

Best Affirms NIPPONKOA Insurance Company (Asia) Limited’s Ratings

Dec 22 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a” of Hong Kong-based NIPPONKOA Insurance Company (Asia) Limited, both with stable...

Swiss Re Sees Continued Emerging Market Growth; Profitability Squeeze

Dec 20 2011 // Insurance in emerging markets has “experienced strong growth over the past decade and the outlook for the next decade remains promising,” a Swiss Re sigma study concludes.However, it also notes that...

Willis Strengthens So. Africa Role with Pickering Appointment

Dec 5 2011 // Willis Group Holdings announced the appointment of Scott Pickering, President, Willis Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, as CEO of Willis South Africa in a move it described as a “response to increasing...

Dallamore Joins Howden as Consultant in Asia

Dec 2 2011 // Howden Broking Group, the broking arm of Hyperion Insurance Group, has appointed Brian Dallamore as a non-executive director of the board that oversees Howden’s retail operations in South East Asia. Brian has over 32...

Thai Flood May Hit Asia Harder Than Japan Disaster: Official

Nov 29 2011 // The impact from Thailand floods on Asia’s production networks may last longer and be deeper than that from Japan’s March earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, a senior Asian Development Bank official said on...

JLT Re Names Beatty Managing Director – Asia Pacific

Nov 22 2011 // JLT Reinsurance Brokers Limited (JLT Re) announced the appointment of Stuart Beatty as Managing Director, Asia Pacific (APAC), JLT Re Fac.Alistair Lockhart-Smith, Managing Director, welcomed Beatty to JLT Re as part of its...

Allianz Asia CEO Says Thai Floods Could be Costliest Disaster in a Decade

Nov 18 2011 // Insured losses from Thai floods could be in the double-digit billions of dollars and the disaster will lead to a re-assessment of weather risks to industries in Asia, a senior official from global insurer Allianz...

Manulife Expands Asian Reach with Cambodia Unit

Nov 16 2011 // Manulife Financial said it has received approval to establish operations in Cambodia, which will expand the Canadian insurer’s reach into an 11th Asian market.Manulife said in a statement it had “approval in...

Spate of Disasters Exposes Supply Chain Weakness

Nov 14 2011 // When flood waters rose in Thailand, Wal-Mart stores in Japan ran out of mouthwash. “We were out of mouthwash in Japan for about four days,” Scott Price, Wal-Mart’s Asia chief executive officer, said at...