From Editor-in-Chief
Anniversary special: MICC turns five
MIIA winner's profile: Pioneering takaful in Qatar
Asset management: Costs and benefits of spreading asset allocation
Women in insurance: Glass ceiling chipped, not yet broken
Lloyd's takes the Middle East plunge
Winds of change in Qatar
Evolving with Qatar's burgeoning needs
Exceeding growth expectations
QFC: A decade in the making
Multaqa makes its mark
NAT CAT: Are insurers ready for rising CAT exposures?
NAT CAT: Keeping up with Nat CAT perils in the Middle East
NAT CAT: Ignore CAT risks at own peril
NAT CAT: The need for quality data in CAT models
NAT CAT: A return to more damaging events?
NAT CAT: CAT modelling set to transform
Property: Exciting times for MENA property insurance
Aviation: Capacity to meet growing airline demand
Selecting a reinsurance partner
Making takaful work in Qatar
Microtakaful: Indonesia: A ready market for microtakaful
MEIF: Call for regulatory harmony at MEIF
Managing the risks of big data
MENA & GCC: GCC's oil export losses could total US$300 bln - IMF
Middle East: Jobless youths forecast to hit 50 mln by 2020
Middle East: Winter storm caused US$100 mln in economic losses
Algeria: Proposed law to mandate construction insurance
Egypt: Proposed reinsurer to have US$450 mln in capital
Egypt: Medical premiums up 27% to US$130 mln
Jordan: Arab Orient Insurance records 23% growth in 2014 profits to US$7 mln
Kuwait: Medical body calls for review of health insurance law
Kuwait: GIG's 2014 profits grow 18% to US$41 mln
Morocco: Transport insurer turns to telematics
Oman: GWP rises 10% to US$1 bln for 2014
Oman: AIG opens four branches
Qatar: Qatar Re grows 1 Jan renewals by 25%
Tunisia: 2015 sees start of five-year insurance plan
Tunisia: Motor TPL premiums hiked by 10%
Turkey: GWP up 7% in 2014
UAE: New rules to align insurers with international solvency requirements
UAE: Insurance House taking steps to improve performance
UAE: OIC's GWP up 10% to US$871 mln in 2014
UAE: Millennium and RMS enter into broking JV
UAE: NEXtCARE and American Hospital Dubai extend partnership
UAE: Several changes afoot in motor insurance
Insurance industry leaders launch microinsurance consortium
Bahrain: New takaful rules to promote growth
Egypt: ICIEC partners with OPIC on oil and gas investments
Jordan: Islamic Insurance grew 9% in 2014
Kuwait: Moody's affirms Gulf Takaful's Ba1 IFSR rating with stable outlook
Malaysia: Al Rajhi Bank bullish on takaful
Pakistan: EFU Life opens family takaful window
Qatar: Al Khaleej Takaful Group assigned 'BBB' ratings with stable outlook
Saudi Arabia: Tawuniya back in the black
UAE: Takaful Re expected to build position over next two years - S&P
IFSB Summit to discuss core principles for Islamic finance regulation
Diary of events
People on the move
Hats off to the insurance industry
COVER STORY
After years of speculation and anticipation, Lloyd's is finally launching its Middle East platform in Dubai this March. What lies ahead for Lloyds and the region?
COUNTRY PROFILE
There are signs of regulatory reforms and industry collaboration to raise premium retention, even as companies are calling for more to be done to improve market discipline.
SPECIAL FEATURE
Women have made great strides breaking into the executive ranks, but are still under-represented at senior management and board positions of many insurers in the Middle East. In fact, there is only one female CEO out of 88.
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This year marks the fifth anniversary of the MENA Insurance CEO Club (MICC), launched in 2010 with the vision to become the mouthpiece and think tank for the regional insurance industry. We trace the highlights of its journey, and preview what lies...
Takaful in Qatar effectively began when Qatar Islamic Insurance Co commenced operations in 1995 and in 2014, it won the Family and General Takaful Company of the Year Awards at the Middle East Insurance Industry Awards. CEO Ali Ibrahim Al Abdulghani...
The slump in oil prices may push GCC insurers towards further globalisation of investment policy, but what challenges are they likely to face? Mr Andrew Epsom of Towers Watson explores the topic.
Since its establishment in 1964, Qatar Insurance Company (QIC) has consistently grown along with the state's economic growth, says Mr P E Alexander, CEO of QIC Qatar.
General Takaful exceeded its expected growth plan last year and enhanced its engineering class of business, said General Manager Majed Akel.
Nine years on, Multaqa Qatar has grown to become a highly regarded event, providing a unique platform for insurance and reinsurance executives to discuss strategic issues and to do business.
With poor response forcing us to cancel the Middle East CAT Conference in January with the theme, "Rising CAT Exposures in Middle East - Are Insurers Ready?", we bring you the thoughts of the dedicated professionals who made their commitment to the...
Enhancing tools to understand and assess regional Nat CAT perils will help to create a strong and sustainable CAT excess-of-loss market in the Middle East and benefit both insurers and reinsurers, says Mr Rainer Lehner of Asia Capital Re.
In the absence of specialised Nat CAT models, companies can start building in worst-case scenarios in their capital models, says Mr Hatim Maskawala of Badri Management Consultancy.
Choosing a reinsurer is an important process for any insurance company, but how should one go about it? Mr Mahomed Akoob of Hannover ReTakaful provides a step-by-step guide.
There is tremendous potential for takaful to grow in Qatar, but operators have to be responsive to market needs while being disciplined in both underwriting and expenses, says Mr Muhammad Ashraf A Siddiqui of Qatar Islamic Insurance Co.
In early 2014, the Regulatory Framework Promotion of Pro-Poor Insurance Markets in Asia (RFPI) partnered with Indonesia's Financial Services Authority (OJK) in cooperation with the Indonesian Syariah Insurance Association (AASI) on a microtakaful...
The 11th Middle East Insurance Forum (MEIF) in Bahrain highlighted the need for co-operation among regulators, risk awareness, product innovation and other requisite factors for companies to thrive in a changing insurance landscape.
Mr Dino Wilkinson of Norton Rose Fulbright (Middle East) considers some of the potential opportunities for extracting value from large data sets and looks at how insurers can identify and manage the legal and regulatory risks that result from the...
The GCC countries will be most affected among oil-exporting countries by the decline in oil prices, pushing oil and gas export earnings down by about US$300 billion in 2014, predicted the IMF.
The number of unemployed youth in the Arab world is expected to more than double to 50 million by 2020, from 22 million at the end of 2013.
Economic losses caused by January's powerful winter storm which hit several territories in the Middle East have totalled US$100 million, according to a report by Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield's catastrophe model development unit.
A group of leading companies in the insurance industry have established a microinsurance consortium and microinsurance venture incubator (MVI).
Changes to Bahrain's takaful model are being implemented by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) to facilitate the industry's growth, said Mr Abdul Rahman Al-Baker, Executive Director of Financial Institutions Supervision at last month's 11th Middle...
The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), the insurance arm of the Islamic Development Bank Group, has announced its provision of US$80 million reinsurance support to the Overseas Private Investment...
The Islamic Insurance Company has reported that its total contributions rose to about JOD21.5 million (US$30.3 million) for 2014, 9% higher than the JOD19.7 million collected the previous year.
The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) has announced the theme of the 12th IFSB Summit, namely, "Core Principles for Islamic Finance: Integrating with the Global Regulatory Framework".
It's time to celebrate all those in the insurance industry who help ordinary folk deal with the realities of life on a daily basis, says Cindi Betzina, wife of Mr Fareed Lutfi of the Emirates Insurance Association.