Doha-based Qatar Insurance Company Group (QIC) is studying the feasibility of merging with Omani insurer Vision Insurance through its majority owned subsidiary, Oman Qatar Insurance Company (OQIC).
Insurance companies operating in the Egyptian market are urged to take sustainability into account in their investment decisions, said Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) chairman Mohamed Omran.
Insurance clients have started to revalue their insured assets to avoid the application of the proportionality rule in the wake of a weakening Egyptian pound and high inflation.
Misconceptions exist that the insurance industry benefited from lockdowns on activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Jordan Insurance Federation (JIF) director-general Maher Al-Hussein.
Health Assurance Hospitals Company (DHAMAN) and GlobeMed Kuwait have inked a collaboration agreement to offer access to the wide network of DHAMAN’S primary healthcare centres (PHCs).
The Qatari compulsory health insurance law came into force on 6 May 2022, in implementation of a decree issued by the emir of the country, Tamim bin Hamad, late last year.
The Insurance Association of Turkey (TSB) has drawn up reform measures that would be undertaken until 2024, aimed at increasing the insurance penetration rate by developing insurance products and boosting the insurance sector’s contribution to the Turkish economy.
Dubai National Insurance & Reinsurance (DNIR) has signed an MoU with the UAE Cycling Federation (UAECF), a non-profit sports organisation that promotes and encourages cycling in the country. Under the exclusive partnership, DNIR is named the official insurer for all cyclists registered with UAECF.
Global
The debate has moved on from whether inflation will spike to how long it will last, said Gallagher in a report issued last month with the title ‘The inflation risks facing the insurance sector’. The report noted that financial markets have begun to price in more pernicious longer-lasting inflation. In most major economies, a combination of accommodative monetary and fiscal policy, COVID-induced supply constraints and, more recently, a surge in energy costs have created an inflation spike.
Insuramore has completed a global ranking of insurer groups as measured by cyber insurance gross direct premiums written (GDPW) in 2021. This analysis indicated that GDPW for cyber insurance can be estimated globally at around $8.61bn in 2021 rising to almost $9bn if captive insurers are also included, and with the US alone likely to make up over a half of the total.
GlobalData’s 2022 UK Insurance Consumer Survey found that over a quarter of UK consumers would be prepared to purchase home insurance from Google, were it to enter the market. Energy suppliers and Amazon also scored well.
Takaful
Takaful International Company, a subsidiary of gig group, has reported net profit attributable to the shareholders fund of the parent for the first quarter of 2022 of BHD281,000 ($747,340) against BHD255,000 for the same period last year, an increase of 10%. Earnings per share for the same period was at 3.3 fils versus 3 fils for 1Q2021.
Article 157 of the unified insurance bill, which was finally approved by the senate in Egypt, has outlined four obligations for takaful providers that adopt the mudaraba model. Firstly, distributing the surplus to the participants by not less than 50%, in accordance with the distribution mechanisms mentioned in the company’s articles of association, after consulting the shariah supervisory board.
The Supreme Council of Ulemas has approved seven categories of standard takaful contracts. The move will accelerate the market entry of shariah-compliant insurance products.
Qatar Islamic Insurance Group (QIIG) employs a hybrid takaful model, where the shareholders’ fund charges the policyholders’ fund a wakala fee based on gross written contributions (GWC) and a mudaraba fee based on investment income, noted AM Best.
The preliminary financial results of Al-Rajhi Cooperative Insurance (Al-Rajhi Takaful) showed a decline in its net profit before zakat by 40.5% in the first quarter of 2022 to SAR40.75m ($10.86m), compared to about SAR68.5m achieved in the same quarter of 2021, according to a bourse filing.