MetLife reported a 36% increase in premiums, fees and other revenues from the insurance business outside of the U.S. in the year 2010, mainly due to the addition of about $836 million from ALICO's one month operations. MetLife acquired ALICO for about $15.5 billion from AIG as a part of its strategy to grow internationally. The acquisition has enabled MetLife to serve 90 million customers in over 60 countries and has significantly boosted MetLife's position as a leading insurance company in the U.S, Japan, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East.

Continue reading ALICO Accelerates MetLife's International Growth

ALICO Accelerates MetLife's International Growth originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Generally, I avoid stocks already above $50 -- but there are exceptions. Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU) is one of these, and it's worth a review.

Prudential has weathered the recession and is now set to post impressive earnings growth in 2011 and 2012.

A strong variable annuity business is likely to be complemented by double-digit earnings growth in asset management: The company currently manages about $641 billion in assets. Meanwhile, PRU's insurance unit will recover more slowly, due to sub-par life and disability margins.

Continue reading Is Now a Good Time to Consider Prudential?

Is Now a Good Time to Consider Prudential? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Some amazing information has come to light regarding AT&T (ATT), Verizon (VZ), Caterpillar (CAT) and Deere & Co. (DE). It would seem that these companies (among a host of others, I'm sure) have initially determined that dropping health coverage for employees could significantly benefit their bottom lines, and thus benefit investors.

No Surprise Here

As reported by CNNMoney.com, when the health reform bill finally received the president's signature, many large companies began to assess the potential costs of the legislation. At the same time, much was made of the large write-downs that companies took in reaction to changes brought on by the new law.

Continue reading AT&T, Caterpillar, Verizon, and Deere Considered Dropping Health Coverage

AT&T, Caterpillar, Verizon, and Deere Considered Dropping Health Coverage originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 08 May 2010 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Catastrophe bond capacity is maturing, and not much of it is coming back. In the first quarter, $1.8 billion in cat bond risk capital matured, and only $508 million returned in the form of new issuances, according to Thomson Reuters. This quarter, $2.77 billion is maturing, and the absence of first-time issuers makes it unlikely that the market will replace it all. More than a billion of it was from State Farm's Merna Re transaction. The successor to it has already been issued, cleverly named Merna Re II, at only a fraction of the previous bond.

Continue reading Catastrophe Bond Issuance Gap Is upon Us

Catastrophe Bond Issuance Gap Is upon Us originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Insurers Ready for Above-Average Hurricane Season

Insurers Ready for Above-Average Hurricane Season originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Reinsurance Industry Approaches Record Levels

Reinsurance Industry Approaches Record Levels originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Apr 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The first quarter of 2010 will probably go down in history as the worst ever for catastrophe losses.

According to global reinsurance broker Willis Re (WSH), the insurance industry recorded $16 billion in insured losses, from the Chile earthquake and Windstorm Xynthia in Europe, but the largest losses occurred in smaller markets, where it premium volumes aren't as large. Since the third and fourth quarters tend to be the most loss-prone of the year, a quarter that is normally quiet could set the stage for outsized losses.

Continue reading Q1 Catastrophes May Hit Earnings, Won't Change Market

Q1 Catastrophes May Hit Earnings, Won't Change Market originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Florida Insurance Bodies to Issue Bonds

Florida Insurance Bodies to Issue Bonds originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Lloyd's of London Turns in Record Year

Lloyd's of London Turns in Record Year originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As with just about every impact of the financial crisis on the insurance industry, the increase in securities class action lawsuit settlements wasn't as bad as the industry expected.

According to a study by Stanford Law School and Cornerstone Research, settlements grew only 39% year over year in 2009. Insurers and reinsurers writing directors and officers insurance in the U.S. are probably relieved to see that the reality didn't reach what they feared. The number could tick higher, though, as these cases work their way through the court system.

Continue reading Insurance Industry Relieved over 2009 Securities Class Action Tally

Insurance Industry Relieved over 2009 Securities Class Action Tally originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Bermuda Readies Itself for New Insurance Regulation in Europe

Bermuda Readies Itself for New Insurance Regulation in Europe originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chubb CEO Says Bailouts Cost Insurers Opportunity

Chubb CEO Says Bailouts Cost Insurers Opportunity originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After weeks of speculation, the financial damage from the Chile earthquake and Windstorm Xynthia in Europe is starting to emerge. According to a recent report by Moody's, 16 global reinsurance companies have reported their net insured losses (before taxes) from the catastrophe event, and the damage has already reached $3.5 billion, increasing an already high tally. The firm expects these events to have a noticeable impact on first quarter results for the industry.

According to the report, the first quarter of 2010's results "will have many moving pieces, including the possibility of favorable loss reserve development." It continues, though, that "we would expect a number of reinsurers to post both operating and net losses for the quarter."

Continue reading Q1 Cats Likely to Have Reinsurance Earnings Impact

Q1 Cats Likely to Have Reinsurance Earnings Impact originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Now if you blame the media, someone else will have to share in the losses.

Insurance company Aviva (AV) is taking the side of camera-wielding, microphone-thrusting pushy press folks with a new form of protection that will cover everything from electronics to foot-in-mouth syndrome (i.e., liability). The insurance product will be available to a variety of companies, including both online and print publishers, broadcasters, photographers and marketing and advertising companies. So, if you're responsible for the news, the ads or the process of putting them in front of eyeballs, Aviva probably has you in mind.

Continue reading New Insurance Product Protects Media

New Insurance Product Protects Media originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Merna Re, the largest catastrophe bond of all time, is set to mature in June, and State Farm is already putting together its replacement, the creatively named Merna Re II. The successor, planned for issuance in April, is said to be for $400 million in risk capital, though investor demand could push it as high as $700 million. This still pales in comparison to the $1.2 billion that the original brought in the door.

If State Farm is able to stimulate demand for Merna Re II, which would protect the company from non-California earthquake risk in the U.S., it will be third cat bond to come to market in 2010, which is expected to be a strong year for this form of risk transfer. The cat bond market fell silent after the near-collapse of American International Group (AIG) in September 2008 but was still the third busiest in terms of capital issued in the history of the cat bond market. Heading into 2009, prospects for the cat bond space seemed uncertain, but a robust fourth quarter eventually resulted in a year-over-year increase, driven mostly by repeat issuers.

Continue reading State Farm Planning Monster Cat Bond

State Farm Planning Monster Cat Bond originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Catastrophe modelers, insurers and reinsurers are still sorting out the damage from Windstorm Xynthia in Europe and the earthquake in Chile. Taking only the highest of high-end estimates, the damage from these two catastrophes could exceed $12 billion, resulting in fairly steep property-catastrophe losses long before hurricane season begins. With three more major property reinsurance renewals remaining for the year -- at April 1, June 1 (Florida) and July 1 -- there is plenty of time for the impact of these events to be absorbed into reinsurance pricing.

Continue reading Assessing the Tab for Q1 Catastrophes

Assessing the Tab for Q1 Catastrophes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Munich Re Profit Surges by More Than 60%

Munich Re Profit Surges by More Than 60% originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Annual Ritual: Speculating on Florida Insurance Market's Strength

Annual Ritual: Speculating on Florida Insurance Market's Strength originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading 2010 Catastrophe Losses Already Half Last Year's Total

2010 Catastrophe Losses Already Half Last Year's Total originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It looks like American International Group (AIG) has found another $15.5 billion. The insurance company is selling its American Life Insurance Co. division to MetLife (MET) for $6.8 billion in cash and $8.7 billion in equities. Approximately $9 billion from this sale will be used to repay funds provided by the Federal Reserve, totaling $182.3 billion. This follows the announcement of Prudential's $35.5 billion designs on AIG's Asian operations.

Robert Haines, analyst at CreditSights, tells Bloomberg News, "This is a sizeable transaction." He continues, "It demonstrates they're making some tangible progress on their plan to divest assets."

Continue reading MetLife to Spend $15 Billion on AIG Life Division

MetLife to Spend $15 Billion on AIG Life Division originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.