by Richard Brown
Stock shocks suffered by leading insurers
A slew of share price slumps among leading US insurers yesterday brought the impact of currency variations and weak investment returns into sharp focus.
Principal Financial Group Inc. fell the most since 2011, at $2.88, or 7.6 percent, to $35.07 in New York trading on Tuesday, while
MetLife Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc the U.S. life insurance sector’s heavyweights, each fell at least three percent. All three firms run significant operations outside their domicile, where a more robust dollar can depress earnings.
Principal, MetLife and Prudential also manage vast investment portfolios, which embrace vehicles for third-party clients and holdings backing insurance obligations which are vulnerable to market volatility. Piper Jaffray analyst John Nadel told investors Des Moines, Iowa-based Principal has a “difficult business mix amid the current environment”.
Zurich and Aon to kick-start Chicago apprenticeships
Zurich North America is helping spur apprenticeships across Chicago’s insurance and financial services sectors. Mike Foley, Zurich North America Commercial CEO, Aon President & CEO Greg Case and leading figures from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the city’s financial services sectors are to discuss encouraging Chicago area students to enter the industry. A breakfast meeting is set for March 7.
Case said “Building a highly-skilled and diverse workforce is important not only for the U.S. economy but to the future of our industry.” President Obama has vowed to double the number of registered apprenticeships in coming years.
Allianz Life names Koslow compliance chief
Steve Koslow has been recruited by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America and Allianz Life Insurance Company of New York recently as chief compliance officer. His responsibilities include overseeing the compliance management system for insurance, broker/dealer and investment advisor regulated business, plus legal and regulatory requirements. He reports to Gretchen Cepek, Allianz Life general counsel.
Previously Koslow was chief ethics and compliance officer with CUNA Mutual Group in Madison, Wisconsin and also held director roles with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Madison and Chicago.
U.S. auto wrecks pile on Zurich’s woes
A U.S. auto accidents and the biggest man-made disaster in Chinese history pushed Zurich Insurance Group’s general insurance business to a third-quarter loss of $183 million. Adding to the pain, the company predicted a fourth-quarter loss of $100 million after having to pay out $275 million to cover damage claims from storms in the U.K.
As a result, Zurich Insurance Group is “prepared to shrink” some of its businesses. Chief risk officer Cecilia Reyes, express surprise at the poor underwriting results in the general insurance business. “We need to either re-price or, if we cannot get the right level of compensation to the risk, we should walk away from some risks,” she added.
Zurich is recalling Mario Greco, who ran general insurance before he left in 2012, as CEO in May, replacing Martin Senn who left in December.
