Catholic insurance body hits $100 billion milestone
The Knights of Columbus has reached a milestone this week; it now has $100 billion of life insurance in force. The Catholic fraternal organization has almost 1.9 million members worldwide and offers them insurance through a network of 1,500 agents in the US and Canada who are all members too. The New Boston Post reports that the organization, based in Connecticut, has around $21 billion of assets according to AM Best, making it one of the largest insurers in North America.
Canadian insurer eyes Indonesian insurance business
The general insurance business of Indonesian holding company PT Paninvest is being offered for sale according to the Wall Street Journal. The $500 million price tag for the non-life business is of interest to a number of global insurers, the article says, with Canada’s
Intact Financial Corp. among them. Hong Kong’s Pacific Century Group and Assicurazioni
Generali of Italy are among other potential bidders sources claim.
Business optimism highest in US says insurer
A survey of business sentiment among SMEs has by
Zurich has found the US to be most optimistic for future business but has also identified a number of risks. The global insurer’s annual poll of c-suite and managers at SMEs in 15 countries has included the US for the first time this year. US respondents highlighted a number of risks identified by the businesses; high competition ranked highest at 35 per cent followed by lack of consumer demand (30.5 per cent). The US firms saw the highest risk of all those polled for technological vulnerabilities and cyber risk; although these were still low at 15 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.
Insurer tops rankings for hiring veterans
An insurance firm has ranked highly for supporting military veterans and their families by offering job opportunities and training. Topping the annual Military Friendly Employers list from GI Jobs Magazine is Combined Insurance Company of America. The ACE Group company has operated a veteran recruiting program since 2010 and has hired more than 2,500 since with a plan to hire a further 2,800 over the next two years. Last year 42 per cent of those joining the company had a military background.
