They may not be able to travel, but it doesn’t mean they will not be able to learn. This year’s edition of an annual training for young insurance managers in Southeast Asia will push through online. The ASEAN School for Young Insurance Managers (AYIM) one of the initiatives of the ASEAN Insurance Education Committee of the ASEAN Insurance Council, will have its 11th session every Tuesday and Friday from 28 September to 15 October, 2020. It is designed to transform promising, high-potential young ASEAN Insurance Managers into multi-faceted leaders possessing the required management skills and broad market visions to assume the cross-functional responsibilities expected of company and industry leaders. Since the School’s launch in Bali, Indonesia in November 2006, it has trained a total of 636 insurance managers from 9 ASEAN countries. The program comprises five Leadership tracks, namely, Strategic Management, Financial Management, Human Capital Management (formerly titled People Management), Corporate Governance & ERM (formerly titled Corporate Risk Management), and an enhanced track on Digital Marketing In Insurance. This is a highly intensive 5-day ASEAN program comprised of case-study learning, lectures, and peer sharing. Participants will benefit immensely from the support and guidance of facilitators who are practitioners with extensive industry experience. Those who want to take part of this course need to meet the following criteria: • Employed by Life Insurers or Non-Life Insurers, Composite Insurers, Reinsurers or Regulators’ office in any of the ASEAN Countries; and • Must submit a Letter of Recommendation from Company; • Must be between 31 and 40 years of age; and • Proficient in English language. For more information, you may visit the Singapore College of Insurance website and download the AYIM brochure (https://www.scicollege.org.sg/docs/AYIM_brochure.pdf) You may also contact directly the Programme Manager - Singapore College of Insurance email at AYIM@scidomain.org.sg.

5G technology will play an increasingly role in the insurance industry, used at the beginning to the end of insurance-related processes and transforming the sector, says the secretary general of the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) , Dr Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn. 5G technology will play a role in the process of developing insurance products and issuing insurance policies to customers. It will also help promote the use of sensors and various IoT devices that transmit data at all times in greater quantities at lower costs, reported Business Nation quoting Dr Suthiphon. By quickly transmitting information about the risks and requirements surrounding a customer and developing protection models, insurance companies can offer products that are appropriate to the risks faced by and needs of customers. For example, customers involved in traffic collisions may not need to wait for a surveyor to get to the accident site to take pictures because customers themselves will take pictures or record videos showing the condition of the vehicle involved in a crash. In addition, more lifestyle data can be collected. The 5G system will enable a large number of smart devices and sensors to be connected together. As a result, the number and application of IoT devices have grown exponentially, such as the use of various wearable devices to help collect data on an insured person's lifestyle and habits. By Asia Insurance Review Team Link to original post: https://www.asiainsurancereview.com/News/View-NewsLetter-Article/id/73491/Type/eDaily/Thailand-5G-technology-to-propel-insurance-industry-transformation

Health insurer Daman has collaborated with Microsoft to launch a bilingual health bot that will assist patients to conduct self-assessment on COVID-19 symptoms and guide them to the appropriate level of care. The AI-powered tool is designed to provide patient assessment for the disease, triage and symptom checking, general medical information and medical recommendations, said Daman in a press release. The health bot will ask patients a defined set of questions and follow specific protocols. Patients are then advised to connect with Abu Dhabi Department of Health, UAE Ministry of Health & Prevention and the Dubai Health Authority for further assistance. Commenting on the collaboration, Daman CEO Hamad Al Mehyas said, “We have a very important social responsibility to play during the pandemic crisis and protect the health and safety of people. The Daman health bot speaks to that effort by addressing queries and reducing person-to-person engagement. “Partners such as Microsoft are empowering us with the right technology to better engage the public and provide the right level of guidance. The Daman health bot will reduce patient visits to hospitals, lessen workload on call centres, enhance patient experience and encourage them to proactively manage their health condition.” The health bot is available on the company’s website and mobile application with the aim of reaching its network of over 2.5m members. By Zuhara Yusoff, Middle East Insurance Review Link to original post: https://www.meinsurancereview.com/News/View-NewsLetter-Article/id/73488/Type/MiddleEast

Europe's four biggest reinsurers racked up an additional EUR3.46bn ($4.1bn) of coronavirus claims and reserves between them in the second quarter, taking the total for the first half of the year to EUR4.9bn, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. More claims are likely to come in amid the continued uncertainty about business interruption, credit and surety and life in particular. The bulk of the EUR1.45bn of coronavirus claims and reserves that Munich Re, Swiss Re, Hannover Re reported in the first quarter came from event cancellation. SCOR SE, which has little exposure to event cancellation, did not book any coronavirus claims in the first quarter. In the second quarter, however, the reinsurers, including SCOR, started to add reserves for other business lines. Event cancellation continued to be the biggest source of expected claims for Munich Re, but the largest single portion of Swiss Re's $2.54bn first-half claims charge was business interruption, which totalled $973m across its property and casualty reinsurance and corporate solutions primary insurance units. Hannover Re said 40% of its EUR600m nonlife reinsurance coronavirus claims hit was for business interruption, with 25% for credit and surety, 20% for event cancellation and 15% for other classes. SCOR’s EUR248m nonlife reinsurance bill came mainly from credit, surety and political risk and business interruption. Having booked no life reinsurance claims in the first quarter, the four companies combined registered life claims and reserves of EUR850m in the second quarter. The majority of the coronavirus claims booked to date comprises reserves for incurred but not reported (IBNR) claims, rather than paid claims or case reserves. Swiss Re's earnings presentation showed that 72% of its $2.54bn total was IBNR. Analysts have said the trajectory of the virus will be a critical factor. If there was another lockdown on the scale of those seen between March and June, then there could possibly be additional claims from the lines of business that have already been hit. Business interruption remains a big source of uncertainty because of the various court battles concerning coverage. Swiss Re CFO John Dacey has said that the company's first-half business interruption provision could absorb unfavourable court decisions "up to a point", it may have to re-evaluate reserves if judgments are "radically adverse to the industry." Hannover Re's non-life reinsurance head, Sven Althoff, told analysts that if all the cases go against the insurance industry, the EUR240m it has set aside for business interruption "would not be sufficient." He also noted that the provision assumes no retroactive changes to business interruption coverage in the US. A further issue is that there is typically a delay before reinsurers are notified about deaths and their causes, which could mean reinsurers having more coronavirus-related mortality claims than they think. By Anoop Khanna, Asia Insurance Review Link to original post: https://www.asiainsurancereview.com/News/View-NewsLetter-Article/id/73357/type/eDaily/Reinsurers-COVID-19-bill-triples-as-claims-start-to-emerge

The Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (PIRA) is joining the prestigious International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) in a bid to increase its members’ capacity to develop and market marine insurance in the country. PIRA Executive Director Michael Rellosa announced this week that the PIRA Technical Committee on Marine Insurance has approved the proposal for PIRA to become an Associate Member of IUMI and accept the sponsorship of the MUAP that covers PIRA’s first-year membership fees in IUMI. IUMI officials Hinasori Ugra, Kosuje Hashimoto, and Kasunori Okamoto met with PIRA last year to discuss the benefits of membership in the prestigious organization. They met with PIRA Trustees Eden R. Tesoro and Joli Co Wu, and Messrs. Elmer Victor B. Felipe and Mandy Velasquez, all part of PIRA Technical Committee on Marine tasked to evaluate the IUMI membership for the PIRA Board’s approval. “PIRA is honored to be a part of IUMI and to have access to IUMI’s technical resources. Our members will surely benefit from this as they will not be able to access IUMI statistics and other important information, as well as learning modules being offered by IUMI,” Mr. Rellosa said. PIRA will now be an Associate Member of IUMI for the next three years. On top of the education modules, statistics and other learning and underwriting information from the IUMI, PIRA members will also benefit from IUMI’s exclusive network of affiliates and professional partners who are all into marine insurance. PIRA’s initial annual membership fee for IUMI worth P60,000 was sponsored by the Marine Underwriters Association of the Philippines (MUAP) whose members, led by Mr. Kent Cotoco and Mr. Carlos Yturzaeta, have proposed to forge an alliance with to bring back the preeminence that Marine Insurance used to enjoy in the Philippines. MUAP has been a subgroup under PIRA but since its membership has dwindled over the years, its function will now be performed by PIRA’s Technical Committee on Marine Insurance. “As the industry’s umbrella organization and policy-making body, PIRA pledges to carry on the valuable work of the MUAP and recognizes the contribution it has made to the industry,” said Mr. Rellosa. Meanwhile, Mr. Rellosa urged PIRA members to take advantage of the new alliance with IUMI to grow their marine insurance portfolio. The IUMI is the world’s oldest insurance industry association and serves as an influential, trusted and unified voice of the global marine insurance market. It currently represents more than 40 national and marine market insurance and reinsurance associations, and through their respective memberships IUMI covers more than 90 per cent of the world’s marine insurance premiums. Marine insurance in the Philippines is lumped together with aviation insurance with gross premiums amounting to about P6.5 billion in premiums in 2017. It includes protection for damages or losses caused to terminals, ships, and transport or cargo that acquire, transfer, or hold goods between different points of source and final terminus. Marine insurance is protection for shipping and transporters corporations, as it helps lessen the financial loss burden owing to the loss of cargo. The use of online gateways has enhanced customer experience by introducing advanced technologies in the marine industry, such as analytics and digitization, things PIRA members expect to learn from the MUAP and the IUMI.

The present Chairman and Executive Director of the Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (PIRA) are now part of the Board of Trustees of the Insurance Institute for Asia and the Pacific (IIAP). Elected to serve as IIAP’s Trustees for the next three years were PIRA’s Chairman Mr. Allan R. Santos and Executive Director Mr. Michael F. Rellosa along with three other insurance industry stalwarts, namely, Ms. Herminia S. Jacinto, Ms. Esther C. Tan, and Mr. Melecio C. Mallillin. This is the first time that Mr. Santos and Mr. Rellosa will be serving the IIAP as Trustees. Ms.  Jacinto, Ms. Tan and Mr. Mallillin, on the other hand, have all been regulars in the IIAP Board and, Ms. Jacinto and Mr. Mallillin have even served as President or Chairperson, respectively, in past years. Other IIAP Trustees who have been elected in previous years and will still be serving this year are Ms. Nina D. Aguas, Ms. Evelyn Carada, Ms. Joli Co Wu, Ms. Eden R. Tesoro, Mr. Celestino L. Ang, Mr. Renato A. Vergel De Dios, Mr. Armand Pesigan,  Mr. Edgardo D. Rosario, Mr. Albert Santos. and Mr. Enrique M. Zalamea. IIAP Executive Director Francisco D. Papa said the Institute is honored to have these respected leaders in the life and non-life insurance sectors as Trustees. “This year’s Board of Trustees is an all-star cast of the best and the brightest in Philippine insurance. The IIAP is truly honored to have them,” he said. Mr. Papa said Mr. Santos and Mr. Rellosa are expected to contribute important insights from their own fields of expertise such as reinsurance for Mr. Santos, and insurance operations and professional education for Mr. Rellosa. Mr. Santos is the President and CEO of the National Reinsurance Corporation of the Philippines and the present chairman of the Reinsurance Working Group of the ASEAN Insurance Council (AIC). Mr. Rellosa, meanwhile, retired two years ago as President and COO of Fortune General Insurance Corporation. Concurrently, he is serving as Executive Director of PIRA and chairman of the association’s Education and Public Relations Committee and also the Education Committee of the AIC. The IIAP is introducing major changes this year as the insurance industry evolves to a “better normal. “We strive to develop and deliver courses that are relevant to the needs of our industry not only for the present but more so for the future,” Mr. Papa said.   # # #

Aditya Birla health (ABH), a standalone private health insurer plans to introduce an array of services and product solutions that will enable its customers to take care of their health needs. The health insurer plans to reduce the initial waiting period from 30 to 15 days for all policyholders for COVID-19 related inpatient hospitalisation claims. Another new offering that will be introduced is the extension of the home treatment facility to policyholders, otherwise requiring hospitalisation and where policyholders have been advised home treatment by the treating doctor in line with the government guidelines. The home treatment facility will be provided on a cashless basis through the company’s network providers and empanelled service providers. The company recently launched the indemnity-based health insurance product Corona Kavach policy which covers COVID-19. The policy covers hospitalisation expenses in case of inpatient admission due to COVID-19 infection and any other co-morbidity which a patient may have. In addition, all indemnity products of the company offer hospitalisation covers, in-patient treatment, pre-hospitalisation, post-hospitalisation, and ambulance cover for COVID-19. The group active health and group active secure hospital cash products also cover COVID-19 treatment on indemnity as well as on a fixed benefit basis. Aditya Birla health CEO Mayank Bathwal said that the new COVID-19 products and add-ons to existing products will safeguard the wellbeing of its customers, right from first stage of the virus detection to post-recovery phase covering pre and post-hospitalisation expenses. “We are constantly speaking to our customers to understand their needs and challenges, and suitably modifying our benefits and offerings to support them further,” he said. ABH has also launched an initiative ‘Active Dayz@Home’ during the recent lockdown to facilitate seamless healthcare to patrons. Through its Activ health app, customers can continue earning their HealthReturns by watching and working out with videos on the app. ABH also launched a campaign #HealthFromHome that re-imagined a healthy lifestyle for Indians during the lockdown. Link to original post: https://www.asiainsurancereview.com/News/View-NewsLetter-Article/id/72981/Type/eDaily/India-Insurer-to-introduce-new-services-and-products-for-COVID-19

Download the AIC e-booklet on COVID-19 here. .

The picture is a shot of the laptop of PIRA Executive Director Mitch Rellosa as he continues to direct the PIRA team in responding to members’ concerns amidst the extended Enhanced Community Quarantine. PIRA continues to coordinate with regulators and partners on behalf of the non-life insurance industry. For any concerns from member companies and the insuring public, please email PIRA and/or send a message at PIRA's Facebook page. Stay safe and healthy always!