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☆ Life Insurance Is Profitable Again, but Too Late for Many Insurers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Leslie Scism | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Allstate’s exit from the life-insurance business came amid shareholder concern over low returns, the company’s chief executive says. The past 15 years has been a lousy time to sell life insurance. Higher interest rates driven by the Federal Reserve’s inflation-fighting campaign have given the industry a new chance to profit. But many of the big U.S. publicly traded insurers will miss the party.

UnitedHealth is among the largest players in the Medicare Advantage market, where private insurers offer an alternative to the original Medicare - the federal government's health insurance plan for people aged 65 and older or those with certain disabilities. Medicare and Medicaid memberships make up a third of the company's health insurance business. It added 655,000 Medicare Advantage members and 570,000 Medicaid members in the quarter. Meanwhile, a slow recovery in non-urgent procedures helped lower medical costs at its insurance unit, driving the company's first-quarter profit above expectations. The company's medical cost ratio - the percentage of payout on claims compared with premiums - came in at 82.2%.

☆ The former CEO of Aetna shares how he plans to turn around the struggling health insurer Oscar
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Oscar Health struggled to upend the entrenched health insurance industry. Oscar Health has been trying and struggling to upend the US health-insurance industry and the entrenched giants that dominate it for the past 10 years. Oscar Health incoming CEO Mark Bertolini Bridgewater AssociatesLast year, Oscar lost a $60 million contract with its first client, Health First Health Plans. Bertolini wants Oscar to disrupt health-insurance giantsMario Schlosser, founding CEO of Oscar Health Eduardo Munoz/ReutersDespite losing the Health First deal, Bertolini is betting that Oscar will disrupt the insurance industry through partnerships. Oscar has developed health plans with health systems in the past.

☆ Apollo assures investors deposit flight won't spill over to Athene
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Reuters GraphicsIn a quarterly update to shareholders published on March 13, Apollo outlined how Athene's funding model is different than a bank's. In the wake of the banking crisis, however, Apollo has been fielding questions from analysts and investors about Athene's funding model. Following a meeting with Apollo executives, Hone wrote in a note last week that he does not anticipate a spike in withdrawals from Athene's annuity holders and that Athene's funding base was stable. Apollo said in its March 13 presentation to investors that it had seen inflows of $8.8 billion to Athene from the start of the year to March 10. Questions from investors and analysts to Apollo have focused on this subset of annuity policies that have a potentially higher flight risk.

[1/2] Dressmaker Faieza Caswell from Mitchells Plain sews under candlelight in her workplace, on the Cape Flats due to South Africa's struggling power utility company Eskom, implementing regular power cuts - called 'load-shedding', in Cape Town, South Africa February 11, 2023. South Africa's relatively wealthy, developed economy and nearly three decades of political stability helped drive industry growth and draw in reinsurers. And they are now tightening the conditions of their agreements with insurance companies. Reinsurers are also pushing insurance companies to include so-called "named perils" in policies rather than offering blanket cover for catastrophes. Grid failure would plunge South Africa into a nationwide blackout that could last weeks.

☆ Former Aetna CEO to Take Helm of Health Insurer Oscar
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Anna Wilde Mathews | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Mark Bertolini said he would initially focus on ensuring Oscar meets its goal of having profitable insurance business this year. Mark Bertolini , former chief executive of health insurance giant Aetna Inc. and hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, will take the helm of Oscar Health Inc. as it seeks to turn a profit and carve out a role as a technology supplier in the healthcare industry. Mr. Bertolini, 66 years old, will take the post effective next Monday, the company said. He will succeed Mario Schlosser , 44, who co-founded Oscar in 2012 with Joshua Kushner and will take the new title of president of technology, reporting to Mr. Bertolini.

☆ Generali provides dividend cheer, no exposure to SVB
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Gianluca Semeraro | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies 2022 operating profit 6.5 bln euros vs forecast 6.19 bln2022 dividend up 8.4%Shares rise 2%MILAN, March 14 (Reuters) - Italy's Assicurazioni Generali (GASI.MI) surprised investors on Tuesday by hiking the dividend payout on its 2022 results after posting its best operating profit ever. Finance chief Cristiano Borean also told reporters the leading Italian insurer had no exposure to collapsed U.S. lender Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) (SIVB.O) and just "a marginal" position in its third-party risk portfolio. Generali shares were up 2% in early trade, outperforming a flat Italian blue-chip (.FTMIB) index. The solvency ratio, a measure of the financial strength of Generali, stood at 221% at the end of 2022 and had risen to 230% as of March 10. ($1 = 0.9354 euros)Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro Editing by Alvise Armellini and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Italy's Generali reports record operating profit in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, March 14 (Reuters) - Italy's top insurer Assicurazioni Generali (GASI.MI) said on Tuesday it beat estimates with its 2022 results, posting its best operating profit ever as higher interest rates boosted the life insurance business. Net operating profit, the figure most closely watched by the market, grew 11.2% to 6.5 billion euros ($6.95 billion), above an analysts' consensus provided by the company of 6.19 billion euros. Net profit came in at 2.91 billion euros, up 2.3% from 2021, despite a negative impact from Russian investments of 154 million euros. The profit was above an analysts' consensus of 2.81 billion euros. ($1 = 0.9351 euros)Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro; editing by Alvise ArmelliniOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 3 of Warren Buffett's biggest investing mistakes—and what every investor can learn from them
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Ryan Ermey | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Consequently, our extensive collection of businesses currently consists of a few enterprises that have truly extraordinary economics, many that enjoy very good economic characteristics, and a large group that are marginal," Buffett wrote. But in the spirit of humility, let's take a look at three of Buffett's worst decisions, and what investors can learn from them. "What I had assessed as a durable competitive advantage vanished within a few years," Buffett wrote in his 2007 letter to shareholders. Compounding the mistake, Buffett paid $443 million for the company in Berkshire stock rather than cash. "As a financial disaster, this one deserves a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records," Buffett wrote in his 2014 shareholder letter.

☆ M&G would be a tricky hop for kangaroo raider
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, March 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - M&G (MNG.L) would be a tricky hop for Macquarie (MQG.AX). The $48 billion Australian financial powerhouse may bid for the $6 billion UK insurer. The appeal is likely to be in the fund management group. Macquarie’s own asset management arm accounted for over 30% of net profit in the first half of its current financial year. Follow @Unmack1 on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSAustralian banking group Macquarie is considering a bid for UK insurance and asset management group M&G, Sky News reported on March 1.

☆ Stock pickers continue to shine after a better year and here are their favorite names in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Wall Street investment bank analyzed the holdings of 543 mutual funds with $2.4 trillion of assets under management at the start of 2023, based on regulatory filings. It then compiled a basket of the most popular bets, called "Mutual Fund Overweight basket," consisting of 50 stocks in which mutual funds are the most overweight. Year to date, 43% of large-cap mutual fund managers have outperformed their benchmarks, well above the long-term average of 38%, Goldman said. Goldman's mutual fund overweight basket has gained 2% in 2023, in line with the S & P 500's performance. Credit card duo Mastercard and Visa were the two most loved names by mutual funds at the start of 2023, according to Goldman.

☆ Warren Buffett calls stock buyback critics 'economic illiterate' in Berkshire Hathaway annual letter
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

An Andy Warhol-like print of Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett hangs outside a clothing stand during the first in-person annual meeting since 2019 of Berkshire Hathaway Inc in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. April 30, 2022. Warren Buffett defended stock buybacks in Berkshire Hathaway 's annual letter, pushing back on those railing against the practice he believes beneficial to all shareholders. The conglomerate spent a record $27 billion in buybacks in 2021 as Buffett found few opportunities externally. Buffett believes buybacks are beneficial to shareholders as they provide a lift to per-share intrinsic value. "American tailwind"Buffett's widely read shareholder letter is released with Berkshire's annual report and usually sets the tone before the conglomerate's big annual meeting in May in Omaha, Nebraska, nicknamed "Woodstock for Capitalists."

☆ Humana Exits Employer Insurance Business
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Will Feuer | Anna Wilde Mathews | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Humana’s departure from its Employer Group Commercial Medical Products business will happen over the next 18 to 24 months. Humana Inc. said it would exit its Employer Group Commercial Medical Products business, including all fully insured, self-funded and federal employee health benefit medical plans. The health-insurance company said the move comes after a strategic review that determined the business was no longer positioned to sustainably meet the needs of customers or to support Humana’s long-term strategic plans.

☆ Humana to exit employer group insurance business
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Feb 23 (Reuters) - Humana Inc (HUM.N) said on Thursday it will exit the employer group insurance business in a phased manner over the next 18 to 24 months and focus primarily on government-funded programs and specialty businesses. The company said it does not expect the move to impact its full-year 2023 forecast. It now expects first-quarter earnings to represent about 33% of full-year 2023 adjusted earnings per share, compared with 35% estimated previously. Humana also anticipated a roughly 30 basis points increase in its medical cost ratio, a percentage of its spends on claims to the premiums it collects, for the first quarter. It however, expects, an impact on the medical cost ratio for the full year.

☆ Swiss private bank EFG profit dips as it settles Taiwan dispute
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ZURICH, Feb 22 (Reuters) - EFG International's (EFGN.S) net profit fell 1.7% to 202.4 million Swiss francs ($218.50 million) last year, the Swiss private bank said on Wednesday, as it settled legal proceedings related to a client relationship with a Taiwanese insurance company. EFG said it had paid 40.6 million francs in legal costs and increased provisions to resolve the dispute, with all proceedings against the bank now ended. On an underlying basis, which removes these costs as well as other items like gains from its legacy life insurance business, EFG's net profit increased to 248.7 million francs from 167.8 million francs a year earlier. The bank said along with the market correction, the decline in assets the Swiss bank manages reflects the disposal of the Spanish private bank A&G. In 2021 EFG reported 8.8 billion francs.

☆ Britain's Tesco to explore sale of banking unit, Sky News reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Britain's biggest retailer Tesco Plc (TSCO.L) is planning to review its presence in the UK banking sector in a move that could lead to a sale of its banking arm, Sky News reported on Saturday. The supermarket chain operator is lining up Goldman Sachs to advise on the future of Tesco Bank, the report said. The review was at a very preliminary stage and may not lead to a formal sale process, the report quoted sources as saying. A partial sale or joint venture could also be an option for the retailer, the report added, quoting one source. Tesco Bank, which was founded in 1997, has more than five million customers across its banking and insurance business, according to the data available on its website.

☆ Allianz swings to Q4 net profit, bounces back from U.S. funds debacle
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Germany's Allianz on Friday swung to a fourth-quarter net profit, marking a return to the black after taking big charges a year earlier for a U.S. funds scandal. Net profit attributable to shareholders of 2.007 billion euros ($2.13 billion) in the three months through December compares with a loss of 292 million euros a year earlier. Analysts had expected a net profit of 2.034 billion euros. "We just run a very, very good company," Allianz CEO Oliver Bäte told CNBC on "Squawk Box Europe" Friday. Bäte also highlighted that the interest rate environment is "really good" for the bank and that Allianz would be making the most of that.

☆ Insurer AIG profit shrinks as storm-related costs, weak investment returns hit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Last month, property and casualty insurer Travelers Companies Inc (TRV.N) also reported a slump in quarterly profit, due to losses arising from the winter storm. AIG's underwriting income climbed 27% to $635 million from $499 million a year earlier, while net premiums written in its general insurance business fell 6%. The general insurance accident year combined ratio improved to 88.4% from 89.8% a year earlier. The metric excludes catastrophe losses, and a ratio below 100 shows the insurer earns more from premiums than it pays out in claims. Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini GanguliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Indian digital payments firm PhonePe raises $100 mln at $12 bln valuation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Indian digital payments firm (WMT.N) PhonePe said on Tuesday it has raised $100 million from Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global and TVS Capital Funds in a funding round that valued the Walmart Inc-backed company at $12 billion. The latest round is part of PhonePe's primary fundraise that took place last month through which the company raised $350 million from General Atlantic. Having raised $450 million in six weeks, PhonePe said it expects to raise the rest from global and Indian investors in due course. Despite a funding winter, the Indian digital payments space has been a bright spot due to the popularity of online payments and startups' ambitions to branch into the lucrative financial services space. PhonePe, in which U.S. retail giant Walmart has had a majority stake since 2018, completed its separation from Indian e-commerce major Flipkart last year.

☆ Warren Buffett's Berkshire has beaten the market in past recessions, making it a 2023 defensive play
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

With a massive cash pile and diversified businesses, Warren Buffett 's Berkshire Hathaway has a track record of outperforming the market during economic downturns, according to UBS. It showed Berkshire shares outperforming the S & P 500 and other financials. The analyst also called Berkshire "a defensive play in an uncertain economic outlook." Berkshire agreed to buy insurance company Alleghany for $11.6 billion, or $848.02 per share, in cash, inking Buffett's biggest deal since 2016. Berkshire shares are now trading at a 20% discount to the conglomerate's intrinsic value , which may prompt the "Oracle of Omaha" to buy back more of his stock, UBS said.

☆ CVS Health beats quarterly profit estimates on lower medical costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Companies CVS Health Corp FollowFeb 8 (Reuters) - CVS Health (CVS.N) beat quarterly profit estimates on Wednesday, as a decline in hospitalizations from COVID-19 helped bring down medical costs at its Aetna insurance business. The company posted an adjusted profit of $1.99 per share, above estimates of $1.92 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data. CVS reaffirmed its full-year adjusted profit forecast of between $8.70 and $8.90 per share. Reporting by Raghav Mahobe and Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini GanguliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Feb 7 (Reuters) - Centene Corp (CNC.N) on Tuesday said profit at its fast-growing Medicare Advantage (MA) business will take a beating in 2024 due to a sharp cut in its rating by a U.S. federal agency and likely lower-than-expected government payouts to health insurers. Centene does not expect its MA business to grow next year and it will likely "shrink a little", Chief Financial Officer Andrew Asher said in a post-earnings conference call. Asher said the company expects negative profit margins in the business in 2024 temporarily, after CMS cut star rating for Centene's MA plans in October. MA plans are government-supported insurance plans that private companies offer people over 65 years of age. Revenue from Centene's Medicare health insurance business rose about 24% to $5.45 billion from a year earlier.

☆ Centene profit beats on easing medical costs, Medicare boost
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 7 (Reuters) - Health insurer Centene Corp (CNC.N) beat fourth-quarter profit estimates by a small margin on Tuesday, helped by easing medical costs and steady demand for its government-backed Medicare health insurance business. Most health insurers saw their costs fluctuate during the pandemic, but have benefited in recent quarters from declining COVID-related hospitalizations. Larger rival UnitedHealth (UNH.N) recently said medical costs were more predictable with the world in the third year of COVID-19. Medicaid program helps cover medical costs for some people with limited income and resources. Revenue from Centene's Medicare health insurance business rose about 24% to $5.45 billion from a year earlier.

☆ Berkshire stock is trading at 20% discount, a level where Buffett typically ramps up buyback, UBS says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway are now trading at a significant discount to the conglomerate's intrinsic value, which may prompt the "Oracle of Omaha" to buy back more of his stock, according to UBS. "BRK's shares are trading at more than a 20% discount to its intrinsic value based on the methodology outlined in BRK's 2018 Annual Letter to Shareholders," UBS' Berkshire analyst Brian Meredith said in a note. The conglomerate's stock held up well in 2022 with a 4% gain as investors favored more stable pockets of the market. The fifth grove of Berkshire is its insurance operations, which are not included in the calculation. Meanwhile, Berkshire suffered a $63.9 billion loss on its investments last year through September amid the broader market selloff.

Not only can you have multiple life insurance policies, but you can purchase multiple at once. I talked to some life insurance experts to find out when it makes sense for individuals to have several life insurance policies. Life insurance agent Steven Ogle of Redwood Life Group says it's fairly common for families to invest in a standard, 20-year term life insurance policy when each of their children are born. Multiple policies for multiple needsFinally, financial planner Jaimin Garabedian of Assurance Wealth Management says many people have multiple life insurance policies because each type serves a different purpose. Garabedian adds that there are those who use life insurance for certain "living benefits" such as long-term care or the tax-advantaged growth some life insurance policies offer.

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