Saudi Arabian Insurance Brief - March, 2008 Newsletter - Page 1

Saudi Arabian Insurance Brief - March, 2008 Newsletter - Page 2

Aon opens New Middle East HQ in DIFC

DUBAI, 20 June 2008 - Aon Middle East announces the opening of its regional headquarters in the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC), following the news that the company has been granted a full license to operate within the DIFC.Aon has operational offices in the UAE (Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi), Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar), Bahrain and Oman (Muscat, Salalah) and developing offices in Kuwait and Qatar.

The new regional headquarters in the DIFC will provide clients with expert advice, as well as innovative products. It will also allow clients to link into the worldwide Aon network across 120 countries, combining global presence with specific country expertise that can facilitate the most complex of cross-border transactions.These six states, which form the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), have witnessed breath-taking economic growth over the last few years, with the level of investment in infrastructure quite startling.

Altogether, a total of US$1.25 trillion of public and private projects are either being planned or are already in development in the GCC.Latif AlRayes, Chairman of Aon's Middle East operations, comments: "We are very pleased to have received our DIFC licence and with the free zone fast moving towards its goal of becoming the fourth major world financial hub, it make sense for us to locate our regional headquarters here."Massoud A. Shaheem, Chief Executive Officer of retail operations, (SEO - DIFC), comments: "The opening of our office in the DIFC reflects the increasingly open approach in providing services in the region."Aon has been serving the Middle East for almost 30 years and we are committed to leveraging our specialist and global expertise to play an integral role as the regions insurance sector rapidly evolves, brought about by the astonishing pace of growth."These infrastructure projects mean that attitudes to risk are evolving and new insurance and risk management products designed specifically for the region are springing up almost as fast as the new building projects."It is a very exciting time for us and for our clients, and we expect to be announcing further developments over the coming weeks and months."

Posted by Administration.

Arig posts net profit of US$ 3 million for 1st quarter 2008

Manama: Arab Insurance Group (B.S.C.) (Arig) announced a net profit of US$ 3.0 million for the first quarter 2008 (Q1 2007: US$ 7.6 million). The performance of the company's core reinsurance business was better than expected but the volatility of the global financial markets during the first months of the year depressed investment income. The combined effects generated a first quarter Underwriting Result of US$ 1 million for Arig (Q1 2007: US$ 3.7 million).
Arig's reinsurance portfolio grew by 41% year-on-year with Q1 Gross Written Premium accounting for US$ 130.7 million (Q1 2007: US$ 93.0 million). Life, Medical lines and the dynamics experienced within the existing portfolio were key drivers of growth.
Investment earnings were down in tandem with the decline in global financial markets. However, negative impact was contained by Arig's lower allocation to equities and the stop loss protection the company has in place. Other offsetting factors include increased earnings from cash and short-term maturities as the company maintained higher cash positions during the turbulent quarter. The company has no exposure to the U.S. sub-prime property market.
Yassir Albaharna, Arig's CEO, commented: "The trends and result seen in our reinsurance book are testimony to Arig's strong position in a highly competitive market place. We believe we have made the right moves in time to shield the company against the effects of what increasingly looks like a buyer's market. Current performance in the investment portfolio is part and parcel of the kind of market volatility experienced from time to time. We are confident that markets should eventually recover."
Shareholder's equity stood at US$ 281.9 million and the book value per share was US$ 1.33 at the end of the quarter 2008.

Compiled by Admin.

SAUDI ARABIA LICENSES MARSH

Riyadh, June 2, 2008 — Marsh, the world's leading insurance broker and risk adviser, announces that, following approval by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), it has been licensed to provide full insurance broking and advisory services in Saudi Arabia under the provision of the Insurance Law of 2003. The company will serve the insurance and reinsurance needs of its clients through Marsh Saudi Arabia Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers and provide consultancy and risk advisory services and solutions through Marsh Insurance Consulting Saudi Arabia.

These two entities are joint ventures that include Marsh, long time affiliate Saudi International Trading and Marketing, owned by Sheikh Abedlelah Kaki, and prominent insurance industry professional Mr Mousa Al Rubaian. Thanking SAMA for the grant of license, Sa'ed Obied, country manager of Marsh in Saudi Arabia, said: "Marsh is pleased to be licensed under the insurance law in Saudi Arabia and is excited by the opportunities this license gives us to build on that relationship to the benefit of our clients. "Saudi Arabian companies are growing in complexity and sophistication. As these companies expand their activities locally, regionally and globally, Marsh looks forward to working with them and bringing to bear its unrivalled resources to help them achieve their objectives."

Robert Makhoul, Head of Marsh's Middle East operations, said: "The Middle East is one of Marsh's fastest growing regions and Saudi Arabia is a key driver of that growth. Such rapid expansion brings not only opportunities but also greater and more complex risks.

"Marsh is uniquely placed to assist companies in this business environment. As part of MMC, it is able to access the skills and expertise of such market-leading sister companies as Mercer, Oliver Wyman and Kroll, all of whom are boosting their presence in the region. "My colleagues and I look forward to harnessing these exceptional resources on behalf of our Saudi and Middle East clients, customising the right solutions to meet their particular needs anywhere around the world."

Compiled by Staff Reporter

Royal & SunAlliance Changes its name to RSA

Moving the business forward, RSA have simplified, refreshed and modernised ther corporate brand. Royal & SunAlliance was created over ten years ago as the product of a merger and given the fundamental changes that the business has gone through. R&SA wanted to develop a new brand strategy to support their growth plans.
Across the international markets, RSA is a brand which is more accessible for both their customers and staff, many of whom already refer to Royal and Sun Alliance as RSA. In-order to maximise the benefits of an international brand to support their brands in their local markets this move has taken place.
RSA is currently operation in Saudi Arabian Market as an multinational Insurance with local shareholders. One of their major shareholder is Riyad Bank. They have also got a new CEO, Mr. Mark Cooper, who was earlier based in Dubai.
Locally they are expected to operate under their new brand identity as Al-Alamiya Insurance Company. Al-Alamiya is not a new name to the market, they had been operating with this name until 2001 for almost over 2 decades.

Compiled by Managing Editor.