Should HIV Positive Persons Get Life Insurance?

Given that death rates of HIV positive individuals have fallen during the past few years, should they be given access to life insurance? 

By:  Ringo Bones 

The good news is, the death rates of persons who are diagnosed as HIV positive have fallen by as much as 40 percent around the world since 2005. The bad news is that there are still some insurance providers who deny them life insurance. Since the 1980s, patients who are diagnosed to be HIV positive have been denied access to fully underwritten traditional life insurance. But as death rates in HIV positive diagnosed persons continue to fall due to the advent of affordable and increased access to anti-retroviral medication, life insurance underwriting for HIV positive diagnosed persons are now available. 

Ross Deerman, chef executive of All Life provides mortgage and life insurance policies to HIV positive diagnosed persons / AIDS survivors during the past few years in South Africa. During the past five years, death rates of HIV positive diagnosed persons on the African content have fallen by as much as 58-percent but the stigma still remains on traditional insurance underwriters not granting life insurance policies to HIV / AIDS survivors. All Life’s program / business model of giving HIV Positive persons access to fully underwritten traditional life insurance has already spread to other countries with local All Life branches. Maybe insurance providers should also offer healthcare packages designed for lower income HIV positive persons that allow them greater access to anti-retroviral medication. 

Identity Theft Protection Insurance: Utterly Useless Rigmarole?

In the wake of the recent cyber attack of the US Office of Personnel Management, should everyone avail themselves of Identity Theft Protection Insurance?

By: Ringo Bones 

With Mainland Chinese elite hackers of the Shanghai based Unit 61398 as the primary suspects, the recent large scale cyber warfare attack of the US Office of Personnel Management that was uncovered back in the middle of April 2015 and only later publicly announced back in June 5, 2015 that involved as many as 21.5 million individual records were believed to be affected, many a concerned government worker – in the United States and the rest of the world – is now concerned enough to contemplate whether to avail themselves of this “Identity Theft Protection Insurance” in order to protect their personal social security records and related files from being stolen to be used for nefarious criminal means. But does the “average government worker” really need Identity Theft Protection Insurance? 

It can be quite a nightmare for your typical government employee if his or her employee job assignment, job review, and training data were compromised by a hacker skilled enough to infiltrate such well-protected electronic files, but can availing oneself of an Identity Theft Protection Insurance really help? In reality, your average “layperson” these days is more worried about fending off cyber-hackers than your typical street-level pickpockets. Insurance companies are capitalizing on these fears by pitching the digital-age equivalent of a can of mace – the “Identity Theft Protection Insurance. But before buying such protection, experts are already warning consumers that you should find out what that particular policy covers. 

Experts say when your car is involved in an accident or your house accidentally catches on fire, car insurance and homeowners insurance covers the repairs. When an online fraudster drains your bank account or steals your employment identity records, Identity Theft Protection Insurance doesn’t replenish the money of your bank account that got stolen – your bank’s zero liability policies should take care of that. Nor can some variations of Identity Theft Protection Insurance – advertized as credit monitoring and protection services – actually insulate your reputation from a catastrophic hack. 

In actuality, purchasing an Identity Theft Protection Insurance policy is like hiring a wedding planner. You can pay someone to call florists and caterers and in the case of a hacked bank account – contact your bank to cancel a card or do it personally yourself. In truth, Identity Theft Protection Insurance policies are like “expense reimbursement programs” for your hacked bank account than a typical old-fashioned insurance policy.   

Solar Impulse: The Most Insured Aviation Pioneer?

Given that previous aviation first are not known to be insured, never mind the over 80 corporate backers, is the Solar Impulse plane the most insured aviation pioneer?

By: Ringo Bones

As the aviation first du jour, the Solar Impulse – slated to be the first solar powered aircraft to successfully fly around the world – is not shy to tell the whole world that it is insured by Swiss Re during their lengthy adverts in the History Channel and the Discovery Channel. While the piloting skills and design expertise of Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg seem to make the need of any form of insurance policy kind of “redundant”. While the Solar Impulse has over 80 companies backing it like Deutsche Bank, the Belgian chemical company Solvay S.A. and the Swiss watchmaker Omega just to name a few, it’s quite a contrast in comparison to the Wright Brothers first flight where they virtually got none and so too does Charles Lindberg’s solo Trans-Atlantic flight.

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions providing hull insurance, aircraft liability and crew personal accident coverage for the Solar Impulse could be seen as a first for a current aviation first for a solar powered plane given that the Rutan Model 76 Voyager – which successfully flew around the world near the end of 1986 – seems to be devoid of insurance coverage that we know of. Probably the only “interesting” sponsor of the Rutan Model 76 Voyager is the Don King Productions logo on the starboard side of the plane.

The terms of hull insurance vary according to the risk of the classification covered. The hull insurance policy may cover a single vessel or a fleet risk. Fleet insurance may cover a group of vessels under common ownership or common operation. The determination of the premium charge for a single vessel is simple as it is not difficult to rate an individual ship. However, the rating problem may be difficult when a fleet contains both old and new vessels and a single rate is required. In every marine insurance policy there are three implied warranties. These are: 1) The vessel must be seaworthy, that is, all parts and equipment of the vessel must be in proper condition for a sea voyage, sufficient supplies and provisions must be onboard and there must be an efficient and sufficient crew; 2) the venture must be legal; 3) the vessel will follow its stated route without undue delays; that is, there will be no deviation. 

Insurance Companies Diversifying Into Real Estate: Deal Of The 21st Century?

Given that a number of Chinese insurance companies have already diversified into the real estate business with lucrative results, does this move represent the “Deal of the 21^st Century”? 

By: Ringo Bones 

As of late, a number of Chinese insurance companies had diversified into the real estate / real property business during the past few years with lucrative results profit-wise. As far back as October 2014, Hilton Worldwide Holdings agreed to sell the storied Waldorf Astoria hotel to Anbang Insurance Group Co. of China after Anbang Insurance offered a bid of 1.9 billion US dollars. But it is only during the last week of January 2015 that US regulators gave the green light for the purchase. Anbang Insurance Group Co. sealed the 1.9 billion US dollar purchase of New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel, which has been used by foreign dignitaries including Queen Elizabeth II. The Lloyd’s Of London building has also been recently bought up by a top Chinese insurance firm. 

Chinese insurers have been drawn to European office buildings because they are typically anchored by tenants with a 10-year leases and offer yields as high as 5 percent. This compares to Shanghai offices where 3 to 5 year leases and 4.5 percent interest yields are typical. 

“We consider high quality overseas property as a good substitute for fixed income investment” says Hing-Yin Lee, a senior executive director who manages overseas property investments for Ping An’s trust unit, told an investor conference back in December 2014. “Core offices in prime locations not only offer investors stable rental returns, the property prices may also go up in a few years”. With such investment returns, it looks like insurance companies diversifying into the real estate / real property business might as well be the “Deal of the 21^st Century”. 

Chartered Life Underwriter: Recession Proof Employment?

Given that “jobless recovery” is the new normal, is being a Chartered Life Underwriter truly is a recession proof form of employment? 

By: Ringo Bones 

                     

Even though recession has already “officially” ended in America and yet jobless recovery has since become the new normal, it seems that in every newspaper’s classified ads and online job search sites, Chartered Life Underwriters seems to be in hot demand as of late. Given that it has a “claim-to-fame” of being a recession proof form of employment, what is a Chartered Life Underwriter? 

Chartered Life Underwriters (CLUs) are a financial professional designation for individuals who wish to specialize in life insurance, estate planning and wealth transfer. The Chartered Life Underwriter – as a designation – was first given by The American College of Financial Services, also known as The American College, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. 

Technically, a Chartered Life Underwriter is a professional who has passed examinations on taxation, insurance and investments. He or she should also have planning experience with regards to life insurance. Chartered Life Underwriters typically undergo ten courses, 3 years of relevant and qualifying experience as well as the knowledge and obedience to the code of ethics as provided to the Chartered Life Underwriter. The courses aim to provide in-depth training that is concentrated on life insurance and personal insurance planning. There is also an exam after the end of the courses. 

 

Asia: The New Frontier of the Insurance Industry?

Even though the region has a notoriety of being “underinsured”, will the Asian region prove to be the new marketing frontier of the world’s leading insurance providers? 

By: Ringo Bones 

The tragic November 8, 2013 super-typhoon Haiyan / Yolanda that battered Tacloban, Leyte has highlighted the Asian region’s notoriety of being underinsured, but if Prudential has its way, Asia might prove to be a veritable growth industry for the world’s leading insurance providers. Given that a majority of this region’s inhabitants can hardly afford the relatively exorbitant premiums of top-tier insurance policies that cover climate change related catastrophes, will the Asian region prove to be a new and lucrative marketing frontier for the global insurance providers? 

U.K. based international insurance provider Prudential plc, which started in London back in May 1848 as The Prudential Mutual Assurance Investment and Loan Association that provided loans to professionals and working people has now provided their interim second quarter results for the year 2014 a few weeks ago showing that most of their profits and expected growth will be in its Asian markets. At the moment, Prudential operates across 13 Asian markets and is one of the Top 3 insurance providers in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, India and Cambodia. 

Given the projected results showing that most of its positive growth market will be in Asia, the insurance company is now focusing its Asian market – as in its largest division in the name of Prudential Corporation Asia. The insurance company’s 13-million clients are expected to grow in the future, and most of the growth will probably be in Asia. Prudential also owns Jackson National Life Insurance Company which is currently the largest life insurance provider in the United States. Will Prudential now be concentrating more on its Asian clients than its American and European ones?