Winners and losers of the insurance race in 2015

Ruth Liew QBE Insurance Group, Suncorp Group and IAG - which of these insurers would have made you the best returns in 2015 amid a tumultuous year in the Australian share market? 

Amaysim buys Vaya in $70m deal

Ruth Liew Australia's fourth biggest mobile phone provider, Amaysim, has bought telecommunications group Vaya for $70 million.

IAG snaps up $7 billion in reinsurance cover

Ruth Liew IAG has secured $7 billion worth of reinsurance cover as it braces for the bushfire and storms seasons to hit during this Australian summer. 

Borrowers keen for more margin loans

Ruth Liew Once touted as an easy way for retail investors to beef up share returns, the popularity of margin loans has dived since the global financial crisis.

Sydney storm: Insurance Council confirms catastrophe status

Ruth Liew The storms that brought record winds and a tornado ripping through parts of Sydney on Wednesday has wreaked $8 million in damages.

Zurich pulls out of NSW compulsory third party insurance market

Ruth Liew Zurich Australian Insurance has pulled out of writing compulsory third-party green slip insurance in NSW, signalling the latest change to its local business following major cost-cutting measures at...

Suncorp shares fall 9pc as profit downgraded on lower $A and insurance losses

Ruth Liew Suncorp Group chief executive Michael Cameron shocked investors with a profit downgrade less than two weeks before Christmas as higher claims and a lower Australian dollar hit earnings – but...

Aon pours multimillions into data analytics

Ruth Liew Aon Risk Solutions is looking to ramp up its multimillion-dollar spending on data analytics research, as the global insurance broker increases efforts to combat disrupters and improve its business...

Perpetual buys medical advice business Fintuition Wealth Advisers

Ruth Liew Perpetual has snapped up healthcare advice group Fintuition Wealth Advisers, making it the listed wealth manager's first acquisition since its $214 million Trust Company buy two years ago.

Suncorp eyes private health insurance market

Ruth Liew and Sarah Thompson Suncorp Group is recruiting health insurance experts and contemplating setting up its own private health arm as it hunts for new growth avenues.

Advisers up in arms over life insurance reforms

Ruth Liew Financial planner Mark Dunsford is hoping 5000 of his peers will sign a petition urging the federal government to abandon life insurance reforms that he says threaten the future of the industry.

QBE outlook brightens after asset sales

Ruth Liew After several years of selling underperforming parts of its business and repairing its balance sheet, the outlook for QBE Insurance Group is finally looking optimistic and less volatile.

IAG loses personal insurance chief amid leadership reshuffle

Ruth Liew Insurance veteran Andy Cornish, personal insurance boss at IAG, is leaving the $14 billion company as new group chief executive Peter Harmer shakes up its executive ranks and restructures the...

Insurance jobs under threat as automated underwriting gains pace

Ruth Liew Insurance companies have embraced the onslaught of data and technology with open arms - but the trend is costing the industry new talent as the art of risk underwriting becomes increasingly automated.

Swiss Re brings IBM's Watson to Australian life insurance

Ruth Liew Reinsurance giant Swiss Re is honing the way it assesses life insurance risk by engaging IBM's artificial intelligence system, Watson – a move that could improve the group's Australian profit...

Your insurer wants to know everything about you

Ruth Liew and Tim Binsted Would you wear an implant under your skin to feed data to your health fund?

Comments 25

I'll tell my health insurer everything

Ruth Liew Ursula Moore says she has nothing to hide.

Chinese companies look at insurance stakes

Ruth Liew Chinese financial services companies may soon snap up stakes in Australian insurers, as Asian businesses seek to diversify their footprints and learn from their developed-country counterparts.

Overhaul on the cards for insurance disclosure statements

Ruth Liew Insurance product disclosure statements are too complex and failing consumers, according to the Insurance Council of Australia.

Suncorp feels the heat from competitors

Ruth Liew Gary Dransfield, the new personal insurance chief executive of Suncorp Group, says increasing competition is a big challenge to the company's growth but he rules out price cuts as a strategy to claw...