BestWeek: Panamanian Insurers Successfully Battle for Market Share in Competitive Environment

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With 32 insurance companies fighting for market share in the tiny country of Panama, Panamanian insurers are holding their own against their global competitors, according to A.M. Best data compiled in this week's issue of BestWeek U.S./Canada as part of a continuing Latin America Market Spotlight feature.

Five of the top 10 insurers in Panama, based on net premiums written, are Panamanian. QBE del Istmo Reinsurance, a subsidiary of Australia-based QBE Insurance Group Ltd., leads the rankings, with ASSA Compania de Seguros and Compania Internacional de Seguros close on its heels, BestWeek said.

• Negative perceptions of the EU’s performance on Solvency II are likely to affect thinking in some jurisdictions that have considered seeking equivalence, including the United States, Canada, Japan and Switzerland, BestWeek Europe reports.
• BestWeek U.S./Canada highlights fourth-quarter rating actions. A.M. Best took rating action on the financial strength ratings of 265 rating units. Of those, about 5% were upgraded and 3% downgraded. Within the life/health segment, upgrades outpaced downgrades by a better than two-to-one margin. On the property/casualty side, five rating units were downgraded while three were upgraded.

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View the new weekly video program BestWeek Live at http://bit.ly/VVX9GX. This week’s edition includes: continuing post-Sandy coverage looks at congressional action to raise the borrowing limit for the National Flood Insurance Program, from Associate Editor Thomas Harman, and Senior Associate Editor Michael Buck explores fine-art claims, predominantly in flood-ravaged lower Manhattan; Senior Associate Editor Meg Green explains American International Group's decision to not join former CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg's lawsuit against the federal government; and Senior Associate Editor Kate Smith highlights a new weekly feature appearing in BestWeek that focuses the state of insurance industries across Latin America.

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