Browsing by Subject "Insurance"

Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
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    Corporate governance and financial performance of long-term insurance companies in South Africa
    (2019) Zyambo, Kalwani; Alhassan, Abdul Latif
    The research examines the effect between corporate governance and company-specific variables to financial performance among a sample of long-term insurance companies in South Africa from 2011 to 2016. The study employed a panel regression technique using board size, board independence, audit committee size and CEO tenure as proxies for corporate governance while controlling for firm size, reinsurance usage and leverage. The proxies used for financial performance were underwriting profits, return on assets (ROA) and returns on equity (ROE). The findings show that board size is the only corporate governance variable that is statistically significant with financial performance in the sample of South African longterm insurance providers. The remaining corporate governance variables did not have a statistically significant relationship with financial performance because each company in the sample set them in line with the recommendations outlined in the King Report IV on Corporate Governance. The implication of the adherence to the recommendations in the King Report IV on Corporate Governance reduced the variation in corporate governance structures between the companies in the sample. The findings also show leverage as the only control variable that is statistically significant with financial performance in the sample. The dissertation recommends that the corporate governance guidelines outlined in the King Report IV on Corporate Governance be made statutory in the South African longterm insurance sector, because these guidelines do not adversely affect the financial performance in a statistically significant way. Further, the dissertation recommends a board size ceiling be set in the sector to address the observed negative and statistically significant relationship between board size and financial performance. Finally, the dissertation recommends the use of regulation to limit the amount of leverage that companies in the sector can take on to address the observed negative and statistically significant relationship between leverage and financial performance.
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    A Customary Insurance Law?
    (Juta, 2017-08-01) Hutchison, Andrew
    This article will explore risk spreading practices in the so-called ‘popular economy’ in South Africa. Concepts like ‘insurance’, ‘insurance law’ and ‘customary law’ will be interrogated, with the analysis falling on traditional and more modern informal responses to risk, as well as more formal responses resulting from the increased penetration of private insurance in the democratic era. This contribution aims to address concerns expressed about both informal and formal risk spreading practices, to argue towards a conclusion that a pluralistic notion of ‘insurance’ should not necessarily be sacrificed in service of corporate profit aims. Value remains in ‘customary insurance law’, and these cultural responses may provide evidence of a broader contract value system to be used in the service of developing the South African laws of contract and insurance. At very least, this value system should inform concepts like consumer insurance law and should be foregrounded in developing a notion of micro-insurance. South Africa has the potential to be a world leader in the field of customary insurance law, as the failings of a comparable system – funeral insurance in Australia – demonstrate.
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    IFRS 17 and its effects on financial performance and the statement of financial position: a comparative analysis of the South African insurance companies including banks
    (2025) Myendeki, Sive; Modack, Goolam
    In the South African market, insurance plays an important role by enabling businesses to manage risks they could not manage individually, while also reinvesting some of the premiums in South Africa to drive economic growth and create jobs. For individuals, insurance provides important protection for valuable assets. The introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 17 by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), effective from 1 January 2023, resulted in a change in the measurement requirements of insurance contracts compared to IFRS 4. This study investigated the impact of the transition from IFRS 4 to IFRS 17 on the financial performance and the statement of financial position of insurance service providers in South Africa. This study, grounded in the Rational Choice Theory, the Liquidity Preference Theory and the Pecking Order Theory, analysed twelve insurance service providers licensed by the FSCA and operating in South Africa. The results of the study revealed that IFRS 17 did not have a statistically significant impact on the financial performance of these insurance service providers. However, the statement of financial position experienced a statistically significant decrease in reported total assets and total liabilities, while the changes to the reported equity and insurance liabilities were not found to be statistically significant. The decrease in the reported total assets and liabilities was noted to be due to the change in the measurement requirements for insurance contracts accounting such as the treatment of acquisition costs. Under IFRS 4, insurers were allowed to capitalise and defer acquisition costs as deferred acquisition cost assets on the balance sheet. The DAC asset was then expensed to the income statement over the life of the insurance contract. However, under IFRS 17, this DAC is included as part of the insurance service liability resulting in a decrease in reported total assets and total liabilities. Furthermore, the reported total assets and liabilities are impacted by the requirement to discount these balances using the IFRS 17 risk-adjusted approaches as well as the changes to the underlying assumption used in the measurement calculations. This analysis and results may assist regulators, investors and other users of financial statements to better understand the impact IFRS 17 has had on the financial performance of insurance service providers in South Africa.
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    Insurance spares, safety equipment and spare parts on ships
    (1999) Kotze, Johan
    The company periodically contracts for the building of new ships to add to its fleet. Typically, each ship is separately designed with its own unique specifications and would therefore usually not be exactly similar to any other ship. Once a ship has been built, classification thereof will be sought through one of the classification societies such as Lloyds Register of Shipping, Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, etc. to determine the class of the ship concerned. This is essential for insurance purposes and without such classification the ship would simply not be allowed to trade internationally. Although there are certain international and other regulations or industry practices governing the specification of ships, it is nevertheless up to each shipowner and his appointed naval architects and shipyards to decide on the specifications for any ship that is to be built. The ship classification societies referred to above would typically recommend that certain minimum safety equipment and spares be carried aboard any ship for the purpose of safety at sea, but do not prescribe what these should be. Each ship operator, such as this company, based on its risk profile, decides what safety equipment and spares will form part of the ship. Typically, the type of safety equipment and spares that might be included in a ship are those whose absence, if required urgently at sea, could endanger the Jives of crew or the operational safety of the ship, and would usually include: Spare anchor and chain Critical bearings, valves and pumps Spare cylinder and cylinder sleeve Propeller and tail shaft Seals, wires and pipes The components required for the construction of a ship may be supplied either by shipyard under the construction contract or by the company as so-called "Buyers' Supplies". All such costs incurred are aggregated to determine the cost of the ship.
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    Investigating the Insurance – Growth Nexus from a Low-Income Country: Perspective of Malawi
    (2025) Jenala, Chikondi; Alhassan, Abdul Latif
    Malawi is a low-income small country whose financial market is not fully developed, and it is prone to disasters due to adverse weather conditions. The economy depends on subsistence agriculture from small-scale farmers who rely on rainfall for their productivity, and they do not have insurance to mitigate against exposure to adverse weather conditions. The impacts of climate change will heavily exacerbate their exposure and consequently impact the economy of Malawi. However, the undercurrents of the interaction between insurance and economic expansion in Malawi have hardly been explored in the literature. This study investigated the long run and short run causal relationship between insurance industry activities and economic growth in Malawi using time series data from 1983 to 2019. The study employed the linear and nonlinear augmented Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model to study the relationship between insurance market activities and economic growth using insurance penetration to stand for insurance activities in Malawi. The results showed that there was neither a linear nor non-linear long run relationship or asymmetric connection between insurance and expansion of the economy in Malawi. Furthermore, the short run relationship was not found to be significant too. To test the direction of causality between insurance and economic growth, the Granger causality test was performed using the Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model, and the results proved the neutrality hypothesis for Malawi, with no causality existing between insurance and Malawi's economic expansion. This demonstrated that the insurance market in Malawi is operating at a low threshold that does not influence economic growth. The study recommends that the Government should put in place policies that will help to improve financial development and deepening, and increase participation of the majority of subsistence farmers so that they reduce their vulnerability and also raise the insurance thresholds to make it positively affect economic development.
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    Managing risk with insurance and savings: Experimental evidence for male and female farm managers in the Sahel
    (2015-05-28) Delavallade, Clara; Dizon, Felipe; Hill, Ruth; Petraud, Jean Paul
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    Misrepresentation in consumer insurance: the United Kingdom legislature opts for a ‘reasonable consumer’ standard’
    (Juta, 2013-12-01) Hutchison, Andrew; Stoop, Helena
    In 2012 the UK Legislature passed a new consumer insurance Act, which deals with certain areas of insurance law which have traditionally proved troubling for consumers. This note aims to draw South African attention to the provisions of this statute, and discusses in particular: (i) the treatment of misrepresentations made by consumers in disclosure forms; as well as (ii) its provisions on the issue of constructive knowledge of insurance companies of information disclosed by consumers to insurance intermediaries. There is a detailed case history on both these issues in both the UK and in South Africa, which is used to contextualise the debate. In particular, the materiality standard of the risk awareness of a ‘reasonable consumer’ has been chosen by the UK Act, which is more permissive than South Africa’s ‘reasonable person’ standard.
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    Potential strategies for sustainably financing mental health care in Uganda
    (BioMed Central, 2018-12-05) Ssebunnya, J.; Kangere, S.; Mugisha, J.; Docrat, S.; Chisholm, D.; Lund, C.; Kigozi, F.
    Abstract Background In spite of the pronounced adverse economic consequences of mental, neurological, and substance use disorders on households in most low- and middle-income countries, service coverage and financial protection for these families is very limited. The aim of this study was to generate potential strategies for sustainably financing mental health care in Uganda in an effort to move towards increased financial protection and service coverage for these families. Methods The process of identifying potential strategies for sustainably financing mental health care in Uganda was guided by an analytical framework developed by the Emerging Mental health systems in low and middle income countries (EMERALD project). Data were collected through a situational analysis (public health burden assessment, health system assessment, macro fiscal assessment) and eight key informant interviews with selected stakeholders from sectors including health, finance and civil society. The situational analysis provided contextualization for the strategies, and was complimented by views from key informant interviews. Results Findings indicate that the following strategies have the greatest potential for moving towards more equitable and sustainable mental health financing in the Uganda context: implementing National Health Insurance Scheme; shifting to Results Based Financing; decentralizing mental health services that can be provided at community level; and continued advocacy with decision makers with evidence through research. Conclusion Although several options were identified for sustainably financing mental health care in Uganda, the National Health Insurance Scheme seemed the most viable option. However, for the scheme to be effective, there is need for scale up to community health facilities and implementation in a manner that explicitly includes community level facilities.
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    Savings, Insurance and Debt over the Post-Apartheid Period: A Review of Recent Research
    (CSSR and SALDRU, 2015-05-28) Ardington, Cally; Lam, David; Leibbrandt, Murray; Levinsohn, James