Now insurance products have gone on-line too. That is, customers can buy the insurance products over the internet through a website called WebsureSM. There's an added advantage in this - one doesn't have to wait for any offices to open in the morning, nor does he/she have to explain things to the dealing clerk. All that a customer has to do is go to the Net. And insurance products are all there for you to examine, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.The NetuitySM (FPDA-5 Internet Annuity), an Internet-only flexible-premium deferred annuity and the first product offered through WebsureSM, is now available to buyers in 43 states in the US.
The key feature of the NetuitySM is that the interest rate is guaranteed for the first five years of the contract, on the initial premium. According to Micheal Scunziano, WebsureSM Project Leader, "Internet consumers deserve the opportunity to buy products the way they want. Customers can control their purchases and make decisions regarding their own policies withoutintervention. We believe that a growing number of people connecting to the Net will expect this level of service."
Visitors to WebsureSM can browse the site, collect information about annuities, including the NetuitySM, and then complete the product application on-line. Once the application is digitally signed and the product issued, the visitor is the owner of the annuity available on-line. An on-line customer centre allows customers to check the status of their policies and make administrative changes at any time.
Private pension companies find new business in Brazil
The social security system in Brazil is undergoing a major revamp. The revamp is targeted at making public and private workers more responsible for their own retirements, improve the performance of pension funds and reverse the shortfall in the government's budget for social security.
This is welcome news for private pension fund managers, who at present handle only 10 per cent of the country's $ 90 billion pensionassets.
Chief Executive of Brazil's newly formed Bradesco Templeton Asset Management (BTAM), Robert John van Dijk says that individuals would expect more from private fund managers who begin picking up business now held by huge, state-owned pension funds. The group is to begin operations with $400 million in funds under management, which is about 4 per cent of the total $9 billion under private management. The pension fund assets are expected to grow to $200 billion by 2000 and $500 billion by 2010.
Y2K bugs Japanese insurers
Japanese insurance companies have begun to publicly announce that they are not obliged to cover any accidents that will result out of the millennium bug or the Y2K crisis. The potential risks of the Y2K bug are too much for them to take on, they claim. In fact, many insurers feel that the problem is not "accident" but expected and predicted. However, opinion seems to be divided among them. Some insurers fell that if ships can be insured for all accidents regardless ofreason, so can the Y2K crisis. But another problem would be calculating the exact quantum of risk involved. They also concede that Y2K will lead to a sharp rise in litigation and as of now are undecided on how to handle the Y2K factor.
-- Insurance Today
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
