Dynamics of the main indicators of the development of social insurance in foreign countries. Brief description of the insurance markets of the leading countries State of the insurance market of foreign countries

Comparative characteristics of the world insurance market are based on traditional indicators: the volume of insurance premiums by types of insurance and by regions of the world, the share of insurance premiums in the gross domestic product (GDP) of individual countries, and the density of insurance premiums per capita. The assessment of the dynamics of the world insurance market is carried out according to the growth rates of the signed insurance premium in different countries and regions of the world economy.

The global insurance market is concentrated in the developed countries of North America, Western Europe, Japan and Oceania - they account for more than 90% of the total volume of insurance premiums (Table 25.1). Long-term developing countries and countries with emerging markets, which include the countries of Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, South and East Asia and Africa, account for about 10% of insurance premiums. In the most developed countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in the emerging insurance markets of Latin America, Southeast Asia (GDP per capita - 5-8 thousand dollars), the share of insurance premiums in GDP is about 3-5%; in the USA, European countries and Japan, Hong Kong (GDP per capita 30–40 thousand dollars), the share of insurance premiums in GDP reaches 10–12%. Russia, unfortunately, lags far behind in terms of the analyzed indicators. In 2010, the share of insurance premiums in Russia's GDP was only 2.3%, which is 3–5 times less than in developed countries.

Table 25.1

World insurance market by region (2010)

Statistics show that emerging markets are characterized by greater growth potential than developed countries (Table 25.2). This is primarily due to the greater potential for economic growth of countries with economies in transition, significant market capacity and unsatisfied demand of the population for insurance services for various purposes, which in the centrally planned model of the economy was satisfied by the system of state insurance and social security.

Table 25.2

Growth rates of global insurance markets (%)

The insurance market and its participants felt the serious impact of the economic crisis, when market participants gradually began to feel inclined to save and save on "deferred" financial services, which includes insurance. However, such an insignificant overall increase in insurance premiums in industrialized countries in 2009–2010 (by 1.4%, compared to 4.0% in 2005–2006) is explained not only by the global financial crisis, but also by the fact that the insurance market Japan, which accounts for about 1/5 of the global market, showed a negative increase in this indicator due to the tsunami in April 2011 and the man-made disaster in March 2011 at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, which caused damage in the amount of almost a quarter Japan's GDP. The American insurance market is also not showing growth. The negative performance of the American insurance market was offset by a significant increase in premium collection in Southeast Asia (18.8% in 2009-2010) and especially in China, where the growth of the insurance market was an absolute record worldwide - 26.2% in 2009–2010 The growth rates of life insurance premiums fell especially significantly in industrialized countries (negative growth of -2.7% compared to 8% in developing countries), which is primarily due to the crisis unfolding in the stock markets. The situation with premiums in the insurance market other than life insurance turned out to be somewhat better: developed countries showed an increase of 5%, while developing countries - 8.6%. However, this increase was accompanied by a significant increase in the loss ratio due to the growth of insurance payments. In general, in the world in the period from 1996 to 2010, a pronounced positive trend in the collection of insurance premiums is noticeable (an increase of about 30%), however, here the insurance sector other than life insurance shows better dynamics than the life insurance sector (Table 25.3 ).

Table 25.3

Dynamics of collection of insurance premiums (world market, mln USD)

Despite the crisis, in 2010 the total volume of premiums collected in the world exceeded the same indicator in 2009 and was estimated at more than $ 4.3 trillion. Moreover, the growth was mainly accounted for by the life insurance sector, which in total accounts for more than 50% of collected insurance. premiums, although before 2007 this figure was less than half. In 2011, the overall growth of premiums in the world was negative (-0.8%), however, due to the depreciation of the dollar against other currencies in nominal terms, the growth was 6%. All insurance markets of developed countries in 2011 showed negative growth (-1.1%), emerging markets showed a small but stable growth (1.3%). The overall figures, however, do not reflect significant regional differences in insurance performance. For example, life insurance premiums in Western Europe fell 9.8%, while in North America they grew 2.3%. Life insurance premium collection volumes in China and India declined due to new regulations on the sale of insurance products, and non-life insurance premiums in these countries continued to rise.

According to relative indicators illustrating the level of development of the insurance market (and, consequently, the level of socio-economic development), such as insurance premiums per capita and the share of premiums in gross national product (GNP), industrially developed countries traditionally lead. The leading positions are occupied by the United Kingdom and Japan: in 2010, residents of these countries spent $ 4497 \u200b\u200band $ 4390 on insurance, respectively. Among the emerging insurance markets, attention should be paid to the fast-growing insurance markets of the Arab countries: the United Arab Emirates achieved a premium of $ 1,248 per capita. This does not contradict the trends observed in the global market: the largest international insurers are paying close attention to these markets, actively developing takaful services. A special place in the global insurance market belongs to China, which occupies the sixth place in the general table of ranks. This emerging giant country achieved a per capita insurance premium of $ 158, and already recorded a record rate of growth in insurance premiums in 2010 (26.2%). For comparison: the Russian market in 2010 was in 19th place in the world with an insurance premium density of USD 297. China's modest result in terms of insurance development is due to the country's large population and uneven socio-economic development of the territories.

Topic 9. The current state of the Russian insurance market and the global insurance industry

1. Insurance in foreign countries. General characteristics of the insurance market

Insurance belongs to the most integrated forms of financial activity. The largest insurance companies in the world are united by joint insurance and reinsurance ties. Many countries allow foreign insurance companies free access to national markets. For example, in accordance with the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, all kinds of restrictions on foreign capital in the countries of the European Union have been lifted and a course has been taken to form a single insurance market in Europe. Nevertheless, national insurance markets retain certain characteristics.

This primarily concerns the structure of the insurance industries and the types of insurance coverage offered. For example, in Asian countries the share of life insurance is very high (77% of the total amount of collected insurance premiums). In Europe, this figure is 47%, and in North America - 42%, which means that property insurance dominates in these markets. The reason for these differences is that life insurance is developing most intensively in countries with a low level of state social protection, where people themselves must decide the issue of their own retirement benefits. In addition, in poorer Asian countries, the population has fewer assets that need insurance.

According to the director of the French insurance program SARA J.-P. Daniel, the insurance market of Western Europe in the mid-90s. XX century looked as follows (Table 1). The highest level of premiums per capita is observed in Luxembourg - 2800 ECU with a population of 395 thousand people. This is due to the fact that Luxembourg is considered a "tax haven", Germans, Belgians and insurers from many other countries place their capital here.

For comparison, it should be noted that there are 9,133 insurance companies in the United States, and with a population of 258 million people. per capita there are 2334 ECUs of insurance premiums.

1.1. Insurance business in the USA. Its features

The American insurance business is huge and unmatched in the world.

American insurance monopolies control about 50% of the entire insurance market in the industrialized countries of the world. More than 8 thousand property insurance companies and about 2 thousand life insurance companies operate in the United States.

Each state has its own insurance legislation and its own insurance regulatory body. There is no single federal law on insurance and no single federal body for supervision of insurance activities. Consequently, each state puts forward its own requirements for the minimum level of capital, types of offered insurance, audits of controlled insurance companies, carries out general regulation of insurance activities by issuing licenses to brokers, agents and insurance companies themselves.

There are two types of insurance companies in the USA:

• joint stock companies
• mutual insurance societies.

There are no state insurance firms. Shares of joint stock companies can be purchased by both an individual and a legal entity.

Historically, in the United States, insurance companies have been mostly mutual insurance companies, traditionally smaller than joint stock companies in size.

Insurance companies provide three types of insurance:

1. bekifits (life and health insurance, medical, pensions, savings, etc.);
2. commercial (wide range);
3. personal (meaning insurance of buildings, cars and other property of citizens).

The legislation provides for the specialization of insurance companies in carrying out operations on life and property insurance. The assets of all insurance companies are approximately $ 1.6 trillion.On average, the assets of one company are $ 950 million, and the 12 largest companies account for $ 45 billion.

Companies operating in the insurance industry in the United States are not subject to antitrust laws. However, the activities of all US insurers are carefully analyzed by three consulting companies: “A. M. Best "," Moody S "," Standart & Poors ", which quarterly publish catalogs based on the results of their work. They publish in the press the official ratings of insurance companies in terms of reliability for the client and data on the state of their solvency. The main factors used for analysis and ratings are: financial position; claims payments and service level; safety and loss prevention; flexibility in the work of the company; cost of services (minimum tariff rates). Loss rate, income and return on investment ratio and level of receivables are considered as criteria for the performance of the insurer.

In the United States, an electronic databank is widely used for all insurance companies, which makes it possible to distribute companies by risk, premiums, etc.

One of the most important features of the largest US life insurance companies is that, due to the high authority of insurance companies, multibillion-dollar funds belonging to various pension funds are transferred to their management. The task of insurance companies in this case is to ensure the safety and growth of trusted funds through a reasonable investment policy. Insurance companies charge a commission for managing these funds.

Investments are of the utmost importance to American life insurance societies. Thus, statistics show that in 1984 the insurance costs and payments of insured amounts of life insurance companies amounted to 118% of the collected premiums, while the profit of these companies at the end of the year amounted to 6.9 billion dollars. It is absolutely clear that it was received. not through direct insurance operations, but from investments.

More important, however, is that huge investment resources make insurance companies one of the most influential external centers of financial control over industrial corporations.

Financial ties are reinforced by personal union. According to incomplete data, US insurers sit on 27 out of every 100 boards of directors of American industrial corporations. Only commercial and investment banks are ahead of insurance companies in this regard.

Organizationally, the American insurance companies are based on joint stock companies and mutual insurance companies ("muchuels"). There is an institution of underwriters and insurance brokers - insurance agents or independent brokerage firms. For example, one of the largest life insurance companies, the Prudential Society, has 22 thousand insurance brokers. Independent brokerage firms include Marsh-McLenan, Alexander & Alexander, Freck Hall, Fred S. James.

The largest insurance companies in the world, and primarily in the United States, are financial conglomerates: through their subsidiaries, in addition to insurance, they can provide loans and borrowings, organize check customer service, issue payment credit cards, conduct transactions with real estate, with securities, and manage property and capital on behalf of clients. There is a further internationalization of the insurance business, after fierce competition in the 1970s. there was a clear turning point in favor of the United States.

The largest companies operating in the US insurance market include companies:

"State farm mutual automobile insurance company" - a transnational property insurance company that collects premiums is ranked 1st not only in the United States, but all over the world. Founded in 1922 in Illinois. This is a mutual insurance company (instead of a share capital - a share capital): transport, property, accident, aviation and reinsurance.

"Сigna" Is one of the leading and widely diversified insurance corporations. Founded in 1982 as a result of the merger of two insurance companies - "Connecticut General corporation" and "INNA corporation", insures property and liability.

American International Group, Inc. (AIG) " - one of the leading international diversified insurance groups and the largest US insurer of trade, industrial risks, risks in the field of life insurance (AIG - Life). Operations began in 1919 in Shanghai. Today it is a holding company that controls 44 subsidiaries in 130 countries. The staff is about 28 thousand people. All companies of the group are united in six specialized departments. Property insurance and liability insurance for large US trading and industrial firms provide insurance premiums of about $ 8 billion per year. Foreign business of American monopolies and the activities of foreign companies in the United States and other countries - $ 2 billion.In life insurance, the annual premium collection is $ 9 billion.

The largest US companies are also:

"Metropolitan Life Insurance Co" (New York, founded 1868, successor to National Travers Insurance), since 1915 is a mutual life insurance company;

Continental corporation, founded in 1853;

"Prudential Insurance company of America" - 1876;

Allstate Insurance company - 1913, etc.

1.2. Insurance markets in the UK, France and Germany

Great Britain. This country is characterized by the most liberal insurance system. There are no special supervisory bodies for insurance companies - supervision is carried out by the Industrial Department. Despite the freedom in setting insurance premiums and in insurance rules, the quality of services here is not worse, and prices are lower than in other countries.

The UK insurance business has for many years been concentrated in London as the world's financial center. The largest London international insurance market serves the financial flows of a number of countries and companies. The prestige of the London international insurance market is based on a significant talent pool of insurance professionals, a highly developed market infrastructure, as well as the presence here of the insurance corporation Lloyd, widely known outside the UK. The corporation has recently gone through a severe crisis, from which it emerged with the help of major organizational reforms. However, all these difficulties almost did not affect the country's domestic insurance market, serving the domestic clientele.

Representatives and subsidiaries of all of the world's largest insurance companies are also located in London. The central offices of all major international and reinsurance brokers are concentrated here. The headquarters of international insurance organizations are located, as well as some structures of the national insurance market (Institute of London Insurers, Institute of Chartered Insurers, Institute of Underwriters, etc.), whose activities are international.

In accordance with EEC directives, no new universal insurance companies have been established in the UK since 1982. Personal and property insurance policies can be issued within the same group of insurance companies. Insurance companies in the UK are not allowed to engage in any business other than insurance.

UK insurance legislation is largely harmonized with the requirements of the EU insurance directives. So, the issues of endowment life insurance are subject to legal regulation the English Financial Services Act of 1986. The activities of friendly companies are governed by the special law on friendly companies of 1974. The special law on the insurance corporation "Lloyd" 1982 regulates the issues of insurance activities of this corporation.

The role of the UK insurance supervisor is vested in the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which is chaired by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. In practice, day-to-day insurance supervision is carried out by the Insurance Division of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Insurance companies and individuals are not allowed to engage in insurance business in the UK until they have obtained a DTI license. Exception from general rule applies to members of Lloyd Insurance Corporation, friendly societies and trade unions that provide insurance to their members during strikes.

Foreign insurance companies operating in the UK insurance market conduct their operations under the same conditions as their English competitors.

Germany ... Unlike the UK insurance market, the German insurance market is under strict government control. Its characteristic feature is the close connection of the insurance business with large industrial capital. Mutual participation in capital and management is widespread. It is said that about 50 people control all large German enterprises. Therefore, competition exists mainly at the level of distribution networks. In Germany, one insurance company clearly dominates - Allianz AG. This is not the case in any other country. It accounts for 42% of life insurance and 38% of other insurance industries. At the same time, Germany accounts for a little more than 55% of Allianz AG's turnover, everything else is related to foreign activities. Until the recent merger of the two French insurance companies AXA and the IAR, Allianz AG was the largest insurance company in Europe. In second place in Germany is an insurance company called "R + V". Its rise in recent years has been due to the unification of Germany. It has a cooperative structure, specializing in the insurance of rural residents and agricultural production, and it is the collective, cooperative form of ownership that has attracted East Germans who prefer R + V to all others.

Foreign insurers in Germany own 13% of the insurance market, of which the leading positions are traditionally occupied by insurance companies from Switzerland, which have been present on the banks of the Rhine for over 100 years.

All national and foreign insurance companies operating in Germany are subject to compulsory state insurance supervision by the Federal Office for the Supervision of Insurance Companies (BAV) based in Berlin. One of the main functions of BAV is to monitor the level of solvency and financial stability of insurance companies - economic entities of the German insurance market.

Insurance services are traditional, German insurance companies are not prone to risky experiments. In particular, Germany is the only country in Europe, except for Russia, where mixed life insurance contracts are still sold, guaranteeing 100% receipt of the amount of insurance both in the event of a client's death and in the event of his surviving the deadline... In other countries, combined insurance is practiced, in which the capital paid on death is not equal to the capital paid upon surviving. Counterinsurance is also common, in which, in the event of the death of a client, the insurer reimburses only the premium reserves accumulated under the contract or somewhat more. Usually such contracts are concluded for 20 years. In Germany, blended insurance occupies 77% of the life insurance market.

Reinsurance is very well developed in Germany. This is due to the fact that after the First World War German direct insurance companies were prohibited from working abroad. This ban did not affect reinsurers, insurance capital rushed into this industry, which brought its results over the years. Today it is a world center for reinsurance, which is also used by Russian insurance companies.

An important feature of the German market is "bank insurance", when an insurance company in its retail outlets is engaged not only in insurance, but also in the provision of banking services.

France ... The French insurance market is mainly focused on life and car insurance. Car insurance is extremely developed here and civil liability vehicle owners. The system has been worked out to the smallest detail and, unlike others, the French market has practically no losses in car insurance.

Many large insurance companies were nationalized after World War II and were state-owned for many years, as were many banks and large enterprises. This situation did not contribute to the prosperity of the national economy and pushed it into the background in the competition on the world market. Even 20 years ago, state insurance companies controlled from 20 to 50% of the market for different types insurance. By now, most of the state-owned insurance companies have already been privatized. For the time being, CNP remains in state ownership, the largest life insurance company, for which a sale project has been prepared, but it has not yet been implemented due to difficulties in choosing a suitable investor. However, this company does not have any advantages over private insurance companies.

In France, the role of social insurance is very important. In recent years, the state has taken a number of measures to stimulate life insurance, and in 10-15 years France has caught up and overtook its neighbors in this respect. This was achieved through the introduction of serious life insurance tax incentives such as:

• interest accrued under the insurance contract on the amount of premiums paid is not taxable. This means that an insurance contract is more profitable than a bank deposit. This benefit is valid if the contract is valid for at least 8 years;
• from the capital received under the insurance contract, in the event of the death of the insured, there is no need to pay inheritance tax, which can range from 5 to 60%;
• the insurance payment is not part of the inherited property, i.e. it is not subject to division among other heirs.

Hence, life insurance is the best legal way to transfer money to heirs without inheritance tax.

Bank insurance is also developed in France. Moreover, life insurance contracts are sold even through post offices, which in rural settlements and small towns provide both insurance and banking services... They are engaged, for example, in maintaining bank accounts, savings books and are a kind of bankers of the poor.

In recent years, the integration of European countries within the EU contributes to the further development of insurance and the formation of a single insurance market. Statistics indicate high growth rates of this industry in almost all countries.

In general, insurance in different countries demonstrates a significant variety of forms and a high degree of adaptability to the social and economic conditions of the population.

2. The modern insurance market in Russia. Development prospects

During the existence of the USSR, under the conditions of the state socialist economy, the need for insurance was minimal. The population insured their property, houses and life, but not en masse. Thus, in 1989, the number of voluntary insurance contracts in force among the population was 121.5 million, with a population of 148 million. This is very little, considering that in countries with a developed system of insurance protection, the number of insurance contracts is 5-6 per person. Moreover, state-owned enterprises did not feel the need for insurance. Reimbursement of damages occurred at the expense of state funds.

With the transition to a market economy, the need for insurance increases sharply, creating the basis for the rapid development of the insurance market. Currently, the demand for insurance coverage has three main sources:

1. The non-state sector of the economy, which has a natural need for insurance and due to its insecurity and inability to qualify for state financial support.
2. The second source of demand for insurance services is associated with the privatization of the housing stock, the reform of housing and communal services, the development of individual housing construction and the growth of the well-being of a certain part of the population.
3. The broad masses of the population. The guarantees provided by the state social insurance system are significantly below the bar living standards... The state relieves itself of the duty of constant guardianship over its citizens, giving them unprecedented freedom of action. In these conditions, the need for various forms of personal and property insurance inevitably increases, guaranteeing support for citizens and households in critical situations, material security in old age, the provision of quality medical services and much more.

In 2002, 1408 insurance companies were officially registered in the State Register, of which 1176 actually operate in the insurance market. In dynamics, their number is noticeably decreasing due to the increase in the minimum amount of the authorized capital and natural processes of capital concentration. Compared to 1997, the number of insurance companies has almost halved. Obviously, this process will continue.

On the Russian insurance market already in the mid-1990s. private capital predominated. In the total number of insurance organizations, private companies accounted for 36%, in mixed ownership - 58, state-owned - 5, municipal - 1%. Since 2000, there has been a tendency for the state to leave the insurance market, which is expressed in the sale of blocks of shares owned by the state in the capital of large insurance companies. The volume of insurance premiums collected in 2001 amounted to 276.6 billion rubles; an increase in relation to the previous year - 60.9%. Such high growth rates are primarily associated with the peak growth of life insurance, which accounted for more than half of all income in 2001. In 2002, the collection of insurance premiums amounted to 300.4 billion rubles. The real collection of insurance premiums decreased by 6%. For voluntary insurance, the decline was 15%, mainly due to life insurance, where salary schemes are being abandoned. At the same time, the volume of property insurance is growing in connection with the removal of restrictions on the attribution of insurance costs to costs.

The share of compulsory insurance in the total income is about 21%. The structure of voluntary insurance is presented as follows: life insurance - 44%, other types of personal insurance - 13, property insurance - 38, liability insurance - 5%.

The total amount of insurance payments in 2002 amounted to 231.6 billion rubles, including for voluntary insurance - 172.5 billion rubles. The ratio of payments to receipts for voluntary insurance was 77%, including life insurance - 131, other types of personal insurance - 62, property insurance - 16, liability insurance - 15%.

The ratio of the volume of collected insurance premiums to GDP was 3% in 2001, and in 2002 it dropped to 2.7%. For comparison, note that in countries with developed market economies, this figure is 8-10% of GDP.

Russian insurance companies are currently on the verge of change. The configuration of this segment of the financial market is expected to change dramatically in the next few years. Now the national character of insurers should be fully manifested. They will have to pass the test for vitality, the ability to cooperate, show wisdom and fighting qualities. The main hopes for business development are associated with innovations in the legislative and oversight areas.

New bills regulating the activities of insurers also concern the interests of citizens, as well as policyholders.

The focus is on the laws on compulsory liability insurance of enterprises operating hazardous facilities, the law on compulsory motor third party liability insurance (OSAGO), and a new version of the law on the organization of insurance business has been prepared. According to it, it is planned to reduce the number of licensed activities. The simplified licensing procedure assumes liability insurance for representatives of various types of business, including builders, architects, etc. This significantly expands the horizons of activities for Russian insurers.

Also, the activities of insurers will be influenced by the amendments to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation related to voluntary health insurance and classic life insurance. So, in the fall of 2006, it is planned to submit for consideration in The State Duma RF has a draft law on compulsory medical insurance, and in 2007 it is planned to work on a draft law on medical liability insurance.

It is supposed to provide some tax breaks for the population, for example, tax deductions for employees of enterprises who purchase voluntary health insurance or life insurance policies, since by the end of 2005 the share of life insurance operations in the total structure of the portfolio of Russian insurers fell to 5% due to the planned actions of regulators ...

It is supposed to consider a draft law on compulsory insurance of civil liability of enterprises operating hazardous facilities. It deals with the protection of the property interests of citizens in the event of accidents at hazardous facilities. There are thousands of them in Russia. In the event of an accident at such an enterprise, citizens will receive compensation for the harm caused to their life, health and property. In this case, individuals in the list of recipients of insurance compensation will have priority. Legal entities will receive compensation for damage in the second place. Unlike the law on compulsory motor third party liability insurance, the construction of the bill on payments is somewhat different. It does not provide for the establishment of maximum insurance indemnity amounts. Its size is "tied" to the amount of the insurance premium under the policy and, in fact, reflects the importance of the production itself, the amount of potential damage. After all, the size of the sum insured depends on this. Its minimum value is set at 14 million 800 thousand rubles. It is supposed to form a fund of preventive measures to carry out a policy of increasing safety at enterprises. In this compulsory type of insurance, due to large risks, the topic of reinsurance arises. Companies are coming to understand the need to form one or more insurance pools.

A chapter on self-regulation in the insurance market is introduced into the law on the organization of insurance activities. Its concept presupposes the existence of self-regulatory organizations at the regional and federal levels, the introduction of additional requirements for participants, joint liability of insurers, the creation of guarantee funds, etc. When joint liability of the participants of a self-regulatory organization (SRO) arises, relations within the association change dramatically. Internal control over the implementation of the rules is carried out on stricter grounds. The activities of such organizations provide concrete assistance in doing business, including simplifying the licensing procedure. SRO acts as a subject of insurance business by law. If an organization has assumed regulatory functions and does not perform them or performs them improperly, the FSIS can exclude the SRO from the insurance register, putting an end to its activities.

In connection with the prospect of joining the WTO, it is planned to change the legislation in the part concerning the admission of foreign insurers to the Russian insurance market. This necessitates the preparation of such legislation that will equalize direct branches with subsidiaries in the implementation of insurance activities. Such rules exist in international practice, they involve the solution of issues related to supervision, the reporting procedure, as well as the procedure for investing insurance premiums collected in the Russian Federation.

conclusions

Thus, the topic discusses the features of the organization of the insurance market in foreign countries. The differences in the organization of insurance in different countries of Western Europe, the USA and Japan are determined. An assessment is made of the need to study and implement the best in organizing insurance business in Russia, and also notes the fact that for Russia to enter the WTO, it is necessary to allow Western insurers to enter the Russian insurance market, for which it is necessary to amend the existing legislation.

Questions on the topic

1. What are the general characteristics of the organization of insurance in Western countries?
2. What are the features of the organization of insurance in the United States?
3. How is the UK insurance business structured?
4. What are the main features of insurance and reinsurance operations in Germany?
5. How is insurance organized in France? What are its features?
6. What are the prospects for the development of insurance in Russia and its interaction with foreign insurers?
7. What are the main conditions for Russia's accession to the WTO in the field of insurance?

1. Insurance in questions and answers: textbook. allowance / M. M. Ardatova, V. S. Balinov, A. B. Kuleshova, R. Z. Yablukov. - M .: TK Welby, Prospect Publishing House, 2006 .-- 296 p. (pp. 44-46)
2. Shakhov V.V. Insurance: Textbook for universities. - M .: UNITI, 2003 .-- 311 p. (pp. 268-271)
Question 1. Insurance in foreign countries. General characteristics of the insurance market. Shakhov V.V. Insurance: Textbook for universities. - M .: UNITI, 2003 .-- 311 p. (pp. 268-271)

Workshops

Features of the US insurance market. In the United States of America, there are more than 8 thousand property insurance organizations and about 2 thousand life insurance organizations, while in the EEC countries there are about 5 thousand. By the early 1990s. US citizens had about 90 million insurance policies in their hands for a total of $ 4.5 billion.

American insurance monopolies control about 50% of the entire insurance market in the industrialized countries of the world.

There are two types of insurance organizations in the United States: joint stock companies and mutual insurance companies. There are no government insurance firms. Shares of joint-stock companies can be purchased by both individuals and legal entities.

Insurance activities include:

• ? bekifits (life and health insurance, medical insurance, pension insurance, savings insurance, etc.);
• ? commercial insurance (wide range);
• ? personal insurance (meaning insurance of buildings, cars and other property of citizens).

The insurance industry in the United States is the only one not subject to the country's antitrust laws.

The greatest development in the United States has received personal insurance, the second most important type of insurance in the United States - insurance of the credit and financial sector, which is largely due to the widespread use of credit settlement principles in the country in trade and services.

Property insurance and liability insurance for large US trading and industrial firms provide an insurance premium of about $ 8 billion. in year.

All insurance companies in the United States are divided into groups according to the organizational principle: joint-stock companies (their majority) and "mutuels" - a kind of mutual insurance partnership.

The joint-stock organization is owned by the owners of shares, who receive profit in the form of dividends. Only those insured in the given organization can be the owners of "mutuels", and all capital is created from insurance premiums and deductions from profits.

One of the most important features of the largest US life insurance organizations is the fact that, due to the high prestige of insurance organizations, multibillion-dollar funds belonging to various pension funds are transferred to their management. The task of insurance companies in this case is to ensure not only the safety, but also the growth of trusted funds through an effective investment policy (a commission is charged for managing the organization's funds). Even moderate amounts (0.1% of the amounts taken into management) bring in millions in revenues. Huge investment resources transform insurance organizations to one of the most influential centers of financial control in relation to industrial corporations.

Another characteristic feature of the US insurance system is the participation in insurance of various intermediaries - when the insurance policy is not accepted directly, but through an insurance agent or broker. The total number of brokers and agents in the country reaches 500 thousand people. Brokerage activities are carried out by both individuals and large specialized firms.

The activities of all US insurers are thoroughly analyzed by three consulting organizations A.M. Best, Moody S, Standart & Poors, which publish quarterly catalogs of their work. They publish official ratings of insurance organizations in terms of reliability for a client and data on the state of their solvency. The main indicators used for the analysis are: financial position, claims payments and service level, safety and loss prevention, flexibility in the organization's work, cost of services. The loss rate, income and return on investment ratio, and the level of receivables are considered the main criteria for the performance of the insurer.

For many decades to the present uK insurance market dictated the terms and conditions of insurance. The English insurance rules have been used to develop national insurance conditions for many countries around the world.

According to some indicators, the English insurance market still has no equal in the world. Thus, with a relatively small size of the domestic insurance market (5.3%), its share in international transactions is almost 20% of the entire world insurance business. British insurance companies operate in 43 countries. Almost a tenth of all insurance premiums in the world go to the accounts of British insurance companies.

In the UK insurance market by the early 1990s. there were 838 national and foreign insurance organizations; 376 syndicates of Lloyd Insurance Corporation. The world's most famous insurance institution, the Lloyd syndicate, unites more than 23.5 thousand individual insurers who are responsible for the risk of their property. Lloyd operates in five main distinct markets - maritime, general property, aviation, automotive and short-term life insurance. Marine insurance accounts for 40% of all insurance premiums received by the corporation, most of them come from international operations.

Insurance legislation in the UK complies with the requirements of the EU insurance directives.

The institutional structure of the UK insurance market is represented by joint stock companies, mutual insurance companies, branches and representative offices of foreign insurance organizations. In accordance with EU directives, insurance companies are not allowed to engage in any other type of business.

Personal insurance in the UK is concentrated in specialized insurance organizations, pension funds, and investment organizations (construction companies) that sell real estate to the public.

Property insurance among the population is represented by a number of traditional types. Among them insurance passenger cars, household property, civil liability, etc. Personal and property insurance is characterized by a steady pace of development.

In Great Britain it is widely developed:

• ? compulsory insurance of civil liability for damage to third parties caused by owners of vehicles, air travel, pets;
• ? compulsory professional liability insurance for lawyers, accountants, insurance brokers, as well as operators of nuclear power plants.

Insurance contracts in the UK are concluded directly by insurance companies, as well as through underwriting agencies and insurance intermediaries (agents and brokers).

The special structure of the English insurance market is the system for the protection of policyholders, as well as the corresponding insurance fund, formed at the expense of insurance organizations. The level of contributions to the compensation fund is based on the amount of the net insurance premium collected by the insurer under insurance contracts. In case of bankruptcy of an insurance organization, the funds of the compensation fund will be used to compensate in full or in part their losses under compulsory insurance contracts.

The UK has the most liberal insurance system: the insurance division of the Department of Trade and Industry performs the functions of the state insurance supervisory authority.

Despite the relative freedom in setting insurance premiums and in insurance rules, the quality of services is not worse here, and prices are lower than in other countries. Historically, the UK insurance market has split into two independent parts: London and the rest. The London market mainly insures foreign clients - sea vessels, oil organizations, multinational corporations. The largest insurance organization Lloyd, which reigns in the London market, recently experienced a severe crisis, which is emerging with the help of major organizational reforms. However, all these difficulties almost did not affect the domestic insurance market of the country, which serves the domestic clientele.

All insurance companies are required to draw up an annual financial report, which is subject to an external audit procedure. Insurance organizations pay tax on income from insurance activities, as well as property tax.

German insurance market has a number of features. First, there is a close relationship between the insurance business and large industrial capital, and mutual participation in capital and management is widespread. Secondly, the insurance market is under strict state control. The insurance business in Germany is regulated by the Law on State Insurance Supervision, which contains the basic legal rules of insurance. National and foreign insurance companies operating in Germany are subject to mandatory state insurance supervision by the Federal Office for the Supervision of Insurance Organizations (BAV). The main purpose of the activities of the federal body of state insurance supervision, as in other countries, is to protect the interests of policyholders. The third, and important feature of the German market is bank insurance (bankossurence) (when an insurance organization in its retail outlets is engaged not only in insurance, but also in the provision of banking services).

Despite the absence of legal restrictions on foreign capital, the German insurance market is relatively closed. This is due to the psychology of the population: the Germans prefer their insurers. Insurance services are traditional, German insurance companies are not prone to risky experiments. For example, Germany is the only country in Europe, except Russia, where mixed life insurance contracts are still sold, guaranteeing 100% receipt of the insurance amount in the event of a client's death and in case of his surviving the deadline. In Germany, mixed life insurance occupies 77% of the market, property insurance 51%, personal insurance 37%, medical insurance about 12% of total revenues. Health insurance in Germany is much less popular than in other Western European countries.

In the early 1990s. in Germany, there were 115 insurance companies serving the personal insurance sector, 230 non-state pension funds, 56 health insurance companies, 35 specialized reinsurance organizations, 330 other insurers. More than 2,200 local regional insurers are specific to the German insurance market, collecting about 5% of the total volume of insurance premiums. Foreign insurers in Germany own 13% of the insurance market, of which the leading positions are traditionally occupied by insurance companies from Switzerland - about 9% of the insurance market.

The private insurance sector in Germany is represented by joint stock insurance companies owned by their shareholders, mutual insurance companies and state insurance corporations.

Insurers in Germany are not allowed to engage in any activity other than insurance.

Compulsory insurance in Germany is relatively limited. Federal legislation establishes compulsory insurance of the employer for damage to employees caused by an occupational injury or harmful working conditions, compulsory insurance of civil liability of motor vehicle owners, air carriers, accountants, hunters, etc. A number of federal states have compulsory fire insurance.

Germany is dominated by one insurance organization, Allianz. It takes 42% of life insurance and 38% of all other insurance industries. At the same time, Germany accounts for a little more than 55% of its turnover, everything else is associated with foreign activities. Allianz is considered one of the largest insurance organizations in Europe. In second place in Germany is the insurance organization R + V. Its rise in recent years was due to the fall of the Berlin Wall. This organization has a cooperative structure, specializing in the insurance of rural residents and agricultural industries. And it was precisely the collective, cooperative form of ownership that placed the hearts of East Germans in relation to the organization, who prefer R + V to all others.

Germany is a real world center for reinsurance, the services of which are also used by Russian insurance organizations. And this did not happen by chance. After World War I, German direct insurance companies were prohibited from working abroad. And this ban did not affect reinsurers, insurance capital rushed here, which brought its results over the years. The largest reinsurance companies are the Cologne and Munich reinsurance companies.

The recent years have been characterized by the internationalization of the activities of German insurance organizations. Operations abroad are conducted by branches and through controlled foreign organizations. Most of the foreign branches are located in Western European countries, in other regions participation in the capital of local insurance companies prevails. In total, in one form or another, German insurance companies are represented in the markets of 20 countries.

Swiss insurance market is distinguished by the dynamic development of the insurance business. By the early 1990s, there were 117 insurance organizations in the country, including 23 personal insurance organizations, 82 organizations general insurance and 12 reinsurance companies.

The Swiss insurance market is characterized by a close intertwining of national and foreign capital. Insurance companies are often multinational corporations with extensive foreign interests.

Swiss organizations hold stable positions in the field of insurance in the global insurance market (it accounts for more than 50% of all premiums coming from abroad). Domestically, more than 50% of gross premiums are provided by personal insurance.

Switzerland has the highest rate of collection of insurance premiums per capita. Swiss family insurance policies are the largest expense item in the family budget. Insurance in the field of entrepreneurial activity has also received great development (almost all industrial, trade, transport and other enterprises of the country are insured). Insurance companies in Switzerland are characterized by active investment activities in the capital market. More than 50% of all assets of insurance organizations are placed in the form of loans and investments in bonds.

Italian insurance market plays a less significant role in the country's economy due to the conservatism of the insurance system, the slow introduction of innovations, the lack of diversification of the activities of insurance organizations in related areas of the financial and credit system, and strict state regulation of the activities of insurance organizations.

By the beginning of the 1990s. there were 211 insurance companies in Italy. Of these, 6 were engaged exclusively in reinsurance operations, 25 - only in life insurance, 27 - in life insurance and property insurance, the remaining 135 - only in property insurance. Of the total number of companies, 48 \u200b\u200bare owned by foreign capital.

About 50% of the total collection is accounted for by insurance against risks associated with car ownership. Most insurance companies are private joint stock companies.

The largest insurance organization in Italy - Assicurazioni Generali, one of the ten leading insurance companies in the world, the organization deals with all types of insurance, including property, life insurance, reinsurance and controls at least 12% of the life insurance market in Italy and at least 8% of the property insurance market.

Insurance market in France began to develop dynamically in the post-war period. Since the mid-1950s. until the early 1980s gt. its turnover increased 25 times, while the country's gross domestic product increased 15 times.

The main types of insurance in France are auto and life insurance. 1983 - 1984 In connection with the regular commercial launches of artificial satellites using the Arian rocket, a new industry was created - space risk insurance. To increase the market capacity, an insurance pool for space risks was established in 1983. The French reinsurance market is ranked 5th in the world.

Internationalization for the French insurance market is a relatively new, but rapidly growing field of activity. For this indicator, France ranks third in the world after the UK and Switzerland. The largest insurance companies in France have their branches and offices in more than 60 countries around the world.

The French insurance market is focused on life and car insurance. The insurance of cars and civil liability of car owners is extremely well developed here. The system has been worked out to the smallest detail, and unlike others, the French market has practically no losses in car insurance.

After the First World War, many large insurance organizations were nationalized and for many years were owned by the state, like many banks and large enterprises. This situation did not contribute to the prosperity of the national economy and pushed it into the background in the competition on the world market. Even 20 years ago, state insurance organizations controlled from 20 to 50% of the market for various types of insurance. By now, most of the state insurance companies have already been privatized. For the time being, CNP, the largest life insurance company, remains state-owned.

The role of social insurance in France is very important. Good social security and government guarantees for pensions led to the fact that life insurance was much less developed here than in other European countries. However, in recent years, social security and pension fund budgets have been steadily in deficit. The state has taken a number of measures to stimulate life insurance, and in 10-15 years France caught up and overtook its neighbors in this respect, mainly due to the introduction of serious tax breaks on life insurance.

Firstly, the interest accrued under the insurance contract on the amount of premiums paid is not taxed, as a result of which the insurance contract is more profitable bank deposit... This benefit is valid for a contract duration of eight years.

Secondly, from the capital received under the insurance contract, in the event of the death of the insured, you do not need to pay inheritance tax (it can be from 5 to 60%). In addition, insurance is not part of the inherited property, i.e. is not subject to division among other heirs. Thus, life insurance is the best legal way to transfer money to your heirs without inheritance tax.

Bank insurance is developed in France. Moreover, in rural settlements and small towns, post offices provide not only postal services, but also insurance and banking services. They are engaged in maintaining bank accounts, savings books, becoming a kind of bankers of the poor.

IN Japan life insurance is the most developed. Life insurance organizations are the largest owners of stocks and bonds of private organizations as well as public corporations. They play an important role in lending matters. The reason for the dominant position of life insurance organizations is the absence of social insurance and security systems in Japan for a long time.

In recent years, insurance organizations have been actively penetrating the insurance market in the USA, Canada and other countries. The amount of insurance premiums they receive is more than double the amount of premiums received by general insurance organizations.

Organizations providing general insurance play an important role in the development of the economy and foreign economic relations.

The state strictly regulates the activities of insurance organizations. Insurance premium rates cannot be changed without the consent of the Ministry of Finance. Competition between insurance companies is limited due to the lack of insurance brokers. The insurance system consists of a large number of branches and their agents, the number of which in large organizations reaches several tens of thousands.

Activities of insurance pools abroad. In most countries of the world there is no special legislation regulating the formation and operation of insurance pools. As a form of association of insurance companies, they are governed by general rules of civil and contract law.

Insurance pools can operate on the principles of coinsurance and reinsurance. Most of the large pools abroad combine both principles. In co-insurance pools, participants transfer to the pool all risks of a certain type, for the insurance of which this association was created. The risks are divided in certain proportions between the participants, together with insurance premiums for them, and each member of the association bears a corresponding share of responsibility for damages in the event of insured events. In reinsurance pools, participants independently engage in primary insurance, and transfer excess risks to the pool for reinsurance.

Various types of insurance pools are represented in the world insurance practice. Almost every country has national insurance pools created by insurance organizations in certain branches of insurance activities. In Germany, for example, it is the German Air Pool for Air Transport Insurance, the German Society for Risk Insurance at Nuclear Reactors, and the Society for Liability Insurance for Pharmaceutical Companies. As a rule, an insurance pool is not a legal entity, but there are exceptions for national pools. They can obtain the status of legal entities and issue insurance policies uniform for all participants.

Regional insurance pools created by proactive insurers to increase the insurance capacity of the regional insurance market are no less widespread. This makes it possible to retain in the region as much of the insurance premiums as possible.

Foreign insurance pools combine the features of coinsurance and reinsurance pools. For example, nuclear power risk insurance pools mostly work in both primary insurance and reinsurance. If the pool acts as the primary insurer, then it issues its own policies to policyholders. If the pool acts as a reinsurer, then the policyholders receive insurance policies from insurance organizations that are members of the pool, and the risks accepted for insurance are 100% transferred to the pool for reinsurance.

The members of the pool are jointly and severally liable for the current obligations under the contracts accepted for joint insurance.

Coverage varies from country to country depending on legislation and traditions.

In Germany, the risks of nuclear power plants are insured, and above all technical risks. The German Nuclear Reactor Insurance Pool is a reinsurance pool. In some other countries, the pools are involved in all types of nuclear insurance, covering the entire cycle of movement and consumption of nuclear raw materials. The formation of insurance pools and the terms of the contract connecting their participants correspond to the needs and real possibilities of insurers. In most countries, insurance pools are limited in their activities by the rules of antitrust laws.

Problems of interaction between Russian and foreign insurers. The Russian insurance market has several attractive aspects in the eyes of foreign partners.

The Russian insurance business, unlike many other sectors of the real economy, is not burdened with debts to Western financial institutions. The potential capacity of the domestic insurance market is estimated at hundreds of billions of US dollars. Over the past few years, a fairly low level of unprofitableness of insurance operations has been formed in comparison with Western insurance markets. The growth in the well-being of the Russian population and the associated increase in the effective demand of the population for insurance services should change the current situation.

There is also a real possibility of creating a workable and profitable model of interaction between capital and technology of Western and Russian insurers.

Is the Russian insurance community ready to work with foreign insurers on the market? This question can hardly be answered unambiguously. The financial capabilities of domestic insurers are quite limited and will not allow taking adequate measures in the face of tough competition. At the same time, the aggregate authorized capital of all insurance organizations included in the unified state register of insurers increases from year to year and maintains a growth trend.

The American insurance business is huge and unmatched in the world. American insurance monopolies control about 50% of the entire insurance market in the industrialized countries of the world. More than 8 thousand property insurance companies and about 2 thousand life insurance companies operate in the United States.

Each state has its own insurance legislation and its own regulatory body (supervision). Of a single federal law on insurance and there is no single federal body for supervision of insurance activities.

Each state puts forward its own requirements for the minimum level of capital, the types of insurance offered, conducts audits of controlled insurance companies, carries out general regulation of insurance activities by issuing licenses to brokers, agents and the insurance companies themselves.

There are two types of insurance companies in the United States: joint stock companies and mutual insurance companies. There are no government insurance firms. Shares of joint stock companies can be purchased by both an individual and a legal entity.

Historically, in the United States, insurance companies have been mostly mutual insurance companies, traditionally smaller in size than joint stock companies.

Insurance companies provide three types of insurance:

1. bekifits (life and health insurance, medical, pensions, savings, etc.);
2. commercial (wide range);
3. personal (meaning insurance of buildings, cars and other property of citizens).

The legislation provides for the specialization of insurance companies in carrying out operations on life and property insurance. The assets of all insurance companies are approximately $ 1.6 trillion. On average, one company has assets of $ 950 million, and the 12 largest companies have $ 45 billion.

The insurance industry in the United States is the only one not subject to antitrust laws.

The activities of all US insurers are carefully analyzed by three consulting companies: A.M. Best, Moody S, Standart & Poors, which analyze the state of insurance companies and publish quarterly catalogs of their work. They publish in the press the official ratings of insurance companies in terms of reliability for the client and data on the state of their solvency.

Some companies, especially brokerage companies, have special divisions to analyze the activities of other companies. In this case, the main factors for which the analysis is carried out are: financial position; claims payments and service level; safety and loss prevention; flexibility in the work of the company; cost of services (minimum tariff rates).

Loss rate, income and return on investment ratio and level of receivables are considered as criteria for the performance of the insurer.

In the United States, an electronic databank is widely used for all insurance companies, which makes it possible to distribute companies by risk, premium, etc.

One of the most important features of the largest US life insurance companies is the fact that, due to the high prestige of insurance companies, multibillion-dollar funds belonging to various pension funds are transferred to their management. The task of insurance companies in this case is to ensure the safety and growth of trusted funds through a reasonable investment policy. Insurance companies charge a commission for managing these funds. And even moderate amounts - 0.1% of the sums taken into management bring millions in revenues.

Investments are of the utmost importance to American life insurance societies. Thus, statistics show that in 1984 the insurance costs and payments of insurance amounts of life insurance companies amounted to 118% of the collected premiums, meanwhile, the profit of these companies at the end of the year amounted to 6.9 billion dollars. It is absolutely clear that it was obtained not through direct insurance operations, but from investments.

However, another thing is even more important: huge investment resources turn insurance companies into one of the most influential external centers of financial control in relation to industrial corporations.

Financial ties are bolstered by personal unions, and according to incomplete data, US insurers sit on 27 out of every 100 boards of directors of American industrial corporations. Only commercial and investment banks are ahead of insurance companies in this regard.

Organizationally, the American insurance companies are based on joint stock companies and mutual insurance companies ("mutuals"). There is an institution of underwriters and insurance brokers - insurance agents or independent brokerage firms. For example, one of the largest life insurance companies - the Prudential Society - has 22 thousand insurance brokers. Independent brokerage firms include Marsh-McLenan, Alexander & Alexander, Freck Hall, Fred S. James, and others.

It must be said that in the American insurance market (in accordance with the general world law) the volume of costs is growing.

In the early 1980s, the cartel system of setting insurance premium rates that had been in effect throughout the post-war period collapsed.

The legislation actually encouraged insurance companies to maintain a uniform pricing policy in relation to policyholders.

In 1983-1984 in a number of states, restrictions on the movement of premium rates were lifted. Due to intense competition, rates fell by 15, 30 and even 40%. This led to the fact that many small insurance companies, especially property insurance, suffered large losses.

The largest insurance companies in the world, and primarily in the United States, are financial conglomerates: through their subsidiaries, in addition to insurance, they can provide loans and borrowings, organize check customer service, issue credit cards, conduct transactions with real estate, with securities, manage property and capital on behalf of clients. There is a further internationalization of the insurance business, after tough competition in the 70s, a clear turnaround in favor of the United States was marked.

Leading companies in the US insurance market.

• The largest transnational property insurance company "State Farm Mutual Omobilization Insurance Company" took the 1st place in the collection of premiums not only in the USA, but all over the world. Founded in 1922 in Illinois. This is a mutual insurance company (instead of a share capital - a share capital): transport, property, accident, aviation, and reinsurance.
• Signa is one of the leading diversified insurance corporations. Founded in 1982 as a result of the merger of two old companies "Connecticut General Corporation" and "INA Corporation", it insures property and liability.
• American International Group (AIG) is one of the leading international diversified insurance groups and the largest insurer for trade and industrial risks in the United States. Operations began in 1919 in Shanghai. Today it is a holding company that controls 44 subsidiaries in 130 countries. The staff is about 28 thousand people.

All companies of the group are united into six specialized divisions.

Property insurance and liability insurance for large US trading and industrial firms provide insurance premiums of about $ 8 billion per year.

Foreign business of American monopolies and the activities of foreign companies in the United States and other countries - US $ 2 billion

For life insurance, the annual premium collection is US $ 9 billion.

The largest US companies are also:

• Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. (New York, founded in 1868, successor to National Travers Insurance), since 1915 is a life insurance company on a reciprocal basis;
• Continent Corporation, founded in 1853;
• Prudential Insurance Company of America - 1876;
• Allstate Insurance Company - 1913 and others.

13.2. UK insurance market

The UK insurance business has for many years been concentrated in London as the world's financial center. The largest London international insurance market serves the financial flows of a number of countries and companies. The authority of the London international insurance market is based on a significant human resources potential of insurance specialists, a highly developed market infrastructure, as well as the presence here of the insurance corporation "Lloyd", well-known outside the UK. All of the largest insurance companies in the world have representative offices or subsidiaries in London. The central offices of all major international insurance and reinsurance brokers are also concentrated here. The oldest (founded in 1760) and the most authoritative classification society, the Lloyd Register of Shipping, operates. The headquarters of a number of international insurance organizations are located in London, as well as some structures of the national insurance market (the Institute of London Insurers, the Institute of Certified Insurers, etc.), whose activities are of an international nature.

Personal insurance in the UK is concentrated in specialized insurance companies, pension funds, and investment companies (construction companies) that sell real estate to the public. Over the past ten years, there has been a steady increase in the collection of insurance payments.

A significant increase in insurance payments has been noted in recent years in connection with changes in pension legislation in the UK, which created economic incentives for the working-age population to acquire private pension insurance policies (plans).

Property insurance among the population is represented by a number of traditional types. Among them are insurance of cars in private ownership, household property, civil liability, etc. Property insurance is also characterized by a steady pace of development.

The institutional structure of the UK insurance market is represented by joint stock companies, which are owned by their owners - shareholders; by mutual insurance companies that are owned by their policyholders; friendly societies; branches and representative offices of foreign insurance companies. Lloyd Insurance Corporation is a large independent link in the national insurance market of international importance. In 1990, 690 national and 143 foreign insurance companies were represented in the UK.

In accordance with EEC directives, since 1982 no new universal (composite) insurance companies have been created in the UK. Personal and property insurance policies can be issued within the same group of insurance companies. UK insurance companies are not allowed to engage in any other type of business other than insurance.

The basic structure of the London international insurance market - Lloyd Corporation is represented by 400 insurance syndicates that unite individuals - underwriters directly carrying out the insurance business of the corporation. The underwriters are unlimitedly liable for obligations arising from the terms of the insurance contracts they have entered into under the syndicate. Dynamic and mobile structures of syndicates with a pronounced specialization by types (classes) of insurance, form the economic environment of the international insurance market in the Lloyd Corporation system. Each syndicate is represented in this market through a leading underwriter who directly takes risks for insurance in the syndicate from the intermediary broker Lloyd. Lloyd's corporate membership is open to all UK citizens (residents) and foreigners (non-residents).

Insurance contracts in the UK are entered into directly by insurance companies, as well as through underwriting agencies and insurance intermediaries (agents and brokers).

Direct sale of insurance policies to potential clients relies heavily on advertising in the media, direct mailing of information materials to the public with an offer to conclude an insurance contract, as well as appropriate phone calls aimed at establishing direct contact with potential future policyholders. Forms of direct sale of insurance policies are mainly used in the practice of concluding personal insurance contracts. There is also a growing popularity of commercial banks and building societies, with the help of which their clients have the opportunity to draw up life and home property insurance contracts.

Underwriting agencies are created to sell insurance policies in the regions in the event that it is economically unprofitable for an insurance company to create a branch or a subsidiary there. Insurance policies are issued to the clientele on behalf of the insurance company, but the underwriting agency staff is not the insurer's staff. The underwriting agency is not liable for obligations arising from the terms of the concluded insurance contracts, which are certified by insurance policies issued to individuals and legal entities through their intermediation.

A significant role in the UK insurance market is played by large national international insurance brokers, as well as independent insurance agencies operating on a commission basis. Approximately 50% of all insurance and reinsurance contracts in the UK are entered into through insurance agents and brokers. The legal framework for insurance activities in the UK is the Insurance Companies Act 1982, with subsequent amendments and additions to it. The law contains legal norms governing the licensing of insurance activities, the solvency of the insurer, the assessment of the assets and liabilities of the insurance company, the investment of insurance reserves.

Insurance legislation in the UK is mainly harmonized with the requirements of the EU insurance directives. Thus, the issues of endowment life insurance are subject to legal regulation by the English Financial Services Act 1986 (Financial Services Act, 1986). The activities of friendly societies are regulated by a special law on friendly societies in 1974 (Friendly Societies Act, 1974). A special law on the insurance corporation "Lloyd" of 1982 regulates the insurance activities of this corporation.

The functions of the UK government insurance supervisor are vested in the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which is chaired by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. In practice, day-to-day insurance supervision is carried out by the Insurance Division of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Insurance companies and individuals are not allowed to engage in insurance business in the UK until they receive a DTI license. An exception to the general rule applies to members of the Lloyd Insurance Corporation, fellowships and trade unions that provide insurance to their members during strikes. In relation to members of the insurance corporation "Lloyd", licensing issues have been transferred to the competence of the highest body of this organization (Council of Lloyds). Licensing of insurance activities of friendly societies falls within the competence of the Register of Friendly Societies.

Separate licenses must be obtained to carry out operations for each type (class) of insurance. To obtain a license for insurance activities, a number of documents must be submitted to the state insurance supervision body. In particular, the personal composition of the board of directors and top managers of the insurance company is reported. The types (classes) of insurance for which it is expected to obtain licenses are announced. A business plan is submitted to the state insurance supervisory authority, including the expected balance sheet and expected profit. The documents required for licensing include an investment plan for the reserves of the insurance company, as well as a reinsurance protection program. Proforma agreements (labor contracts) with managers, insurance brokers and agents are submitted for the conclusion of the state insurance supervision body.

An insurance company that plans to carry out operations under personal insurance contracts, in order to obtain a state license, must first obtain a special actuary certificate confirming the correctness of methodological approaches to the calculation of insurance rates.

When considering the draft program of reinsurance protection of the future portfolio of insurance contracts submitted to the state insurance supervisory authority, the following circumstances should be taken into account: The Department of Trade and Industry usually allows more than 20% of the obligations assumed by the original insurer to be reinsured in the insurance holding system to which the original insurer belongs, more 10% of liabilities in any other insurance company. In any case, more than 25% of the obligations assumed by the original insurer are allowed to be reinsured in some other country.

Foreign insurance companies operating in the UK insurance market conduct their operations under the same conditions as their English competitors. All insurance companies registered as business entities overseas must meet the DTI requirements in terms of having financial resources in the UK that are adequate to their obligations under the concluded insurance and reinsurance contracts. The procedure for issuing an insurance license usually takes six months. The insurer's activities related to the implementation of reinsurance and retrocession operations are also subject to the licensing procedure on a general basis by the DTI.

The Department of Trade and Industry, as a body of state insurance supervision, is endowed with broad rights and powers. The main goal of the measures taken in the field of supervision of insurance activities is to protect the interests of policyholders. Among the measures of regular influence on the insurance company on the part of DTI is strict control over the implementation of the investment program of the insurer agreed with DTI. The insurance supervisory authority may appoint a special examination of the issues of setting actuarial calculations, require an independent examination of the programs of reinsurance protection of the risks of the insurer. Newly appointed specialists for the positions of senior managers of an insurance company, for example, chief executive officer, controller (chairman of the supervisory board), are subject to approval by the management of insurance supervision. An insurance company experiencing problems with maintaining the required level of solvency is obliged to draw up a financial rehabilitation (rehabilitation) plan, over the implementation of which the state insurance supervisory authority establishes systematic control.

Special measures of state regulation are applied to insurers specializing in the operations of endowment life insurance and long-term retirement plans for accumulating savings by a certain age. The legal basis for this regulation is provided by the Financial Services Act 1986 (Financial Services Act, 1986).

In accordance with this law, personal insurance companies are required to register with special authorized organizations - the Securities and Investments Board (SIB) or the Life Assurance and Unit Trust Requlatory Orqanization (LAUTRO ), to which the Securities and Investments Department has delegated some of its powers. The Securities and Investments Authority (created in 1985) is the central regulatory body for the UK securities market.

As part of the special registration, the investment insurance plan is carefully analyzed and checked in relation to its compliance with the current investment rules and the statutory objectives of the insurer.

Lloyd's insurance syndicates are not directly supervised by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). In accordance with the Lloyd Insurance Corporation Act of 1982 (Lloyd's Act, 1982), the supervision of syndicates is transferred to the Council of Lloyd's, which has broad powers and powers.

As a result, in the civil law decree, the insurance corporation "Lloyd" is considered as a self-regulatory structure of the insurance market, whose activities are of a pronounced international character.

Lloyd's Council is responsible for creating new insurance syndicates for the corporation. This takes into account financial guarantees from at least two existing syndicates (£ 250,000).

Each insurance syndicate of the corporate structure "Lloyd", entering into insurance legal relationship, bears unlimited property liability for the obligations assumed. In this regard, syndicates are required to provide evidence of their actual wealth to Lloyd's Council on a regular basis. Lloyd's Council sets limits (assignments) for each insurance syndicate on the collection of insurance premiums, the amount of which depends on the amount of the guarantee cash deposit placed by the insurance syndicate with the corporation prior to the commencement of insurance operations. Based on the amount of the deposit and the established limit of insurance payments. Lloyd's Council sets qualification level financial resources insurance syndicate and thereby agrees to certain amounts of risk assignment. In accordance with the statutory requirements for the insurance corporation "Lloyd", the head of the Department of Trade and Industry is annually submitted a report on the results of the insurance business of syndicates, as well as a certificate confirming the level of their solvency.

Insurance intermediaries in the UK are also largely regulated and licensed. This primarily applies to the activities of insurance and reinsurance brokers. The Insurance Brokers Act 1977 established the Insurance Brokers Registration Council (IBRC) in the UK to supervise and regulate insurance brokers operating in the UK insurance market. IBRC is responsible for maintaining the state register of insurance brokers. Without proper registration with the IBRC and the entry of information into the state register of insurance brokers, the activities of an insurance intermediary are considered illegal with all the ensuing consequences.

Individuals applying for the professional qualification "insurance broker" are required to pass a qualification exam in the theory and practice of insurance and show IBRC experts that they have a minimum capital of £ 1,000 to start their brokerage broker. In addition, a successful candidate will deposit £ 1,000 with IBRC as a guarantee of their obligations.

If the share of the brokerage commission from the sale of life insurance policies and funded pension plans by a certain age of the client exceeds 25% of his total income from insurance activities, then the insurance broker must either become a member of a special national self-regulatory organization - the Regulatory Association of Financial Intermediaries, Managers and Brokers (Financial Intermediaries, Managers and Brokers Regulatory Association, FIMBRA) or transform your status as a business entity in the insurance market into a so-called "tied" insurance agent or insurer.

A special structure of the English insurance market is the Policyholders Protection Board, which was created in accordance with the Policyholders Protection Act 1975 (Policyholders Protection Act, 1975). In addition, this law provided the necessary conditions for the creation of a special compensation fund for policyholders, which is formed at the expense of cash contributions from all insurance companies licensed and carrying out insurance operations in the UK. The level of contributions to the compensation fund is based on the amount of the net insurance premium collected by the insurer under insurance contracts concluded with the public. In case of bankruptcy of an insurance company, the funds of the compensation fund will be used to compensate in whole or in part their losses under compulsory insurance contracts.

In 1925, the Lloyd Insurance Corporation approved a central guarantee fund, the funds of which are intended to compensate for damage under insurance contracts concluded by insurance syndicates if they are experiencing serious financial difficulties in current operations. The amount of annual contributions to the central guarantee fund depends on the capacity of the risk placement syndicate.

In some cases, policyholders can count on monetary compensation from the IBRC and FIMBRA, organizing the activities of insurance intermediaries in the English insurance market. Monetary compensation to policyholders is paid in case of financial bankruptcy of an insurance broker or established facts of criminal negligence of an insurance agent or broker in servicing the policyholder, which had very unfavorable consequences for him and entailed a violation of his legal rights.

The Insurance Companies Act 1982 sets out the minimum requirements for the level of solvency of the insurer. The method of calculating the level of solvency complies with the requirements of the EU directives on insurance activities. The Department of Trade and Industry is constantly monitoring the level of solvency of insurance companies. Particularly stringent requirements for the level of solvency are established by this law in relation to personal insurance companies.

In the UK, there is compulsory third party liability insurance for damage to third parties caused by vehicle owners, air carriers, horse riders, and those who keep animals that are dangerous to others in their pets. In addition, compulsory professional liability insurance is provided for lawyers, accountants, insurance brokers, as well as operators of a nuclear power plant. Compulsory insurance contracts (by virtue of the current legislation) are concluded by insurance companies present in the English insurance market. Government organizations in the UK do not deal with compulsory insurance issues.

English law establishes requirements for the volume and shape financial statements insurance companies. All licensed insurance companies are required to draw up an annual financial statement and bring it to the attention of shareholders. The financial report is subject to mandatory external audit. The UK insurer auditing norms and standards are applied. No later than six months after the end of the financial year, all insurance companies are required to submit an annual financial statement to the Department of Trade and Industry.

Insurance companies pay tax on income from insurance activities as well as property tax. In some cases, insurance transactions are subject to stamp duty, but the scope of these transactions is very limited.

13.3. German insurance market

The German insurance market is characterized by dynamic development. The annual growth in the volume of insurance payments in Germany is 10%. Personal insurance in the structure of the national insurance market is about 37%. Health insurance, which is somewhat less popular than in other Western European countries, accounts for about 12% of total insurance payments. Property insurance occupies 51% of the national insurance market in Germany.

The personal insurance sector in Germany is facing increasing competition from commercial banks seeking to provide insurance services to their clientele through commercial bank operating rooms. In general, the profitability of operations in the retail insurance sector is higher than in the corporate insurance sector. The sector of insurance services for individuals occupies 87% of the German insurance market, the sector of insurance services for legal entities - 13%. Dividends on shares of shareholders of insurance companies are stable, but slightly lower than in other Western European countries. The unification of Germany has left its mark on the dynamics of the insurance market.

The insurance business in Germany is divided between the state social security system and the private insurance sector. Social insurance is compulsory for all employees if they are not covered by the private insurance sector. This refers to insurance for old age, in case of unemployment, insurance in case of temporary disability.

The private sector of insurance services in Germany is represented by the following types of insurers - joint stock insurance companies owned by their shareholders, mutual insurance companies and state insurance corporations.

In 1990, there were 115 insurers in Germany serving the sector of personal insurance contracts, 230 non-state pension funds, 55 health insurance companies, 35 specialized reinsurance companies, 330 other insurers. In addition, more than 2,200 local regional insurers are specific to the German insurance market, collecting less than 5% of total insurance premiums. Foreign insurers in Germany own 13% of the insurance market, of which the leading positions are traditionally occupied by insurance companies from Switzerland (about 9% of the insurance market), which have been present on the banks of the Rhine for over 100 years. Insurers in Germany are not allowed to engage in any activity other than insurance.

The federal structure of Germany is an important factor in the development of channels for promoting insurance services to direct consumers. Regional insurers maintain their physical presence in all federal states of Germany. Most large insurance companies resolve the issue of activating new and renewing existing insurance contracts through insurance agents who either work on the basis of a contract with an insurance company or act as so-called "connected" insurance agents.

A large source of clientele attraction is the work of independent insurance brokers serving various insurance companies. Direct sale of insurance policies, carried out directly from the offices of insurance companies, is widely represented.

Each insurer usually has more than one insurance agent serving a specific designated area. In general, insurance brokers are more active in providing insurance services to legal entities, while "connected" insurance agents mainly serve the insurance interests of individuals. It is characteristic that a number of large insurance companies in Germany, solving the issues of activation, do without expensive services of insurance intermediaries, informing potential customers about the offered insurance services by sending relevant information by mail. By saving on salaries for insurance intermediaries, these insurance companies have a significant expense in organizing promotional events and paying for postage.

The insurance business in Germany is highly regulated. Currently, the 1983 Law on State Insurance Supervision is in force, taking into account the subsequent amendments made in December 1985 and October 1990, containing the basic legal norms governing insurance relations.

All national and foreign insurance companies operating in Germany are subject to compulsory state insurance supervision by the Federal Office for the Supervision of Insurance Companies (BAV) based in Berlin. The main goal of the federal body of the state insurance body of state insurance supervision is to protect the interests of policyholders. This is important because there is no specific centralized guarantee fund in Germany for indemnifying losses by the insured due to the unexpected bankruptcy of their insurers. The only exception to this rule is the special guarantee fund for civil liability insurance of motor vehicle owners. It means that from this fund, damage is reimbursed to road users who have suffered as a result of a road accident, if the car owner, for whatever reason, did not have a policy confirming that he has a compulsory civil liability insurance contract.

Insurance companies established in individual federal states are subject to insurance supervision by the authorities authorized by the state authorities. As a rule, at the land level, the land departments of the economy are in charge of insurance supervision issues. BAV may delegate to the Land Economy Departments the rights to issue licenses for insurance activities. At the same time, BAV remains the only body in charge of general management of insurance activities in the country.

All direct insurers, excluding reinsurance companies, must apply to BAV for an insurance license.

In order to obtain a BAV insurance license, an insurer must have the approval of the State Insurance Supervisory Authority for the proposed top management positions of the insurance company. It is required to submit a document confirming the amount of the fully paid authorized capital of the insurance company. At present, its minimum value should be 5 million German marks. The application to BAV for the issuance of a license is also accompanied by a drawn up business plan for insurance activities for the next three years, reference certificates for members of the insurer's board of directors, rules and rates by type of insurance, the proposed reinsurance protection program, the expected cost of doing business, including organizational expenses and administrative and management. The insurance company must also provide BAV with evidence that it has the necessary reserve (reserve) funds to mediate the insurance activity. If certain administrative and managerial functions of the insurer (accounting, adjuster services, etc.) are transferred to service companies that have the rights legal entitythen BAV must be notified.

All foreign insurance companies intending to carry out direct insurance operations in Germany must go through a licensing procedure. This procedure through BAV is compulsory for insurance companies that are domiciled in EU member states (i.e. insurance companies that have their headquarters in one of the EU countries). Insurance companies from non-EU countries must submit them to the Federal Ministry of Finance prior to reviewing licensing documents in BAV. Foreign insurers from non-EU countries can obtain permission to carry out insurance activities in Germany only if they have the appropriate administrative office space, management personnel, secretarial equipment, etc., that constitute the infrastructure of the insurance business. In addition, this foreign insurer must appoint a lawyer to represent it; submit to an independent auditor documents characterizing his financial position and publish information on the state of the main balance sheet accounts in the Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger).

BAV is vested with broad powers and powers to oversee insurance activities. The control functions of BAV are primarily aimed at protecting the interests of policyholders (insured persons), including direct specific control over the actions and management decisions of the insurer in relation to the particularly large risks it has taken. There are no restrictions on the part of public authorities and authorities on the performance of the insurance supervision functions assigned to BAV, which is authorized to inspect and monitor all aspects of the insurance activities of functioning insurers.

One of the main functions of BAV's activities is monitoring the level of solvency and financial stability of insurance companies - business entities of the German insurance market, BAV checks the actual state of affairs of insurers according to the indicators of their proposed business plans during licensing, analyzes policy conditions, tariff rates. BAV's control functions also include the analysis of management structures and their communications in the staff of insurance companies. BAV approves the proposed top management staff of the insurance company, as well as the internal auditors. Provides assistance to holders of shares of insurance companies who have complaints about the solution of procedural issues of the statutory activities of joint-stock insurers. BAV issues orders and instructions regarding accounting in insurance companies, determining methods for assessing the results of investment activities of insurers and calculating technical reserves, and appoints its authorized representative to the insurance company to resolve substantive issues.

Insurers operating in Germany are required to maintain the statutory level of solvency for insurance companies in EU member states. Additional requirements apply for foreign insurers operating in Germany from non-EU countries. They must confirm the presence of a fixed deposit in cash, which guarantees the fulfillment of the financial obligations taken by the insurer to the policyholders. There are requirements for the investment activities of these foreign insurers, which must be exclusively focused on the German economy.

Compulsory insurance in Germany is relatively limited. German federal law establishes compulsory insurance of the employer for damage to employees caused by industrial injury or harmful working conditions, compulsory insurance of civil liability of motor vehicle owners for damage to third parties as a result of a road traffic accident. Compulsory insurance of professional (civil) liability of air carriers and dispatchers for traffic control of civil aircraft, accountants, hunters, operators of nuclear power plants, consumers of atomic energy and radioactive isotopes, manufacturers (producers) of pharmaceutical products. In addition, in some federal states of Germany compulsory insurance of buildings against fire is established, regardless of their form of ownership.

The scope of the annual financial statements and the accounting principles for business transactions carried out by insurance companies are established by the BAV. Special requirements for the volume of the annual financial statements of companies are established when transactions are carried out on certain types (classes) of insurance, for example, life insurance.

The consolidated annual financial statements should include the results of operations and balance sheets of all subsidiaries, agencies and representative offices of the insurer for all countries where it carries out insurance and reinsurance operations.

In accordance with the requirements of the BAV, the annual balance sheet of the insurance company, the breakdown of the profit and loss account, the accompanying note to the annual balance sheet of the CEO of the insurance company must be audited by an external auditor. These functions can be performed by a certified accountant who has a license of the established form to perform accounting operations. A sworn accountant must be approved by the board of directors of the insurance company. BAV may challenge the nomination of the external auditor approved by the board of directors of the insurance company and require the management of the insurance company to consider another candidate that meets the requirements of the BAV. The insurance company's external audit procedures are generally in line with international auditing norms and standards. However, BAV is issuing additional guidance and clarifications in relation to the rules and standards for auditing the results of insurance activities in Germany.

The results of the external audit are documented by the auditor's report. Particular attention is paid to assessing the financial stability of the insurer, the level of solvency, the size and directions of placement of insurance reserves.

The annual financial report, including the auditor's report, must be presented to shareholders and published in print. The annual financial report, including all required documents, must be submitted no later than three months from the date of the reporting date.

Income from insurance activities is subject to taxation. In general, a 50% tax rate is applied to income from insurance activities. 80% tax is levied on insurance premiums for all concluded insurance contracts, except for life insurance contracts. Value added tax is not applied to the amounts of insurance premiums credited to the bank account of the insurer.

Summary

Insurance in foreign countries is part of the international insurance market. At the same time, it is an important sector of national economies, providing the redistribution of 8-12% of the gross national product. Accumulated through insurance cash serves as a source of large investments. The financial flows of insurance companies are largely focused on servicing the domestic government debt. State regulation of insurance activities abroad is mainly aimed at controlling the financial side of the work of insurance companies.

Review questions

1. Give a general description of the US insurance market.
2. Expand the general characteristics of the UK insurance market.
3. How is Lloyd Insurance Corporation organized?
4. Provide general information about the organization of the insurance market in Germany.

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In the second half of the twentieth century. the global insurance market has entered a new phase of development. Passing through a chain of crises shaking its various segments, adapting to the rapidly changing economic situation, the markets of insurance services in various countries began to actively develop towards the creation of a single international insurance space. This consolidation trend has affected all areas of the insurance business.

Among the reasons for the emergence of a global trend towards integration in the insurance market, it is necessary to single out a number of objective factors. Among the most important of them is the entry of the world community to a new stage of development, reflecting the emergence of closer contacts between national markets and the creation of a single cultural, information and economic space. The effect of erasing economic and cultural boundaries between countries, leading to an expansion of the range of partners and foreign representations of companies, the emergence of a large-scale international division of labor, as well as the international tourism industry are pushing the insurance business beyond national borders.

The catalyst for integration in the European insurance market was the creation of the European Monetary and Financial Union. Changes in the market structure associated with the emergence of a unified insurance market in July 1994 affected not only European companies, but also entailed a response from insurers from other countries, primarily the United States.

Another factor contributing to the integration of the insurance business is the unification of insurance conditions. This unification is carried out both through the direct borrowing of insurance technology by less developed insurance countries from more developed countries, and through the introduction of divisions of large international insurers into the national markets of these countries. A special role in the implementation of the first option for unification of the insurance business is played by the participation of various partners of insurers: reinsurers, assistance services, emergency commissioners, etc.

It should be noted that integration processes are not confined to the insurance market. One of the areas of integration that goes beyond the insurance market is the interpenetration of the insurance and banking business. The motivation for this direction of integration processes is also clear: on the one hand, such mergers allow more efficient use of the service infrastructure of the consolidating companies and diversify the product range, on the other hand, such transactions in most cases allow increasing the market value of the merged companies.

Finally, the formation of global world communication and information systems creates the technical prerequisites for expanding the insurance business beyond national borders. Neglecting these assumptions could result in the loss of tomorrow's market positions for many insurers.

Countries such as the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Italy and Switzerland are considered leaders in the insurance market. But the best development of insurance is in the United States. It is the American activity in the field of insurance that has received the largest scale. Its insurance monopolies control about half of the insurance market in developed countries. US insurance companies offer several types of insurance. The first type is bekift. This includes life and health insurance, health insurance, pension insurance, savings insurance, and others. Another type is commercial insurance, which has a fairly wide range of services.

The last type is personal insurance. It should be understood as insurance of property of citizens, for example, buildings, cars, etc.

The USA is the only country in the world where the insurance business is not regulated by law. The specificity of American insurance is the presence in its structure of a large number of insurance intermediaries. The number of agents here is about 500 thousand people.

The UK international insurance market is also one of the largest. The largest insurance companies in the world have their subsidiaries in London. And all international insurance brokers have located their offices here. Financial flows from different countries of the world pass through this state.

Major national international brokers and independent insurance agencies are of prime importance in the UK insurance market. They are rewarded for their services in the form of commissions. About half of all insurance and reinsurance contracts in this country are drawn up by intermediaries.

The insurance business in Germany is developing rapidly. Every year the amount of accrued insurance payments is growing here by 10%. Activities in the insurance market in this country are strictly controlled by the state. Employees, regardless of the branch of activity in which they are employed, must necessarily conclude contracts for social insurance. The only exceptions are employees in the private insurance sector. Social insurance includes insurance for such cases as unemployment and temporary disability, as well as insurance for old age.

A special feature of insurance in Germany is the absence of insurance intermediaries. When offering their products, insurance companies simply send information about them by mail. This way of selling insurance services is the most economical.

As the largest national insurance market, the United States retains the leading position in the world in terms of the number of mergers: of the analyzed transactions, more than 40% occurred in the American insurance market. This high rate is due to two reasons: objectively high financial capabilities and the forced necessity of consolidation in order to confront European competitors.

The investment potential of the US insurance market is really high. The volume of collected premiums significantly exceeds similar indicators in the European and Asian national markets, and the US share in total insurance revenues around the world as a whole is more than 30% (Table 3). The US insurance market is also the leader in terms of the amount of insurance premiums per capita: annual insurance premiums per capita over the past three years have exceeded $ 2,500. For comparison: the average European cost of insurance per person ranges from $ 1,000 to $ 2,500 per year. One of economic indicatorsThe most commonly used to assess the level of development of the insurance business is GDP.

From table. Figures 3 and 4 clearly show the qualitative correlation between the level of insurance premium collection and the GDP indicator. This once again confirms the fact that development in the insurance sector is closely related to overall economic growth. So in the United States in 2010, GDP growth amounted to 3.8%, while the inflation rate remained at the level of 2%.

Tab. 3. Volumes of insurance premiums of the largest national insurance markets

For comparison: in Europe, only in Great Britain, GDP growth exceeded 3%, while in Japan it turned out to be quite insignificant - only 0.5% (Table 4). Among European countries, the leading positions in this indicator are retained by Great Britain, Germany, France and Italy. It is not surprising that these countries are also leaders in the number of mergers in which they acted as initiators.

Table 4. GDP of the most developed insurance countries

A comparison of these tables also shows that the depressive state of the Japanese insurance market is clearly illustrated by the state of stagnation of the entire economy of this country. Over the past four years, many Japanese insurance companies have been ousted from among the world's leaders by Americans and Europeans. And the securities of the largest insurance companies fell sharply at the auction on March 11 amid news of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. It is reported by BBC News. Thus, in Frankfurt, Munich Re shares fell 5.3 percent, Allianz - 1.7 percent, and Swiss Re and Hannover Re - more than four percent. In London, shares of insurance firms Admiral, RSA and Prudential fell 2.4 percent, 1.9 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

An economic indicator used to assess the level of development of the insurance business is the dynamics of the growth of the total insurance premium to GDP. It characterizes the medium-term potential of the national insurance market (Fig. 3). According to the presented data, the most growing insurance market among economically developed countries is the French insurance market. A high increase in the level of collection of insurance premiums to GDP, as well as a significant increase in the absolute value of collected insurance premiums (over the past three years by more than 40%) are one of the indicators of the attractiveness of the French insurance market for foreign investors.

Figure: 3

Such high rates, as well as the openness of the domestic insurance market, served as a decisive argument when choosing France as an object for expansion by insurers from other countries. A natural consequence of this has been a sharp increase in the presence of foreign insurers in the French market in recent years. Another important factor that determines the level of activity of integration processes is the internal structure of the national insurance market of the state.

Most developed national insurance markets are characterized by a high level of concentration of insurance volumes by the largest operators. It should be noted that the assessment of the concentration level based on the total collected premiums is not entirely correct when it comes to the current activities of insurers. In this case, it is necessary to take into account a more accurate analogy of insurance products, methods of their distribution and the coincidence of the insurance field. However, when analyzing the strategic prospects of companies in the market, with a high degree of certainty, all companies can be considered competitors, and then this method of calculating concentration gives a sufficient assessment of their potential. Despite the high level of concentration inherent in most markets, two different types of mature national insurance markets can be distinguished.

The first type of market is an insurance community with a clear leader - a company whose market share is more than 15-20% of the total insurance premium, and the rest of the companies are significantly inferior to the leader in terms of scale of activity. This type includes, for example, the insurance markets in Germany and Italy. The leaders of the insurance business in these countries are the insurance groups Allianz and Assicurazioni Generali. Allianz has an annual turnover of more than 40 and Assicurazioni Generali 20 billion US dollars.

The second type is made up of insurance markets, where several large insurance companies or groups with approximately equal financial capabilities coexist. Until recently, this type of insurance market existed in the USA, Great Britain, France and some other European countries. Competition in the insurance markets of these countries remained at a higher level than that of those in the first group. Competition is particularly fierce in the UK, where the insurance market consists essentially of five independent specialized insurance markets: maritime, property, aviation, automotive and life insurance.