Assured Guaranty insurance financial strength rating by Moody

Assured Guaranty  insurance financial strength rating by Moody, Assured insurance rating 2013 : Assured Guaranty Ltd. (AGO), the bond insurer whose biggest investor is Wilbur Ross, had its municipal bond unit downgraded by Moody�s Investors Service, which cited the industry�s �dramatic decline� since the subprime crisis.

Moody�s lowered the insurance financial strength rating of Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. two levels to A2 from Aa3, Assured Guaranty Corp. three levels to A3 from Aa3, and Assured Guaranty Re Ltd. three levels to Baa1 from A1, the debt-rating company said in a statement today.

�Assured operates in an industry that has not recovered from the financial crisis,� Moody�s said. The Bermuda-based firm �will continue to struggle in the face of declining fundamentals, including a dramatic reduction in insurance usage, modest profitability and still-meaningful legacy risk.�

Assured was the only company left insuring municipal bonds after MBIA Inc. (MBI) and Ambac Assurance Corp. had their credit ratings slashed during the crisis amid losses on guarantees of subprime-mortgage-backed debt. Since then, U.S. municipalities have grown used to borrowing without the insurance that once kept their interest rates low, before the MBIA and Ambac downgrades sent floating rates soaring in 2007 and 2008.

While Assured avoided the losses that felled its rivals, its stock plunged 90 percent from June 2007 to March 2009. Ross bought $250 million worth of shares in February 2008 and committed $750 million in capital to the firm. The billionaire�s WL Ross & Co. now owns a 10.2 percent stake. Though the shares recovered later in 2009, they are little changed from their value in June of that year.

In 2011, 5.2 percent of the $290 billion of municipal debt sold in the U.S. was insured, all by Assured, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The protection once covered half the bonds offered by U.S. states and local governments.

Moody�s put the units of Assured Guaranty under review on March 20. Profitability over five and 10 years has �weakened notably,� lagging that of other specialty insurers, and will remain under pressure from low sales, Moody�s said today.

While Assured has modest debt, it may have �constrained� ability to access funds �on a cost-effective basis� if needed, said the Moody�s analysts, led by James Eck and Stanislas Rouyer.

Online lead generation: How to get good auto loan leads?

If you are in the business of offering car loans, then you will always have to generate leads so that there are plenty of potential clients at hand. It is true that some of the leads will come out as bad and wouldn�t convert no matter how hard you try. But on the other side, you need to make sure that you are able to make the good leads fully convert into real purchasers. A lot of time and effort are spent to generate and manage them. So, it is important that one targets quality over quantity.

For instance, if you have secured 100 auto loan leads but 90% of them are bad, then the number of conversions will only be around 10. On the other hand, if you can secure just 40 leads (with 30% being good), then you will still fetch higher conversion at 12. So, one can conclusively point out that quality should always take precedence over quantity. It is so because until and unless your online lead generationhas promise of conversion, you will only be wasting away your resources. 

One recommended way for high-quality online lead generation is to create attractive ads. It is vital that one must exercise caution and innovation while coming up such ads. If they are annoying, then they won�t be of any help to you. But if you can put in some sort of benefit or incentive, then the surfers are more likely to click on them and further read as to what you have got to say. So, it is also important that you select your advertisement associate after checking his credentials.

Apart from tapping the market through web-ads, you should also try to target the local people. It is best to form association with local dealers who usually have great knowledge about the potential buyers. A dealer selling cars will surely register countless visitors on his website. Most of them are likely to buy an automobile if they can have the financial means. That is to say most of them are also on the look-out for car loans. So, if the dealer himself can place your home page�s link on his site, then you stand a great chance of generating a significant amount of �good� quality auto loan leads. Most of these people would be serious clients who will definitely borrow funds from you if you can impress them with your offers. 

On the alternative, if you do not wish to enter into any formal relationship with any dealer, then you can simply request them to give you vital info (the name and contact numbers) of their clients. In exchange, the dealer will take some money or commission. It is a very cheap option of getting high-quality auto loan leads. In fact, this method is superior to several other marketing strategies including email marketing (wherein such emails are simply trashed or sent in spam folders). 

Using these and many more innovative tactics, online lead generation has become very easy, as long as the person has the passion & will.

New car leads: 5 ways for generating auto insurance leads

When someone is in the business of lending or insurance, then it is vital to generate leads. Without such a method, it would be difficult to survive in this cut-throat industry. For instance, if you are someone who sells car loans or who provides insurance policy to automobile owners, then it will be imperative that you keep an eye out for car owners and potential automobile buyers. There are various ways to figure out such numbers. Some methods are more expensive than the others. But every business should keeps its options open and exercise its decisions depending on the existing situation and market condition.

Here are 5 popular ways for generating new car leadsand auto insurance leads:

i.                    Online ads: Everyone from a pre-teen kid to a 70-year old, all is hooked to the net. They surf a lot and frequent a number of websites. Thus, placing your online ads on different sites is an interesting way of capturing the market. It is not as direct as email or telephone-based marketing, but it does help to keep your company visible. It is however vital to set up your ads in an innovative manner so that you can register higher clicks. 

ii.                  E-mail campaigns: E-mail campaign is becoming more of a convention and may sound clich�, but it is still the most popular method to generate new car leads because of its cheapness. Sending an e-mail does not cost a penny, and even if some recipients delete it without even reading, this method continues to dominate the advertising world. In order to get better returns and to prevent spamming, it will be advisable that you do a thorough research of the market, get your auto insurance leads and send e-mails only to those who are actually planning to buy a car.

iii.                Social marketing: In today�s age, you cannot ignore social marketing. Social websites like Facebook and Twitter are extremely popular amongst all age groups and they also give businessmen a useful tool to market themselves. By setting up pages & profiles or joining similar groups, you can create a brand for yourself and increase your web visibility. However, refrain from spamming the newsfeed of your page�s followers as that usually propels them to unlike the page or change their settings. It is important that you set up an interactive way to communicate with the audience. 

iv.                Spread the word on forum and discussion panels: Internet is flooded with a number of forums and discussion panels. Since, the topic is pre-decided at these venues, usually only like-minded people with a common interest are members to it. Thus, you can spread word about your company in an automobile forum and create a lot of new car leads. 

v.                  Telephone and text marketing: The telephonic form of marketing has been in existence even before the dawn of internet. But recently attention has been shifted from direct phone to texts. The latter is more convenient to the client because it doesn�t disturb them as much as a call does. Commercial enterprises looking for auto insurance leads usually send bulk texts to potential customers.

Agency leads: 3 key tips to create life insurance leads

The insurance business is very competitive and it is something which involves a lot of intelligent marketing. If you are an insurance seller, then you have to face the daunting challenge of convincing customers to buy a policy at first. Once they are convinced that an insurance policy will benefit them, you have to then convince them to buy it from your company. Thus, unlike other industries where there is a readymade market, herein the seller has to chalk out a market for himself. And so, if someone doesn�t have good marketing skills, then he is likely to lag behind in the race.

Creating agency leads is no mean feat. It requires lot of hard work and plenty of phone calls. Even once the lead is generated, the seller has to be on his toes all the time and make sure that the rivals do not take away his potential customers. This is a sensitive area since the marketer has to make an impact upon the psychology of the client. You have to make him believe that you are the best person who can sell him a policy at the best rates possible. So, a lot of hassle is involved in the process. While you spend a lot of time and money, success is still not guaranteed. If the leads do not get converted, then all your hard work simply goes down the drain and you stand to lose a lot. 

Here are 3 special tips which can help you secure higher and better life insurance leads:

i.                Approach companies: The companies and corporate houses usually provide a ready market for agency leads. Many of the employees working in an organization prefer to take up a policy to reap its long-term financial benefits. Besides, some companies take up policies in bulk for all their employees as a part of its program. Hence, if you have attractive deals and good marketing prowess, then you can get really good conversion rates with these people. Not just big companies, even small businesses are opening their doors to such offers and can be convinced into buying a policy. The opportunity is certainly there, now it is up to you to make the most of it.

 ii.             Knocking at the doors of the colleges: College is another institute where you can find a large group of like-minded people. Most students at the brink of their career are enthusiastic about such polices, provided you can show them that they will benefit largely. By approaching these institutions, you give yourself a good chance to generate powerful life insurance leads.

iii.         Register with a lead provider: Internet is a great leveler. If it creates problems, it also offers solutions. While it has been instrumental in creating rivals for you, it has also led to the birth of organizations which provide leads by doing thorough research. By contacting these agency leads providers, you can easily secure good leads and go on to register higher sales. However, before joining hands with any company, make sure to check its authenticity & credentials to avoid falling prey to scams.

Travelers insurance stock outlook 2013

Travelers insurance stock forecast 2013 : Shares of The Travelers Companies closed at $74.95 Monday, trading for 10.9 times the consensus 2013 earnings per share estimate of $6.85. The consensus 2014 earnings per share estimate is $7.06. The shares returned 25 percent during 2012.

Based on a quarterly payout of 46 cents, the shares have a dividend yield of 2.45 percent.

Travelers on Dec. 5 announced that its preliminary estimate of losses related to Sandy was $1.135 billion, net of reinsurance. The after-tax loss estimate was $650 million. The company is scheduled announce its fourth-quarter results on Jan. 22, with a consensus earnings estimate of seven cents a share, compared to earnings per share of $2.22 during the third quarter, and $1.48 during the fourth quarter of 2011.

The company on Dec. 5 also said it intended to resume repurchasing common shares, which it had suspended temporarily after Sandy hit. For the first three quarters of 2012, Travelers reported an underwriting profit of $845 million. For 2011, the company reported an underwriting loss of $745 million.

Loss From Sandy
Catastrophe related losses account for about 10% of Travelers total claims and expenses. In 2011, natural disasters like Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, led to catastrophe related losses of around $1 billion. The operating margin for the business insurance division fell from 17% in 2010 to 12% in 2011, while the operating margin for personal insurance fell from 6% to a 4% loss.

The business insurance division reported catastrophe losses of $360 million for the first nine months of the calendar year. Given the estimate provided by the company, we expect an operating margin of around 15% for the fiscal year.

he catastrophe related losses reported by the personal insurance division through the first nine months of 2012 totaled $450 million. We expect an operating margin around 6% for the fiscal year. For a detailed analysis of the operating margins and the affect of Superstorm Sandy,

Revenue Growth
To mitigate the effects of the losses incurred by Travelers due to Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, the company had to undertake several pricing initiatives. Insurance rates increased by almost 8% through the first nine months of 2012, but the company was still able to maintain high retention rates, close to 80% in the business insurance division. This allowed a 3% growth in business insurance premiums. Given the company�s historical performance, we expect it to maintain premium growth. However, there are more than 2,500 property and casualty insurers in the U.S. and the highly competitive nature of the market will lead to a slight decline in Travelers� market share in the coming years.

Importance Of Investments
Although Travelers earns just 12% of its revenues from returns on investments, it is important for the company to invest premiums earned. Looking at the 2011 figures, we can see that Travelers earned about $22 billion in premiums and had to pay around $24 billion in claims. The $3 billion it earned from investment income allowed the company to maintain a profit for the year.

Most of Travelers investments are in fixed maturity securities like government bonds, which account for 85% of the net investment income with a yield of around 4%. However as the Fed has stated that interest rates will be kept low for the next few years, we expect a slight decline in yield in the coming years, with a recovery coinciding with an improvement in macro-economic conditions.

Allstate Stock outlook 2013-2014

best insurance stock - Allstate insurance Stock outlook 2013-2014, Allstate stock performance 2013 ; Shares of Allstate closed at $42.93 Monday, trading for 9.5 times the consensus 2013 earnings per share estimate of $4.53. The consensus 2014 EPS estimate is $4.88.

The shares returned 50 percent during 2012.Based on a quarterly payout of 22 cents, the shares have a dividend yield of 2.05 percent.

Allstate announced on Nov. 28 estimated that its losses for October, net of reinsurance, totaled $1.1 billion before taxes. The company said that "autos represent approximately 40 percent of the total gross losses, with 78 percent in New York, 19 percent in New Jersey and 3 percent in other states."

For its property-liability unit, Allstate reported underwriting income of $1.316 billion for the first three quarters of 2012. During 2011, the unit had an underwriting loss of $874 million.

The company will announce its fourth-quarter results on Feb. 7, with analysts expecting a loss of 7 cents a share, compared to a profit of $1.46 a share the previous quarter, and earnings per share of $1.48 during the fourth quarter of 2011.

Allstate on Dec. 17 announced that its board of directors had "approved a share repurchase program of up to $1 billion to be funded by issuing a like amount of subordinated debentures," after its previous buyback program was completed.

Following the company's announcement, Credit Suisse analyst Michael Zaremski reiterated his "outperform" rating for Allstate, with a $42 price target, saying he expected the company's board of directors to approve an additional $1 billion worth of stock (equal to 5 percent of shares outstanding at today's stock price [on Dec. 1]) via the issuance of a like amount of hybrid debt." Zaremski estimates that Allstate will earn $4.35 a share in 2013 with earnings per share rising to $4.72 in 2014.

Allstate earnings per share outlook 2013-2014, Allstate EPS 2013, Allstate earnings estimate 2013, Allstate stock prices 2013

Berkshire Hathaway stock outlook 2013

Berkshire Hathaway stock outlook 2013 : Shares of Berkshire Hathaway closed at $77.97 Monday, trading for 14.4 times the consensus 2013 earnings estimate of $5.43, among analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The consensus 2014 earnings per share estimate is $5.83.

Berkshire's Class B shares were up 4 percent year-to-date through Monday's close, after returning 11 percent during 2012.

The consensus fourth-quarter earnings estimate for the Class B shares is $1.13, declining from $1.37 in the third quarter, but increasing from $1.08 in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Unlike several other companies with a major property and casualty presence in the Northeast, Berkshire Hathaway has not announced a loss estimate from Hurricane Sandy. Of course, the company is involved in other businesses besides insurance, but insurance revenues made up 77 percent of total revenue during the first three quarters of 2012.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) now controls nearly 15 percent of kidney dialysis firm DaVita's (DVA) stock.

Berkshire Hathaway reported its latest purchases of 179,300 shares on Tuesday. Berkshire told the Securities and Exchange Commission it now owns 13.975 million DaVita shares. That has grown significantly since Omaha-based Berkshire first disclosed owning 2.7 million DaVita shares at the end of 2011

During 2011, the company's pre-tax underwriting gain for its combined insurance businesses was $248 million. For the first three quarters of 2012, Berkshire's combined underwriting gain for its property and casualty insurance business was $354 million.

Genworth would separate its mortgage insurance business

Best Insurance stock - Genworth would separate its mortgage insurance business  : Genworth Financial Inc said it would separate its mortgage insurance business into a new company, as the company looks to insulate itself from its troubled mortgage insurance unit, sending its shares up 4 percent before the bell.

Mortgage insurers have been struggling to recoup their losses after the housing bubble burst and foreclosures soared, leaving them with large claims on unpaid home loans.

Genworth on Wednesday said the restructuring will help protect the company from insolvency events related to its U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiaries and will not lead to a default under the indenture governing Genworth's senior notes.

Bond rating firm Moody's in September said it would likely downgrade Genworth unless the company could insulate itself from continuing losses from its mortgage insurance unit.

Genworth, which was spun off from industrial conglomerate General Electric, said the new plan along with an improving U.S. housing market is expected to result in breakeven or modest profitability for its mortgage insurance units during one or two quarters in 2013.

Genworth named Thomas McInerney as chief executive in December, replacing long-time CEO Michael Frazier who resigned after the insurer pushed back plans to sell a minority stake in its Australian mortgage insurance business through an initial public offering.

The reorganization, which is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2013, comes days after the company appointed Michael Derstine as chief risk officer.

The company said it will continue to hold the outstanding senior and subordinated notes, which will be guaranteed by the new company. Genworth also plans to contribute $100 million to the new company.

Shares of Genworth, which have risen about 37 percent since reporting a third-quarter profit in October, were up 4 percent at $8.45 before the bell.

Nigeria insurance market expected 2017

best insurance stock - Nigeria insurance market expected 2017 : Nigeria, Africa�s most populous nation, plans to more than triple the value of its insurance market in four years by improving the reputation of the industry, Insurance Commissioner Daniel Fola said.

�Our people don�t trust insurance,� he said in an interview today in Dubai. �We�ve done a considerable amount of housekeeping to make sure the companies respect the rules.�

The value of insurance contracts should rise to about 1 trillion naira ($6.4 billion) in 2017, about 3 percent of gross domestic product, from 300 billion naira now, or less than 1 percent of GDP, he said. Penetration should increase to 22.5 percent of the insurable population in four years from 10 percent currently, Fola said.

Compulsory motor-vehicle insurance, which makes up most contracts now, should remain at about 10 percent by 2017, while life insurance should constitute 7 percent, general business insurance 3 percent and petroleum companies� insurance 2.5 percent, he said.

Oil and gas businesses will continue to contract international companies to insure their Nigerian operations as the capacity of local insurers is limited, Fola said. As Africa�s largest oil producer, Nigeria produced about 1.9 million barrels of crude a day in December, according to Bloomberg data.

The Bloomberg Nigerian Stock Exchange insurance index, a measure of the 10 most liquid insurers on the Lagos-based bourse, has gained 11 percent so far this year, outpacing a 5.8 percent rise in the All Share Index. (NGSEINDX) Continental Reinsurance Plc (CONTINSU) shares gained 4.9 percent today, while Aiico Insurance Plc (AIICO) was up 3.9 percent.

Welfare Plan For Your Retirement Now

In order to keep an adequate life when they retire later, we need to raise funds from now by investing. A number of investment instruments could be an option, one through an investment program called Happy Fulfilled Retirement

We need to realize that when they retire there is no such thing as alimony, official cars and official residence. That means that if not financially prepared carefully from now, it could be old age can later poor.

Whoever wants to live when adequate retirement and quality of life did not decrease. The question is, how to plan retirement pension so that the target could be in line with expectations?

So it can be concluded that preparing for retirement needs that we could imagine it is the responsibility of each of us. We must do something. You are the architect of your future finances for each.

Maybe we do not realize our life's journey. Let's just started working at the age of 25 and retirement age of 55 years, the mean age of our work for 30 years. Starting retirement age of 55 years to death after 75 years. This means that we will be retiring over the past 20 years, the period of time that will cost a lot. People often assume that pensions do not need much, it's wrong. Not the cost of transportation, lunch and entertainment that cost much, but the cost of treatment required. How many people set aside old days, especially the cost for treatment.

There's only one reason to resist setting up retirement. Though setting up pension benefits for yourself and not for others. Some of the reasons for the refusal or delay retirement plan include:

1. There is already a retirement from the company
2. Still too young
3. There are many debt
4. Can not save

These reasons that will cause difficulties at the time of retirement. The younger one's getting better at preparing for retirement, because the funds set aside the less. Some things need to be prepared in the retirement plan:

a) Determine your retirement age. For example, 25 years
b) Determine the expected monthly cost equal to the amount of money at this time, for your retirement later.
c) Determine how long you are going to use your retirement funds. For example: 25 years after retirement.

What is the point in preparing for retirement?
1) In order not to lower the standard of living
2) No financial difficulty when his retirement
3) Can be independent when retirement arrives
4) No troublesome children or families.
5) Not burdened cost of healthcare, such as hospitalization, drugs, etc..

So there is no reason to delay the retirement plan, if you have difficulty in determining it. Please contact your financial planner or simply follow the program Happy Fulfilled Retirement