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Keeping Up With The Market – May 2023

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Every month, we help you keep up with the Belgian and Luxembourg insurance markets.

Market

DECAVI’s Non-Life awards

April means the ceremony of DECAVI’s Non-Life insurance awards.

Motor insurance: Axa Belgium received an award for its car insurance Confort Auto and P&V received two awards, for its legal protection and car insurance products. Belfius Insurance was awarded for its bike insurance.

Home insurance: AG was awarded for its fire insurance Top Habitation, Ethias was awarded a trophy for its fire insurance for tenants and I.B.I.S Insurance for its fire insurance for co-owners.

Liability insurance: Ethias received an award for its family insurance and AG for its tax legal protection insurance Providis. 

Professional insurance: Ethias was awarded for its workers’ compensation insurance, AG received an award its insurance for SME’s Modulis Easy and  Hiscox for its cyber insurance CyberClear.

Health insurance: DKV Belgium received an award for its DKV Hospi Flexi. 

Travel insurance: Allianz Assistance received a trophy for its ROYAL Service insurance.

Innovation and digital: Allianz Benelux was praised for its innovative Scan Risques & Assurances and Axa Belgium and was praised for its digital development.

The insurer AG was awarded the Brokerage award for the 10th year in a row and received an award for its developments in prevention and social commitment.

 

P&V Group’s results

P&V Group has published its annual results. An increase of 12% has been reported for its net results, which amounted to 43 million €.

The insurer’s total collection increased by 3,8% and amounted to 1,83 billion €. This rise was driven in particular by its Non-life operations, which grew by 8.5% in 2022.

Its Solvency ratio is 172%.

 

Guide for information notes

The Financial Services and Markets Authority has published a guide for information notes on investment offers. With this guide, the FSMA aims to share its recommendations and applicable rules on the interpretations and expectations of entities selling these products.

The aim of this guide is to enable investors to obtain clear information from sales entities and to ensure their protection.

Certification against cyber risk

Keeping Up With The MarketThe Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium, as a certification authority, is responsible for coordinating, certifying and monitoring the implementation of the European Cyber Security Act (CSA). To do so, the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium will develop 4 levels of certification for companies, to ensure controls in relation to their cybersecurity. For each of these levels, based on the type of establishment to monitor, the number of controls varies.

With these certification levels, the Centre for Cybersecurity aims to help companies protect against cyber risk and to reduce this risk. According to the center, the certification could be a guarantee of security for shareholders, suppliers and customers.

Policyholders’ digital expectations

According to a survey conducted by iO, experts in communication and digital transformation, and BUFL, surveys specialists, insurance companies could better meet the digital expectations of their clients by offering more digital insurance portfolios which are easily accessible.

The survey shows that some policyholders find it difficult to understand what their coverage includes. Allowing them to easily and quickly consult their insurance portfolio and access their coverage and associated costs is essential for them.

This new approach could allow insurers to be more competitive, given that the lack of transparency and accessibility to these services is considered as an issue for policyholders.

 

“A” rating for Ethias

DistinctionsThe famous financial rating agency Fitch gives Ethias an IFS “A” rating. The “A” score demonstrates the solid financial situation of Ethias and its strong market position given the current economic environment.

Fitch confirms that the insurer is very well capitalised and performs well operationally and financially.

 

KBC Assurances: first quarter results

KBC Assurances has released its first quarter results and it shows that insurance revenues amount to 631 million €, a rise of 9% compared to the first quarter of 2022.

The result of the insurance services amounts to 110 million €, a decrease of 29 million compared to the last quarter. This decrease is explained by the rise in insurance services expenses and the decrease in the non-life reinsurance result. The non-life combined ratio is 83% and the sales increased by 11%.

The sales of life products fell by 34% compared to the last quarter, in particular due to a decrease in the sales of guaranteed interest rate products and branch 23 products.

Find out more on the results here.

Legislation

Checks for accidents at work

In the future, checks will be done for “accidents at work” reports refused by insurance companies, upon the request of the Minister of Social Affairs, Franck Vandenbroucke.

This decision has been taken following a statement: according to Fredis agency, 14,6% of the reports have been refused in 2021, for a total of 21.000 workers. This would represent one file out of five according to trade unions.

The Minister intends, in consultation with trade unions, to implement tight controls on insurers regarding these reports.

The Motor Insurance Insolvency Fund

In Luxembourg, the Motor Insurance Insolvency Fund, which stems from the European Directive 2021/2118, raises concerns among insurers. Its aim is to compensate victims of car accidents in case of insurer’s bankruptcy. It will come into force on 23 December 2023.

Insurers will finance this fund. Indeed, they will have to pay an annual contribution of 0.5% of the premiums issued from 2024 onwards. This will cost one million euros annually. Moreover, according to Marc Hengen, this fund could create a systemic risk due to the heterogeneity of the Luxembourg market players’ sizes.

For these reasons, the ACA is opposed to this bill. It is now up to the Council of State to react.

 

Celebration

This weekend, the Belgian & European Pride took place in Brussels, the opportunity to celebrate inclusiveness, diversity and equality.

As always, some insurance companies showed their support by participating in this event with colleagues. Others proudly displayed the rainbow colours on their buildings or on their logo to remind us that they are working every day to become more inclusive and allow their employees to be themselves.

Here is a sneak peek of some initiatives spotted on Linkedin:

 

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Sources:

Keeping Up With The Market – April 2023

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Every month, we help you keep up with the Belgian and Luxembourg insurance markets.

  1. Mergers and acquisitions
  2. Product
  3. Results
  4. Market
  5. Legislation

 

Mergers and acquisitions

La Carac acquires Ageas France

While we announced in March that La Carac was in exclusive negotiations with Ageas for the acquisition of its French subsidiary, the final decision has been taken: it is indeed the mutual insurance La Carac that acquires Ageas France, which includes Ageas Retraite, Ageas Patrimoine and Sivaconline. Ageas’ life and pension activities amount to a profit of €6.1 million.

This acquisition will have an impact on Ageas’ Solvency II ratio with a 9% increase. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023.

 

Product

easyLIFE Invest for Future- investissement responsable avec LALUXLalux launches a new product

EasyLIFE Invest for Future is the name of the investment product launched by the Luxembourg insurance company Lalux. Thanks to its different formulas, this product is adapted to each type of investor and his propensity for risk. Thus, investment funds and guaranteed capital are available.

Moreover, Lalux specifically states that its product meets ESG criteria.

 

Results

 

Ethias’ annual results

For the year 2022, Ethias reported a stable net result compared to the previous period, amounting to €191 million.

On the one hand, the operating result fell in non-life (€169 million) and rose by 4% in life (€75 million). On the other hand, premium income increased by 5%. More precisely, non-life premium income reached € 1,512 million (+8%) and life premium income reached € 1,402 million (+2%).

The Solvency II ratio is 170% due to the economic situation.

 

KBC and the impact of IFRS 17 on results

IFRS 17, which came into effect for reporting at the beginning of this year, has had an impact on the income statements of the bancassurer KBC Group. Insurance income, financial insurance income and expenses, and insurance services expenses are all affected by IFRS 17. Specifically, total income is 11.15 billion euros (then estimated at 9.4 billion euros under IFRS 4) and operating expenses are estimated at 4.75 billion euros ( reported at 4.4 billion under IFRS 4).

 

The Luxembourg insurance sector in figures

Despite a bounce-back period in 2021, the year 2022 recorded an overall premium income of 40.2 billion, a decrease of 4.3%.

In particular, the 15.7% increase in non-life inflows could not balance out the 16.3% decline in life inflows.

Non-life premium income has been rising steadily since 2018, thanks in particular to international business. Indeed, it has increased by 12.1 billion in 5 years. Locally, non-life business is still growing by 7%, reaching 1.2 billion. Motor and property insurance are the main sources of this increase.

While most of the market’s life premium income comes from the EU, local life premium income decreased by 20% to 1.6 billion.

 

OneLife results

When publishing its results, the life insurer OneLife reported that 2022 was a very successful year. Indeed, the net result reached 16.9 million euros, an increase of 20%.

In addition, the insurer’s inflow of funds also increased, by 30%, to 1.4 billion euros. This increase is proof that the Luxembourg insurer is gaining a foothold in the Belgian and French markets.

According to OneLife’s CEO, Elio Fratini, “These results are the fruit of the H24 strategic plan deployed over the past two years to stimulate and diversify our European distribution by focusing on efficiency, support and innovation.

 

Cardif Lux Vie results

The Luxembourg insurer Cardif Lux Vie announced a lower net turnover, reaching €2.7 billion, compared to €3.4 billion in 2021. Its net profit after tax is €47.1 million, a decrease of 5.8%. The insurer also saw a decline in its assets under management to €29.3 billion.

Nationally, business amounted to 100.5 million euros, with a 34% increase in investment savings.

 

Market

 
Overview of Belgian UCIs

The FSMA has published the key figures for Belgian Undertaking for Collective Investment (UCI) for the fourth quarter of 2022.

The first key figure is the increase in the number of so-called sustainable funds. Indeed, the latter represents 73% of the sector, compared to only 60% a year earlier.

Secondly, mixed funds underwritings amount to €2.3 billion, compared to €500 million for pension funds.

Finally, the total net assets of UCIs decreased by 13.2% to €184.4 billion (2021: €212 billion).  This decrease is explained in particular by the fluctuation of the financial markets.

Overall, the volume of underwritings decreased in 2022, although it remains positive (€5.4 billion).

 

The NBB publishes a charter on sustainable and responsible investment

The NBB continues its path toward sustainability by publishing its charter on sustainable and responsible investment. This charter constitutes a framework for the management of the Bank’s own reserves.

Considered as the final objective of its strategic asset allocation policy, this charter aims to provide a framework for the management of portfolios that are not subject to monetary policy. To this end, it gathers internationally recommended information.

In addition, the bank will publish an annual report on the climatic impact of its assets. Finally, the bank will be transparent about the impact of climate risk on its portfolios.

 

Financial behaviour of households

The NBB has published key figures on the financial behaviour of households. Households saw their assets decrease by €78.2 billion, mainly due to the rise in interest rates. More specifically, the value of insurance products lost €55.4 billion, impacting the valuation of life insurance reserves.

With regard to the behaviour of households, they sold their products, resulting in a drop of €5.2 billion. On the other hand, investment funds and listed shares are still attractive to households, with 10.9 billion and 3.4 billion euros respectively invested.

 
Car insurance will need to adapt

According to Capgemini’s P&C insurance survey, the rise of shared and electric vehicles and multi-modal transport solutions means that insurers will have to adapt, taking into account these new practices in their insurance policies. In particular, the risk of hacking for connected cars and the higher repair costs of electric cars are crucial points of attention for the sector. However, the insurers surveyed believe that their technological capacity and expertise will not be sufficient to meet the mobility requirements in their policies.

 

Moody’s’ outlook for the Belgian market

Moody’s rating agency states that the outlook for the Belgian life insurance market is stable.

The decrease in guaranteed returns and the increase in interest rates should benefit insurers, who should have better investment margins this year. In addition, unit-linked policies will continue to be preferred.

According to the agency, this outlook would reduce inflation on insurers’ expenses.

 

No split for EY

The planned demerger of EY’s consulting and auditing activities will not take place after all. The main reason for this is the unwillingness of the group’s American entity to carry out the demerger plan, in particular, because of the tax consulting business, which overlaps with the consulting and auditing business.

Other reasons for the decision were that the consulting business had become less attractive financially in recent times and that the debt for this business had increased due to rising interest rates.

As a result, possible rotations of staff and local divisions may take place.

 

AG Insurance is the most attractive employer

According to a survey released by Randstad, AG Insurance would be the most attractive insurance when it comes to employment. AG Insurance is also part of the top 50 including all sectors. In addition, the “job security”, the “attractive salary and social benefits” and a “good work/life balance” within AG are ranked in the top 3 at sector level.

Jan Heyvaert - CHRSO - Chief Human Resources and Sustainability Officer - AG Insurance | LinkedIn

 

The joint paper of the EBC and the EIOPA concerning climate-related claims

Climate risk is in the spotlight of the EIOPA and the ECB. Indeed, the organisations recently published a joint discussion paper which describes the lack of cover for claims stemming from climatic events within the EU. In this paper, the EIOPA and the ECB give suggestions on how to better insure households and businesses against climate-related natural catastrophes such as floods or wildfires.

According to the EIOPA, only about one-quarter of all climate-related catastrophe losses in the European Union are insured. Petra Hielkema, Chairperson of the EIOPA stated that: “In order to efficiently protect our society, we need to address the concern of the increasing insurance protection gap by proposing and finding appropriate solutions.”

 

Legislation

 
Group insurance in the spotlight

The Minister for Pensions, Karine Lalieux, aims to tax the capital paid out under group insurance. More specifically, capital:

  • over €679,500 will be taxed at 33%,
  • between €478,130 and €679,500 at 25%,
  • between €319,391 and €478,130 at 20%.
 
A bill to easily change insurers

A bill will soon be implemented to allow policyholders to change easily of insurers. Indeed, the Chamber’s economic commission has approved the socialist parties’ project, which aims to allow policyholders to change their insurance policy immediately after one year within the same insurer, free of charge.

This project is a reaction to the major competitive pressure in the European market, since the possibility of canceling one’s contract after one year is already in force in our neighbouring countries.

Measures are planned to facilitate this change. The new insurer will also take care of the cancellation procedures for the policyholder in the case of liability and car insurance.

 

 

Sources:

Climate change: its consequences for the insurance industry

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Climate change : its consequences for the insurance industry

The climate change has been well proven in recent years. However, the recent spate of disastrous climatic events that insurers and reinsurers have had to deal with has demonstrated the importance of considering climate change and its risk to the sector.

Enemy number one: risk

Indeed, more and more climatic events such as major droughts, fires or floods have occurred in recent months. These events (which are expected to cost 2.4 billion euros in Belgium, Source: Assuralia) have had major consequences for P&C insurance, particularly with the increase in claims and their severity. But the consequences do not cease there. Climate change and the importance of the ecological transition, which are at the heart of political and economic discourse, also have consequences for both asset and liability management. This ecological transition affects the transition, physical and liability risks and drives down the value of assets. In addition, climate risk has consequences for modelling liabilities related to morbidity, longevity and mortality risks. These observations highlight the importance of integrating climate risk into the ERM of insurance companies, as well as implementing risk mitigation techniques.

Regulatory requirements

Taking this risk into account is essential for insurers, but they must also follow the regulations. Indeed, the ecological transition is also part of the various rules to which the insurance sector is subject, regardless of the level at which each player is operating.

The IDD (Insurance Distribution Directive) requires, for instance, that insurance products distributors take into account customers’ preferences regarding sustainability and ecological impact. The situation is similar with MiFID II (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive), which requires investment awareness.

In addition, local laws, such as the implementation of the Loi Pacte in France, are also having an impact on this market. For example, the Loi Pacte introduces a fundamental need for transparency towards customers regarding the ecological dimension of life insurance products, in the context of the launch of the Plan Epargne Retraite (PER). Moreover, the energy-climate law requires companies to establish extra-financial reporting to communicate effectively and transparently on the company’s ESG principles.

At European level, sustainability risks, which take into account environmental, social or governance issues, also influence the Solvency II framework, especially its first and third pillars. In the course of this year, adjustments to the SCR and MCR calculations will be made.

Besides regulation, some major players in the sector have taken part in various initiatives, such as the Principles for Responsible Investment, to provide carbon neutral investments. All of this shows that the sector is already well aware of the environmental issue. However, there are still areas that need to be addressed in order to make the insurance sector greener.

 

What is already being done

Green investments

Making your investments carbon neutral from an anthropogenic perspective is one of the actions you can take as part of a sustainable investment strategy. Sustainable investments do not stop there. Indeed, European regulations require transparency for insurers who invest their assets in more sustainable projects. In France, Article 29 of the Energy and Climate Law requires extra-financial reporting on the respect of ESG criteria in the investment policy.

Products customized to the customer’s sustainability preferences

Aside from the sustainable nature of investments, taking sustainability into account in the development of products and in the offer to customers has recently become a regulatory development. A first point to focus on in order to progress towards this practice, and which is recommended by the regulator in particular, is to take into account the opinion of the clients who will buy the products. This seems to be an obvious point, but if this aspect is increasingly emphasized, it is a crucial point of attention for insurance companies and distributors.

In the European market, products with ESG characteristics are already on sale, including life, savings and pension products, and home insurance. However, it is not always clear to consumers how sustainable these products are. Indeed, the report on consumer habits published by EIOPA underlines that 75% of the consumers surveyed cannot determine whether a product is really sustainable because of the overly complicated documentation. Moreover, 64% of them believe that this type of product is part of the greenwashing trend.  In order to move even further in this direction, while being fully transparent to the customer, management indicators regarding sustainability can be implemented.

Globally, climate concern that affects the sector implies that products development and their specificities need to meet customers, companies, vulnerable people, regulators and governments needs. It is therefore necessary to adopt a sufficiently global and strategic vision to combine these various interests. This need for ESG transparency stems in particular from the SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation), which has been partially implemented since 2021.

Solvency

As mentioned above, climate risks and challenges impact the solvency of insurance companies, in addition to other areas. More specifically, the integration of short- and long-term climate risk into the ORSA report is expected to become increasingly common practice within the sector. The amendment to the Solvency 2 regulation also came into force in August 2022.

On the other hand, it is clear that insurers need to take these risks into account in the tools used to model their solvency. Loss projections should provide a clear perspective on the new risks to be faced and their relationship to traditional risks and a view of the company’s capital through stress testing. However, the difficulty lies in the short term in the low visibility of the impacts for some actors and may lead to not assessing climate risk in the ORSA. Therefore, EIOPA suggests that insurers should anticipate the impacts of all types of long-term risks, which are almost immutable, and build the trajectory to integrate these risks into their models, at least to overcome the lack of data in this respect.

An opportunity for the sector to grow

The ecological transition, strongly encouraged by the authorities, can allow the insurance sector to develop. In particular, the climate crisis has allowed new markets to develop, e.g. the carbon market. In this case, insurance companies could help this type of market to develop, especially as they could be expected to offer insurance cover as investment in the technologies used in this type of market increases.

In addition to this, insurance companies have a key advisory role to play in helping their clients to reduce their exposure to climate risk and also to reduce losses from such catastrophes. By further increasing knowledge of this risk and managing it, the sector would have an entry point to grow and offer a risk engineering consultancy service. This could include advice on construction, or after a disaster, advising on a less vulnerable location for reconstruction. This is all the more useful and necessary when market players themselves say that areas are uninsured because the cost of doing so is too high and the policyholders are less well protected.

Obviously, climate risk has consequences for insurers and reinsurers and thus for the actuarial profession. Therefore, this issue should also be seen as an opportunity, for example to develop forward-looking risk models for physical assets. Furthermore, this change implies considering these impacts beyond the financial aspect. Indeed, although there are recommendations and rules imposed by regulators on different aspects (pricing, reserving, product development, etc.), it is wise to adapt one’s work by perceiving the phenomenon as a whole and integrating the impacts of the phenomenon on each element involved. For example, by reviewing the adaptability of models to climate risk using a systems thinking approach.

This change of approach, made necessary by the increasing prevalence of climate risk, also means that new products that promote innovative solutions can be created and that they can be priced in line with environmental interests.

Generally speaking, implementing climate risks into models and taking it into account in insurance policies are two actions that are necessary for the proper development of the sector. It is true that a lack of data can hinder development, but given the many and varied effects of climate change, adapting one’s assumptions now to advise insurance companies on financing, investment and product development is essential.

 

Sources:

Institut des actuaires, L’actuaire, acteur clé de la transition climatique

Quelles stratégies de rebond pour l’assurance vie avec la loi Pacte et la finance durable? (Analyse)

L’Investissement Durable et les Assureurs

Comment les assureurs vont verdir leurs offres

Pourquoi les assureurs accordent-ils autant d’importance à la durabilité

Time to adapt

How P&C insurers can protect and power our journey to a more sustainable world

An Actuarial Perspective

Playing our part: actuaries on a sustainable journey

Importance of climate-related risks for actuaries

Capturing the climate opportunity in insurance

La gouvernance des risques liés au changement climatique dans le secteur de l’assurance

Risque climatique – L’appréhender en pratique dans l’assurance

L’institut des actuaires – Quel rôle pour l’actuaire face aux risques climatiques ?

Changement climatique : quand le risque devient incalculable, et le sinistre ingérable

 

Keeping Up With The Market – March 2023

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Every month, we help you keep up with the Belgian and Luxembourg insurance markets.

  1. Mergers and acquisitions
  2. Partnership
  3. Results
  4. Market

 

Mergers and acquisitions

Exclusive negotiations for the French activities of Ageas

In mid-March, we learned that Ageas was in exclusive negotiations with Mutuelle Epargne Retraite Prévoyance Carac for the acquisition of its French activities (Ageas France, Ageas Retraite, Ageas Patrimoine and Sicavonline), which represent a net profit of 6,1 million euros.

Initially, there were four potential candidates but Carac finally won the race. For Ageas, the aim of the sale is to focus on the group’s core markets.

For the next step, the French personnel representatives will be consulted.

 

Foyer to acquire Globality

In Luxembourg, the insurer Foyer has purchased 100% of the shares held by ERGO in Globality.

With this purchase, Foyer wishes to “strengthen its position in international health insurance”. Indeed, Globality is an international health insurer and reinsurer specialized in insurance for expatriates.

To this end, Foyer has established a partnership with ERGO, in particular to integrate Foyer Global Health’s products and international private medical insurance into ERGO’s international distribution network.

Globality Health Yougenio | Expat Insurances

Partnership

Belfius Insurance’s Jaimy platform, which brings together the bancassurer’s customers wishing to carry out construction work with professionals, has been extended to the Dutch market.

Indeed, Belfius Insurance has joined forces with the Dutch insurer a.s.r to create Fixxer, the platform’s new name in the Netherlands. Belfius holds a 50% stake in this digital platform.

Additionally, the platform also offers a solution for customers with a damage insurance policy who want to carry out work after a loss. Customers can contact a professional directly via the platform. The Dutch insurer a.s.r. was particularly pleased with this service.

Last year, more than 36,000 construction projects were completed using the Jaimy platform.

 

Results

 

Belgian insurance sector

Assuralia has published a report on the insurance sector in 2022. In total, the sector collected more than 30,5 billion euros, an increase of 2% compared to the previous year.

The life insurance sector saw an increase in premium income of 4.8% (€6 billion) for branch 21 insurance, while the latter saw a decrease in 2021. However, branch 23 insurance was affected by the stock market. Premium income fell by 10% (€3.4 billion).

In non-life, premium income remained stable compared to 2021 (€14.5 billion). Although premium income in the fire segment increased by 8%, the combined ratio is 125%, which means a decrease in profitability.

More information on results here.

Belfius Insurance

Earlier this month, Belfius Insurance published its annual results. Despite the fact that the non-life insurance activity was affected by many factors such as inflation and climatic events, Belfius underlines an increase of 4.7% of its non-life premiums. Life premiums also increased by 7.6%, a rise explained by new insurance policies taken out in branch 21. However, life reserves decreased by 3.8%, due to the negative market impact on branch 23 products.

In addition, Belfius also announced the end of its Corona Direct brand. The activities of the brand will be integrated into Belfius Insurance.

 
Baloise

Earlier this month, the insurer Baloise published its annual results. The company recorded a profit of €713.9 million at group level. Non-life premium volume decreased slightly to €4.017 million.

Regarding Belgian non-life gross premiums, in local currency, the premium volume showed a slight increase of 0.7%.  In Luxembourg, the volume increased by 2.7%.

The Belgian life premium volume rose sharply by 11.2%. In Luxembourg, the volume decreased to €67.7 million (in 2021, the volume was € 75.4 million).

You can find more information on the annual results in the press release.

 
National Bank of Belgium

The National Bank of Belgium recently published its results for the year 2022 and recorded a loss of €580 million. This remains below the forecast given by the latter.

This loss is unsurprisingly due to the rise in interest rates. Indeed, the bank spent more money because of the deposit rate set by the ECB and paid more interest while the assets did not have a high return.

Moreover, the bank expects a loss of €10.8 billion over a 5-year period if interest rates continue to rise.

 

Market

End of long-term savings

Minister of Finance Vincent Van Peteghem wants to eliminate long-term savings by 2024 in his tax reform bill. One of his objectives is to remove the tax advantage linked to this product. Indeed, by opting for long-term savings, investors benefit from a tax reduction of 30%.

Assuralia has commented on the proposal to remove this tax advantage and says it finds this choice “regrettable”.

 
Belfius and its Corporate ESG Ambition project

In order to support its corporate clients on the journey towards climate neutrality, Belfius has launched the Corporate ESG Ambition project.

This project is based on the fact that 33% of SMEs have not yet decided on sustainable objectives to implement when faced with ESG regulations and the main reason is that they do not know where to start.

With its platform, Belfius wants to support these companies in defining their objectives, proposing concrete solutions to be implemented on the basis of previously defined priorities.

Belfius will financially reward its corporate clients who have achieved their objectives.

 
Assuralia’s figures on the attacks of 22 March 2016

According to a report published by Assuralia, a total of €65.7 million was paid out by insurance companies to the victims of the attacks of 22 March 2016. However, an amount of €60.5 million is still available as a financial reserve for insurers to pay compensation to victims under the occupational injury insurance policy.

In addition to these figures, the report also presents the insurers’ initiative to take care of the victims of an attack in the future. For example, moral damage will be compensated one year after the attack at the latest. Additionally, a single insurer will take charge of the medical expertise so that the insured does not need to consult several doctors.

 

Outstanding IT Modernization award for AG

On the occasion of the 13th edition of the Belgian Corporate IT Awards, AG won the Outstanding IT Modernization award for its replatforming project.

With this project, AG migrated a mainframe to Windows distributed servers in one weekend without loss of availability, a world first.

The award is welcomed by the insurer as a recognition after CIO Philippe Van Belle was awarded the title of CIO of the Year 2022.

 

 
 
 
 
Sources: