BMI's Executive Summary for the Argentina Insurance Report

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This report differs from its predecessors in that it includes BMI's Insurance Business Environment Rating (IBER). The rating brings together a number of pieces of relevant quantitative data, together with BMI's Country Risk Rating (CRR). It is now much easier to consider the business environment for the insurance sector in any one country relative to the business environment for other industries in that country that are surveyed by BMI, and the business environment for the insurance sector in other countries.

Argentina's IBER is 51.4. Relative to other countries in the Caribbean and Latin America, it is a moderately attractive insurance market for foreign insurers. Within the region, the Bahamas has the highest IBER ranking, with a score of 65.6. A very high score in the risks to realisation of potential returns drives the Bahamas overall score. Similarly, Argentina has scored much more highly in the risks to realisation of potential returns than in limits to potential returns. It is the country structure segment that performs badly in the overall IBER for Argentina. With a recent change in presidency, there is a possibility that this will improve.

Over the forecast period, we anticipate that non-life premiums will grow by 14% annually in local currency terms and by 13% in US$ terms. Life premiums are expected to increase by 6% annually in local currency terms and by 5% in US$ terms. There are only modest increases expected in the penetration of non-life: 1.8% to 2.0% during the same forecast period. Of interest is that we the penetration rate of life premiums is forecast to fall from 0.8% to 0.6%.

The competitive landscape, in both the non-life and the life segment, is fragmented. Both segments are open to participation by foreign groups. It is likely that the landscape will change dramatically in the next few years, possibly after considerable consolidation. This means that there is opportunity for cross-border operations that currently have a relatively small presence to become major players in the market. We do not however, expect any completely new market entrants.

The election of a new President provides the opportunity for economic and political reform to be reinvigorated. This should have positive flow-on effects for the insurance market. Increased transparency has been campaigned on as an issue. However, it remains to be seen if it will be implemented. It does appear that the new government will be more outward-looking than the previous Kirchner Presidency. Although there a strong growth forecasts for Argentina, these are not at the moment translating into high growth rates for the insurance market.

Contents of the Argentina Insurance Report

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Chapter 1 - The Sector At A Glance

Table: Overview

Key Features Of This Report & Likely Future Changes

Chapter 2 - Latest News

Recent Developments

Chapter 3 - Evolution Since The Mid-1990s

Table: Evolution Of The Insurance Sector (in millions of currency specified)

Evolution

Chapter 4 - Projections And Forecasts

Table: BMI Projections (in millions of currency specified)

Projections And Drivers Of Growth

Chapter 5 - Macroeconomic Outlook

Table: Argentina - Economic Activity

Chapter 6 - Country Update

Political Risk - Kirchners Coup

Economic Risk - Fiscal Imbalance?

Business Environment Underperformer

Chapter 7 - Analysis of Competitive Conditions

Table: Non-Life Segment Rankings of Markets

Table: Presence Of Cross-Border Insurers Non-Life

Table: Selected Local Non-Life Insurers

Country Overview Argentina Life Segment

Table: Life Segment Rankings of Markets

Table: Presence Of Cross-Border Insurers Life

Table: Selected Local Life Insurers

Whos who in the Latin American region?

Chapter 8 - Regional Context

Table: Regional Context Premiums

Table: Regional Context Total Premiums

Chapter 9 - Methodology And Objectives

Introduction

Background

Forecasts

Chapter 10 - Appendix

Table: Latest Estimates / Actual Figures For 2005

Table: Latest Estimates For 2010

Table: Latest Estimates For 2005-2010

Competitive Landscape for Latin America Insurance Reports: Sample       of Companies Ranked

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A cross-border overview of key players and their insurance market share across Latin America. Tables and graphs show country presence of multinationals across the region. Comparative company analyses and rankings by premium income (life and non-life). Company SWOTS for leading life and non-life insurers, covering network of offices, presence of foreign stakeholders, strategic relationships, joint ventures; portfolio of clients; diversity of product range; profit growth, investment strategy and risk exposure.

Network of Insurance Sources

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BMI's Latin American Insurance Reports are based on an extensive network of multilateral organisations, government departments, insurance industry associations, chambers of commerce and company reports. Information sources include:

Read about our other Insurance Reports