The International Takaful Awards 2008 – Best Rating Agency
Award Recognises S&P’s Contribution To The Development Of Global Islamic Capital Markets
LONDON, July 17 2008 – Standard & Poor’s, a leading provider of financial market intelligence, today announced it has been voted Best Takaful Ratings Agency at the inaugural International Takaful Awards 2008. The award, which was bestowed during a ceremony at The 2nd International Takaful Summit 2008 in London on July 15th 2008, recognizes Standard & Poor’s excellence in Takaful and Retakaful insurance ratings and exceptional contribution towards the development of the global Islamic insurance industry.
Standard & Poor’s is the leading rating agency for Islamic insurers, with more ratings on Takaful and Retakaful firms than any other provider. The International Takaful Awards 2008 are an initiative of the Middle East Business Forum, Islamic Banking & Finance Institute of Malaysia and Afkar Consulting. Winners of the eleven awards categories were selected from a pool of nominees by a panel of expert Shariah judges, lawyers, journalists and practitioners from leading Islamic insurance firms worldwide.
“Standard & Poor’s has been at the forefront of developing an analytical framework for evaluating innovative Islamic issuers and Takaful firms since 1997 when we published our first rating on Tunisia-based reinsuer B.E.S.T. Reinsurance Co, and we’re proud to be recognized by the Islamic finance industry for helping to lay the foundations for its future growth,” said Yann Le Pallec, managing director of Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. “With an established Takaful rating criteria, Standard & Poor’s has the depth of experience, infrastructure and global presence required to support the growth of this dynamic market, and we continue to experience strong demand worldwide for new ratings from both Islamic and traditional insurers.”
“With a growing awareness among the sizable, underinsured Muslim population of the benefits of Shariah-compliant insurance products, the Islamic insurance sector is well placed to continue its impressive rate of growth and become a major contributor to the global risk transfer market place, said Kevin Willis, credit analyst at Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. “London, as the world’s leading centre for international insurance, is fast becoming the European hub for Islamic insurance, serving as a gateway to key growth markets in continental Europe.”
Among the ten other award categories, Standard & Poor’s-rated Bahrain-based retakaful reinsurer Hannover ReTakaful B.S.C. won the award for “Best Retakaful Company, ” while Tunisia’s B.E.S.T. Reinsurance Co. and its Dubai-listed insurance operating company Salama, and Dubai-based reinsurer Takaful Re Ltd. were also nominated for their contributions to the Takaful industry.
Reactions London Market Awards 2008 – Best Rating Agency
The London market's best insurers, reinsurers and brokers were revealed in front of a packed crowd at the Reactions London Market Awards Dinner on June 12.
The winners, judged by an independent panel from the London market, picked up their awards at the Grange City Hotel in London, in front of a crowd of 300 of the London market's biggest names.
The judging process
Reactions has taken steps to improve the nomination process to get the truest reflection of the market. They are confident the revamped nomination process makes the awards both unique and unequivocal.
In the first step of the process, there was an extensive survey, through an online poll and personal interviews, of risk managers, insurers, reinsurers and brokers to find out who they believe are the best firms operating in the London market in a number of categories.
The companies receiving votes were then contacted by Reactions and asked to complete a standard entry form. The form asked firms to explain why they believe they are best in the category they have been nominated.
Lastly, in February an independent panel of judges from the London market debated each firm's merits, taking the number of reader votes and the company's entry form into account. After intense and lively debate, the panel decided on a winner for each category, as well as two other firms to be short-listed. The panel also picked out the winners of the individual awards.
In the panel, the broking executives were not present for deliberations over the broking categories and the underwriting executives were not present for deliberations for the insurance and reinsurance categories.
The result is what we believe is the most credible awards process in the industry
The judging panel:
Association executives
Paul Howard, deputy chairman of Airmic; chief risk officer at Sainsbury's
David Matcham, chief executive officer of the International Underwriting Association
Steve Matanle, chairman of the Market Reform Group at the time of judging, now managing director at Libero
Underwriting executives:
Mark Berry, general manager of XL Re Europe's London branch
Jeremy Brazil, director of London underwriting at Markel International
Habib Kattan, head of ceded reinsurance at Kiln
Jonathan Parry, managing director of QBE Europe
Keith Stibbards, executive vice-president of casualty at Ace overseas general
Broking executives:
Dominic Christian, chief executive officer of Benfield's international division
Charlie Davies, director of insurance relationships at Aon
Nick Frankland, chief executive officer of European operations for Guy Carpenter
John Muir, head of London markets at Willis
Larry Tucker, managing director of specialty and capital markets at Aon Re
Global Broker & Underwriting 2008 - London Market Leaders Survey - Ranked 1st, Market Leading Rating Agency
For the second year running, Standard & Poor’s was the choice of brokers and underwriters when asked ‘Who is the best in the business?’ The magazine commented: “It was not a hard choice when brokers and underwriters were asked who they rated in this category. S&P was the clear winner”
Global Broker & Underwriter surveyed brokers and underwriters in the London market to seek their views on who they held above all others when considering the companies they do business with.
Reactions Global Awards 2008 – Best Global Rating Agency of The Year
Reactions conducts an extensive poll of its readership, with an online and telephone poll being carried out over a number of months, according to editor Michael Loney. Of the results, Reactions said, “Standard & Poor’s has cemented its dominance of the Best Global Rating Agency of the Year category. It has won the award for the fifth year in a row this year. The only other firm to have won the award is AM Best, way back in 2002. Since then no-one other than S&P has had a look in.”
“It is always satisfying when the marketplace recognizes the excellence of your work and the commitment of your people,” said Grace Osborne, North American Practice Leader of Insurance Ratings at Standard & Poor’s. “To win this award for five consecutive years speaks volumes of our long-term commitment to the insurance and reinsurance markets. “This award is also testament to our relentless efforts to service the reinsurance community with a truly global team of experts to publish ratings and credit commentaries on what is one of the few truly global industries”, added Yann Le Pallec, Head of Insurance Ratings for Europe, Middle-East and Africa.
Life & Pensions Rankings 2008 – Number 1 Rating Agency, Overall, Italy and Germany
Life & Pensions Magazine contacted over 500 insurance companies and pension fund practitioners around the world to find out directly from these individuals who are the best providers of financial services to the insurance and pensions industry. Respondents were asked to nominate in order of preference their top three providers. Standard & Poor’s has been recognized as best solution provider in the world for Financial Strength Ratings - Insurance/ Reinsurance.
Association of Run-off Companies (ARC) Awards - Industry Initiative of the Year - Standard & Poor’s for its Policyholder Recovery Ratings.
On 25th October the announced the winners of the Annual ARC Awards for excellence in the field of insurance and reinsurance legacy management. The Awards were presented by, ARC Chairman, Philip Grant, at the Annual Members’ Dinner.
Philip Grant, Chairman of ARC, commented: “An opportunity to showcase performance and innovation with in the legacy management sector, the awards aim to recognise and celebrate not just the individual achievements of companies and individuals in the market, but also the professionalism and dynamism of the market itself.”
Chairman Philip Grant said: “Turning to the winner of this year’s Industry Initiative of the Year, it is probably fair to say that this company has for years been an observer of our market rather than an active participant.
The fact that it has chosen to create a product for the sector is, I believe, highly symbolic, not only as a recognition of the significance of the work we do and the size of the liabilities we manage, but also as a signpost to the future integration of our sector into the broader financial services and capital markets.
The first time I saw this product, I wondered what its application might be, but a moment’s reflection told me that it is a key to a whole new toolbox for our industry.”
Islamic Finance News Awards Poll 2007 - Best Islamic Ratings Agency
A record 1,502 submissions were received for the third Islamic Finance news Annual Poll, a 22% increase over those
received for the 2006 edition.
Islamic finance issuers, investors, non-banking financial intermediaries and government bodies from around the
world were invited to participate. Voting took place in December 2007 and participants were requested to take only 2007 into
consideration when casting their votes.
“We are proud to be recognised by the readers of Islamic Finance News for our long-standing commitment to the development of modern Islamic finance and our growing array of independent research, information and benchmarking services that are helping investors measure and manage investment risk in this rapidly globalising market,” said Jan Willem Plantagie, Regional Manager for Standard & Poor's in the Middle East. “Standard & Poor’s new office in Dubai will become an integral part of our global network, serving as a window through which Middle East companies can access the international capital markets, and through which international investors can gain insight into Islamic investment risks and opportunities.”
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