For the past decade, Saudi Arabia has been at the forefront of development in the Islamic financial services (IFS) sector. The Kingdom, which is home to more than a quarter of the GCC’s Islamic financial assets and a handful of the world’s largest sharia-compliant financial institutions, is currently among the top IFS markets in the world. In 2011-12 the sector continued to expand, buoyed by...
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Chapter | Islamic Financial Services from The Report: Saudi Arabia 2013
Chapter | Capital Markets from The Report: Saudi Arabia 2013
It has been a good couple of years for the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), which posted considerable growth in 2011 and 2012. Market capitalisation was up more than 10% over 2011 due to a spate of initial public offerings (IPOs) in late 2011 and 2012. However, while the Tadawul is the largest and most liquid exchange in the region, it lacks large institutional investors; around 90% of trading...
The Kingdom’s banking sector posted solid growth in 2011 and 2012 and is now one of the largest in the GCC, with total assets reaching $439.7bn by the third quarter of 2012. In addition, bank profitability has risen in recent years, reaching $8.23bn at the end of 2011, up from $6.94bn at the end of 2010 and $7.14bn at the end of 2009. The industry’s expansion over the past few years is largely...
Articles & Analysis | Sector overhaul: Underwriters hope new rules will make motor insurance compulsory from The Report: Indonesia 2013
Strong growth in Indonesia’s new vehicle sales in recent years has generated sustained growth in the motor segment. “Car sales have been increasing and in turn motor vehicle insurance has been growing rapidly,” Christian Wanandi, the president director of Jakarta-based general insurance company Asuransi Wahana Tata, told OBG. Yet motor’s share of...
Articles & Analysis | Reassuring growth: Consolidation is expected to boost local reinsurance capacity from The Report: Indonesia 2013
With limited local underwriting capacity, larger risks have traditionally been ceded offshore. The limited capacity of the four local reinsurers has stunted efforts to domesticate more risk, leading to volatile rates. Consolidating and developing reinsurance capacity will thus be crucial to future efforts to develop the industry, while higher...
Articles & Analysis | In the mix: New standards and greater awareness are bringing about a shift from The Report: Indonesia 2013
While life insurance has outperformed the overall market, both domestically and regionally, for a decade, heavy reliance on investment-linked products reveals the sector’s bias towards savings rather than outright protection. A sustained inflow of foreign underwriters, who now dominate the sector, has highlighted the segment’s strong growth...