Axa AP scores Asian plum
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia -
The deal will add gross premiums of around $HK2.7 billion ($442 million) to Axa AP's existing business in the region. Winterthur also brings with it 240 traditional tied agents, 160 salaried professional financial consultants, and a wealth management sales force of 140 consultants targeting the affluent.
2006-12-31
Overinflated self-worth not an uncommon occurrence
Houston Chronicle, United States -
People are egocentric. They think their actions, absences and contributions are much more conspicuous than they actually are. Social psychologists have dubbed this the "spotlight effect." Students ushered into rooms while wearing T-shirts emblazoned with a large photo of Barry Manilow (attire that researchers verified most college students consider mortifying) guessed that twice as many of their classmates would take note as actually did. Other people are more oblivious to our appearance, emotions and behaviors than we imagine. Stewing silently against a colleague? Chances are he barely has a clue. As the Talmud says, "We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are."
2006-12-29
Principal Financial Group Opens New Wellness Office in Reading
Business Wire (press release), CA -
As part of the wellness program, employers and their employees participate in onsite health and wellness screenings that include blood pressure checks, blood sugar readings, Body Mass Index testing and cholesterol checks. Each participant receives a Health Risk Analysis Report that provides specific feedback and recommendation. Following the screenings, the program continues to provide ongoing consultation, education and intervention for those at risk for a more serious condition.
2006-12-22
US Nonprofit Group Is �Nation�s Voice on Mental Illness�
Washington File, DC -
Washington -- Three mothers and a father whose children were mentally ill began meeting in each other’s living rooms in the 1970s to offer each other support and guidance in making the sometimes complex U.S. mental health care system work for their children. Their vision of a self-help organization dedicated to improving the lives of Americans who suffer from serious mental illness and their families led to the founding in 1979 of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
2006-12-20
Attitudes toward Overweight and Obese
The Common Voice, SC -
What's my secret? And why am I ticked off that a big portion of my paycheck goes to treating obesity-related illness? Because my being skinny is not an accident; I have to work at it. During the past 13 years, I've run enough miles - more than 25,000 - to circle the Earth. When that damaged the tendons in my foot, rather than sit and mope, I hit the weight room, took up swimming, bought a bike and, if nothing else, took 60 minutes or more each day to walk. Though I have a weakness for chocolate, a look into my typical grocery cart reveals things like broccoli, spinach, multigrain bread and apples. My alcohol consumption is usually no more than one drink a week. Fast food? Strictly reserved for my few trips a year back home to Minneapolis. In other words, I make the choices necessary to avoid obesity-related illness."
2006-12-13
QBE Insurance to Buy Praetorian for $800 Million (Update3)
Bloomberg -
Chief Executive Officer Frank O'Halloran, who gets almost 80 percent of QBE's profit outside Australia, is buying insurers overseas as rivalry crimps prices at home. He recently bought two farmers' insurers from White Mountain Insurance Group Ltd. in the U.S. and will add $150 million of profit from Praetorian in 2007.
2006-12-12
Consultant Insists NHI Is A Tax
The Bahama Journal, Bahamas -
"But," he added, "through appropriate regulation of that marketplace with things like community rating, with guaranteed acceptance, with subsidies for low-income populations, you get everybody participating in the market. That is really the optimal structure for a national health insurance programme, and that's where The Bahamas needs to be headed to ensure it gets the best programme possible."
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