Reply #40: Insurers rise amid relief over tsunami (Whew! Few Payouts Expected!)

[UpInArms]

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B7C2E02A9%2D970B%2D4376%2D991A%2D3241F46FC5DA%7D&siteid=mktw

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Insurance stocks rose Tuesday on confidence that the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami and earthquake that wreaked havoc on nations in southern Asia over the weekend will not require significant payouts.

The disaster, which struck Sri Lanka, southern India and Indonesia the hardest and killed as many as 40,000, was limited to regions that analysts say are underinsured.

The toll in claims in the affected region may not exceed the payouts from smaller catastrophes in Florida this year despite billions in losses and an expensive clean-up effort.

"With some of the largest global reinsurers initially estimating their individual losses at less than $100 million, mostly in resorts and marine cargo, total insured losses may only be a few billion dollars," said Matthew Josefowicz, an insurance consultant at Celent.

<snip>

"The insurance penetration is relatively low, and the insured property losses are likely to be limited due to the sparse concentrations of values," Munich Re said in a statement.

...more at link...

Guess the "sparse" concentrations of "values" didn't include 50,000 lives :sigh: