New leaders for Insurance Council
The Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) has appointed a new president and vice-president.
New Zealand owned rural insurer FMG has announced an after tax profit of $26.7 million – its sixth consecutive profit.
“This has been another successful year for FMG,” says chief executive Chris Black. “Making a profit and increasing reserves each year supports our growth model and puts us in a strong position to be there for clients when the unexpected happens. Our reserves are currently more than double the minimum required by the Reserve Bank of NZ.”
Black says the result enables the company to keep premium increases to a minimum.
FMG’s pre-tax profit was underpinned by an underwriting result of $7.9m and investment income of about $23m. It increased its share of the overall insurance market to almost 5% and the rural insurance market to 42%.
Blacks says because FMG is mutual, it has a higher sense of accountability in giving back to the rural community.
“We do this in many ways including risk-advice service and sponsorships… graduate programmes and scholarships.
“In 2015 we partnered with the Mental Health Foundation to launch Farmstrong, a non-commercial rural wellness programme based on farmer insights and research to support farmers and growers on ways to ‘live well and farm well’. This initiative is different and timely.”
The Ministry for the Environment (MfE) has found itself in a stoush with NZPork over the controversial National Policy Statement for Highly Productive Land (NPS-HPL).
Fonterra says the sale of its global consumer business and its Oceania and Sri Lankan operations could take 18 months to complete.
The lobby group the Methane Science Accord (MSA) says it welcomes a recent government move to seek outside advice on reducing biological methane targets, rather than relying on recommendations made by the Climate Change Commission.
Well-known scientist Jock Allison has passed away.
After a decade of consultation and court battles, Environment Southland has officially adopted a plan to prevent further decline in the region's water quality.
Farmers are throwing down the gauntlet to politicians - hold an independent inquiry into rural bank lending or face tough questions from the farming sector.
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