Anbang risks a Year of the Stalking Horse

Apr 1, 2016

The Beijing insurer has inked smaller deals, but it just abandoned its $14 bln offer for Starwood, citing “market conditions.” Anbang’s emergence nevertheless helped the U.S. hotelier wrest sweeter…

See You in Court, Uncle Sam!

Mar 30, 2016

Before I start tonight, I just wanted to mention that I was on South Korean radio a few days ago, on the main English-speaking station, talking about Helicopter Money.  If you want listen to it or download it as a podcast, you can get it here.  It’s a little less than 11 minutes long. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= […]

Politics, not finance, is key question for Anbang

Mar 30, 2016

The ambitious Chinese group could probably buy U.S. hotelier Starwood for $14 bln without breaching limits on insurers’ overseas assets. Raising the necessary funding would be doable, too. The real…

Is an Extended Warranty Worth the Cost? – When to Buy or Avoid

Mar 23, 2016

“Would you like the AppleCare Protection Plan for your computer?” asked the salesman. I had just purchased a new 27-inch iMac at my local Apple store. The plan, available for $169, would extend the manufacturer’s warranty from one to …

Anbang’s U.S. hotel block bookings getting pricey

Mar 14, 2016

The Chinese insurer is in a hurry, leading a $13 bln offer for Starwood on top of a $6.5 bln deal to buy Strategic Hotels from Blackstone and its $2 bln purchase of the Waldorf Astoria in 2014. It’s…

Ambac getting right pressure from wrong place

Mar 3, 2016

The bond insurer may soon face a proxy fight from Canyon Capital. The hedge fund wants it to speed up settling $4 bln of financial crisis-era claims. That makes sense. Trouble is, Canyon has a…

Another Year in Buffett’s House

Mar 3, 2016

Last year, when BRK [Berkshire Hathaway] reported their annual earnings with the letter, report, and 10K, I concluded: From an earnings growth standpoint, there was nothing that amazing about the earnings in 2014.  A few new subsidiaries like NV Energy added earnings, but existing subsidiaries’ earnings were flattish.  Comprehensive income was considerably lower because of […]

China web finance craze sows confusion and risk

Feb 19, 2016

Web giants, insurance groups and even China’s top taxi app are piling into online finance. Fast-growing services like payments and wealth management are attracting big valuations. But competition is…

Thoughts on MetLife and AIG

Feb 5, 2016

In some ways, this is a boring time in insurance investing.  A lot of companies seem cheap on a book and/or earnings basis, but they have a lot of capital to deploy as a group, so there aren’t a lot of opportunities to underwrite or invest wisely, at least in the US. Look for a […]

AIG makes late push toward mediocrity

Jan 26, 2016

The mega-insurer unveiled plans to sell businesses, slash costs and return $25 bln to shareholders. That’d be a lot for most companies under siege from an activist like Carl Icahn. It’ll only get AIG…

Cleaning Out Your Financial Trunk

Dec 19, 2015

While investors were recently fretting over post-Fed rate hike volatility, I recently opened my car trunk, and it wasn’t a pretty picture. I discovered towels, jumper cables, soccer ball, beach chair, research reports, and even a box of Kleenex. The hodge-podge of items had been accumulating for months, but the path of least resistance to […]

L&G swells ranks of quarterly report refuseniks

Dec 11, 2015

The UK insurer and asset manager has ditched quarterly reporting and will update the market on a semi-annual basis. Reduced transparency is forgivable: Legal & General’s business is long term and…

Is Term Insurance on Life Support?

Dec 1, 2015

A new study claims it’s better to buy whole life than to buy term insurance and invest the difference. What are you telling your clients?