Chartis Taiwan Insurance Co chairman Mark Wei (魏寶生) resigned yesterday for personal reasons after the company posted a robust performance with its underwriting profits topping NT$15 million (US$471,500) in the first two months of this year.
Leslie Mouat, Chartis’ regional president of Southeast Asia, will take on the chairmanship, effective immediately, the insurance agency said, adding that it has also appointed former finance minister Lin Chuan (林全) as a director.
“Under Wei’s leadership, we not only managed to get through difficult times, but we also achieved a tremendous result in first-quarter operations this year,” Mouat told a media briefing yesterday.
The insurance company had a gross premium return of NT$79.6 million in the first two months, with a loss ratio of 35 percent, Chartis said, referring to total losses paid out in claims and adjustment expenses divided by total earned premiums.
Wei said he would take a break for a while before assuming a new position, without elaborating what it would be. However, he said he would continue to help Chartis with its business expansion.
Meanwhile, Chartis Taiwan general manager Jason Tsai (蔡漢凌) said that amid fierce competition in the local insurance market, the company was planning to offer customized property insurance solutions for customers with large assets in the second or third quarter.
“We’ll be the first property insurance company to offer such services in the nation,” Tsai said. “The new insurance coverage will be extended to properties such as personal jets, red wine, works of art and personal collections.”
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
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i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
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