The underwriting process is of prime importance to any insurer as it represents the starting point of the legal and financial relationship between an insurer and a particular proposer. This research focuses on the perceptions of the leading short-term insurers in South Africa concerning the underwriting process of motor vehicle insurance. The importance of the various underwriting factors is assessed in order to enable insurers to concentrate on a few most important ones. The specific problem areas of the underwriting process are thereafter highlighted, and possible solutions are discussed. In the last instance, the most frequently used stipulations to adjust insurance policies to take the underwriting factors into account and to alleviate underwriting problems receive due attention

Governments often provide financial incentives to enhance capital investments, as capital is one of the four main production factors in the business environment. Financial incentives may attract capital investments, which should increase economic development and job opportunities in the long run. The objective of this research embodies the improvement of financial decision-making with reference to financial incentives to enhance capital investments in emerging market economies. While there are a variety of financial incentives which can be applied, this research paper concentrates on the well-known financial incentives, viz. the wear and tear allowances, the initial and investment allowances, the investment tax credits, cash grants, as well as tax havens and tax holidays. South Africa is a developing country and is classified as one of the 21 emerging market economies of the world. As the empirical study focuses on the top listed South African companies, the conclusions of this study may also be valuable to other countries with emerging market economies, where the enhancement of investments is one of the key attributes

Innovation in general refers to an action to do something differently. Financial innovation, which embodies the topic of this research, has therefore the creation of financial products, services and/or systems in mind in order to satisfy the needs of customers and clients and ultimately to improve the financial performance of the enterprises concerned. As the requirements of customers and clients change continuously, financial innovations are important for the survival of enterprises. Capital investments to accommodate financial innovations should be considered very carefully as they will determine the business activities of an enterprise for many years. The objective of this research focuses on the improvement of financial decision-making by executive managers in retail banking when they are engaging in financial innovations. A literature study represented the start of this research to provide a proper basis for compiling the empirical study’s questionnaire. The empirical study consisted of an opinion survey where the three pillars of financial innovation were addressed, viz.: products and services innovation, organisational innovation and distribution channel innovation. The empirical study indicated amongst others the importance of these three pillars of financial innovations as perceived by eight of the largest banks in South Africa. Furthermore, the obstacles to financial innovations also received the necessary attention. The empirical results of this research should be valuable to countries which are classified as developing economies with emerging market economies, as South Africa is a member of this group

The short-term insurance industry is a cyclical type of business due to the impact of the continuous market cycle. This cycle has a growth phase, soft market phase, hard market phase and a break-even phase. The objective of the research paper focuses on the improvement of financial decision-making when executives of the short-term insurance industry are managing their business during the various phases of the continuous market cycle. Both a literature study and an empirical survey were necessary to achieve the research objective. The empirical survey included the contributions of the top nine commercial and corporate short-term insurers in South Africa. They represented more than 77% of the total gross written premiums in 2009 and can thus be considered as the leaders of the short-term insurance industry in this country. The conclusions of the study should be valuable to other developing countries with emerging market economies as South Africa is also classified as such. The study focused on the various factors which may cause the continuous market cycle, the problem areas which the executives experience concerning the continuous market cycle, and how often various factors are adjusted by the short-term insurers to account for changes in the continuous market cycle.

Due to technological developments, the complicated world of engineering and its associated products are continuously becoming more specialized. Short-term insurers provide engineering insurance to enable the owners and operators of engineering assets to combat the negative impact of the associated risks. It is, however, a huge challenge to the insurers of engineering insurance to manage the particular risks against the background of technological enhancement. The skills gap in the short-term insurance market and the engineering environment may be the main factor which inhibits the growth of the engineering insurance market. The objective of this research embodies the improvement of financial decision-making concerning the claims handling process of engineering insurance. Secondary as well as primary data were necessary to achieve the stated objective. The secondary data provided the background of the research and enabled the researchers to compile a questionnaire for the empirical survey. The questionnaire and a cover letter were sent to the top 10 short-term insurers in South Africa that are providing engineering insurance. Their perceptions should provide guidelines to other short-term insurers who are engaged in engineering insurance, as they are regarded as the market leaders of engineering insurance in South Africa. The empirical results of this research focus on the importance of various claims handling factors when assessing the claims handling process of engineering insurance, the problem areas in the claims handling process concerned, as well as how often the stipulations of engineering insurance policies are adjusted to take the claims handling factors into account.