Implementing a properly functioning enterprise risk management (ERM) programme has become increasingly important for insurance companies. Unlike traditional risk management where individual risks are managed in separate silos, ERM is based on the concept of managing all relevant risks in an integrated, holistic fashion. ERM has also been growing in importance as a result of increased attention on risk management in the context of corporate governance. A recent report by The Geneva Association identified strengthening "risk management practices" as one of three key measures that "aim to strengthen financial stability". Despite the heightened interest in ERM by insurance managers and actuaries, there is only limited empirical evidence on how insurance companies actually implement the ERM approach. The goal of our research is to examine the implementation of the ERM components by insurers. Therefore, we surveyed all German property-liability insurance companies with premiums written in excess of 40 million euros. There are 113 such insurers and 95 of them participated in our survey, leading to a response rate of 84 per cent. The questionnaire covers a comprehensive set of dimensions of an ERM system. In addition to detailed questions about specific ERM activities, the questionnaire assesses when these ERM activities were initiated. The results document significant increases in the extent to which ERM is being implemented by these firms and details the sequence of implementation of this evolving risk management process.

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Purpose This paper aims to examine the effect of concentration in the insurance sector on insurer stability for a large set of developed and developing countries. In particular, the authors test whether concentration reduces financial fragility in the insurance sector (“concentration-stability view”) or decreases stability in the insurance sector (“concentration-fragility view”). Design/methodology/approach The authors use a data set of 14,402 firm-year observations of property-liability insurers who appear in A.M. Best’s Statement File Global database during the period 2004-2012. They use regression analyses to examine the effect of concentration on the stability of insurance firms and apply different measures of concentration. Findings The results provide empirical support for the “concentration- fragility view”; that is, higher levels of concentration are associated with decreases in the insurance sector’s financial stability. Research limitations/implications The results have important policy implications, given that a primary purpose of insurance regulation is to protect policyholders against insurance firm defaults. Originality/value No previous research analyzes how recent trends in competition and consolidation, which have led to changes in insurance market concentration, affect the stability of insurance firms around the world. This research is the first paper that provides evidence on the relation between concentration and stability in the insurance sector.

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In this paper we investigate the relationship between home-market performance and the choice of foreign market entry mode using survey data and financial statement data of German insurance groups with property-liability business for the years 1999 to 2009. We develop a dynamic resource-based perspective and argue that strategic transformation is a major motive driving insurance groups' internationalization. Additionally, the more rapid the change for strategic transformation is, the more intense is the insurance groups' market entry mode choice. Furthermore, our findings corroborate the notion that internationalization has a positive effect on home-market performance when insurance groups are able to generate increasing premium volumes in foreign markets. JEL Classifications: G22, L25, F23