English: Reading Comprehension Set 38

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the questions that follows.

It is a niche market, but a big one, and it is increasingly dominated by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. On January 20th its reinsurance subsidiary, National Indemnity Company (NICO), agreed with American International Group (AIG), a big insurer, to acquire excess losses on old insurance policies. In one of the largest such “retroactive reinsurance” deals ever announced, NICO will be on the hook for four-fifths of all losses above $25bn, up to $20bn, in exchange for a payment of $9.8bn now. The deal comes just a few weeks after a similar deal giving up to $1.5bn of coverage to Hartford, another American insurance giant.

For much of the 15 years since the term retroactive reinsurance came into use, Berkshire, through NICO, has been at the forefront. The structure allows insurers to rid themselves of so-called “long-tail” exposures, ie, claims that may come in years or decades after policies were written. Often, they cover long-term environmental risks like pollution, or asbestos-related disease, where workers may fall ill many years after exposure. In the largest previous deal in 2006 NICO provided reinsurance coverage worth $7bn for asbestos risks to Equitas, a vehicle set up to bail out the Lloyd’s insurance market in the 1990s.

Such deals can be lucrative for both seller and buyer. The insurer caps its liabilities and frees up capital (AIG plans to return some to shareholders). And for Berkshire, such deals are an important source of “float”. Insurers enjoy a form of financing that is in essence free, because premium income, including reinsurance payments, comes in long before claims have to be paid out. In September 2016 Berkshire’s float was $91bn. Unlike other insurance companies that invest in a conservative portfolio of bonds, NICO’s money is deployed to buy Mr Buffett’s latest acquisition targets. The high investment returns that result can, in turn, weather greater insurance losses.

Lawyers who have represented insurance claimants in past cases worry that this kind of deal threatens policyholders’ interests. Since the buyer has no direct relationship with them, it may be more likely to delay and quibble about payouts, to maximise its own financial gain. In most Berkshire deals, claims management has been handled by its subsidiary, Resolute Management, which has faced a number of lawsuits in recent years. The two most recent deals, with Hartford and AIG, are different, with the selling insurers explicitly retaining responsibility for claims management.

A broader worry is concentration of risk. A risk manager who had diversified by taking out insurance with a variety of different companies might find that all of his firm’s long-tail risks now sit in just one pot: Berkshire. On asbestos, for instance, Jonathan Terrell of KCIC, a claims-management consultancy, reckons Berkshire’s accumulation of legacy liabilities is not just the largest in the industry today, but the largest it has ever seen. That’s a long tail with a dangerous whisk.

1. Which kind of deal can be lucrative for both seller and buyer?
   a. deals with insurance coverage
   b. life-threatening deals
   c. environmental riskful deals
   Only a & b
   Only b & c
   Only c & a
   Only b
   All are correct
   Option C
   

    

2. What, according to the passage, are the worries related to Berkshire deals?
   a. concentration of risk
   b. threatening kind of deal
   c. accumulation of legacy liabilities
   Only a & b
   Only b & c
   Only c & a
   Only a
   All are correct
   Option A
   

    

3. What are long tail exposures?
   denies
   refutes
   waives
   claims
   All are correct
   Option D
   

    

4. What is the most appropriate synonym of “whisk”?
   whip
   whiz
   dart
   convulse
   All are correct
   Option E
   

    

5. What, according to the passage, is true about NICO?
   a. it assisted in buying Mr Buffett’s latest acquisition targets
   b. it provided $7bn for asbestos risks to Equitas
   c. it is a reinsurance subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway
   Only a & b
   Only b & c
   Only c & a
   Only a
   All are correct
   Option E
   

    

6. What, according to the passage, is true about Berkshire Hathaway?
   a. It is an insurance giant
   b. It is a subsidiary of Resolute Management
   c. It is a niche market
   Both a & b
   Both b & c
   Both c & a
   Only b
   All are correct
   Option C
   

    

7. What is the most appropriate antonym of “portfolio”?
   farrago
   information
   summary
   folder
   All are correct
   Option A
   

    

8. What, according to the passage, is true about Resolute Management?
   it is an asbestos-related giant
   it is an insurance company
   it is a a subsidiary of claimant management.
   Both b & c
   All are correct
   Option C
   

    

9. What is the tone of the passage?
   Caustic
   Apathetic
   Dogmatic
   Emotional
   All are correct
   Option B
   Apathetic = Emotionless; not interested/ concerned; indifferent; unresponsive

    

10. What is the most suitable title of the passage?
    Dangerous Whisk
    Niche market
    Reinsurance giant
    Daddy long tail
    All are correct
    Option D
    Read the last line of the passage.