Government Grants for All

Why It’s Best to Take A Cruise Vacation On Celebrity Cruise Lines

When planning a trip why not consider a Cruise vacation. Having sailed on Celebrity Cruise Lines after reading many cruise reviews, I can highly recommend Celebrity Cruises for a great cruise vacation.

Scuba diving? Exotic cuisines? Going to a spa? Different activities for a vacation you can choose from, but why not do all of them on a Celebrity Cruise vacation.

A Celebrity Cruise is a cost and time efficient vacation. You won’t have to go to different destinations to enjoy the above activities. On a Celebrity Cruise vacation all the amenities you want, fitness center, restaurants, swimming pools, casino and gourmet food can be found on a Celebrity cruise vacation.

You do not have to worry about your luggage. You drop if off at the pier and it will be delivered to your stateroom. Unpack once and you’re done for the duration of you’re your cruise vacation. After you have unpacked go to lunch, one of the best cruising activities is the parade of delicious dishes in Celebrity cruise dining rooms.

Each Celebrity Cruise vacation has its own restaurant administered by the finest chefs in the world. Best of all, every meal and snack are included in your Celebrity Cruise package.

In every port tourist guides are readily available to assist you. Take a tour on a Celebrity cruise lines guided excursion. You do not have to worry about your children; there are several activities, which will keep them preoccupied while you are enjoying your own activity.

Taking a Celebrity cruise vacation enables you to enjoy every minute of your vacation and frees you from worrying about where to eat, what to do and how much it will cost.

All cruise lines offers these services to their passengers, however Celebrity Cruise Lines does it just a little bit better. Celebrity Cruise Line is one of the best cruise lines available in today’s market. They offer competitive packages and are just one step above other cruise lines. They have onboard upscale boutiques and entertainment ala Las Vegas, which was created and designed exclusively for Celebrity Cruise Lines by Cirque du Soleil.

You can try your luck at the Casino or even purchase some fine art at the onboard auction. Late in the evening check out The Bar at the Edge of the Earth, an exotic lounge provided exclusively by Celebrity Cruise Lines.

If you feel the need to relax, visit the famous Aqua-Spa by Elemis. There, you will experience a deluxe manicure, facial treatments, and a relaxing massage. Celebrity Cruise Lines also has an onboard acupuncture center if you want to feel renewed and invigorated. You can book spa packages before you go on your cruise vacation over the internet

Your kids will also enjoy their cruise vacation on a Celebrity Cruises. Celebrity offers the X-Club Youth Program exclusively for your kids. It has activities and entertainment for specific age groups.

A professional staff administers all of these activities, which include science and nature exploration, treasure hunts, talents shows, dinner parties, and more. Celebrity Cruises have reserved areas on the ship for younger seafaring passengers such as the Shipmates Fun Factory, teen center, and pools. This allows your kids to enjoy their own activities while you are off enjoying yours.

Celebrity Cruise Lines has designed its ships to accommodate mobility-impaired passengers. There are staff members that are always ready to attend to any of their special needs. Celebrity has an onboard clinic staffed by a licensed doctor and nurse who can speak foreign languages

Food on a cruise vacation is available 24/7 in cafeterias and dining areas. You can also request room service if you want have a romantic dinner with your spouse. We did this while we did a European cruise and the dinner came with a white linen table cloth, china, silver and crystal glasses. It was really beautiful and I have never experienced that on other cruise lines. There are formal dinners in the famous Celebrity Cruise Lines dining rooms two or three times during the cruise vacation, depending on the length of your cruise travel. If you do not wish to participate in this cruise activity there are casual restaurants that you can visit instead.

Celebrity Cruise Lines has a variety of itineraries from which to choose. Some of them are very exotic like the Galapagos or Australia. No matter which itinerary you choose you will always feel pampered on a Celebrity Cruise vacation. Celebrity Cruise Lines staff always go the extra mile to please you. Read some other cruise reviews and see if they don’t agree with me.

Enjoy cruising with Celebrity Cruise Lines!

Copyright © Mary Hanna, All Rights Reserved.

Mary Hanna has traveled the world by Air and Ship while writing eBooks, Software Reviews and Practical Articles on Internet Marketing, Cruising, Gardening and Cooking. Visit her websites at: http://www.CruiseGold.com, http://www.CruiseTravelDirectory.com and http://www.CruisingTips.com

Tags: Best, Celebrity, Cruise, It's, Lines, Take, Vacation

Olympics: Government Too Busy Peddling Schemes to Support Future Stars

If there is a god of sport – and at this stage in the British medal procession who can seriously doubt that there is? – then please let him have me wake up tomorrow morning as the owner of a bicycle shop.

High-grade carbon-fiber frame? Sorry sir, we are sold out. Aerodynamic bodysuit? Alas, someone came in five minutes ago and bought the last dozen. The talent, dedication and competitive will of Victoria Pendleton? Madam, there are some things money can’t buy.

The point is that we are all cyclists now, or at least we will be until we get a puncture 15 miles from home only to discover we forgot to pack a spare inner tube, or until the nights start drawing in, or until Sunday afternoons parked in front of the telly watching another dreary Premier League match become a more attractive proposition than Sunday afternoons peddling on the A956 as mud is sprayed in your face by a passing SUV.

The garages and garden sheds of Britain are the graveyard of sporting fads, with abandoned golf clubs piled on rusting bikes and tennis rackets entangled in the laces of trainers bought in the first flush of marathon mania. Such is the fate of modern mass enthusiasm. There is no shame – only a financial penalty – attached to having believed that sporting stardom was only a £300 impulse buy away. Bruce Springsteen might argue otherwise, but some people really weren’t born to run. Or play golf. Or tennis. Or cycle.

Let those unlucky people follow their passions elsewhere, to the library or the nearest multiplex cinema. We wish them well and hope they will forgive us if, in these days of Olympic euphoria, we concentrate our thoughts on those whose interest in sport has been roused by the magnificent performances of British athletes in Beijing.

How do we encourage this interest, harness it and transform it into a permanent feature of our national life? This, as you might fashionably ask, is the 16-gold medal question.

Needless to say there are as many answers as there political hacks and slick-haired PR types wandering around Beijing at the taxpayers’ expense, claiming credit for the achievements of others. It would require a unique gullibility to be taken in by such people, especially when we have access to the wisdom of those athletes who have created the current euphoria.

How do we encourage cycling in this country in the hope that we produce the next Chris Hoy? Easy, we don’t close the Edinburgh council velodrome where the next Chris Hoy might develop his talent. “I wouldn’t be standing here with any medals round my neck if the Meadowbank velodrome hadn’t existed,” the Scotsman said after picking up his third gold of the Games. “Why not built more facilities rather than knocking them down? It’s about getting kids on bikes and into sport.”

That is but one example of the accountancy-driven myopia that might yet stifle hopes of capitalizing on British success in Beijing, but it is by no means the most glaring. No, that distinction belongs to our own government, which refuses to guarantee an additional £100m in athletes’ funding in the lead-up to London 2012.

In the latest get-me-through-the-next-press-conference announcement, the culture minister Andy Burnham unveiled a scheme yesterday called Medal Hopes in which the private sector is to be encouraged to come up with the £100m. Fair enough, you might think, until you read on to discover the government has spent the past two years encouraging the private sector to come up with £100m, an effort that has failed to raise a penny. Nor is it likely to, given the current economic climate and competition for sponsorship money as 2012 approaches. To suggest otherwise, as Burnham did yesterday, is to strain credulity to the limit. To then insist, as he did, that the government is committed to having the “strongest team in London” beggars belief.

There is only one way the government can show its commitment to British athletes and a strong British team in 2012 and that is by guaranteeing the £100m. They should do so before Sunday’s closing ceremony in Beijing – for the next Chris Hoy, and for bike shop owners up and down the land.

Beijing embraces Olympic spirit, but not the foreign spectators that come with it

The walk to the National Stadium is a wonderful experience, especially at night, when the warm breeze caresses the skin, spectators are excitedly making their way to their seats clutching precious tickets and the buildings dotted about the Olympic Park – most notably the stadium itself and the “Water Cube” (aka the National Aquatic Center) – light up the sky like visiting spaceships.

China is proud of the 2008 Games and rightly so. They have been superbly organized, the volunteers have shown, ahem, Olympian politeness and many of the events have been breathtaking, not least in the athletics stadium.

Yet, if I can bastardize a phrase patented by the former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, these are not “the best Games ever” for the simple reason they have been staged for the greater glory of China and not for the greater good of sport.

Look around on that walk towards the National Stadium and you will see very few foreign visitors, apart from the occasional group of sponsors’ guests being led to their seats by a guide, or a gaggle of English ticket touts trying to rip off the locals. The best Olympics have been those that have embraced internationalism, but the Chinese government’s suspicion of foreigners has meant the rest of the world has largely been excluded. This is a pity for the Games but most especially for the hosts, who have denied themselves the chance to show the world what a fascinating country this is.

You’re free to protest but…

There will be a lot of talk in the coming days about how the 2008 Games have advanced freedoms in China. Believe none of it.

There are people better placed than me to give chapter and verse on the indignities of living in a totalitarian state, although it might serve a useful purpose to draw your attention to a report by the official government news agency that said the Beijing authorities had received 77 requests to demonstrate since August 1.

“Seventy-four applications have been withdrawn so far, because the problems those applicants contended for were properly addressed by relevant authorities or departments through consultations,” the news agency explained. “Two other applications have been suspended because their procedures were incomplete. In one of such cases, for example, the applicant applied to take children to the demonstration, which is against China’s law, and the one remaining application has been vetoed by the public security authority, as it is in violation of China’s law on demonstrations and protests.”

Gold-medal sportsmanship

The Australian swimmer Grant Hackett returned home with the silver medal he won in the men’s 1500m. Less impressively, he also went as my favorite athlete of these Games.

Hackett, who was going for his third successive gold in the event, was denied victory by Oussama Mellouli – a Tunisian swimmer who was only in Beijing courtesy of a controversial decision to cut his two-year ban for a doping offense to 18 months.

Many Australians were incensed but not Hackett, who was offered multiple opportunities to criticize the gold medalist. “His past is his past. You know, he was a better competitor on the blocks,” he said. “There’s no bitterness at all, it is the way it is and that’s life.”

Tags: Busy, Future, Government, Olympics, Peddling, Schemes, Stars, Support

Searching For College Scholarships

If you have just graduated from high school or have been thinking of going back to college to finish your course but have no financial resources, then, you must consider applying for a college scholarship. So if you don’t know where to go, here re the places and ways to look into:

The Internet

The internet has something for everyone. Even for you for those who need help to finance their college education. In the internet, there are sites that offer college scholarships. These sites are either your local government, College or University itself, some non-government institutions, or a collective people who gathers finances to help someone like you. The internet also has some helpful articles to make your college scholarship application easier and make the scholarship grant closer to your hand.

The High School Academic Guidance Counselor

Before the end of the school term, most colleges and universities contact or go to high both public and private schools to offer scholarships for graduating students. Usually, the academic guidance counselor takes hold of the application forms. All you have to do is to approach the office and ask for scholarship forms.

Colleges and Universities

If you excel in athletics, academics, art, and stage, colleges and universities give you special scholarships. Inquiring for this would be a good way to start. Most of the times though, these types of college scholarships are either automatically given to a certain students or selected through a roster of students.

Or, if you are not that athletic or not that excellent in academics, colleges and universities provide financial aids. These aids will slash off some percentage of the total price you have to pay for the year. Both the financial aid and scholarship will continue provided that you can maintain a certain average.

The Local Government

One of the best college scholarship grants that are both reliable and efficient is from the local government. Since local governments allocate funds for financing a certain number of students in a year, it is almost assured that you get one of the slots. Added to this, a government scholar has the privilege to immediately land a job after graduation. And this usually comes with the scholarship contract.

Institutions and Corporations

There are institutions and corporations that offer scholarships for students with both academic skills and financial problems. Look into this. Search of institutions and corporations that offer scholarships you can apply for.

Tags: College, Scholarships, Searching

Moms Back to School Obama’s Scholarship Program

Every mom has the chance to pursue college education for free provided by Obama’s new administration. An amount up to $10,000 scholarship money grant will be provided to every mom who will be part of the said program. The Federal Pell grant, an institution helping low income student with their education for many years now is responsible in determining the amount of money to be granted to every scholar mom.

The basis will depend on every case. The budget allotted for mom who will choose to travel and study to a university nearby town would be more compared to the budget allotted for moms who will be studying at home online. The money provided is definitely free since it is intended for a scholarship. You don’t have to worry about paying the money you used after you have completed your studies.

The project’s overall objective is to help poor moms enhance their way of life starting with attaining proper education. It will help several moms be able to employ to several good jobs that will provide them enough income for them and for their families. It is an advantage on the part of moms who are able to earn a degree since most jobs offering good income requires education as the main requirement. Employers perceive someone who was able to have a formal training in their field will contribute better to the company. Employment is the main source of income by many and companies where they work help the country’s economy. The better firm you are in, the better benefits you would be enjoying, and all of these require higher education to be able to attain it.

The government also believe that through this program, it can help fight poverty among mothers and their families. We hear it over and over again that the more education one has attained, the better life lies ahead of them. Education is a very powerful key to realize your dreams and be successful in life.

You can find complete and relevant information regarding the said Obama’s program in benefit of mothers through education online, local library or universities and colleges near you. You will have necessary info on how you will be able to apply for the program and if you are eligible.

Don’t waste the opportunity of being able to go back to school and finish the course you’ve been wanting. It will not only benefit you personally but of course your family especially your kids. So what’s holding you back? Take advantage of a $10,000 scholarship drawing. Registration is free if you visit http://www.scholarshipsformomsfinder.info/.

Tags: Back, Moms, Obama's, Program, Scholarship, School

Reducing Stress To Enhance Your Private Life

What causes stress:
Payments trigger stress, particularly should you don’t have cash movement to pay the bills. Jobs will cause stress, since you battle to verify your duties are appropriately handled. Kids trigger stress. Especially these days, because the media, tv, and many others has polluted and corrupted the minds of our youngsters by providing them nudity, violence, and other dangerous actions on air. A nasty relationship may cause stress. If you’re in a bad relationship, it only impacts your mind and bodily well-being, causing you stress. There are many reasons a person can feel stressed. The upside is, you’ve the choice to make stress your greatest friend or worst enemy.

What are the totally different kinds of stress?
There are many kinds of stress that can cause you problems like the acute stress it is a short term stress drawback normally, which may final shortly or might carry forward. You wish to avoid overstressing self. One of many widespread causes somebody develops acute stress is because they’re considering of the right way to change issues they can’t change. Only change the issues you may change and be taught to accept. All of us deal with everyday challenges. Take each problem as a learning experience. We all need to pay bills, work, and so on. It’s a part of life. All of us should face it. Generally we wouldn’t have the cash to pay bills. Learn to set a funds that relieves you of stress. You might free your job. As an alternative of sweating the issue, do one thing about it.

Youngsters as of late are rising stress for parents. Many teenagers lately are difficult to manage. Right this moment our youngsters are plagued with mental sicknesses, much more so than at one time in history. While you feel power stress, burned out and don’t see hope, it is time to search help. Your doctor or psychological health expert can help you manage stress emerging from difficulty teenagers.

Easy methods to cut back stress:
You’ll be able to scale back stress by managing, planning and setting goals. When you have one thing to stay up for, it improves your personal life. The first thing you wish to contemplate whereas planning and setting goals is truth. The truth is what units you free. Everything you do in life ought to uphold the truth. If you’re undecided, research to be taught the truth. You possibly can take many steps to reduce stress.

To improve your life and cut back stress you could need to think about education. For those who lack expertise, experience or training you will profit from returning to school.

You need to keep away from setting traps to your reminiscence and intelligence, since the emotions play unhealthy games if you permit it. What I imply is you wish to avoid telling your self I can not do it. Life is simply too hard. Life is easier if you study to assume positive.

How one can improve, your private life is as much as you. You will have to seek the advice of together with your inner counselor to study what you want, what you’re missing and the steps you may take to improve your personal life. In case you are unsure, seek feedback. Feedback is the important thing that leads you to success.

Tags: Enhance, Life, Private, Reducing, Stress

Naruto Character Creator: Fun For All Ages

Free online games are the latest craze in terms on online forms of entertainment. Arcade websites feature free online games by the thousands looking to keep their visitors happy and coming back for more. In order to enhance the appeal of free online game, it has been a long time practice now to combine characters who have obtained their popularity in other media with online games you can play free. Such is the case of Naruto online games. Naruto is the main character of an anime manga series released in Japan in August, 1997. Since then, the young Ninja has made it’s way off the coasts of Japan and into the hearts of fans all over the world, reaching out from the paperback manga to television series and movie films. Today, the young generation can share some of the fun and excitement through free Naruto games they can play online. Naruto games vary in style and complexity, some though are simple enough anyone can play, such as Naruto Character Creator.

Naruto Character Creator was developed in the flash platform by Adobe. The use of this code makes it simple enough for programmers to integrate a number of multimedia aspects into the game, which enables them to offer some of the fun and excitement Naruto games online have become known for. The first thing to hit the player when he starts playing the game is the enticing music score that takes over the background. The voice of a young girl singing a song of the pop rock gender in Japanese is sure to get your adrenaline going. Next, you are presented with a plain character in every respect, with nothing on but his underwear. A vast array of items is available at random for the player to choose and start shaping his character as he or she pleases, hence the name Character Creator. This free online Naruto game aims to target the appeal of the anime series by making this game available to its fans. The player sits on the chair of the designer, as he gets ready to create a character for the series. The usual items, hair styles, fashion of clothing and icons are all present for the player to use in the creation of his character.

Some items are offered in combination with other items to create an ensemble. Besides clothing, the player also has the option to use body parts, such as eyes, ears, noses, and accessories, such as glasses, bandannas and other details. There’s not much more to this game, other than having some fun creating characters as you would like to see them in the Naruto anime series. As far as a Naruto game available free online, the activity is safe for children of all ages looking to enhance the fun experience of the Naruto character, as they see it in the television series. This online game is not about winning or losing, but just having a good time on your own or in the company of friends and family.

Tags: Ages, Character, Creator, Naruto

Two Orlando Schools in Trouble with State Board of Education

Two Orlando schools are in trouble with the State Board of Education. Both Evans and Jones High Schools have repeatedly failed the state’s annual school grading system that is based on student scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Evans has received three Fs and five Ds over the past eight years, while Jones has been scored with five consecutive Fs since 2002. A grade of F means these two Orlando schools have high numbers of students who perform far below grade level in reading and math.

These two Orlando schools, plus five other schools in Miami-Dade, Duval and Jefferson districts, faced dramatic overhauls by state mandate. In July, the state threatened sanctions against the four districts. The districts did not draft bold enough strategies for school reform, which prompted revisions from Duval and Jefferson that were accepted by the state in August. Miami-Dade and Orange (which governs the Orlando schools) plans were not accepted by the state, with both districts arguing the issue of who can run chronic-F schools in Florida.

The state wanted new principals hired at the two Orlando schools, who had track records of raising a school’s grade by more than two levels (from a D to an A, or an F to a B grade). Orange Superintendent Ron Blocker believed such a move would destabilize the already fragile Orlando schools and argued that the state’s pool of qualified leaders was too small to locate new principals with such successes.

The state reacted by penalizing the Orange County School District by reducing its August funding by slightly more than $17,500, the equivalent of Blocker’s monthly pay and benefit costs. They additionally barred the district from applying for some grants that are considered “extra funding” by the state, such as technology grants that would not directly impact the students. The lost grants could potentially cost Orange, the 12th largest school district in the nation, millions in grant dollars. This is the toughest move the state has even made to force change within one of its school districts.

In mid-Setember, the state education officials and Blocker came to an agreement that will help the district comply with the state’s 26-point reform strategy for the two high-poverty, high-minority Orlando schools. The state has lifted the potentially costly penalties against the district and will return the August deducted penalties to the district within the month. State Education Commissioner John Winn stated that the penalties were a symbolic move to show the district that the state was serious in reforming the two Orlando schools.

Additionally, the principals at the two Orlando schools will continue in their positions. Karen Wilson has been principal at Evans High School since 2004. Bridget Williams became principal at Jones High School in 2006, after pushing Robinswood Middle School from a C to a B, then to an A during her transition to Jones. Robinswood also is a high-poverty, high-minority school. Both Orlando schools principals will be paired with state-approved mentors.

Winn stated that he expects the State Board of Education to approve the agreement and reform plans for the two Orlando schools by the end of September.

For more information on Orlando schools visit http://www.schoolsk-12.com/florida/orlando/index.html

Tags: Board, Education, Orlando, Schools, State, Trouble

Naruto Character Creator: Fun For All Ages

Free online games are the latest craze in terms on online forms of entertainment. Arcade websites feature free online games by the thousands looking to keep their visitors happy and coming back for more. In order to enhance the appeal of free online game, it has been a long time practice now to combine characters who have obtained their popularity in other media with online games you can play free. Such is the case of Naruto online games. Naruto is the main character of an anime manga series released in Japan in August, 1997. Since then, the young Ninja has made it’s way off the coasts of Japan and into the hearts of fans all over the world, reaching out from the paperback manga to television series and movie films. Today, the young generation can share some of the fun and excitement through free Naruto games they can play online. Naruto games vary in style and complexity, some though are simple enough anyone can play, such as Naruto Character Creator.

Naruto Character Creator was developed in the flash platform by Adobe. The use of this code makes it simple enough for programmers to integrate a number of multimedia aspects into the game, which enables them to offer some of the fun and excitement Naruto games online have become known for. The first thing to hit the player when he starts playing the game is the enticing music score that takes over the background. The voice of a young girl singing a song of the pop rock gender in Japanese is sure to get your adrenaline going. Next, you are presented with a plain character in every respect, with nothing on but his underwear. A vast array of items is available at random for the player to choose and start shaping his character as he or she pleases, hence the name Character Creator. This free online Naruto game aims to target the appeal of the anime series by making this game available to its fans. The player sits on the chair of the designer, as he gets ready to create a character for the series. The usual items, hair styles, fashion of clothing and icons are all present for the player to use in the creation of his character.

Some items are offered in combination with other items to create an ensemble. Besides clothing, the player also has the option to use body parts, such as eyes, ears, noses, and accessories, such as glasses, bandannas and other details. There’s not much more to this game, other than having some fun creating characters as you would like to see them in the Naruto anime series. As far as a Naruto game available free online, the activity is safe for children of all ages looking to enhance the fun experience of the Naruto character, as they see it in the television series. This online game is not about winning or losing, but just having a good time on your own or in the company of friends and family.

Tags: Ages, Character, Creator, Naruto

Insurance Industry – Japan

During the heydays of the 80′s and the first half of 90′s, like rest of its economy, Japan’s insurance industry was growing as a juggernaut. The sheer volume of premium income and asset formation, sometimes comparable with even the mightiest U.S.A. and the limitation of domestic investment opportunity, led Japanese insurance firms to look outwards for investment. The industry’s position as a major international investor beginning in the 1980′s brought it under the scanner of analysts around the world

The global insurance giants tried to set a foothold in the market, eyeing the gargantuan size of the market. But the restrictive nature of Japanese insurance laws led to intense, sometimes acrimonious, negotiations between Washington and Tokyo in the mid-1990s. The bilateral and multilateral agreements that resulted coincided with Japan’s Big Bang financial reforms and deregulation.

Building on the outcome of the 1994 US-Japan insurance talks, a series of liberalization and deregulation measures has since been implemented. But the deregulation process was very slow, and more often than not, very selective in protecting the domestic companies interest and market share. Although the Japanese economy was comparable with its counterpart in USA in size, the very basis of efficient financial markets – the sound rules and regulations for a competitive economic environment – were conspicuously absent. And its institutional structure was different, too, from the rest of the developed countries.

The kieretsu structure – the corporate group with cross holdings in large number of companies in different industries – was a unique phenomenon in Japan. As a result, the necessary shareholder activism to force the companies to adopt optimal business strategy for the company was absent. Although initially touted as a model one in the days of Japan’s prosperity, the vulnerability of this system became too evident when the bubble of the economic boom went burst in the nineties. Also working against Japan was its inability to keep pace with the software development elsewhere in the world. Software was the engine of growth in the world economy in the last decade, and countries lagging in this field faced the sagging economies of the nineties.

Japan, the world leader in the “brick and mortar” industries, surprisingly lagged far behind in the “New World” economy after the Internet revolution. Now Japan is calling the nineties a “lost decade” for its economy, which lost its sheen following 3 recessions in the last decade. Interest rates nose-dived to historic lows, to thwart the falling economy – in vain. For insurers, whose lifeline is the interest spread in their investment, this wreaked havoc. Quite a few large insurance companies went bankrupt in the face of “negative spread” and rising volume of non-performing assets. While Japanese insurers largely have escaped the scandals afflicting their brethren in the banking and securities industries, they are currently enduring unprecedented financial difficulties, including catastrophic bankruptcies.

Institutional Weaknesses

The Japanese market is a gigantic one, yet it is comprised of only a few companies. Unlike its USA counterpart, in which around two thousand companies are fiercely competing in the life segment, Japan’s market is comprised of only twenty-nine companies classified as domestic and a handful of foreign entities. The same situation prevailed in the non-life sector with twenty-six domestic companies and thirty-one foreign firms offering their products. So, consumers have far fewer choices than their American counterparts in choosing their carrier. There is less variety also on the product side. Both the life and non-life insurers in Japan are characterized by “plain vanilla” offerings. This is more apparent in automobile insurance, where, until recently premiums were not permitted to reflect differential risk, such as, by gender, driving record etc. Drivers were classified in three age groups only for purposes of premium determination, whereas US rates long have reflected all these factors and others as well.

The demand varies for different types of products, too. Japanese insurance products are more savings-oriented. Similarly, although many Japanese life insurance companies offer a few limited kinds of variable life policies (in which benefits reflect the value of the underlying financial assets held by the insurance company, thereby exposing the insured to market risk), there are few takers for such policies. At ¥100=$1.00, Japanese variable life policies in force as of March 31, 1996 had a value of only $7.5 billion, representing a scant 0.08 percent of all life insurance. By contrast, American variable life policies in force as of 1995 were worth $2.7 trillion, roughly 5 percent of the total, with many options, such as variable universal life, available.

Japanese insurance companies in both parts of the industry have competed less than their American counterparts. In an environment where a few firms offer a limited number of products to a market in which new entry is closely regulated, implicit price coordination to restrain competition would be expected. However, factors peculiar to Japan further reduce rivalry.

A lack of both price competition and product differentiation implies that an insurance company can grab a firm’s business and then keep it almost indefinitely. American analysts sometimes have noted that keiretsu (corporate group) ties are just such an excuse. A member of the Mitsubishi Group of companies, for example, ordinarily might shop around for the best deal on the hundreds or thousands of goods and services it buys. But in the case of non-life insurance, such comparative pricing would be futile, since all companies would offer much the same product at the same price. As a result, a Mitsubishi Group company, more often than not, gives business to Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co., Ltd., a member of the Mitsubishi keiretsu for decades.

On paper, life insurance premiums have been more flexible. However, the government’s role looms large in this part of the industry as well — and in a way that affects the pricing of insurance products. The nation’s postal system operates, in addition to its enormous savings system, the postal life insurance system popularly known as Kampo. Transactions for Kampo are conducted at the windows of thousands of post offices. As of March 1995, Kampo had 84.1 million policies outstanding, or roughly one per household, and nearly 10 percent of the life insurance market, as measured by policies in force.

Funds invested in Kampo mostly go into a huge fund called the Trust Fund, which, in turn, invests in several government financial institutions as well as numerous semipublic units that engage in a variety of activities associated with government, such as ports and highways. Although the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) has direct responsibility for Kampo, the Ministry of Finance runs the Trust Fund. Hence, theoretically MOF can exert influence over the returns Kampo is able to earn and, by extension, the premiums it is likely to charge.

Kampo has a number of characteristics that influence its interaction with the private sector. As a government-run institution, it inarguably is less efficient, raising its costs, rendering it noncompetitive, and implying a declining market share over time. However, since Kampo cannot fail, it has a high risk-tolerance that ultimately could be borne by taxpayers. This implies an expanding market share to the extent that this postal life insurance system is able to underprice its products. While the growth scenario presumably is what MPT prefers, MOF seemingly is just as interested in protecting the insurance companies under its wing from “excessive” competition.

The net effect of these conflicting incentives is that Kampo appears to restrain the premiums charged by insurers. If their prices go up excessively, then Kampo will capture additional share. In response, insurers may roll back premiums. Conversely, if returns on investments or greater efficiency reduce private-sector premiums relative to the underlying insurance, Kampo will lose market share unless it adjusts.

Japan’s life insurance sector also lags behind its American counterpart in formulating inter-company cooperative approaches against the threats of anti-selection and fraudulent activities by individuals. Although the number of companies is far lower in Japan, distrust and disunity among them resulted in isolated approaches in dealing with these threats. In USA, the existence of sector sponsored entities like Medical Information Bureau (MIB) acts as a first line of defense against frauds and in turn saves the industry around $1 Billion a year in terms protective value and sentinel effect. Off late, major Japanese carriers are initiating approaches similar to formation of common data warehousing and data sharing.

Analysts often complain against insurance companies for their reluctance to adhere to prudent international norms regarding disclosure of their financial data to the investment community and their policyholders. This is particularly true because of the mutual characteristic of the companies as compared with their “public” counterpart in US. For example, Nissan Mutual Life Insurance Co., failed in 1997, generally reported net assets and profits in recent years, even though the company’s president conceded after its failure that the firm had been insolvent for years.

Foreign Participation in Life Insurance

Since February 1973, when the American Life Insurance Company (ALICO) first went to Japan to participate in the market, fifteen foreign life insurance companies (with more than 50% foreign capital) are currently in business. However, companies like American Family Life (AFLAC) were initially permitted to operate only in the third sector, namely the Medical Supplement Area, like critical illness plans and cancer plans, which were not attractive to Japanese insurance companies. The mainstream life insurance business was kept out of reach of foreign carriers. However, the big turmoil in the industry in the late nineties left many of the domestic companies in deep financial trouble. In their scurry for protection, Japan allowed foreign companies to acquire the ailing ones and keep them afloat.

Foreign operators continue to enter the Japanese market. As one of the world’s top two life insurance markets, Japan is considered to be as strategically important as North America and the European Union. Consolidation in the Japanese life market, facilitated by the collapse of domestic insurers and by ongoing deregulation, is providing global insurers with prime opportunities to expand their business in Japan. The total market share of foreign players is gradually increasing, with global insurers accounting for over 5% in terms of premium incomes at the end of fiscal 1999 and over 6% of individual business in force. These figures are roughly two times higher than those five years earlier.

In 2000, the AXA Group strengthened its base of operations in Japan through the acquisition of Nippon Dantai Life Insurance Co. Ltd, a second-tier domestic insurer with a weak financial profile. To this end, AXA formed the first holding company in the Japanese life sector. Aetna Life Insurance Co. followed suit, acquiring Heiwa Life Insurance Co., while Winterthur Group bought Nicos Life Insurance and Prudential UK bought Orico Life Insurance. Also newly active in the Japanese market are Hartford Life Insurance Co., a U.S.-based insurer well known for its variable insurance business, and France’s Cardiff Vie Assurance.

In addition, Manulife Century, subsidiary of Manufacturers Life Insurance Company inherited the operations and assets of Daihyaku Mutual Life Insurance Co., which had failed in May 1999. In April 2001, AIG Life Insurance Co. assumed the operations of Chiyoda Life, and Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd. took over Kyoei Life. Both the Japanese companies filed for court protection last October.

The foreign entrants bring with them reputations as part of international insurance groups, supported by favorable global track records and strong financial capacity. They are also free of the negative spreads that have plagued Japanese insurers for a decade. Foreign players are better positioned to optimize business opportunities despite turmoil in the market. Although several large Japanese insurers still dominate the market in terms of share, the dynamics are changing as existing business blocks shift from the domestic insurers, including failed companies, to the newcomers in line with policyholders’ flight to quality. The list of companies, with foreign participation, is the following:

INA Himawari Life
Prudential Life
Manulife Century Life

Skandia Life
GE Edison Life
Aoba Life

Aetna Heiwa Life
Nichidan Life
Zurich Life

ALICO Japan
American Family Life
AXA Nichidan Life

Prudential Life
ING Life
CARDIFF Assurance Vie

NICOS Life

Foreign insurers are expected to be able to prevail over their domestic rivals to some extent in terms of innovative products and distribution, where they can draw on broader experience in global insurance markets. One immediate challenge for the foreign insurers will be how to establish a large enough franchise in Japan so that they can leverage these competitive advantages.

What ails the life insurance industry?

Apart from its own operational inefficiency, Japan’s life insurance sector is also a victim of government policies intended in part to rescue banks from financial distress. By keeping short-term interest rates low, the Bank of Japan encouraged in the mid-1990s a relatively wide spread between short-term rates and long-term rates. That benefited banks, which tend to pay short-term rates on their deposits and charge long-term rates on their loans.

The same policy, however, was detrimental to life insurance companies. Their customers had locked in relatively high rates on typically long-term investment-type insurance policies. The drop in interest rates generally meant that returns on insurers’ assets fell. By late 1997 insurance company officials were reporting that guaranteed rates of return averaged 4 percent, while returns on a favored asset, long-term Japanese government bonds, hovered below 2 percent.

Insurance companies cannot make up for a negative spread even with increased volume. In FY 1996 they tried to get out of their dilemma by cutting yields on pension-type investments, only to witness a massive outflow of money under their management to competitors.

To add insult to injury, life insurance companies are shouldering part of the cost of cleaning up banks’ non-performing asset mess. Beginning in 1990, the Finance Ministry permitted the issuance of subordinated debt made to order for banks. They can count any funds raised through such instruments as part of their capital, thereby making it easier than otherwise to meet capital/asset ratio requirements in place. This treatment arguably makes sense, inasmuch as holders of such debt, like equity holders, stand almost last in line in the event of bankruptcy.

Subordinated debt carries high rates of interest precisely because the risk of default is higher. In the early 1990s insurers, figuring bank defaults were next to impossible and tempted by the high returns available, lent large amounts to banks and other financial institutions on a subordinated basis. Smaller companies, perhaps out of eagerness to catch up with their larger counterparts, were especially big participants. Tokyo Mutual Life Insurance Co., which ranks 16th in Japan’s life insurance industry on the basis of assets, had roughly 8 percent of its assets as subordinated debt as of March 31, 1997, while industry leader Nippon Life had only 3 percent.

The rest, of course, is history. Banks and securities companies, to which insurers also had lent, began to fail in the mid-1990s. The collapse of Sanyo Securities Co., Ltd. last fall was precipitated in part by the refusal of life insurance companies to roll over the brokerage firm’s subordinated loans. Life insurers complained that they sometimes were not paid off even when the conditions of a bank failure implied that they should have been. For example, Meiji Life Insurance Co. reportedly had ¥35 billion ($291.7 million) outstanding in subordinated debt to Hokkaido Takushoku Bank, Ltd. when the bank collapsed in November. Even though the Hokkaido bank did have some good loans that were transferred to North Pacific Bank, Ltd., Meiji Life was not compensated from these assets. It apparently will have to write off the entire loan balance.

Subordinated debt is only part of the bad-debt story. Insurance companies had a role in nearly every large-scale, half-baked lending scheme that collapsed along with the bubble economy in the early 1990s. For example, they were lenders to jusen (housing finance companies) and had to share in the costly cleanup of that mess. Moreover, like banks, insurers counted on unrealized profits from their equity holdings to bail them out if they got into trouble. Smaller insurers of the bubble period bought such stock at relatively high prices, with the result that, at 1997′s year-end depressed stock prices, all but two middle-tier (size rank 9 to 16) life insurance companies had unrealized net losses.

What Lies Ahead

Analysts have identified the following short-term challenges to the sector:

New market entrants;
Pressure on earnings;
Poor asset quality; and,
Capitalization.
The recent high-profile failures of several life insurance companies have turned up the pressure on life companies to address these challenges urgently and in recognizable ways.

The investment market has been even worse than expected. Interest rates have not risen from historically low levels. The Nikkei index has sagged since January 2001, and plummeted to 9 year low following recent terrorist attack on American soil. Unrealized gains used to provide some cushion for most insurers, but, depending on the insurers’ reliance on unrealized gains, the volatility of retained earnings is now affecting capitalization levels and thus financial flexibility.

Table 1
Major Risks Facing Japanese Life Insurance Companies

Business risks
Financial risks

Weak Japanese economy
Strong earnings pressures

Lack of policyholder confidence, flight to quality
Low interest rates, exposure to domestic, overseas investment market fluctuations

Deregulation, mounting competition
Poor asset quality

Inadequate policyholders’ safety net
Weakened capitalization

Accelerating consolidation within life sector, with other financial sectors
Limited financial flexibility

Most analysts probably would agree that Japan’s life insurers face problems of both solvency and liquidity. Heavy contractual obligations to policyholders, shrinking returns on assets, and little or no cushion from unrealized gains on stock portfolios combine to make the continued viability of some companies far from certain. Many others, while obviously solvent, face the risk that they will have to pay off uneasy policyholders earlier than they had planned. Either solvency or liquidity concerns raise the question as to how insurers will manage their assets. Another factor that has to be considered is Japan’s aging population. As Mr. Yasuo Satoh, Program Manager of insurance industry, finance sector, IBM Japan, points out, “The industry needs to change the business model. They have to concentrate on life benefits rather than death benefits and they have to emphasize on Medical Supplement and long term care sectors as the overall population is aging.”

Japanese life insurers are actively pursuing greater segmentation, while seeking to establish unique strategies both in traditional life and non-life businesses. In late 2000, the sector witnessed the emergence of several business partnerships and cross-border alliances involving large domestic life insurers. Anticipating increased market consolidation, heated competition, and full liberalization of third-sector businesses, the companies are reviewing their involvement through subsidiaries in the non-life side of the business, which was first allowed in 1996.

Over the long term, Japanese insurers are likely to forge business alliances based on demutualization. Widespread consolidation in Japan’s financial markets over the near term will bring about an overhaul of the life insurance sector as well. Although domestic life insurers announced various business strategies in the latter half of 2000 to respond to this sea change, the actual benefit of various planned alliances for each insurer remains uncertain. Further market consolidation should add value for policyholders, at least, making available a wider range of products and services. To succeed, life insurers will have to be more sensitive to diverse customers needs, while at the same time establishing new business models to secure their earning base. Long term prospects seem to be good considering the high saving rate of Japanese population. But in the short term, Japan is poised to see a few more insurers succumb before the sector tightens its bottom line with sweeping reforms and prudent investment and disclosure norms.

Tags: Industry, Insurance, Japan

Find the Best Nursing Jobs For You

The best nursing job you can have is the one that meets all your criteria for a job. You get the salary, the car, and the compensated time off, the perfect work environment, no hassle coworkers and candy and ice cream for lunch every day. We all know that only happens in a dream or the movies but never in real life.

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A career counselor or placement service may be able to help find the best job for you. They will know where to find the elements you want or at least head you in the right direction to find them. They may even negotiate a deal for you as part of their service. How cool will that be, to have representation at the negotiating table, as long as they do not negotiate you out of an opportunity with unrealistic demands.

Tags: Best, Find, Jobs, Nursing